Introduction
Who
is this MicroModule most useful for?
The
Creating a Virtual R&D Team MicroModule is useful for
anyone who is excited about the process of creation and
would like to compress time while expanding their innovation
and reach. And,
it is particularly useful with individuals who:
1. Have a lot of ideas and not enough time or personal RAM
to follow through on all of them.
2. Thrive on change and creation.
3. Value input and opinions from a wide range of
perspectives and backgrounds.
4. Are not so attached to their ideas or way of implementing
them that they cannot hear constructive feedback.
5. Have an idea and want validation.
6. Want to test-drive a product or idea to determine market
viability.
7. Enjoy brainstorming and like hosting an e-community.
8. Need or want focus, accountability, or structure on a
project.
9. Are creative and need some support and encouragement to
keep going.
10. Have a project (book, course, teleclass, etc.) and need
case studies and examples to flesh out the idea.
What
are the benefits of creating a Virtual R&D Team?
You'll never feel alone.
You'll increase your creativity by 25-500%.
You'll improve the quality of your work.
You'll receive a lifetime of ideas.
You'll complete your product/service 2-10 times faster.
You'll expand your professional network.
You'll become known.
Your R&D Team members may become your best paying
customers.
You'll waste far less time "testing for value."
You'll get the bugs out of your product/service at every
stage.
You'll learn e-collaboration skills.
You'll become a much more open person.
You'll learn to handle criticism/negative input better.
You'll always find SOMEONE who "gets you."
You'll expand your thinking in general.
You'll become an expert a LOT faster.
You'll evolve given the stimulating e-environment you've
created.
How
could I use a Virtual R&D Team?
You want to create a new product or program but you need to
test our your concepts first.
You have an idea and want to get some validation that it's a
good one before you invest your time, money, and energy in
it.
You enjoy the focus, accountability and structure the
R&D Team provides.
You enjoy brainstorming and you want to host an e-community
of similar people.
You want to learn how to coach so you offer to host a
support group where individuals are helping each other.
You want to create a Best Practices (or other) database and
want ideas from lots of different people.
You have a business idea and aren't sure how much commercial
interest there would be in it.
You own a company and want to host a forum of 1% or 5% of
your customers willing to be on an ongoing R&D Team so
you can create new products or improve current ones.
Your company is having problems so you create a turnaround
team of employees, vendors, and customers who want to be
change/agents.
You are an expert in X and want to create a Q & A
database, so you invite people to submit situations and
questions that might occur with X.
You enjoy working with people who have a particular trait
(highly creative, supersensitive, lack self-confidence, are
cancer survivors) and you use R&D Team to create a
network of these people, creating solutions, tools, classes
for them - some being free, some being fee.
You want to create an online learning community or
professional group like CoachVille.
The
3 Steps
How
do I get started on your R&D team?
There
are 3 steps...
Step
1. Get clear about why you want to start a Virtual
R&D Team.
I
want a Virtual R&D Team because
[fill
in the blank here].
Sounds obvious, but until you have an idea why you want a
team and what you would use it for, it doesn't make much
sense to create it. You could go ahead, but if you don't
have something to send to the team fairly quickly, they'll
wonder what happened. The way in which you use your R&D
Team will evolve over time - a natural process as you and
the Team learn more about each other - but you want to have
an initial idea in place to start.
Not sure how you would use it? Answer these questions for
some ideas.
Project or ideas...
What are 5 projects or ideas you have or have been working
on?
1. _____________________________________________
2.
_____________________________________________
3.
_____________________________________________
4.
_____________________________________________
5.
_____________________________________________
Examples
of how a team can help...
If you had a team of expert thinkers and doers working with
you, what would you want them to tell you about the project?
How could they help?
Some examples are:
- Not very hot idea because of X, Y, & Z.
- Great idea, have you thought about these angles...
- Here's a story to illustrate what you're talking about.
- I'd pay $X for this product.
- I wouldn't buy it, but my grandmother probably would.
- This has already been done by X - how is your different
from theirs?
Questions to
ask....
Brainstorm questions you could ask your R&D Team about
each of the 5 projects/ideas identified above.
1. _____________________________________________
2.
_____________________________________________
3.
