Here are 3 tips to get you started:

Be deliberate: As the saying goes, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! It may be tough to keep meeting participants from sneaking a peek at their BlackBerries or iPhones but you can limit it by being deliberate. For example, purposefully assign some homework before your meeting—it doesn’t have to be big, but if people know you’re expecting information from them in a meeting, they’ll stay tuned in.

Control the distractions: I know, you’re probably thinking this is somewhat like herding cats. Although this is entirely possible, I’ve found that the best way to control distractions is to use what you’ve got. It’s almost impossible to prevent people from showing up to a meeting or class these days without their laptop, iPad or other tablet, so use it.  This works best with a little bit of advance planning and an internet connection. What I often do is decide ahead of time which points I’d like to illustrate or reinforce, then I’ll ask a participant or team member to bring up a specific site or information on his or her laptop. The result: they are engaged, and you’ve reinforced your point or idea.

Time management: Remember those 247 billion emails? It can be overwhelming, to say the least. The old adage is true: time management counts. Not surprisingly, it’s critical for today’s global managers to be able to understand how to dynamically allocate their time. Important here is the understanding the concept of delegation—I like to use what I call the 3 W’s: what can you delegate, who can you delegate to, and why are you delegating? If you can answer these 3 questions, you’re on the right track.

In our daily jobs we compete for attention from all sides: our customers and clients, fellow employees, our bosses.   Follow these steps and you can breathe a sigh of relief at your next meeting.

Be sure to see my new article on SmartBrief Leadership: “Persuasion: getting What You Want and What You Need”, available now:

http://smartblogs.com/leadership/2012/04/02/persuasion-getting-what-you-want-and-what-you-need/

Email estimates source: “Dividing Attention Deliberately” by Cathy Davidson, Harvard Business Review; January-February 2012

©Shannon Alter 2012

Gallup says an astonishing 53% of today’s employees aren’t engaged in their jobs at a cost to U.S. business of $300 billion per year. Consider what it costs to replace an employee, attract a new customer, or bring in another client. What you want is a turbocharged team: engaged, involved, and motivated. Even if you’re not planning to be on the next episode of “Undercover Boss”, here are three mistakes you won’t want to make:

Not listening: Technology is great, isn’t it? Not always. Think about the last time an employee or a peer came into your office. If you were able to focus on the conversation, you can skip to the next paragraph of this blog. If you’re like many of us, you were probably tempted to glance at your email—you know, just to check. Next time, put away the temptation and really listen to what your employee or your counterpart has to say. You might be pleasantly surprised

Ignoring employees’ primary motivators:  Face it, we’re all inspired by different things. Money, for example, is a good motivator—for people who are motivated by it.  For some employees, the chance to take on new or different assignments is the spark that ignites excitement. For others, recognition for what they do encourages loyalty. It’s our job to find out what works.

Focusing on problems: It’s natural to focus on the problems at hand when a project goes sideways.  The trouble is, sometimes we forget that once the problem is resolved, it’s a good idea to inject a little bit of optimism: let employees know how they can improve, and how you can facilitate their success the next time around.

Smart employers recognize the value in having—and keeping– motivated employees: it’s the key to business success. Stay tuned for our next blog on motivation and find out what matters most.

Be sure to visit our new Quick Tips on Facebook!

©2012 Shannon Alter

Which public speakers do you admire most? Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and even Lady Gaga are often at the top of the list. No matter who your favorite is, good speakers have several traits in common: confidence, charisma, calmness and poise. Here are three surefire strategies you can use now to boost your confidence and power up your next pitch.

1. Have a conversation: A client recently asked me to evaluate one of its team members, a long-time industry executive. The executive was very knowledgeable, however, his customers complained that they didn’t have a good sense of how their project was coming along. As a result, he didn’t appear credible. Both his reputation, and the company’s, suffered. What was the problem? He had lots — and lots — of information, so that wasn’t it. Plain and simple: The executive wasn’t connecting with his audience.

