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Employees Are More Likely to Consider Quitting After an 'Unfair' Performance Review

Posted: 22 Jul 2019 11:19 AM PDT

  • 92% of 1,000 U.S. workers polled want feedback about their job performance more frequently than once a year.
  • 85% would consider quitting their jobs if felt their performance review was unfair.
  • 64% said they received helpful feedback from their performance evaluation.

Fair, frequent and accurate feedback from a higher-up is important to employees, according to a newly released study. In fact, it's so important that a vast majority of American workers polled earlier this year by people-management platform Reflektive said they would leave a job if they received an "unfair" job review.

Of the more than 1,000 U.S. employees polled in Reflektive's survey, 85% said an unfair job review would push them to consider quitting altogether. Of that group, more than half said they were either "very likely" or "extremely likely" to think about leaving the company.

When it comes to performance reviews, researchers found that accuracy is also important, as more than one-third of respondents said an inaccurate review was the "least likely [thing] to tolerate in the workplace." If an inaccurate review didn't force them to quit, 25% said they felt an inaccurate review caused them to miss a promotion.

These issues not only cause friction in the workplace but could also hit a business's bottom line, according to Rachel Ernst, vice president of employee success at Reflektive.

"Employees crave accurate, growth-oriented feedback – and they don't want to wait until an annual job review to get it," she said. "When employees receive regular attention, recognition, and guidance on how to improve from their managers, they tend to be more engaged and productive. They often stay with their employers longer and work harder, decreasing recruitment and retention costs."

For employees, career growth matters almost as much as pay

Unsurprisingly, 58% of respondents said the most important factor they consider when choosing a new employer is how much they'll be paid. The same percentage of respondents also said a company's benefits and vacation packages were additional important factors to consider.

More than half of the respondents also said they needed career growth and meaningful work when looking for a new job. Those numbers reflect other studies that show money is nice, but other things contribute to an employee's happiness as well.

While compensation is a major factor for choosing one employer over another, low pay and a lack of promotions were among the top reasons why respondents said they'd quit their jobs in the past. In that same vein, of the 24% of respondents that said they wanted to quit their current jobs, 34% either said they wanted to leave because they "didn't feel valued" or were "not being paid enough." Another 31% said they wanted to leave because there were no chances to advance their career.

Frequent feedback leads to happier workers

Knowing where you stand within a company, as well as how your manager views the quality of your work and where you can improve, is incredibly important to workers. According to Reflektive's survey, 92% of respondents said they "prefer to receive feedback more often than once a year." Rather than hear about their performance on a yearly or quarterly basis, 49% said they would prefer to hear from their managers at least weekly, while 72% said they'd like monthly feedback.

When it came to how they viewed reviews, 64% said they received "helpful feedback" as a result of the review process. Another 45% said they felt reviews gave them some "good face time" with managers, and 41% said reviews have helped them understand "what they need to do to get promoted."

That's not to say that reviews were always held in high regards. Researchers were told by approximately 54% that employees had been overlooked for a promotion for unknown reasons. Nearly one-quarter said they didn't receive a promotion because of inaccurate information on their performance review. Others cited other causes for not receiving promotions, with 36% placing the blame on managerial changes and 28% blaming bias and favoritism.

Inaccurate performance reviews cause frustration for workers

When employees believe that their performance reviews were unfair or inaccurate, they feel disengaged and disenfranchised. When that happens, they become more likely to quit and seek retaliation against managers for a perceived slight.

According to researchers, poorly managed and inaccurate reviews can sometimes lead to bombastic exits that impact worker morale. Researchers' data suggests that 51% of the respondents that said they intended to quit wanted to leave "in a blaze of glory."

What that means, according to the study, was that 78% intended to create an "I Quit" video for social media, 18% said they would "bad-mouth their coworkers, boss or company," while another 12% planned on exposing company secrets.

"Without frequent and well-rounded feedback, bias creeps in, and people become disengaged and consider leaving their companies," Ernst said. "Creating a culture of feedback that implements a modernized performance review structure based on data helps to eliminate these costly problems."

How to Create and Track Forms in Microsoft Forms

Posted: 22 Jul 2019 10:45 AM PDT

Microsoft Forms is one of the most basic yet useful and powerful apps in the Microsoft Office suite. It's a bit unheralded, as many power users love Word and Excel and stick with those apps on a daily basis. Still, Forms provides some surprising functionality for business that can transform how you collect and track information.