_____________________________________________
4.
_____________________________________________
5.
_____________________________________________
Purpose or Mission of your
Team?
What is the purpose of your Team - what do you want from
them? Sort of like a mission statement. You will use this in
Step 3.
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Step
2. Inviting people to your team.
Now
that you've identified the project or idea your Virtual
R&D Team will be used for and how you'll use it, you
want to invite people to join your team. There are a couple
of points to think about here - who you want on your team,
who you don't want on your team, and how you want to invite
them to join. The people are the juice that makes the Team
really thrive.
Who do you want on your
team?
What would your ideal team member look like? Think like? Act
like? What are the essential qualities and characteristics
of your team?
Some examples: direct thinkers who tell it like it is; smart
people who give feedback in a mature, kind way; people who
articulate well; people who express through
free-association, etc.
It's OK to have contradictory qualities and styles on your
team - in fact it's preferably. You'll get a broader range
of input that way.
1.
_______________________________________________
2.
_______________________________________________
3.
_______________________________________________
4.
_______________________________________________
5.
_______________________________________________
6.
_______________________________________________
7.
_______________________________________________
What would be unacceptable
to you in a team member?
Not to focus on what you DON'T want too much, but if there
are absolute NOTs for you, it's good to know them - and to
be upfront about them with your team. You will use these
responses in describing how your R&D Team works, what
the ground rules are, and how you like to operate. This way
there won't be any surprises or hurt feelings - or at least
fewer of them.
Some examples: smart alecks; unethical behavior; cruel
responses, etc.
1.
_____________________________________________
2.
_____________________________________________
3.
_____________________________________________
4.
_____________________________________________
5.
_____________________________________________
How do
you want to invite people to join?
Since it's a virtual team, it makes sense to invite them to
join virtually, though you may find yourself making
personal, face-to-face invitations as well. Use virtual
means as your primary method - it trains them, and you,
early on.
What key elements do you want to include in your
invitation letter?
1.
Why you are writing to them - how they were selected.
2. What an R&D Team is.
3. Benefits to them of joining.
4. Benefits to you of them joining.
5. What they can expect - time commitment, frequency of
requests, summaries, etc.
6. What you expect - (i.e. responses every time, responses
only when they are moved, etc.)
7. How to sign up - this is a biggie!
8. Thanks.
Sample RD Team
Invitations...
RD Team Invite
This was the original invite to the CoachVille R&D Team.
Went out to our first 2,000 CV Members back in Summer 2001;
500 folks joined within a week.
CoachVille
Invitation
to join the R&D Team
This email is about joining the
CoachVille R&D Team. If you already know about it and
wish to join, just address an email to subscribecrd@coachville.com.
If you were on the 'old' R&D team, you will need to
resubscribe now.
Thursday evening
Dear CoachVille Member:
Every member of CoachVille is, in effect, part of our
R&D Team, given you are usually the first to test and
use our programs, concepts, products and e-services.
CoachVille members are quite generous with their time by
responding with suggestions, ideas, corrections/typos and
solutions.
And, that said, some of the CoachVille members want get a
bit more involved in the alpha and beta side of the new
stuff we come up with. These members join the CoachVille
R&D Team.
If you elect to join the CoachVille R&D Team, here's
what you can expect:
--You will receive between 1 and 5 emails a week asking for
input, advice, suggestions, reactions, corrections,
strategies, content, quotes and other stuff like that
related to ideas and project we are working on for the
general membership of both CoachVille and other upcoming
Villes.
--You have the option of responding to these extra emails --
or not. But please don't join the CoachVille R&D Team
unless you intend to be an active respondent and contribute
your brain and creative power to CoachVille.
--We generally don't respond on a 1-1 basis to
emails/suggestions received by R&D Team Members in
response to a request for input. (Sometimes, 100s of emails
are received, and while we look at every one, we don't
respond.) So, you'll need to have the contribution of your
ideas/comments be enough for you. You won't get many strokes
from us, even if we end up incorporating your idea or
suggestion.
I'm not trying to talk you out of becoming a CoachVille
R&D Team member! But I want you to understand how the
flow/exchange works.
Before you decide, here are a couple of important notes...