Think of it as having a conversation. When you’re wooing new business, effectively getting your message across is crucial. Help your new clients connect the dots by offering pertinent examples of how your company has handled a situation. Be sure to share how you recovered from a problem; it will illustrate your strategic skills.

2. Narrow your focus: Often I work with companies that want to expand their business by acquiring clients in another sector of their industry. Just as often, they want to do everything. The same holds true in presentations: We want to include every possible bit of information. Here’s the secret: Get to the point and stay there. Hone in on what your audience wants to know, and they won’t zone out. It’s impossible to be everything to everyone, so pinpoint your focus and clients will know they are truly hiring an expert.

3. Polish it up! I have six words for you here: edit, edit, edit and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. If you want your presentation to be pitch-perfect, this step is critical. Bring out your inner editor and revise until your presentation is right on message. Thoroughly rehearse your presentation, even the spontaneous parts. Many times people will review their proposal simply by reading it or going over it in their heads. If you want surefire results, rehearse your pitch out loud — in front of the mirror, your colleague or even your mom.

Your job is to give prospective clients a great reason to work with you. Take the time now to refine and retool your presentations to make sure they are client-worthy. It will make a world of difference.

Be sure to visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheAlterEdge. We’d love for you to Like us!

This post was originally published on SmartBlog on Leadership. For more insightful business leadership news, sign up for SmartBrief on Leadership.

Just think how far you’ve traveled in your own career. A few weeks ago on LinkedIn, I posed a question to my colleagues in the real estate field: How did you start your career and has it worked out the way you planned?  The answers I received were varied:  some people migrated into profession real estate from other fields: finance, insurance, entertainment. A few actually studied real estate in school.  And more often than not, these managers were attracted to the field because they found out great things about it from a fellow professional.

We all have ideas on what we’d like to accomplish in the coming year. Perhaps you’ll resolve to finally land a new account, nail that all-important presentation or fine-tune your employee development process.  Dr. Seuss said it best: Wherever you fly, you’ll be the best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest. No matter what field you’re in, excitement and passion about what you do says a lot. Pass the word on and oh, the places you’ll go!

What would you like me to write more about in 2012? (Hint: that’s one of my goals!)

Post your answer here or email me: shannon@alterconsultinggroup.com. Be sure to visit our new Quick Tips on Facebook

©2012 Shannon Alter

I’ve recently had the pleasure of addressing real estate managers throughout California and Hawaii. Often, I’ll ask how many of them planned a career in this field or even better, how many actually went to school for it. No matter the size of the group—25 or 100—the response is usually similar: one or two hands go up. The moral of this story is that you may not always end up where you started out, but it can be a great adventure along the way.

Where did you start out? I’d love to hear your experience!

Be sure to visit our new Quick Tips on Facebook

Due to an admitted snafu with the bank’s paperwork, the manager refused to complete my deposit and offered no options. There was simply no way around it, the manager informed me; I would have to return my client’s check.  For the bank, despite the fact that I was a loyal customer the situation was a no-go. This was their policy. For me, despite the fact that I was a long-term customer and the situation  made no sense whatsoever, this was definitely a no-win– I was highly tempted to go find myself another bank. You’ve guessed it, no doubt: common sense was definitely in short supply.

How do we lose our customers? It happens all too often.  A new (or not-so-new) manager gets caught up in the rules, citing chapter and verse but forgetting to focus on the customer.  A new (or not-so-new) organization is so absorbed in getting through tough times that it forgets how—and when– to move forward. What’s the solution? If you want to see an improvement in both performance and profits in your company, hire a common sense manager.

Sure, we all want to hire employees who have technical skills, confidence and leadership qualities. But we also need team members who have what I call the CSQ, or common sense quotient.   It’s difficult to teach, but oh so important to recognize.  Good judgment, reasonableness, and an ability to understand how to make our business work for our customers, our clients and our companies are all key ingredients in employees today.

Think about the advice your mom may have offered when you were young: common sense really does count.