In Forms, you can create a form or a quiz. The two might appear similar, but the basic difference is that a form is used to collect information or conduct a survey, while a quiz is meant to test the participants, and each answer can include a specific number of points. A quiz also allows you to provide feedback to the participant (say, whether they selected the correct answer).

One reason Forms is so useful is that it is simple to use. There is no programming involved, so coding and technical skills aren't required. You can create forms easily and then track the results. Forms can be shared by email, as part of a website, as a link, or even using a QR code someone can scan with their phone. Here are the basic steps to create a form and then track the results easily, all in a surprisingly intuitive interface.

1. Create a new form.

When you want to create a new form, go to Forms.office.com or click the icon in the Office app (either the desktop version or online). Click on the option to create a new form or a new quiz. The interface at this point looks the same, although the quiz has a few extra options, such as adding the points allocated for each response. (For a quiz, you can also add math equations.)

The basic steps are also the same. You select the type of question you want, such as multiple choice, text response, rating, date ranges and a few other, more technical options. The more technical form entries are shown in the menu and include things like a way to rank answers, a table, and a Net Promoter Score option. All these choices are clearly presented and walk you through configuring the settings or, for a quiz, adding a point total.

What's amazing about Microsoft Forms is that you are basically done at this point – you can create ultra-simple forms (say, asking team members which day you should do a status meeting) or incredibly complex ones collecting information from job applicants. Forms doesn't make you save your work, do any programming or even prepare your form for actual use. Once you add the questions and choices, you are done and can share the form.

This can be as simple as selecting the Share option and copying the link to your form. If you want to run a survey about satisfaction with your business, you could copy the link and share it on social media. You can also select an option to share the form only with those at your firm who have access to Office, or anyone with the link. You can go back and edit any form or tweak the theme if you need (just click the Theme button in the upper right). 

It might seem like there should be more to the process, but most forms really only take a few minutes to create and then a few minutes to share by email or other methods.

2. Track the results.

If creating a new form is simple, tracking the results is even more straightforward. For the currently selected form, you click the Responses tab and can see the results.

For example, let's say you create a new form to ask employees about a new project and their opinions on the direction. You can see all the responses and review a chart that shows the given answers. You can also review average scores and individual scores for a quiz.

Microsoft Forms lets you open the results in Excel – just click the option in the app. This opens up all of the responses in a spreadsheet, which you can review, share or even edit as needed. In a spreadsheet format, you can decide to represent the data using a chart or track the responses from multiple forms you've created (by using a tab for each one).

For tracking additional forms, click the Forms application name in the upper left. Here you can review all the forms you have created, then track the responses to each one. One downside to mention here is that Forms doesn't provide a more robust engine for tracking a group of forms – say, collecting the data from multiple surveys or questionnaires, and then compiling all of that info into one form summary. As mentioned, though, you can do this manually in Excel.

Microsoft Forms doesn't pretend to be a high-end form creation tool where you can tweak the HTML code for a form or conduct a series of surveys that are generated automatically – say, sent by email on a set date. It's meant to help you create basic forms and quizzes, track the results, and not get bogged down with extra settings.

Technology Should Enhance Communication Skills

Posted: 22 Jul 2019 10:00 AM PDT

Did you have your first exchange with a coworker over Slack – before ever entering the office? The world is in the midst of a digital transformation that stands to impact every aspect of our personal and professional lives. Today, we can direct commands to an empty room knowing that Alexa will add notes to our to-do lists and sync reminders to our smartphones, or collaborate on a project with a coworker tens of thousands of miles away. Only 20 years ago, these capabilities might have been laughed off as the improbabilities of science fiction – and yet, we all but take them for granted today.

I know digital transformation is a buzzword-rich phrase, but it's true. Even to be able to read this article right now requires access to technology. When you unravel the complexities of technology, you see its purpose is twofold: to effect change worldwide and to simplify and enhance our everyday working lives. On the surface, the capabilities technology brings to our offices is overwhelmingly positive; it offers convenience, collaborative power and connectivity. But in allowing us ready communication in the digital world, is the technology we rely on at work eroding our face-to-face collaboration skills? Is our blind reliance on Slack, Skype and smart tech hurting us, even as we applaud it for helping us?

