Recently, Petra Coach hosted a Coaches’ Corner – a 1-hour session of live Q&A – with Certified Petra Coaches JT Terrell, Jennifer Faught and Mark Comiso.

You can find the full recording here.

To augment the recording, below is a brief recap of questions and answers from the session.

Q: Where do you think we’ll end up balancing out as far as virtual vs in-person? What does the virtual environment look like in 2021?

The distance between in-person meetings will be longer because we can fill the in-between with virtual meetings. Virtual doesn’t solve ALL the problems, though, so some things will need to be done in person.

As we start to rely on machines, the human part will become important – Emotional intelligence will become more important.

Things aren’t going to go back to normal, so think about how you need to change your processes.

 

Q: What are companies doing as far as salaries, raises, compensation?

  • Be clear on conditions – long-term base pay
  • Being flexible and open-minded
  • Not every situation is the same – some team members may be more in a bad place than others and be in need of higher pay

 

Q: We are having trouble recruiting lead carpenters for a construction company. What do you know about retained employee search consultants?

These are mostly going to come from personal referrals. You don’t have to recruit locally – you could go outside of the city you are in. Put together a group of people within the company and have them recruit outside of your area – you may have to pay them a move bonus.

 

Q: How should we be managing performance in a new work remote environment?

It’s almost easier now than it was before – now that it’s virtual, technology has reports you can just run. It’s more approachable to ask your team what they got done during the day just to check in – it feels less like micromanaging. Look for outcomes, not hours.

 

Q: What are proven ways to implement a bonus system in the company that makes everyone accountable and encourages teamwork?

Base the system on outcomes, not effort.

In some companies, bonuses can come in a product rather than cash (i.e. new monitors in a design firm)

People need to understand that a bonus comes out of the company’s profit. Be transparent of where the team member stands with numbers and where they needed to be in order to receive bonuses. Do a profit share either quarterly or monthly when you close the books. Use the name profit share instead of bonus so they know where it is coming from.

Book Recommendation: 

Lunch with Lucy by Sherry Deutschmann

  • The story of how she built a profit sharing system within her business

 

Q: In a simple way, please explain the best way to track and maximize positive cash workflow.

We use a software that uses 18 touchpoints from a statement called Cashflow Story. We offer this to our member and walk you through the different points. It also exemplifies the Power of One – if you change an area by only 1% it will show you what a difference that can make.

 

Q: I’m in a $4.5M design company that is growing – is Salesforce the right CRM tool to use to grow?

You can get it to do what you want it to do, but it can be expensive depending on how many users you have.

Hubspot is another CRM that you can use how you want and customize it.

Things are also trending beyond just a CRM – there are a lot of CRM’s that include internal notifications, workflows and marketing. Find something that allows all of your systems to communicate with each other.

Find one that works for your organization – but make sure you are using it! That’s how it will benefit you – actually using it.

 

Q: Can you recommend your favorite books for motivation and inspiration?

Dare to Lead – Brené Brown

  • About having the courage to be vulnerable in your head and heart

The Defiant Ones (TV show)

Lunch with Lucy – Sherry Deutschmann

Big Magic – Elizabeth Gilbert

  • About living beyond fear and pursuing life that is driven by curiosity not fear

 

Like what you see? Register for our upcoming webinars today!