1. When you share an idea or strategy, you're letting us
use, adapt, incorporate it into stuff we come up with,
without attribution.
2. You may join the R&D Team now, or later if there is
room. (We will cut off registration in the R&D Team when
it reaches 1000 members, given the logistics.)
3. You must have an email account other than AOL. This,
because ALL of the emails that go to the R&D Team are
HTML and sometimes larger than the 30K file size limit
imposed by the AOL gateway. Even if you have AOL 6.0, you
cannot join the CoachVille R&D Team. However, you can
always set up an email account at hotmail.com and join the
R&D Team from that email account.
4. The ideas and strategies we present, asking for feedback,
are confidential to the R&D Team, until we formally
release the product or project.
5. We SOMETIMES have special TeleDiscussions for members of
the R&D Team related to projects we are working on.
6. You may unsubscribe at any time.
7. The CoachVille R&D Team is for members only. Please
do not give out the following subscribing email address.
8. PC and Mac users are both welcome and able to fully
participate.
9. It's very likely that I'll be
crafting intellectual property by weaving in some of the
suggestions, feedback and content shared by team members. I
generally share the resources created via input from the
R&D Team for free to R&D Team members, at least for
a period of time. And, many of these
projects/programs/ebooks, etc., will be available
commercially (meaning for a fee to the public). Legally, I
will be the copyright holder/owner of this material.
If you are not comfortable with this approach, please do not
join the R&D Team at this time.
Interested in being a part of the R&D Team?
If so, please address an email to:
subscribecrd@coachville.com
That's it! Nothing is needed in the subject line or in the
body of your email message. You'll receive back a
confirmation within 5 minutes. Please cut and paste that
email address you see above into your email window. If you
mistype it, you won't be subscribed to the CoachVille
R&D announcement list.
Best,
Thomas
RD Team Invite/Dave
buck
Here's another, really friendly approach that Dave Buck
uses.
Invitation
to join the Dave Buck R&D Team
Hey there! Dave Buck here.
I’m working on an exciting and IMPORTANT new project and I
need your help!
I’m working on several exciting projects (who isn't
right?) like creating a brand name for my coaching business
and creating client programs. In the days and weeks ahead
I’m going to be generating a lot of ideas and trying to
find the perfect way to describe what I do and the value I
bring to my clients.
That’s where you come in! I’m going to be CRAVING a lot
of feedback from people who know me so I’m putting
together a research and development team (R&D team).
Here’s the game…
As I'm working on creating new programs or different aspects
of my new brand image, I’ll send you an email requesting
your feedback, thoughts and ideas. Any time you can give me
(even 5 minutes) could spark and idea that really works. If
you get inspired and want to call me to share a few thoughts
all the better!!! The point is that I need and value your
thoughts and opinions.
It will be super-valuable for me AND (I hope) fun for you!
Hey when was the last time someone actually wanted to hear
your opinions! ;-)
If you’re willing to play, simply
reply to this email and I’ll put you on the team!
Thanks so much, either way!
Dave Buck
Dave Buck
Brand Strategy Coach
"I help professionals create a distinct brand image
that leverages
their talents, experiences and passions into a service with
RELENTLESS demand!"
website: http://www.davebuck.com
-> Visit me sometime!
Phone: 973-601-9444
The Dave Buck Brand:
Technology Savvy
Unabashed Enthusiasm!
Perceptive Facilitator
Compassionate Catalyst
Intuitive Strategist
email: dave@davebuck.com
About my rd team
You could post something like this at your website so folks
can read about your R&D team while visiting your site.
The CoachVille R&D Team
Overview,
How to Join, Guidelines, R&D Team Types
Overview
The CoachVille R&D Team is an intellectual
factory and provides significant levels of feedback and
strategic input in the design, crafting, testing and
perfecting of the intellectual property -- and operations --
of CoachVille.
Any CoachVille member may join the CV R&D Team. As
a member, you receive an email 2-5 times a week with ideas,
questions, examples and you are asked to comment on the
topics you wish to.
How To
Join
To join, first read and agree to the guidelines which
are described below.
(Note: If you have
an AOL email address, you'll need to get an alternate one in
order to join the CoachVille R&D Team, given our memos
are always in html and are larger than the 30K file size
limit imposed by AOL.)