Technology is not always a time-saver

Technology fosters efficiency – or at least, it seems to. Chat platforms and email empower us to start a conversation in a matter of keystrokes, all from the comfort of our desks. We don't have to walk across the office or take a multi-hour train ride to meet a colleague in person. 

Given the apparent time savings, it's tempting to interchangeably use email and other messaging platforms in place of in-person communication, but if we do, we must be cognizant of the instances where technology may not be an appropriate communication tool. For example, you may think sending a company update to your entire office is the fastest way to get your point across to the greatest number of people. But here's the problem: managers and other employees are likely to have follow-up questions, so you'll end up spending more time fielding emails than if you would have just called a company-wide meeting in the first place.

To increase productivity and efficiency, a leader must be mindful of how they spend every minute of their day. This is technology's job, to help streamline their day-to-day schedules and free up time so they can focus on more pressing issues. Yet, leaders ultimately end up overextending these benefits to save time and, in the end, use technology to replace crucial aspects of their jobs – e.g. cultivating relationships with their employees. A quarter of employees in the U.S. don't even know the first name of their company's CEOs; if this isn't telling of how easy it is to hide behind technology, I don't know what is.

There's more room for misinterpretation

Emails, texts and chats are all useful, but as such passive communication tools, they can be easily misinterpreted. Some people just don't have the same knack for communicating over digital platforms as they do in face-to-face interactions.

If someone sends you a message in all caps, does that mean they are mad or upset? Or if someone is short with you, are they brushing you off because they don't like your idea, or just trying to move through tasks quickly? They say that 7% of communication is verbal, while the other 93% is nonverbal; in other words, effective communication relies on eye contact and tone of voice as much as it does on words. Because online communications are mediated by a screen, digital communicators often lose out on the contextual information they need to have a productive and clear discussion – and thus are unable to collaborate as effectively as they might have in-person.

When we under-communicate or fail to communicate well, it leaves a gaping hole that employees will try to fill with speculation rather than informed understanding. Technology simplifies communication, but we are often left to make bigger conclusions with smaller amounts of information. It's important to consider the nuances of your writing before you interact with someone online, because abridged interactions can have serious consequences.

I believe that for technology and communication to work harmoniously, we need to honor the values of the past alongside digital transformation – and this is the perfect time for it. For the first time ever, more than five generations now coexist within our multigenerational workforces. Merging traditional ideals with innovation, we continue to enhance our most valuable, innate traits: our language and communication skills.

The dangers of dehumanization

Yes, technology is a platform that has allowed us to connect with more people around the globe, but what about the people right next to us? Instead of meeting with a friend for coffee, we are quick to pick up our phones and send them a text to ask how they've been. If it's a family member's birthday, we call to wish them a happy birthday rather than stopping by their house with a handwritten card. As face-to-face interactions ebb, our in-person smiles have been replaced by emojis that seem more punctuation than emotional cues. 

The same is true at the office. Most of our interactions nowadays happen over a computer or phone rather than in person. When we're more familiar with our employees as usernames or email addresses and not as individuals, that's problematic. How can we sit behind a computer screen and expect to nurture quality relationships? The truth is we can't – communication is more than just short phrases, abbreviations and emojis.

If communication is stripped away, we also strip away the most valuable components of a great team: collaboration, loyalty, engagement and camaraderie. Worse, the distance of the screen and the facelessness of an online chat may lead colleagues to feel less empathetic to each other and ultimately cultivate of culture of isolation. 

As leaders, it's our job to be aware of how technology is affecting our company's culture. Dehumanization leads to disconnection, and your employees and your clients will suffer as a result. A job shouldn't just be a source of income, but an opportunity for someone to foster their passion for their work; a place where they can grow and develop their skills and talents alongside other professionals. This can only happen when we see people and employees as humans.

Technology has made our world smaller – but that's not necessarily a negative. 

I say this not to belittle the vastness of our world, but to turn the rhetoric surrounding digital transformation on its head. Technology has been stigmatized as being isolating; a force that divides rather than unites. But I don't wholeheartedly agree with this judgment. Our world is smaller because it's more connected than ever before, and one of technology's most revolutionary advantages is its influence on communication. 

Communication is a necessary skill in virtually every aspect of our lives: our friendships, our marriages, but especially in our careers. When we use technology both mindfully and purposely, it shouldn't strip away our communication skills – it should make us stronger communicators.

What Is Formjacking, and How Can You Protect Your Business?

