Success in Ohio

In today's competitive business world, continual improvement is essential to achieve sustained success. That is the main reason why NSA Manufacturing has remained a client of Peak Performance² for over six years and counting.

NSA Manufacturing, a privately held, medium sized manufacturer of industrial products, located in Cleveland, Ohio first contacted us at Peak Performance² in June of 2005, where while the industry was growing, their sales on the other hand were not increasing due to several business conditions.

Working with NSA Manufacturing's VP of sales at the time (who later became their president), we at Peak Performance² were given a broad yet critical mandate to assist them in developing ways to re-energize the business and develop a strong and effective plan that could ensure the following:
Company will resume its growth and gain share from its competitors
Company will grow its profits
Company will develop a clear, more defined sales process as the channel strategy clarifies itself
Company team members will learn to work more efficiently together
Company will deliver drastically improved customer service

Actions taken: In order to successfully complete the mandate, we  started off by conducting a deep and comprehensive assessment of needs. This resulted in the identification for the need of a professional sales manager and general manager. For the first time, sales people were required to submit a sales plan and be governed by it. At the same time, we made active use throughout the organization of a number of team effectiveness profiles as well as the DYNAMIX Personal Profile, which led to a better allocation of employees, leading to the formation of improved teams. We also helped NSA hire and train several key managers. 

Outcomes: NSA Manufacturing's sales, which were originally less than 12 million US$, more than doubled, having now risen to beyond 25 million US$. To this day, our Peak Performance² team continues to coach their employees and the president of the company.

The DYNAMIX Personal Profile is considered an essential tool in their organization and is widely used to promote understanding and effective teamwork.

In addition, the various Peak Performance² sales and team performance principles are foundational to their company's DNA.

Important conclusions: Market realities can lead to stagnant sales, however a strong, shared vision and a consistent development plan can serve as a catalyst to propel growth. Furthermore, it is critical to identify market opportunities that can drive increased sales and profits. Also, as previously noted, effective and efficient teamwork are keys to ensuring success in an organization. Superior relationships within a company are a source of hidden profits. In addition, just like as NSA Manufacturing discovered, an elevated understanding of the differences of people's styles, which can be shown through the DYNAMIX Personal Profile, results in huge improvements in communication, which again is critical. For NSA Manufacturing, these improvements led to huge increases in sales and profits. Lastly, as mentioned before, continual improvement is essential for reaching growth and high levels of constant success.

Check out our website at http://www.peakperformance2.com/ to learn more about our services and how we can help your company improve and achieve great results.

If you have any further inquiries, feel free to ask us a question right here on our blog.
We would be glad to send you an immediate response!

Kyle Dana

“Twelve Tips for Team Building: How to Build Successful Work Teams”

In today’s workplace, being as efficient as possible is of the utmost importance. By utilizing employees to their maximum potential yields greater results and makes companies more valuable. Strong workforce teams give companies that competitive edge and makes for a good corporate culture.  In essence, the best teams work towards the “greater good”, where team members put the organization first.

There are two main components that are often confused and that lead to ineffective teams. The team leaders need to outline what kind of focus they want their teams to have and how they want to operate (horizontal chain of command, etc…). The other important aspect is building a strong sense of involvement amongst team members.  Settings goals and deadlines are key to achieving any form of success.

When a team is starting out they must set clear expectations. Members need to know what they are doing and why they are doing it. They must also understand their role within the organization and how to best apply their individual skills within their team. People should play to their strengths and have others help out their weaknesses. There needs to be a sense of importance so that everyone stays motivated and committed to accomplishing the task at hand.

Having the right team members for the right projects is just as important. They should have trust in each other and be given the proper resources so that they feel adequately equipped to succeed.

To stay on track of objectives, teams should set deadlines and follow their progression by use of timelines. The team’s vision shouldn’t stray from what they set out to accomplish. As mentioned before, being focused is tremendously important to staying objective and being successful.

Employees need to be given some slack in order to feel a sense of empowerment; this leads to greater sense of involvement and overall better work. Collaboration amongst members allows for brainstorming and creation of fresh ideas. Members should receive praise for good work and team rewards to help with bonding.

Throughout this process, the team leader should still remain in control and it is up to him to delegate tasks and bring out the best in all of his team members. Consequences for unacceptable work need to be discussed at the beginning so that the repercussions are clear.

As you can see there are many factors that help create successful work teams. Having a good corporate culture has being proven time and again to translate into higher profits and happier and more motivated employees.

Jonathan Proulx-Jones

Service Performance - Providing Excellent Customer Service

As a Marketing student at John Molson School of Business, "customer service" has come to be somewhat of an every day word in my life. While I was looking over Peak Performance 2's website, a section entitled 'Service Performance' caught my eye. It is not only my Marketing education that drew me into further reading this section of the website, but interestingly enough the work I have done as a bartender and waitress in the restaurant industry has increased my awareness, consideration and interest of customer service in general. In this section of their website, Peak Performance 2 shares a video that discusses an extremely positive experience that somebody had with the customer service on an Air Canada flight. It is known that the airline industry is cut-throat and that there are many considerations for customer service in this industry.This made me think of my own experiences in a similiar customer-service-oriented industry that I work in. The restaurant industry is one of at times demanding, impatient and unforgiving customers. However, it is also an industry that relies on its customers. Over the years, working with a lot of different people and serving many clients, I have learned a lot about providing excellent customer service. Additionally, in a course entitled Customer Service Excellence (taught by Professor Brent Pearce at John Molson School of Business), I have learned several key lessons about customer service. These are lessons that I have drawn on from the restaurant industry but that I truly feel apply to all industries and organizations:

- Always maintain a positive attitude regarding the business you work for. Customers sense negative feelings. A positive attitude will be reflected onto those around you.