And don’t forget to check out our new Facebook page!

©2011 Shannon Alter

Give up micromanagement: Sometimes we just have to get out of our own way. There’s no better way to sour an employee’s motivation than to watch them like a hawk. Take a breather, go do something else and give your employees the space to do what you hired them to do.

Keep the best performers: You’d be surprised how often colleagues mention that they are holding onto non-performers out of a sense of duty. Remember, the rest of your team is looking for your leadership. If you don’t expect the best performance, it’s doubtful you’ll get it.

Offer the chance to develop skills: Employers are often reluctant to provide training for their employees, internal or external, because they are afraid those employees may leave the company. Sure, that probably happens to some extent, but I think it’s all a matter of exposure. Want engaged employees? Expose your team to new trends, ideas and best practices through classes, webinars, seminars or publications and you’ll see the payoff almost immediately.

Recognize performance: Don’t let this send a chill up your spine; we’re not talking about anything fancy or costly here. Sometimes just a simple thank you or other acknowledgement will do the trick.  After all, everyone wants to know that they are contributing to the company’s overall goals and vision.

What other ways have you used to increase employee engagement? I’d love to hear from you!

1. Connect BUDGET to CAM: This may sound obvious, but all too often real estate managers—especially new ones—don’t take this aspect seriously enough. Look at it this way: what goes into the budget comes out in the CAM.  I’m often asked by managers, for example, if it’s possible to charge tenants back for a management fee, an administrative fee and salaries. My first response is always “it depends”, because it does depend on the lease language for each tenant.  My second answer is “does it make sense?”, because although it may be possible to charge back everything allowable, it may or not make sense to do so. So take the time now to look at your property’s expenses and see if they do make sense; you’ll save valuable time later.
2. 2. Review your leases: This is a great time to review and re-visit your leases, especially as year-end approaches. A colleague of mine noted that whenever his company takes on a new third-party management account they come out looking like heroes to the owner. The reason?  He’s steadfast in his belief that having his managers re-read and review every lease turns up dollars—he almost always finds something that was billed incorrectly.
3. 3. Look at past mistakes: When I worked for an anchor grocery tenant, we discovered that almost 95% of the CAM bills we received from real estate management companies were incorrect. Most often, the errors were easily rectified, but the bills took longer to evaluate and pay, simply because the process of getting them corrected took longer.  Reviewing the prior years’ CAM reconciliation with an eye toward correcting past mistakes can be a great time-saver!

Here’s the secret: Year-end is a busy time for everyone, but taking the time now to put your reconciliation in place will let you sail through CAM season without a hitch.

What’s your viewpoint? We’d love to hear from you.

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Knowledge and reputation:   Over the past few years we’ve all been so busy keeping our heads above water that we may not have concentrated on our own skill set.  Now is a great time to sharpen your own skills. Why not take a class, participate in an online forum, or write an article? It will keep you on your toes!

Superb listening skills: A colleague once confided that if his team could both listen and hear at the same time, he’d have the best real estate company in the world.   How often are we so anxious to relay information to a client or a tenant that we forget to listen to their point of view?  At your next monthly or quarterly team meeting, try conducting a role play with your team, using a real-life example: it’s a great way to practice.

Convey your vision: Often, we do a lot of work to create vision and mission statements for our companies.  If you want to get your team to buy-in and market your company at the same time, be sure to clearly communicate that vision to everyone on your team; it’s time well-spent.

• Listen, listen, listen…to your clients, that is. After all, it’s about what they want.  I’m reminded of a colleague who once told me that he thought he had good a good leasing and management team, but if they could learn to listen and hear at the same time they’d be rock stars!
• Leadership development…don’t shoot yourself in the foot.  If you have a leadership development program in place, great. If not, the time to do it really is now: you can’t grow your business without it. Start out with simple steps. Invite your team to join a webinar, or allocate development time during your monthly or quarterly meetings.

If you get started in these two areas now, you’ll not only have a different perspective, but it will pay off in the way your business grows.