Posted: 22 Jul 2019 07:45 AM PDT

In 2018, security experts focused a lot of attention on ransomware and malware targeting IoT (internet of things) devices. In 2019, cybercriminals have turned to formjacking as their preferred attack method.

The actual process behind formjacking is a bit complex, but the important takeaway is that formjacking is the virtual form of credit card skimming. Instead of a skimmer being attached to a gas pump or ATM, the information is skimmed through the online form.

"Formjacking is a term we use to describe the use of malicious JavaScript code to steal credit card details and other information from payment forms on the checkout web pages of e-commerce sites," says Symantec, which first reported this form of attack on its Threat Intelligence blog back in September.

"When a customer of an e-commerce site clicks 'submit' or its equivalent after entering their details into a website's payment form, malicious JavaScript code that has been injected there by the cybercriminals collects all entered information, such as payment card details and the user's name and address," Symantec explained. "This information is then sent to the attacker's servers. Attackers can then use this information to perform payment card fraud or sell these details to other criminals on the dark web."

Formjacking wasn't new when Symantec released the report. This is typical of cyberattacks, as many are around for a while before they make a big push, and that's what happened with formjacking. There was a sudden uptick in August 2018, Symantec found, and that uptick has become a major threat in 2019.

Small businesses targeted

You may not be familiar with the term "formjacking," but you may have heard of the Magecart attacks on British Airways, Ticketmaster and Newegg, among other large companies. Magecart is the hacker group responsible for these high-profile formjacking attacks. So it is easy for small businesses to be lulled into thinking they have nothing to fear against a Magecart attack – those hackers go after the big guys, right?

In this case, as with most cyberattacks, the big companies get the attention, but the reality is that small businesses are a favorite formjacking target. That's because formjacking uses a supply-chain approach. The attackers load the malicious code into small business websites, especially those that are suppliers for larger companies. Smaller businesses are less likely to have strong security defenses built into their e-commerce sites, making them an easy target. The attackers are then able to send malicious code through legitimate transactions, infecting the entire supply chain.

Symantec estimated that nearly 5,000 websites a month were victims of formjacking in the past year. [Looking for internet security or antivirus software for your business? Check out our best picks and reviews on business.com.]

Preventing formjacking attacks

Unfortunately, formjacking attacks are very difficult to detect. Consumers have no way of knowing if the site they are visiting has been compromised and that their personal and financial information is at risk. Businesses struggle to spot the malicious code because the attackers are very good at disguising it within legitimate code. But there are steps you can take to prevent formjacking of your e-commerce site.

The first step is to test any new code or updates before using them. Before you make the code live for customers, scan it to look for unusual codes or anything unfamiliar. (If you aren't building your own e-commerce site, make sure the developer takes this step before letting the site go live.) Monitor all system activity to make sure nothing is out of the ordinary.

Second, know what your vendors are doing on their end to ensure similar security measures. Since this is a supply-chain attack, all parts of the chain need to know where their vulnerabilities are and if one of the suppliers could be unwittingly sending along something malicious.

Third, there are tools available to automate scans and find unauthorized code in the website. Consider using Subresource Integrity (SRI) tags, which verify resources are safe and haven't been manipulated in any way. Firewalls and other security tools can help you find security risks in your website's traffic. Anyone can download script blockers to their browsers to block websites with JavaScript and other potentially dangerous code.

Hackers are all about following the money trail. They will use any method possible to steal as much information they can sell on the dark web. While formjacking mimics credit card skimming, the forms you fill out provide a lot of other personal information that can just as easily be stolen. Your customers are the ones who lose if you're compromised by a formjacking attack, so it is up to you to provide an e-commerce site that is safe and secure.

How To Lead A Company in Transition

Posted: 22 Jul 2019 07:00 AM PDT

According to a 2009 New York Times profile, he aims to devote 53% of each working day to creative pursuits, 28% to teaching and 19% to other, He even uses a stopwatch to monitor the amount of time he spends on each of those endeavors, finding that the ever-shrinking and ever-visible numbers leave less room for one task to run over into the next.

An avid mountain climber, he also made it his goal years ago to scale El Capitan, a treacherous peak in Yosemite National Park – and he wanted to do it in 24 hours, a highly accelerated rate. According to the Times, he prepared by training with a younger, stronger man and researched the mountain's weather patterns from the previous century. The effort took more time, dedication and determination than many might be willing to give, but he succeeded in his ascent.