Guidelines
The R&D Team takes on some controversial topics,
some of which are virtually guaranteed to push your buttons.
Which is fine, but the only rule as a member of the R&D
Team is to be, at all times...
CIVIL &
POLITE
We have had a problem with R&D member being so upset by
something we are planning to do, or a project that we have
taken on, or a thought-provoking question, that they have
emotionally reacted and lashed out at me/us.
Not okay.
For example, when I asked for feedback on the
"Everyone's a Coach" tagline, I got lots of
negative response (no problem -- we like critical thinkers)
and several personal attacks i.e., "You are ruining the
coaching profession," "CoachVille is cheapening
the industry," "You are evil" etc., etc.
It's fine to disagree, but when it becomes personal, it
hurts.
Part of what I and CoachVille do (does?) IS to be a
disruptive influence in our industry. Disruption is
good. Currently the industry is moribund. We're
shaking it up so that it can evolve at the pace it was meant
to evolve at. This ruffles feathers.
So,
some tips...
1. Before you share an opinion, FIRST challenge yourself to
see what the bigger place is that I'm coming from. If
you think from where you usually think from, you won't be
much help on the R&D Team (or to yourself).
2. When you receive an R&D email from us that you react
negatively to, just hang out with the idea/topic for a day
or two before firing off an email to me.
3. Use the process of being on the R&D Team to evolve
and expand yourself. Every single time you receive an
email from us, use it as a catalyst (or a cattle prod) to
think bigger and be bigger. Don't be the same person
you were before you read it.
4. In your comments/feedback, be honest, fully communicate,
and point out what you like about the project/idea and where
you see the flaws. Write from YOUR experience/preferences,
not what you think "coaches" will like/dislike.
You are the only one who matters here.
5. And, make sure you phrase your comments -- especially the
criticisms -- in a positive, helpful tone.
Good form for criticism:
--I can't imagine that I would buy the new product as you
are describing it because the price point is too high for
me.
--I like the general idea but here's the flaw as I see it...
--I don't have a solution, but something isn't right about
this idea.
--Here's what I suggest that you consider...
Bad form for criticism:
--That idea sucks. [thank you for sharing]
--That's not going to work. [instead, tell us how to fix it]
--You don't know what you're doing. [needlessly insulting]
--You shouldn't.... [not helpful]
--That idea needs work. [this is assumed, yes?]
Which
Type of R&D Member Will You Be?
Here's a summary of the 'types' of coaches who are on the
R&D team. I am asking you to move yourself to Type
1 as soon as possible. While we can benefit from all
types, our best work is done by Type 1's.
Type
1. The Creatives
They can hear my idea
and quickly come up to speed with it, integrating it into
what they already knew/felt about the topic, see the
potential AND flaws in it and come back to me with why it's
good (far beyond what I had seen) and what's flawed about it
(flaws I hadn't been able to see myself). In
other words, whatever idea I share with them is a catalyst
for their thinking/creative process and/or evolution.
They 'work it' and grow from it. It's more than them
doing an analysis. And, sometimes, The Creatives
totally TRASH my idea but they are nice about it and they
ask me questions or point out missing links in my thinking
process so that I can learn vs just being told it's a dumb
idea. They help my understand a bigger place to
look/listen from, so it works both ways quite nicely.
Usefulness: I read these emails first, both for
the validation and for how they will evolve/expand my
thinking quickly.
Type 2.
The Cautionaries
They can hear my
idea, and while they sense/inkle that it's an interesting
one, it takes them some time to come around see exactly how
it's a good one. So, they wait for a couple of days
and then when they do see how the idea could/would work,
they can become quite enthusiastic. But there is this
buffering/arms-around-it time, that takes time.
Usefulness: This is the bulk of the coaching
community, so I enjoy hearing from them and hearing what it
takes to 'come around' to see the potential/value of an idea
I shared. I am most curious how they make this shift
because this is where most folks in the world are --
processing information, especially disruptive or
paradigmical/paradoxical information, and integrating it
into their now-broader way of seeing life.
Probable Source: The buffer thing. Why is
it there? Why is there delay? Where's the
bottleneck?
