One of the big issues faced by boards of directors in both the non-profit and business sectors is whether to set term limits for members. Organizations often struggle since this includes issues of fairness: Is it fair to ask an effective, caring member to leave, or, alternatively, have someone seem to hog a director's position forever? It also involves balancing the need for continuity and for renewal.

Eli Mina, a meetings consultant, notes in his Deliberations newsletter that term limits can help politely nudge out an ineffective member. But on the other hand, term limits can force a capable and effective person out when he or she is at peak performance and the organization desperately needs that person's skills. He suggests:

• Instead of term limits, try informal methods of ensuring the right balance between continuity and renewal. Set up a solid nomination process, focused on the needs of the organization rather than concerns about offending people.
  
  
• If you have no term limits and an ineffective individual on your board, someone must provide honest feedback to that person.
  
  
• If you absolutely must have term limits because of legislative requirements, see if you can make them flexible. For example: "No individual may serve for more than three consecutive terms, except that this restriction may be waived by a two-thirds vote of the electors."
  
  

Lost customers are ripe for winning back but few companies make the effort according to consultant Jill Griffin. Her survey found 62 per cent of buyers who had recently dismissed a key supplier felt the replacement was basically offering the same product or service. But the buyers also reported that the dismissed suppliers gave up, rather than trying to win back the account. Only 25 per cent offered an apology and only 14 per cent adopted a keep-in-touch strategy with the irritated buyer.

"Those two actions -- making an apology and staying in touch -- are essential steps to recovering lost business. Yet the data clearly shows that once an account is lost, most fired firms do not pursue the win-back opportunity," she notes on her LoyaltySolutions.com web site.

If you lose a customer, she advises:

• Forgive yourself and teammates. "Stuff happens," as the saying goes, and the first step is to move past the pain of losing the account.
  
  
• Apologize to the lost customer. If you lost on price, tell them "we're sorry we failed to deliver on value."
  
  
• Ask them: "What can we do to win back your business?" Listen carefully to all their grievances.
  
  
• Address those issues. Be patient with the customer. Be open. And stay in touch.
  
  
• Make it easy for the customer to come back. And if the customer does return, earn that business every day.
  
  

Many of us complain our lives are too complicated; then we move on to the next item on our overstuffed agenda. Freelance writer Leo Babauta, on his Zen Habits blog, suggests instead that you write on an index card a short list of the four or five most important things in life. What do you value most? "Simplifying starts with these priorities, as you are trying to make room in your life so you have more time for these things," he writes.

Now, think about all the things in your life that you are committed to doing, and find one that you dread doing -- something that takes up time but doesn't give you much value. Take action today to drop that commitment, calling or e-mailing to begin the process of severing the commitment. "I'd recommend dropping all commitments that don't contribute to your short list, but for today, just drop one commitment," he concludes.

Vancouver lawyer Maureen Fitzgerald says most organizations -- including yours -- have serious issues nobody wants to address. She points to the New York Police Department, which built openness and trust through "fishbowl management." Every two weeks, all the 76 precinct commanders sit in a circle and each is questioned on his or her performance relative to corporate strategy before peers.

"Try this: At your next meeting remove the table and set your chairs up in a circle. Over time this simple technique will not only encourage candour but will change the way you communicate, the way you treat each other, and the way you conduct business. You will slowly build trust and candour," she writes in BC Business.

• When introducing your products or services to a new company, it makes sense to start at the top. Ask your contact, "Will you be making a recommendation or giving the final go ahead?" That diplomatic question helps to glean the dynamics.
  (Source: Influence With Ease newsletter)



• Get a glass of water and hold it in front of you. In the first few minutes, it will feel light, but after an hour, your arm might be sore. Entrepreneur Bruno Gideon says negative thoughts about someone after a slight or insult are the same: The longer you hold on to them, the heavier they will get.
  (Source: Bruno's One-Minute E-mail)



• Marketing consultant Jay Lipe urges you to compile a Champions List of the Top 25 people who take an active interest in promoting your business. Develop a system that ensures you are in contact with them every 30 days.
  (Source: Smart Marketing blog)



• The longest URL with Internet Explorer is 2,083 characters. In Firefox, the address bar will show up to 65,536 characters.
  (Source: Neat Net Tricks Premium Edition)



• Your desktop is workspace, not a storage space. Keep only what you are working on at the moment on the desk in front of you, so you can physically and mentally spread out.
  (Source: Timeback Management blog)

A quite significant new emphasis for teams has emerged with research by Deborah Ancona, of MIT's Sloan School of Management, and Henrik Bresman, of INSEAD. For years, the focus on improving teams has been internal, on how the team operates. We've been advised particularly to ensure good rules exist for handling process and team members are trained in conflict management. There have also been various techniques for operating, like the new pre-mortem discussion.

All that is important. But the research suggests it's not sufficient. When teams in various industries and social sectors were studied, it was found internal strengths didn't necessarily lead to success. Instead, successful teams were adept at dealing externally. They knew how to work with people beyond the team, be it finding out what customers wanted, understanding suppliers better, or building links to top management and aligning with those senior manager's needs. That seems obvious, but too often we have ignored that half of the equation.

So select your team with an eye to the external links they can bring to the team, as well as their internal strengths. And when they first meet, perhaps just after identifying potential weaknesses through the pre-mortem, have members discuss whom they can reach out to in order to strengthen their plan.

The researchers using this new approach call the teams they have been creating X-teams, for eXternally focused, and you can find out more in their recent book X-Teams. Their research also suggested you need to think of your team less as one, long-term, continuous entity, and more as a Lego-like association, with expandable tiers. The people working on the project will change over time, with a small core group staying attached until the fruits of their labour are handed to a new team, at which point only one member might remain with the initiative.

You also want to think in advance about the three phases that a team's work goes through: Exploration, as you learn about customer needs or top management expectations; exploitation, as you develop the work you are assigned to tackle; and exportation, as you transfer your product or study to others who will carry it on.

Last week, we welcomed an opportunity to participate on an expert panel related to sponsorships -- of events, programs and/or facilities. One of the fast-growing techniques in the marketing toolkit, sponsorships are about much more than simply publishing your name on a sign or in a program.

Creativity in both conception and execution, generating buzz and capturing your target audience's imagination are key to a successful sponsorship. The package also has to offer a good fit with your positioning, target audience and marketing objectives. Remember to allocate resources not only for the sponsorship itself but also to exploit that profile -- perhaps through complementary advertising, contesting, street sampling or other communications activity.

Making an effective sponsorship decision will depend on estimating the return -- how many more new clients must be signed, products sold or services retained to more than repay the cost of the sponsorship? We also find smaller community-minded organizations sometimes fail to distinguish between making a marketing investment and a civic-minded donation, leading to disappointment in their bottom line return.

The panel discussion reminded us how important it is to invest sponsorship budgets wisely. 8020Info would be pleased to help you review your marketing communications plans. Enquiries are welcome at (613) 542-8020, or by email at watercooler@8020info.com.