Collins, who applied a similarly methodical approach to helping his wife, Joanne Ernst, win the 1985 Ironman Triathlon, is at the same time keenly aware of the randomness of life in general and business in particular. As the Harvard Business Review once put it, we all live in a VUCA World – one marked by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. Change is inevitable, and not always welcome. In fact, Collins outlined the stages of a business's decline in his 2009 book, How the Mighty Fall. The book had grown, in part, out of a conversation he had following a presentation five years earlier at West Point with 12 U.S. Army generals, 12 CEOs and 12 social-sector leaders. 

The conversation itself had featured a spirited debate about where the U.S. stood in its history – whether the nation was at that point slipping from great to good – and afterward, the CEO of a major company pulled Collins aside and asked him how, exactly, a company might identify the tipping point: that crucial moment when a business's future was about to go south. Intrigued at the question, Collins went to work.

Ultimately, he found that change can be the result of internal or external forces. It can be developmental (involving procedures like billing, payroll or marketing), transitional (involving mergers and acquisitions, new products, et al.) or transformational (changes to strategy, culture and operations). But it's going to come, and a leader must be agile enough to deal with it when it inevitably arrives. Basically, it's going to require three things: discipline, transparency and creativity. 

Discipline

Not everyone can take this mindset to the degree Collins does – in fact, it seems like few can maintain his level of single-minded determination for extended periods of time – but he makes clear in his book that determination is an absolute must for a CEO when dealing with change. Collins' first stage of corporate decline is, after all, Hubris Born of Success. In other words, trouble is sure to follow when a leader forms too high an opinion of his own abilities and/or doesn't understand how much of a role good fortune can play in a company's success. Either lapse can leave him unprepared when issues arise.

Stage Two (Undisciplined Pursuit of More) involves over-reach on the part of a company, while Stage Three (Denial of Risk and Peril) is not being able to see the forest for the trees – i.e., not being fully aware of how serious your problems might be. It is still possible in Stage Four (Grasping for Salvation) for a CEO to save his company, but it again requires cool-headed deliberation, rather than a desperate slew of Hail Marys.

Stage five is self-explanatory: Capitulation 

It is true that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg once extolled the virtues of risk-taking, saying that playing it safe is all but a guarantee of failure. However, being bold and open to out-of-the-box is not the same as being reckless; embracing a risk-taking mindset does not mean you flail about wildly. It means you have a plan and follow it, and that any risks you choose to take are calculated ones.

Transparency

Transparency, too, is critical. As Patti Sanchez, chief strategy officer for the communication consultancy Duarte, wrote in a 2018 post for the Harvard Business Review, relatively few businesses go to the trouble of gathering feedback from their employee base before undergoing significant change. One survey conducted by Duarte found that of 200 surveyed business leaders, 69% were contemplating change – but only half had bothered to solicit input from their teams before the fact.

Not taking employee's voices into account, she wrote, is a recipe for disaster. Nothing kills morale and engagement quite like uncertainty – especially when it comes to wide-scale changes. While it is not possible to keep everybody in the loop about everything, they need to know what's coming. One example that she offered was of an employee voicing concerns over turnover in the wake of change, and the added burden it would place on holdovers. The solution was a meeting in which the employee (and everyone else) was assured that low performers would be weeded out, and hiring would be ramped up. 

The point is that transparency leads to awareness and inclusion. One idea for CEOs is to present the company's story, and make one and all aware of how the latest chapter fits into the larger narrative. That leads to trust, and healthier relationships moving forward.

Creativity

Effective change implementation can take a variety of forms. There is, of course, the single-leader model, where a CEO becomes the driving force behind and, in some ways, symbolic of, the change movement as a whole. 

As an example: When Shell Oil Company made some necessary changes to its internal processes in the face of an oil reserve crisis and leadership change in 2004, there was some initial push-back on the part of some countries where Shell was based, as those nations stood to lose market share. But Shell oil group chairman Jeroen van der Veer manned the point of the transition team, and managed to make clear that the changes would prove beneficial in the long run. The lesson is a good one – that while it is often necessary (and beneficial) to delegate certain tasks, there are clearly others where it is essential for the CEO to take the reins.