Type 3.
The "You-Should-ers "
These are mostly
R&D members who have very strong opinions and who
generally think I'm pretty stoopid. (Which, granted, I
definitely am, from time to time.) They are quick to
give advice from a rather limited place. They see the
world through a single eye. Theirs. Their
theme/mantra is "THIS IS THE WAY IT IS." No
peripheral vision, much less 20/20. Yawn.
Reaction city.
Usefulness: They are tiresome but sometimes I
find useful nuggets because they ARE pretty smart in their
narrow area.
Probable Source: I'm not sure what the source
of this one is. They definitely have a strong desire
to help and protect me from failure. But the
motivation doesn't seem very clean.
Type 4.
The Repeaters
They respond to my
idea with comments/ideas based on ideas/situations that they
already have had in their past and repeat what they FELT in
the past about their original idea. In other words,
when they heard my idea, they go into their heads and
"find" a similar situation they had faced
professionally and then share comments/advice from THAT
place, instead of using my idea/question to look freshly and
upgrade their past experience to be directly fitting to the
idea I emailed them.
Usefulness: These contributes are usually VERY
smart and experienced. Perhaps too experienced.
And, they miss out on the pleasure of experimenting with the
ideas I present. They jump into 'expert or solution
mode' too quickly and miss out on the richness or potential
of the idea and instead insert themselves/their experience
too soon. Not a lot of room for fresh thinking, but
the feedback is VERY valuable because I learn so much of the
expert/technical side or potential ramifications of my
ideas.
Probable Source: Inability to recognize
subtleties. Most of my ideas are laced with
subtleties. If one jumps too quickly into
repeat/analytical mode, they miss the underlying subtleties.
Subtleties are quite rich.
Type 5.
The Fear Barometers
Whatever idea I have,
they first process the idea through their fear-barometers
and THEN they give me their feedback (usually fear-based).
They look at the negative/consequence side. They look to see
where they or other likes them could 'lose' if I moved
forward with my idea? They have self-appointed
themselves as the watchdog of what was.
Usefulness: There is definitely some value in
this type of input because probably 25% of coaches
think/process information/ideas in this way. They
don't have the freedom/ability to think conceptually; the
value of something is measured mostly by its potential risk
to their status quo. Or to 'coaching in general,'
whatever that means.
Probable Source: An inability to
think/experience ideas -- even disruptive ideas -- on a
conceptual basis. They route the idea through
themselves first and thus it brings up reactions.
Type 6.
The Contrarian Indicators
There are some
coaches who email me (from the R&D Team and in general)
that are incredibly consistent on being on the other side of
the flow. In other words, when they say an idea is
lame or fatally flawed or that I "definitely should not
do that!" then I KNOW the project is going to be a
success. And when they love an idea quickly, I know to
get real cautious real quickly with that idea cuz it's
probably going to fail in its current form.
Usefulness. Of course, I never tell the person
they are a contrarian indicator!
Probable Source: Behind the times, big time.
But they don't know it. They are living in a carefully
constructed world with few fresh influences.
Still
want to join the R&D Team?
Click
here to join.
(You will need the generic CoachVille Member Area username
and password.)
Thanking Your
New R&D Team Members!
Of course, once people join your team, you want them to
receive a thank you email reminding them of the benefits,
what they can expect, and any ground rules.
Ezine Welcome letter
When someone subscribes to my R&D Team announcement
list/ezine, here's the email they receive within seconds,
automatically.
R&D Team Memo
Wednesday,
July 18, 2001
To unsubscribe, email unsubscribecrd@coachville.com
Welcome
to the R&D Team
Dear ~field:fromName:1~,
Welcome to the ~field:listTitle~ newsletter from ~field:listOwner~.
Please save a copy of this message for future reference.
Your address has been subscribed as:
~field:fromName~ <~field:fromAddress~>
This ezine is EXCLUSIVELY for CoachVille members. If you are
not a CoachVille member, please unsubscribe immediately by
addressing an email to unsubscribecrd@coachville.com.
