Conversation continues with dotStaff’s Julie Talatinian and Andrea Connell, Program Manager with Knowledge Services, a dotStaff™ Alliance Partner. Julie: What is the primary benefit you provide your clients—both with dotStaff™ and as the MSP? […]
This week, dotStaff™ will be sharing some experiences and insight from an Alliance Partner that utilizes dotStaff™ as a component of its Managed Service Provider program. Andrea Connell, a Program Manager with this Alliance Partner, Knowledge Services, spent some time speaking with Julie Talatinian about accomplishments and successes achieved in the program she manages. Today’s post is the first of four installments to this story. […]
A couple weeks ago Seth Godin blogged about Accepting False Limits. I’d been working on a blog about this idea myself. After reading his blog I thought, should I even write about this now? After all, the great Oz has spoken. What can I possibly add? Then I realized, if I do not write about accepting false limits because I believe I have nothing to add, I am accepting a false limit! I am sometimes cast under the spell of a “false limits” mentality, and at other times an “All Systems Go!” mentality. In this blog I want to identify some familiar “false limits” we impose on ourselves, and expose them for the imposters they are! I believe our failure to launch a project is tied to whatever we tell ourselves about it, in other words, our beliefs. You know the famous Henry Ford saying: “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re probably right.” […]
Partnerships are the foundation on which dotStaff™ is built. As a result, we get to meet some amazing talents in and around the staffing industry. Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with one of our Alliance Partners, Scott Harris, a co-founder of Main Sail, LLC. Scott is an entrepreneur to the core, having started his first business in his mid 20’s. Scott expertly responds to the needs of complex businesses. During the course of this interview, I also learned of his expert skills at dodging the beating of a spatula. Why don’t you tell us about Main Sail? […]
My alpha cat Annie loves to perch on top of my kitchen cabinets, taking stock of her world. From on high, she is invulnerable to unseen forces, a power position that unleashes her versatility: She can pounce on a fly, chatter at a bird outside, and keep her sister out of mischief down below. Atop my kitchen cabinets, she’s the queen of the jungle: Annie’s high-level view of her world has a lot in common with the view of dotStaff™ Users. It’s this high-level, world-at-the-fingertips view that distinguishes our software from other VMSs in the industry. Once implementation completes, Users’ contingent labor data is now organized in a more powerful way that also provides them easy access. How? […]
Lately I find myself avoiding a couple projects: completing my taxes (April 15th approaches . . . .) and making some enhancements to my training program. My resistance, I realized, was tied to feelings of uncertainty. Deliverance came over the weekend in the form of a brown picnic basket. On Saturday, my daughter and I watched the Chopped Championship. If you’re unfamiliar with Chopped on The Food Network, four guest chefs compete by preparing a basket-full of seemingly incompatible ingredients, such as catfish, tomatillos, marshmallows and rutabagas. The chefs have 20-30 minutes to create a dish that is delicious, inventive, and pleasing to the eye. After each round, one person is eliminated. If you are the winner, you win $10,000. On Saturday the winners faced off with each other. The grand prize would be $50,000. […]
I ate brunch at Max and Benny’s in the Chicago area this weekend, and ordered a Greek Omelet and a bagel. When my meal arrived, the server also presented an attractive little shot glass of creamy pink stuff. Here it is: It elicited all sorts of oohs and ahhs from my family and everyone wanted to know what it was. It was pleasing to the eye, unexpected, and a tasty sweet contrast to my rich and salty omelet. We talked about it several times throughout the meal. The sheer delight of this little smoothie lingered and I began thinking about it from a business perspective. The effect of this sweet treat was huge. The food was great, but the little smoothie was EXTRA. I thought: I didn’t order it and I didn’t ask for it, but the bonus part made me feel special – like they cared about their customers. My appreciation for Max and Benny’s grew tenfold that morning, all over a simple smoothie. In contrast, that afternoon I went to a chain for coffee and a pastry. While there I got up from my table three times requesting a plate, three forks, and that they microwave my stale pastry back to life. The two experiences made me think about what excellent customer service really looks like, how you provide it, and what a powerful impact it can make. […]
Back in my undergraduate days at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, on a Friday night you’d walk with hand-wringing dread past a certain bar called The Red Shed on State Street. Happy drunk fellas sat on their stools holding up huge posters rating your looks from 1 to 10. In an instant, you felt like [...]
Oh Anthony Bourdain! My first impression of you was not so good. You struck me as a man’s man—and not someone I could relate to. Then my daughter started watching your TV show No Reservations during her snow days this week, and she wouldn’t even look up at me when I came home from work. [...]
When my daughter was 8, she became obsessed with baking. She wanted to bake bread, pie, cookies, cakes, and in particular, anything with chocolate. I let her do it on occasion, but often re-directed her to other activities, because I was afraid she would become unhealthy. I had a whole ‘nother plan for my brilliant high-achieving daughter, who impressed all her teachers, got As in everything, had exceptional test scores. She kept wanting to bake though—that was her passion. When I whispered my fear about her developing unhealthy attitudes about food to my sister-in-law Lauren, she said, “you really need to re-think that.” Her suggestion woke me up from my slumber regarding my daughter’s passion. I had to make some adjustments though, and it required a leap of faith. I accepted the fact she might gain weight, and I determined I would support her regardless of the outcome. […]