At the other extreme is the EMS unit in Tulsa, Okla., which sought to improve its processes collaboratively after a survey of every EMT, paramedic and firefighter concluded that the various organizations worked well together … until management got involved. Measures were instituted to improve communication between leaders, as well as leaders and the various crews, and it led in time to a far more efficient operation – the point being that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with change. There must be some adaptability, some understanding of the unique factors that a given company faces during change-heavy transitions.

The only certainty, really, is that organizations will need to evolve in the face of changing industry landscapes. And when the need comes to bear, leaders must prepare themselves to face every eventuality with discipline, transparency and creativity.

Talking Shop: How to Find Investors for Your Startup

Posted: 22 Jul 2019 04:50 AM PDT

Without the proper funding, your business will never get off the ground, regardless of how well thought out your business plan is.

However, actually getting the funding is easier said than done. Whether it's from your own bank account, family and friends, a credit union, an alternative lender or a private investor, securing the capital you need to get your business off the ground can be a tough and grueling task.

Andrew Rinaldi, co-founder of the all-in-one, SaaS-delivered cybersecurity platform Defendify, knows all too well what it takes to obtain startup funding. Rinaldi and Defendify recently secured $1.6 million in pre-seed funding to help get their business up and running. Defendify secured the money from private investors with participation from the Maine Technology Institute and early-stage cybersecurity industry investor 3dot6 Ventures.

Editor's note: Looking for a small business loan? Fill out the questionnaire below to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.

 

 

We recently had the chance to speak with Rinaldi about raising startup funds, including how to find potential investors and the benefits of securing money from a private investor versus a traditional bank.

When to raise funds

Andrew Rinaldi

Q: How do you know when it is time to raise funds?

A: Really, it's just math. Through business planning – which, yes, we all have to do – you figure out what you'll need to get started and grow. And with that comes identifying the funding required to make that a reality.

If you don't have the requisite funding readily available, it's time to look to other people. As things progress, your position will absolutely change over and over, but creating some early projections and forecasting – even if rough – paints the picture.

Q: How do you know you are ready for an investor, versus just asking family and friends for money?

A: You'll need to extend the conversation to new resources just as soon as you've exhausted friends' and family dollars, or if there simply aren't any friends and family options for you.

The other primary driver for going beyond friends and family is for access to new opportunities and resources. Some call it "smart money," where whoever is helping fund your cause also brings their expertise, networks and often vast resources to the table. That, together with the short- and long-term financial impact, can be a major catalyst for your business and is the perfect time to think beyond friends and family. [Are you actively seeking financing options for your business? Check out our reviews and best picks of business loans.]

How to find the right investor

Q: How do you find potential investors?

A: It's all about networking. Start with family and friends, then move to your professional network. Who do they know that might be interested? ... Through the course of that outreach and sharing your story over and over, you are then introduced to more and more people beyond your network, who I call your extended network, and eventually find prospective investors that might align. Yes, you can conduct cold outreach as well, and we all do, but it's the power of your network – and extended network – that nets you the most effective relationships.Q: How do you find potential investors?

Q: How do you know if an investor is right for you and your business?

A: There has to be alignment, and I would suggest that starts with your core values. It's not all that different than how you might seek employees or partners that believe in you and your vision. They can't just have basic business or financial goals – they have to have a mindset and operate in a way that works for you and with you.

I'll also say it's really important to pay attention to your gut. Sometimes you just know innately if an investor is a good fit or not, and that absolutely should be taken into consideration.

Q: What should your proposal to an investor include?

A: I would say to look at a proposal to an investor more like you would a marriage than a business. Yes, you have to go through the practical motions and economics that make for a good fit, but in the end, it's mostly about having a healthy, mutually beneficial relationship that can stand the test of time. If you can't overcome adversity and subjectivity and ride through the trials and tribulations together, you won't be successful – no matter how good an idea or product you might have.

Q: Once you secure an investment, what role does the investor play in your business?

A: It all depends on who the investor is. Some will be totally hands-off and just check in casually, perhaps no more than chatting at the backyard barbecue or over a coffee or beer. That's commonly where family and friends fall. Others will want to dig in more regularly or even participate as operators, not only to understand how the business is progressing but to see where they can help.

The good news is, everyone with a vested interest genuinely wants to help. Building a business from the ground up requires all the help you can get. It may come in many different forms – financial, networking opportunities, new customers and partnerships, constructive criticism, or candid advice. Whatever the case, it's always worth listening (and remember, you don't have to do everything everyone asks of you). These are people who want you to succeed, believe in you, and care about you. One thing is for sure – you're in it together.

