Weekly newsletter #46
The best of what I've read this week, about operations, training and education, communication, and more
Hello!
This week kicks off a few tests for one sponsored link in this newsletter. Thanks to Ben Stroup, a big supporter of this newsletter since the beginning, for being willing to help test what to ask sponsors for, how to measure results, and more. You’ll see a few different formats for the sponsor over the next few weeks of tests; feel free to respond with any feedback!
In non-newsletter news, I am looking for some additional steady part-time work to add to my current activities. Ideally, W2 or 6+ month contract in learning & development, customer education, or any of the numerous job titles related to building courses, training, and other educational content. If you hear of anything, please let me know, thank you!
Last week’s poll results decided that I should NOT limit the number of links in the newsletter. Thanks for voting! See this week’s poll below to help me tailor this newsletter to what you want to see.
Onto the resources!
What I've been reading, watching, and listening to:
Spotlight this week (sponsor)
Ben Stroup’s newsletter — The Velocity Factor — delivers a practical approach to change, leadership, and growth so you can navigate uncertainty, streamline operations, and unlock new opportunities for impact. I am excited that it is now on Substack so I can share links to specific issues in the future!
Kristen Kelly shares how she improved delivery timesheet compliance, and how you do clients a disservice when we think of Onboarding as *just* a process.
Nick Lawrence says: Don’t use your deck to present info AND for follow up support. (I would add: slides are for presenting info, not storing info. A deck is not a plan, it presents highlights from a plan during a meeting, one point in time…)
Heidi Kirby writes about wasting too much time in learning & development
Gray MacKenzie wants everyone to stop acting like all automation workflows are inherently helpful
Milly Barker writes about the benefits of a fractional COO
James McArthur shares reasons to join an early-stage company
Rick Nucci writes about the problem with knowledge silos in people’s heads
Kathryn Montbriand shares a simple tool to help you craft your career legacy story
Ivan Dimitrijevic shares 3 easy-to-implement tips to master async communication
Amelia Taylor writes how Slack has been the channel that generated the most revenue
Jonathan Fianu shares takeaways from the Revenue Operations Summit
Pete Crosby writes about the perception gap in how people see our roles
Amy Scanlon shares a checklist to see if you're ready for an affiliate program
Kyle Norton writes how the return to office movement is trying to solve the wrong root cause and is oftentimes a sign of lazy leadership and thinking
Wes Kao writes: To raise the bar on your team, aim for a culture of high standards × high feedback
Jeff Cypher writes how to keep your standard operating procedures from collecting dust
Darrell Alfonso shares how you need BOTH hard skills and soft skills to succeed
Amanda Swim writes that if your team members aren’t getting it, stop repeating yourself. Find a different way to communicate.
Lela Scott shares takeaways from "Designing For How People Learn"
Dharmesh Shah writes about aligning behind decisions
Pam Rubin asks: How do you know if you're solving the right problem?
Wes Kao writes about the importance of managers giving feedback
Articles, Reports, Guides, Newsletters
Lattice’s State of People Strategy Report
Harvard Business Review ($) writes: Stop Assuming Introverts Aren’t Passionate About Work
Heidi Grant and Tal Goldhamer write in Harvard Business Review ($) about When Designing Employee Learning Programs, Less Is More
Want To Work There shares a guide to creating a team charter
Jeff Ignacio asks: Is the Age of the SDR over?
Rosanna Campbell writes about how to measure company culture
Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza writes about how apprenticeships are headed off the shop floor and into the office
Trainual shares a template on how to improve a process
Ashley Rudolph writes about Leading High-Performing Teams Like Beyoncé
First Round Review writes how New Engineering Managers Have a High Failure Rate — This Figma Leader is on a Mission to Fix It
Darrell Alfonso writes about 12 Marketing Ops Actions You Can Take Today
John Queally writes about Hiring RevOps: When, Why & What to Expect
Gustavo Razzetti writes about Humor at Work: The Superpower of Successful Teams
Hema Padhu writes about: To interim CMO or not? — Part I
Desiree Whitehead shares a guide for Mastering Marketing Complexity
Jess Almlie writes about Strategy and Details - Can We Do Both at Once?
Rachel Nazhand writes about Why Working Yourself Out of a Job Is a Skill (thanks for the documentation shoutout on the post!)
Podcasts & Webinars
George B. Thomas and Liz Moorehead talk about the facts and fiction of growth mindsets in the Beyond Your Default podcast (and the takeaways are on the page)
Austin Mock shares the power of having a Learning Center on your website for the IMPACT YouTube channel
Sean Lane and Hannah Duncan talk about a new approach to operations in new marketing conditions on the Operations with Sean Lane podcast
Dave Derington and Shellie Grieve talk about Cohort Learning in Customer Education on the CELab podcast
Ross Rich and Alison Elworthy discuss Building the Revenue Operations Function at HubSpot on the 10/10 GTM podcast
Fadeelah Al-horaibi discusses Knowledge Base Archetypes in a short video for Slite
Featured Events or Classes:
December 12: Building Leadership at the Frontline - to Drive Culture from Fractionals United
December 12: How To Do "Big" Content Marketing (HubSpot’s Spiraling Up series) from SparkToro
December 12: Lesson Libraries, Managing Content, and Scaling Facilitation from NovoEd
December 13: Driving Profitable Revenue & Alignment in 2024 with HubSpot and Teamwork, from New Breed
December 13: Lead to Loyalty: Optimize the Client Lifecycle with HubSpot & Teamwork.com from Teamwork
December 14: Unlocking Business Value Through Process Management from Nintex
December 14: How to Develop an Effective Customer Education Strategy from Intellum
Featured Book:
Featured Jobs:
Events Marketing Specialist and a Partner Marketing Specialist at Demandbase
Senior Technical Curriculum Developer & Instructor at ClickHouse
A Few Ways I Can Help You
Especially if your job has an education/professional development budget you still need to use for 2023 😁 And if you’ve been laid off, contact me for a 50% discount on courses.
2024 cohorts open for:
How to document your business processes: 2-week class
How to write a clear process anyone can follow: 3-hour workshop
Create a system to keep documentation in use and updated: 2.5-hour workshop
The on-demand version of ‘How and Why to Document Your Business Processes’ could be helpful for people who:
Learn better through videos and activities at their own pace
Aren’t available on the usual dates and times of the live courses (They are usually in the morning in the Pacific time zone)
Have a tighter budget