- First impressions are key! Always be polite, friendly and inviting, welcome your client.

- Try to stay motivated with your service tasks. Many coworkers may be negative, lazy and annoyed by demanding customers. Never let the negative people around you bring you down - lift them up! Being a positive leader can work wonders on employees around you! As mentionned in the Service Performance section of Peak Performance 2's website, being positive and optimistic can influence the environment and others around you.

- Whenever a problem does occur - RECTIFY the situation. This is an opportunity for you as a representative of your company to save face.

- Remember people and build relationships. Every life situation is a networking opportunity and an opportunity to build contacts, all the while building your clientele, no matter the industry.

Although these considerations are what I have learned through my experience in the restaurant industry, I truly believe that these apply to all kinds of organizational settings. One thing I learned from Professor Brent Pearce is that a company should not necessarily have a customer service department, the reason for this is that EVERYBODY should be responsible for customer service!

See the Service Performance section of Peak Performance 2's website for more information on the customer service excellence consultation services they provide!

Chelsea Bonneau

"5 Keys to Superior Communication"

Knowing that team performance is central to the success of any organization, the question that immediately follows is, "how do I get the highest level of performance out of my team?"

Sam Watts, of PeakPerformance2 explains that the performance of most teams is directly related to the degree of effective communication experienced within that team. Often times there is a large gap between what is thought to have been communicated and what was actually understood. One of the easiest ways to avoid errors in communication is to eliminate elements that further impede the comprehension of a message. This process is often easier said than done, especially considering the cultural diversity in Canada, and today's business world.  Today, many work groups and teams are heterogeneous in composition, and Watts believes that there are 5 tips that can help create more effective communication within any team.

1: Select the Right Communication Method

"The best way to ensure that real communication occurs is to engage in face-to-face dialogue"

The importance of face-to-face communication is verified by situations I'm sure many of you have experienced: you read the content of an email or text message and meanings that were never intended are projected onto it. There is now a tone, level of aggressiveness, or hidden message in the words you read. This is a common problem with written communication, especially quick notes like emails and text messages that aren’t thoroughly reviewed before sending. When you are face-to-face with the person you are communicating with you have the opportunity to clarify and understand verbal and nonverbal cues, as well as adjust to the communication style being used.

2: Align Your Actions and Your Behavior with Your Words

“There are very few things that are more damaging than the perception of hypocrisy”

Consistency is key when communicating. Take for example a CEO who holds a staff meeting and explains that sales are up, service levels are high, and all around the company is healthy. The week after he makes dramatic downsizing efforts. The CEO’s words were contradictory with his behaviors, therefore creating a negative moral and sense of distrust among employees. People frequently assess the tone of communication, but they are exceptionally quick in analyzing a change in someone’s observable behavior.

3: Have a Relationship With Those That you Wish to Communicate With

“The better the relationship, the better the potential for understanding”

The first step to creating a relationship is asking questions. You want to understand what is important to people and what needs they may have. It is important to start with asking questions, as well as leave time for listening. When you have come to know someone very well, you can often infer meaning from their words even if their communication is poor. Good relationships allow people to understand intentions behind certain statements.

4: Don’t Hide Emotions

“Effective communicators do not deliberately hide emotions that will contribute to the overall effectiveness of the message”

Listeners are more motivated and encouraged by genuineness than by smoothness. Speakers who expose their true emotions are normally passionate about the topic, and the human element of their words makes their communication that much more effective. However, it is easy to sense false intentions, and therefore people should not fabricate emotion in an attempt to gain attention. It is also extremely important for emotions to be tied to a specific message, if not, the probability of disengagement of your listeners greatly increases.

5: Select Language That Clarifies

“Words are an integral part of communication and excellent communicators don't use them carelessly”

Ambiguous language, including poor grammar, foul language, confusing expressions and run on sentences make it extremely difficult for people to understand the true intentions behind your words. Short, concise sentences are the easiest to understand and clear word selection will avoid misunderstanding of confusing phrases.

By integrating these tips into your work group, you can increase the level of effective communication and in turn create more successful outcomes for your organization. I suggest implementing these techniques in your team and evaluate their success after a few weeks. A helpful source for measuring your communication effectiveness can be found in the Communication Nations blog:

http://communicationnation.blogspot.com/2005/11/how-to-measure-your-communication.html

This post contains information from “5 Keys to Superior Communication.” © 2011 Sam Watts, Peak Performance2.

