For many years in my former life and work within the global sector as a Program Manager, I was involved in recruitment and hiring people for projects large and small. At one point in my career I realized that I had undertaken several hundred interviews to fill roles on projects in one year alone!
A key part of finding good people for project and work, goes back to being clear on what the role is, and being excellent in communicating that.
In building your team, getting better at defining roles and even writing position descriptions is imperative. This holds true for project roles, sub-contracting roles, as well as full time roles.
Questions to consider as you go about creating position descriptions are:

1. What is the role? Outline what is required. What’s the job title?
2. What type of role is this? Supporting role, customer facing…
3. What are the job requirements? What is needed in order to be successful? Consider the skills, and experiences someone needs in order to be successful in this role.
4. Responsibilities – What will the person be required to do?
5. Tasks – What are the actual tasks people are required to complete?
6. Reporting – Who will they report to? How often? What is required around reporting?
7. Relationships – Who will they need to interface with? What relationship can they expect from you?
8. Support and Resourcing – What support and resourcing can they expect?
9. Feedback and Performance Measures – What are the metrics they are being measured on? What does successful job performance look like? What feedback loops can they expect?

In creating a position description, it can be useful to ask:

• Who else has a business model or team like you do? Do they have a job description you can start with?
• When is it important to revisit this?

Human Resource Management may not be part of every coaches wheel-house. If this is something new for you and you’d like more information, two good “go to resources” or starting points are:

1. The Balance Careers – Susan Heathfield has been writing in this area for many years now. Check out her post on How to Write a Job Description for a Job opening  here.
2. Paul Slezak’s Five Simple Steps to Writing a Concise Job Description at the RecruitLoop blog.

Note that job description/position descriptions may vary from location to location and can have different legal requirements. Be sure to reach out to your local Small Business Centers for more information on local level realities.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

PS – A reminder that this month’s 30 days focus in the 1BizStepaDay series is around Relationships. Download a copy of the 1BizStepaDay series here. What are the daily actions you are taking to build your relationships during this month of February?

There comes a time (or many times) when we are challenged to think about our business models. How is it working? What changes are needed?
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One of the inflection points you may see in your business is the need to build your own team.

I’d like you to return back to your vision for this year. What are the major projects you have planned? Who can help you get there – quicker, faster, better?
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Building your own team takes effort, especially while you are bringing people on board. You’ll want to consider things like:

• What’s important to communicate about the culture, and values of the business?
• What is important with customer service? Around quality? Around outcome? Around the philosophy of the business?
• What are the non-negotiables? i.e. THIS IS how we do things
• What are your expectations in terms of punctuality, quality, feedback, attention to detail, responsiveness, ability to work when you are needing them?
• What are the roles that are going to help you as a business grow, offer the programs and products you want and meet the challenges of the landscape you operate within?

Even before going to hire people, it will be important to consider what you want to communicate about your business, it’s culture and how you do things.

I’ll be sharing another few posts around the area of growing your own team in the next month. Next week we turn to creating job descriptions for team members.

Enjoy
Jennifer
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PS – A reminder that this month’s 30 days focus in the 1BizStepaDay series is around Relationships. Download a copy of the 1BizStepaDay series here. What are the daily actions you are taking to build  your relationships during this month of February?

Last week’s post kicked off our focus this month (February) on relationships.

This week I’d like you to think about WHO is in your web of relationships. As solopreneurs, it’s very easy to think we are “solo”, or alone, when in fact, throughout the day we may be interfacing with a wide variety of others.
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For this week’s activity, consider these questions:

• What are the activities and tasks where you are in relationship with others?
• What are the new relationships you want to foster?

One of the activities I include in the Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner is having you create your Top 20 list. Who do you have in your network right now?
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Once you capture people you have in your network, then ask:
Who else would you like to add to your network?
Consider:

• influencers,
• connectors (people who can connect you to others),
• associations you might join to grow your knowledge base, or to contribute to.

My second book was entitled “From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching”. This also means expanding the conversation to more. What are the hubs which can help you connect with, and be in dialogue with, more people at any given time?
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Enjoy your relationship mapping work!
Jennifer
PS – A reminder that this month’s 30 days focus in the 1BizStepaDay series is around Relationships. Download a copy of the 1BizStepaDay series here. What are the daily actions you are taking to build  your relationships during this month of February?

As we step into the month of February, our focus is going to shift to the realm of relationships. Collaboration in all its forms is essential to a thriving coaching business.

On the client level, we are always partnering, and developing deep relationships with our clients. In fact, this partnership is the foundation for successful coaching. If trust and connection is not present, it’s unlikely that a client will be open to discussing their ideas.

While prospective clients may first find us on social media, the next step is usually a call to check for “fit” and that we are the best support for their needs.
Consider what you are doing to build trust and connection with your clients, and prospective clients.

We may also be partnering with others in our industry – with other coaches who we might work with in a variety of ways. This might entail designing and co-leading programs together or bringing others on board through a sub-contracting relationship.

Consider how you are partnering with others in our industry, or related industries this year. Make a list of this.

If we are a solopreneur coach, enlisting others to help us round out our skill set helps us accomplish tasks me may not have skills in – from accounting to graphic design.
Who are the service professionals you’d like to build relationships with to help you with your business?
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As a solopreneur, relationships are critical for success. Consider these ways we may be working with, and through others:

• To complete projects
• In designing and developing products
• To serve clients
• To help others achieve their goals
• In marketing – having others refer us, partnering in joint ventures, coming together with other professionals to co-host an event like a trade show, a virtual giveaway

What else is important for you to note about relationships this month?
Enjoy!
Jennifer
 
PS – A reminder that this month’s 30 days focus in the 1BizStepaDay series is around Relationships. Download a copy of the 1BizStepaDay series here. What are the daily actions you are taking to build your relationships during this month of February?

Consistent action on your business can be as important in your business in year 15 as it is in year one. One of the key principles of the Coaching Business Builder Workbook and planner is that:
Consistent Action + Daily Steps = Momentum

With that in mind, last month I started a new monthly series here at the CBB blog called the 1 BizStepADay. Last month's focus was on some of the core elements and systems of your business. This month's focus for February is around relationships.

I would like to invite you to download this month's resource - a suggested prompt for you to follow every day of the month. 
I've had a number of emails from people saying that they appreciate the prompts. Each one is intended to be a short 5-15 minute activity you can undertake right away. Notice how they build over time!

Download the February prompts around relationships here (in honor of one of February's key events - Valentine's Day. This month we also celebrate Family Day here in Ontario the following weekend).

What's important for you to do and explore this month?

Enjoy, and let us know what bears fruit for you, using the comments below
Jennifer

Warm regards,
Jennifer

Author of Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Effective Group Coaching (2010), From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching
Potentials Realized - Supporting Coaches, Businesses, Leaders and Teams 
Our Annual Groups are shifting their focus this month :
The Learning Lab and Design Studio focusing on program design will be exploring Video-Based Learning)
and  the Coaching Biz Growth Lab- focusing on coaching business development will explore Collaboration and Community Building in the Social Media Space

If you are looking for a budget-friendly learning and coaching support space, I hope that you will consider joining us!