If you are a CoachVille member, then welcome to the
CoachVille R&D Team! We'll be emailing you periodically
(sometimes twice a day, sometimes only twice a month
depending on our R&D cycle) with ideas and requests for
input. Please respond as you can, but note that we won't be
able to respond individually or personally to your comment
or idea, given the volume of emails that come in. Please
understand. But you will see the projects we work on take
shape thanks to your support and input!
VERY IMPORTANT!
We have one ground rule that you'll need to honor in order
to be in this group. That ground rule is civility.
We have had two significant problems on the R&D Team;
thus is ground rule.
Problem #1. Invective & Personal Attacks.
I periodically receive emails from R&D Team Members who
don't just disagree with a project, idea or approach we're
taking with some aspect of CoachVille but become so incensed
that they email me cutting, personal, mean, and even cruel
comments. (I can't explain this either but it happens
enough that I have to make it clear that this is not okay.)
It's quite likely that you will completely disagree with
something I'm working on or an approach I've taken.
(Example: The "Everyone's a Coach" tagline at
CoachVille has been quite controversial.) I'm very
open to hearing WHY you don't like something but no
name-calling, assuming that I'm the devil and ruining the
profession, etc. Be big enough to see -- and even
enjoy -- both sides of something you feel strongly about.
Problem #2. Adamant, Reactive Opinions.
When you disagree with a direction we've taken you're going
to have to agree to disagree and then move forward.
Remember, I'm managing the input/flow form an R&D team
of at least 500 coaches with a wide variety of preferences,
needs, opinions and values. We all have views on
things, but if you find yourself getting ticked of and
wanting to shoot me a
"ruff-ruff-here's-the-way-life-is-dude" email,
please don't. If you get hot under the collar, the
first step is to ask yourself WHY? And, when you
figure it out, THEN please email me with your concern,
criticism or view. --All of which are most welcome,
but you gotta be civil to play on this team.
NOTE: It's very important that you have two pieces of
software in order to view and make the most of your
experience as a CoachVille.com R&D Team Member. Both
software's are free but you MUST have the most current
versions of each in order to access the files you'll be
receiving.
Adobe Acrobat Reader version 4.0 or 5.0.
Version 1 or 2 or 3 won't work correctly. Download free
reader at http://www.adobe.com. The win98 version does works
with winME. There is also a mac version.
RealAudio Player version 7 or 8 or higher.
Earlier versions simply won't play the RealAudio files we
have created. Download free player at http://www.real.com.
They'll push you to buy the $29 version, but look carefully
part-way down on the page and you'll see the link for the
free version.
You also need to download the most current version of your
browser.
To cancel this subscription at any time, you may send an
e-mail from your above address to:
unsubscribecrd@coachville.com
Again, welcome!
Thomas
Step
3. Managing your Virtual R&D Team.
OK,
now you have a team, you know how you're going to use them,
and you're ready to get started. Learning to managing and
use your Team will be a process of trial and error. Here are
some trials and errors others have already gone through for
you - it will help you compress your learning curve even
more.
Send them something.
Even something little. Involving your R&D Team early on
after you initially format it engages them. They feel
valued, and it gives you the chance to test out your
systems.
Teach them how to respond to you.
In order to help you organize your responses - the flood of
emails - let them know how to respond, and whether or not
they can expect an individual response from you.
Examples are:
- "just reply to this email by hitting the reply
button";
- "send a message with "X" in the subject
line
- reply to "X@yourwebsite.com"
(put the link IN the email - or better yet, send it from
that address)
Create systems to help you manage the flow.
If you are not used to getting hundreds of emails on a
subject in a short period of time, this will be a shocker!
Designing your systems to manage the flow for you will help
keep you from experiencing overwhelm. You may still get
overwhelmed by emotions - it is remarkably how much people
are willing to share.
Some examples are:
1. Set up folders in your email program. You can create
rules to send emails to certain folders automatically based
on different variables.
2. Set up a special email address only for R&D Team
correspondence. (Just note that sometimes people will think
of things and send them to whatever email address they think
of first.)
3. Have someone else, like a Virtual Assistant, weed through
the emails and pull out key points, then summarize and send
to you.
4. Weed through them yourself, quickly pulling out key
points then delete.
5. Use a "digest" service to condense everything
into one email and send to you at certain intervals.
Follow-up with your Team.