Q: What are the benefits of getting funds from an investor versus taking out a traditional business loan?

A: Traditional business loans aren't usually an option for early-stage startups. While some lenders promote working with startups, it's rare they actually do. I recommend exploring nontraditional loan opportunities.

For example, we have an amazing relationship with the Maine Technology Institute, who fuels innovation by providing technology development loans with preferable terms to early-stage companies. Their goal isn't to run up the bill with interest or lock you in for the day you go public, [but] rather to see you through to success and generate local jobs and economic impact. Those kinds of opportunities are well worth pursuing and often more fruitful.

The primary benefit of funds from investors is availability. Investors are willing to bet on you, especially early on, in ways the banks or lenders will not and may not for many years to come. And once convinced to invest, they can move quickly to infuse capital into the business, which can be a huge benefit. That includes the potential for follow-on funding when you need additional dollars. Now, that doesn't mean investor funds are simply readily available out there in the world. Actually, it's just the opposite. Raising funds from investors is a full-time job on top of your full-time job of building and running the business.

Rapid-fire questions

Q: What piece of technology could you not live without?

A: The most important thing to running and scaling a healthy business is effective communication. Slack is a great tool for everything from regular check-ins to timely company updates and even sharing a funny story or joke. Slack doesn't replace in-person communication or meetings – nothing can – but it can help promote ongoing chatter, transparency, and visibility while minimizing interruptions and interference.

Q: What is the best piece of career advice you have ever been given?

A: Many years ago, when I was building my first business, one of my longtime mentors introduced me to the notion that I should stop working "in the business" and start working "on the business." I hadn't ever thought of things that way, but once I did, it changed my whole perspective.

Now it seems so obvious; however, the truth is we all get caught up "in the business" to varying degrees. This advice not only resonated when I first heard it but is something I come back to each and every day.

Q: What's the best book or blog you've read this year?

A: I really enjoyed One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Fick (who happens to also now be a leading cybersecurity executive). On one hand, [it's] an intense and detailed journey taking you through the harsh realities of war and military life, [and] at the same time a tremendous and thoughtful story about leadership and accountability.

Next up? Looking forward to the July release of The Fifth Domain: Defending Our Country, Our Companies, and Ourselves in the Age of Cyber Threats, co-authored by one of key advisors here at Defendify, Robert Knake, industry thought leader and former White House cybersecurity director.

Q: What's the biggest risk you've taken professionally? Did it pay off?

A: Moving to Portland, Maine. Building my past business in Boston for many years, my wife and I would occasionally escape the city for weekend trips north. I've had the good fortune of traveling extensively in my life and couldn't believe all that Portland and Maine had to offer, and just a couple of hours away. So, when I looked beyond the amazing restaurants, fascinating culture, great schools and outdoor life, I was pleasantly surprised to discover a sprouting startup, tech and creative community.

It's no secret Maine hasn't historically been considered a center for business impact. So, betting on Portland was a huge risk. But it's paid off big. You'd be absolutely amazed at the people and resources that are around. Turns out it's not all lobsters and potatoes.

There are a ton of very smart and uber-successful people in Maine, including a rapid influx of talent migrating away from the ever-increasing cost of living in big cities like Boston and New York. If anyone out there is considering taking the same risk and seeing how Maine can pay off, I'm more than happy to share the secret.

How to Improve Your Business Writing

Posted: 22 Jul 2019 04:45 AM PDT

If you work in business, you might not view professional writing as critical. After all, the real challenges involve profit margins, employee retention and marketing. It's possible that you hire someone to write marketing literature or social media content anyway.

However, effective communication is imperative in business. Without good communication – especially with clients and business partners – you run the risk of initiating a project, developing a new product, or launching a new strategic initiative in a way that leads to dead ends. Customers won't understand your business objectives, and it only takes one poorly written email to create a sense of confusion and frustration.

These tips are intended to make an immediate impact on how you communicate, starting with your next email. They are designed for people who are already overloaded with tasks. If you follow these basic guidelines, you will find that people understand what you mean and what you want to do, and they will even communicate more effectively with you.

