Feedback from Field

This is something that I crave for these days.

I have been trying to impress upon my internal customers (Sales, Other practice heads, project managers) and my team of designers, developers, quality control members that they are my key critics who can give me the much valuable impression from their respective field.

However, often, I receive a muted affirmation or a non-compliance (I figure later through micro management) to the communication channels of either power point presentations, documents, excel based templates for number crunching or even short/long emails.

Johari window (nice explanation in this link) indicates that we need to be express ourselves (Free Area) and ensure that the eco-system perceives the same about us (address the blind areas).

The information process as per the quadrants is to allow for:
Expression > Feedback > Disclosures >SelfDiscovery/Mutual Enlightenment

Thus, Feedback from the field is the first key point that allows for closed loop communication. Going beyond this basic need is collaboration that allows for disclosures to open up hidden areas and through careful analysis move craftily to the open area from the unknown areas.

Wanna aim for perfection ? Insist on feedback and ask for critics eye review on the communication. Back channels or trackbacks are the easy routes that enable customers, vendors, project teams, client teams to work effectively as a true ecosystem enabling successes in business.

I rarely do get the feedback from field. Whenever it has come through, it has always been a revelation and innovations and marketing initiatives have been fast tracked making our maturity quicker. When a partner from the eco system takes interest in my work, then the work gets exciting and interesting.

Feedback from Field is a most respected job. Get that in place for all communications to be successful.

e-Learning companies slug fest

http://www.sakaaltimes.com/2008/12/01114738/IT-man-held-for-cheating-firm.html

Many of us know that e-Learning professionals in India are connected in a small circle and have got friends in almost all companies. Most of us must have switched between few known specialist companies that we know what projects each company has and works with and the client names. The stamp of past employer style of working can be seen in the output generated, as our style and the company style is more or less merged with the years put in individual organizations. The article though seems to go beyond this one.

Competition is good, and winning is necessary in business. However, it is harmful when employers are beaten hands down with their own work and their own strategy by their own alumni, just that implementation is quicker outside the organization, it originated.

However, when I move to a new organization and I know that my past employers are involved in competition, I would subconciously provide information, that can offer better price points, solutions, and methods to win account. But these go with assumptions based on similar past experiences in these organizations. Does this too constitute unfair competition?

Thinking about it to convince myself with the hypothesis that I feel is right.