Katie Cunningham

Success story

     For the past 6 years we’ve been working with privately held company 911 SE – Philadelphia PAI It’s a small organization with approximately 25 employees. The company distributes safety related products that are sold mostly to government and government agencies, runs a cleaning and testing facility for firefighter’s turnout gear, and provides a variety of related services to market.

      Few years after its start-up, company was struggling because of resource allocation issues, disagreements among employees, and the absence of good processes.

There are several larger players in the market that company competes with, but it has a competitive advantage due to its flexible and aggressive style of its running business.

      Our job was to evaluate employees performance and if found lacking to re-deploy them as needed. We developed a strong plan to ensure that the company will grow and remain profitable. Employees will be assigned to roles suitable for them; therefore, will work as a team to deliver superior customer service.

      After a comprehensive assessment of needs of several managers who had been with the company since the start-up but were unable to keep up with the pace of growth, it was decided that it would be in everyone’s best interests to let them seek employment somewhere else. In addition, several people had developed problematic attitudes in the organization. They were addressed accordingly. Once DYNAMIX®  profile became available, we actively used it throughout the organization. We visit offices quarterly to ensure that the assignments are complete and the improvement took place. Ongoing coaching of the Managing Director and with individual sales team members by telephone ensures that each team member develops and monitors a personal development plan and a tactical plan related to their area of responsibility. Although the sales have tripled and profit as a percentage has doubled, the assignment continues as the company plans to grow further.

     It is critical to keep the initial vision of the company leaders foremost and have fully engaged team members who believe in the vision and behave in the ways that reflect it. As company grows it needs to change some of its methods to adapt to its changing environment. We excel at knowing how and when to make changes. Our work saves time and ensures customer satisfaction and loyalty. Tools (like DYNAMIX® profiles) are helpful but nothing is a substitute for steady application of sound sales and management principles.

Julia Spraiter

Teamwork- The Necessary Ingredient in the Recipe of Success

Companies are constantly searching for ways to improve and reach increased success, yet they often find themselves drawing a frustrating blank.

There is a simple answer to this matter.
The key to achieving high levels of success is fairly straight-forward, it is all about TEAMWORK!

Having spent the past years working many jobs in diverse industries, I have constantly been functioning and involved in teams. Here, I have seen first hand the good, the bad and the ugly.

I personally started off many years ago working as a media and marketing assistant, where I was part of a great team, a team which shared a common vision, common goals, a team which used each individual's strengths to the fullest. This led to much job satisfaction, where I know it is hard to believe, I would actually wake up in the morning and be excited to go to work! To nobodies surprise, we reached many levels of success, always accomplishing our many goals and constantly exceeding our management's expectations.

With that being said, the next job I had was a completely different story. I later worked as a customer service representative, where conflicts withing my team were rampant. Our group was a horrible fit, with employees allocated in the wrong positions and a huge lack of communication. As you can imagine, we were not very successful and after two months, I decided to quit that job. May I add, that was probably the best decision I have ever made to this day. 

Through my many personal experiences, I realized how all of the companies I worked for which had success had one major common theme, that being great teamwork. Teamwork was critical!

I therefore come to the conclusion that as you can clearly see, teams within your company can make you or break you. While having highly-qualified, talented and intelligent employees is of significance, it is of much more importance to have employees that function well together, as we all know by now that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. High performing teams are also seen as exceedingly valuable, as by many, teams are seen as a primary source of sustainable competitive advantage as while competitors can copy your products, services, programs or even steal some of your employees, it is virtually impossible for competitors to duplicate and copy your teams. Lastly, it is important to note that poor quality relationships inside an organization can poison relationships outside an organization, while positive relationships and strong teamwork can be the key to ensuring satisfaction both internally and externally, leading to positive accomplishment and again success.


To leave off, I want you all to remember the wise words of Helen Keller, where she once said
 "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."




Make sure to check out our website at http://www.peakperformance2.com/ to learn how we at Peak Performance² can improve teamwork within your organization.

Also, let us know what you think about teamwork!

Kyle Dana

My Experience with the DYNAMIX Personal Profile

Peak Performance2 offers both personalized and team-oriented consulting services. Their DYNAMIX Personal Profile services offer unique and individualized analyses of people in terms of how they work, how they communicate and how they engage in team work. I was fortunate enough to be able to experience a DYNAMIX analysis and was quite intrigued by my results. As a Marketing student and a soon-to-be entrant into the business world, I am eager to learn as much as possible about how to be the best possible employee and team member at my future establishment. Through a series of unique questions, the DYNAMIX Personal Profile was able to analyze my personal characteristics, strengths and potential weaknesses. I was blown away by how accurate many of the statements they made about me were, and in a lot of cases, it was things about myself I had never even considered! In my opinion, a DYNAMIX Personal Profile is an extremely valuable tool for anyone working in any kind of team who wants to approve upon their cooperation and communication skills, and to imporve their general productivity both individually and as part of a team. This profile has most certainly broadened my horizons in terms of how I see myself as a potential employee and team member.

For additional information on the Peak Performance DYNAMIX Personal Profile click on the following link:

Peak Performance2's DYNAMIX Personal Profile

Chelsea Bonneau