1. Learn the basics of good writing.

There's a serious misconception about good business writing. Using complicated phrasing, relying on proprietary terms, and sounding smart and knowledgeable might seem like good practices, but they just cause confusion. A better approach is to write clearly and succinctly. State what you really mean, and don't worry about sounding ultra-professional.

It's best to avoid complex phrasing and write with an obvious noun-verb construction. Good written communication is often short and to the point. Start by making your sentences shorter, and pick a a strong verb. Be direct. The best business writing flows easily and isn't hard to read or understand.

If you follow this advice and stick to a clear and concise writing style, you might be tempted to only use that writing style in "official" documents like a marketing plan. The truth is that all writing in business these days is official, because it is often easily accessible. On social media, you might think a post or comment is a throwaway that no one will notice. That's the first mistake when it comes to business writing. Everything is accessible.

Another general tip is to stick with a logical flow. You might switch to a clear and concise writing style, and that's great, but if you jump around when you write a document and don't maintain an obvious structure for the entire document, you will still confuse the reader. A good place to start is by making a rough outline. It shouldn't be overly detailed – just jot down the key points so you can stick to a roadmap when you're halfway through your email, article or even social post.

2. Make your emails shine, and don't try to explain everything in one message.

Many of us send dozens of emails a day. In business, it's one of the primary forms of communication. While the general tips above apply to all documents, social media posts and emails, there are a few tips that specifically relate to email. Here's one: Keep your message short and simple. It's amazing how many people will compose a long, complicated email and think that is the best way to communicate – packing in all the details as though they are shipping a box.

It's far better to keep things light – like a one-page letter or less. The reason is that everyone in business is busy and distracted. A well-written email is often one that sticks to the basics, covering just what needs to be covered. Instead of including every possible variable, use email as a way to start the conversation. If needed, you can do a deeper dive by phone or using a chat app like Slack. When someone gets an email from you, it should be easy to read and provide just the right level of detail.

3. Read these amazing books to study up.

For anyone who wants to learn the craft of writing without taking a full course or earning a college degree in the field, there are a few shortcuts you can take. One is to read as much as you can. The more you read, the more you will see how to write. As long as you pay attention to how a story is crafted and why words are arranged as they are to make well-written sentences, you will pick up on the basics of exceptional writing, almost by osmosis.

Three outstanding books in particular will give you an immediate boost. Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style is a good place to start. A former proofreader and copy editor, Benjamin Dreyer explains how to write using a lighthearted style.

Another helpful book is Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen, written by Mary Norris, a former copy editor at The New Yorker. Once again, the breezy style and funny anecdotes in this book serve as a template for good business writing.

For a true masterwork about how to research and write for business purposes, consider the book Working. Covering the basics of research, interviewing and writing, this outstanding seminal book by Pulitzer Prize winner Robert A. Caro is rich in detail and provides some of the best advice you will read on effective communication.

4. Create a writing sample for a job application.

There may be times when you have to submit a writing sample for a job application. All the tips above still apply, although there are a few things to note. One is that a writing sample should be crafted with more precision, and that means editing and re-editing. The best writing, at least in terms of the more official submissions you might make for a job application or for content marketing purposes, is thoroughly edited. It's a chiseling process where you revise the text over and over again.

For any writing sample, it's also a good idea to think about the structure of the piece and if it communicates enough about the subject matter. This is a fine balance – including enough detail so that it is a complete sample, while not including any extraneous information.

5. Avoid these common mistakes.

In addition to writing in a simple and concise manner, avoiding jargon or complicated terms, and following an obvious structure, you want to avoid the mistake of amateur writing.

One obvious mistake is passive voice. Compared to active voice ("the brown fox jumped over the log"), passive voice uses a complex sentence structure that's hard to read ("the log was jumped over by the brown fox"). This writing mistake is surprisingly common and makes business communication confusing.

For another example, it might seem obvious that you should use perfect grammar in business writing, but too many people write without thinking about the rules. Pay attention to common grammar traps such as mixing up your pronouns (saying "he" and then "they" to refer to the same subject, for example) or using the wrong verb tense ("do" versus "did," for example). If there are a few that routinely trip you up, make a list of them so you can remain mentally aware of them while writing at work.

One last tip has to do with spelling. It's easy to write a quick email and hit Send, but it's wise to always scan through every email and check your spelling. Nothing confuses a reader more than a misspelled word, because it means stopping and figuring out what you meant. As a good rule of thumb, read everything at least once, maybe even twice, before you send it.
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