Weekly newsletter #47
The best of what I've read this week, about operations, training and education, communication, and more
Hello!
Last week’s poll results indicated that 90% of respondents are curious about last week’s most popular link. I’ve made the new section, and thanks for voting! See this week’s poll below to help me tailor this newsletter for you.
MarTech published my final HubSpot release notes for managers for its November updates. I’m clearing some time for other work in 2024 and have found another awesome MarTech contributor to continue writing these (thank you!!).
Speaking of contributors, I published my second blog based on contributions from experts about “Why is Documentation Important?” Let me know what you think of this evolving format!
Thanks to this week’s sponsor: Ben Stroup’s newsletter — The Velocity Factor
Check out the latest edition, which discusses a timely end-of-year topic: Bridging the Ambition-Reality Gap: A Practical Guide to Effective Goal Setting
Last week’s most popular link:
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…)
Was this most popular since it was near the top and I added my thoughts with it? 🤔
What I've been reading, watching, and listening to:
Rosalyn Santa Elena writes about if process is really important
John Cutler gives some advice for overthinkers
Christina Janzer writes about how putting in extra hours at work doesn't always mean getting ahead in your career, from a recent Slack Workforce Index
Joe LaGrutta talks about managing leadership requests in RevOps, and how documentation ties all major parts of RevOps together
Trevor van Woerden writes about the lessons learned from hosting 36+ episodes of a 16-minute podcast
Amanda Garza writes that while RevOps teams are integral to driving efficiency and growth, their true value extends far beyond being ‘ticket takers.’
Joseph Lewin writes about how professional services firms can't fix a revenue problem with brand marketing or sales plays
Megan Witherspoon writes about reconsidering your recurring meetings in 2024
Rachel Provan gives advice on deciding which meetings to stop
Jordan Henderson suggests questions to ask before taking an ops job, particularly at a smaller company
Ali Schwanke shares the top 5 tips and a guide on how to do thought leadership
Jordan Jackson explains an adjustment to the RACI framework
Gregory Dirick writes about how aligning your marketing, sales and customer service teams helps you fix stagnant revenue streams
Amanda Edens Sellers writes about how easy it is to get "boxed in" with formulaic SEO tactics
Jeff Ignacio shares a spin on a Christmas song: The 12 ways of RevOps, and asks if the 30-60-90 day plan is still effective
Jonathan Fianu shares recent reflections on RevOps reporting
Kathleen Booth writes about old vs. new ways to advance your career
Mark Kilens writes about how the way marketing teams hire talent is changing
Travis Scott shares takeaways from Seth Godin about creating something worth talking about, then create the conditions for the word to spread.
Wes Kao writes about how the goal isn't to get a "yes" for ideas and recommendations
Zaharo Tsekouras explains the differences between Chief of Staff and COO roles
Nektar shares the highlight from RevOps director's 30-60-90 day plan
Grace Wright writes about communicating when you do the impossible so it doesn’t become the standard
Devlin Peck shares the importance of starting building learning in wireframes and not jumping into the end tool
MK Getler-Porizkova shares "The Unofficial Annual Report on What's Trending for Corporate Holiday Gifts."
Jeff Cullimore writes about how and when to play up different types of skills when interviewing in operations roles
Stephanie Valenti writes how managers of entry-level roles need to teach that person who is brand new to the workforce how to be an employee
Amy Wallace shares takeaways from Gartner’s learning and development report
Sara McNamara writes about old school vs. new school management
Jonathan Moss shares how you will fail if you don't have a clear intention with action
Esther Abrass shares resources for building your 2024 HR roadmap
Jasper Polak shares what you can learn from Beyonce about running your business
Pam Rubin shares takeaways about managing up
Matt Gray shares his time management techniques for being CEO of two companies
Articles, Reports, Guides, Newsletters
Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis in Harvard Business Review ($) discuss How to Create Your Own “Year in Review”
Whale blog shares a guide for Employee Experience 2024: Why Smart standard operating procedures are the Next Big Win
Udemy shares a 2024 Global Learning and Skills Trend Report – start on p18
Greg Meyer writes about Applying Mise En Place to Data Operations (including recipe = documentation😄)
Offbeat shares a 2023 learning and development trends map
Al Dea writes about Redefining Career in a Changing World of Work
Jeff Ignacio writes how planning can be a tug-o-war
Gustavo Razzetti writes about improving your all-hands meetings
BoostUp shares a 2024 RevOps Trends Report (with tiny fonts – get ready to zoom in!)
Ayomide Yissa writes about Optimizing Visuals in Technical Documentation
Alexa Mikhail writes about how most workers don’t take enough PTO since they feel guilty (which can be partially solved with documentation…)
Dan Silvestre writes How to Delegate Effectively as a Manager (guess what also helps with delegation…)
Donna Weber writes about How to Unlock New Employee Potential from Day One
Rebecca Knight in Harvard Business Review ($) writes about 8 Essential Qualities of Successful Leaders
Jessica Zwaan writes about The most wonderful time of year: Strategic planning
Podcasts & Webinars
Dan Tyre and Marc Hans discuss Dan’s journey and doing good for the universe on the Think Differently podcast
Revgenius hosted a webinar on How To Grow Your Career in RevOps
Frank Cowell discusses the seven capabilities that allow your agency to scale for a Revenue Ranch training
Matt Spears discusses Unlocking Business Value Through Process Management for a Nintex webinar
Sara McNamara, Jonathan Taylor, and Phil Gamache discuss skills for marketers, leadership, courses and more on the Humans of Martech podcast (with a documentation mention!)
Featured Events or Classes:
On-demand - Activating and Engaging Customer Advocates with Leslie Barrett from testimonialhero
December 19 - All About Teamwork.com Integrations from the Teamwork user group
January 9 - Sales Enablement: How to Reduce Friction in the Sales Process from the HubSpot admin user group
January 10 - Key Marketing Trends - Get Ahead for 2024 from revgenius
January 24 - Kickstart & Grow Your Career as a RevOps Fractional from revgenius
Featured Book:
Remote Works: Managing for Freedom, Flexibility, and Focus by Ali Greene and Tamara Sanderson
Ebooks are coming to bookshop.org in 2024, so ebook fans will have easier access!
Featured Jobs:
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 are 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’ is always available, when you’re ready!