This is critical! When your Team responds, you want to let
them know the results. Use your own style in determining how
much detail you give them. You can give statistical reports
or summaries of responses, or just the general jist. Always
tell them what your next steps will be.
The key is that you want them to know you get their input,
that you are thankful, and how you will be using it. This
360-degree approach - closing the loop - is essential for
conditioning them to want to continue responding.
What
mistakes do coaches make with Virtual R&D Teams?
Focusing on Selling to the Virtual R&D Team
While many people on your team will be customers, or become
them, remember the real reason you set up the team and use
it for that purpose. It's OK to offer special deals as thank
you's or early-bird options, just be clear about this and
don't overdo it. If team members sense that your main
purpose in having the Team is to sell to them, they leave -
at best - and bad-mouth you at worst. Be genuine, act with
integrity, and express your appreciation often.
Not closing the loop
If your Team doesn't know how their input is being used,
they don't know whether it is valuable or if they are doing
it "right". You want to reinforce their desire to
respond by letting them know where they and the projects
stand. And, of course, always let them know when you launch
the new project or product - they'll be excited for you and
take pride that they played a role. They may even sign up or
share it with their network.
Not demonstrating appreciation
People like to help for a number of reasons (see Benefits in
Client Guide above). The primary reason for continuing to
contribute is that they feel valued. This doesn't always
mean warm fuzzies - though those work, too. A clearly
articulated email, identifying how the Team's feedback has
contributed to your business and your evolution as a coach
or creative thinker, can be the greatest reward. Free gifts
are nice, but not necessary. Sincere gratitude is the name
of the game.
Fear of negative feedback
If this is you, chances are an R&D Team isn't right for
you - at least not right now. You will get negative feedback
- after all, not ALL of your ideas are great ones (yet). The
feedback you get will help you decide whether and how to go
forward. If an idea stinks, wouldn't you rather know BEFORE
you put weeks and months into developing it?
Perfectionism
This one will tend to keep you from sharing the idea until
you've got it close to finalized, hence defeating the
primary benefit of having an R&D Team. If you wait until
it's perfect, you've eliminated the chance for full
co-creation and input from your team. You've probably also
become overly attached to the idea and you run the risk of
looking like you are selling them something versus seeking
R&D input. Remember, the "D" in R&D stands
for "Development". This means they need to be
involved in that phase.
License
Rights and Restrictions
This Creating a Virtual R&D
Team Module is an original work product owned by CoachVille.com,
and is part of a large collection of 3 Step Training Modules
available at 3steptraining.com.
Each of our 3 Step Training Modules is licensed separately.
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a one-to-one basis, with no license fee.
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Other
Resources/Classes to Consider
coming soon.
Transcript
of Training Session
Class
#003 - Creating a Virtual R&D Team
January 23, 2002 - 5:00 p.m. EST
Thomas J. Leonard, Session Leader
(from which transcript was crafted)*
*Please note that Thomas J. Leonard gets sick part way
through this class. We've chosen to keep the entire
realaudio file intact.
MP3 File of call | here
(to
download put mouse over file and RIGHT click)
**Please
note, you will want to stop the call after about 15-20
minutes, when you are playing this for your study group, to
break into small groups and have them work on the design of
their Virtual R&D TEAM.
TJL: Hello, fellow coaches! My name is Thomas Leonard and
with me is….
DB: Dave Buck!
TJL: Dave buck is here! We have about 10 other folks who are
study group hosts on this call. Dave and I and the group
will talk for about 10-15 minutes about what a virtual
R&D team and how you can benefit from it, and what you
can work on with them. After we're done setting up the stage
for this, your study group hosts will tease out the topic
with you and help identify a project you might want to work
on - e-zine, a teleclass, an e-book, or one of many other
projects. The study group host will work with you later on,
to actually buddy up and come up with some ideas.
We know how valuable an R&D team is - Coachville
wouldn't be here without one, or wouldn't be very productive
without one. A lot of people have emailed me that they love
the idea, but don't know what they'd work with one on. Today
we're going to be talking about that. There's no real trick
to run one - you're the host of a group with a common
interest; it's very simple. I'd like to start with Dave -
you've launched your own recently and we'd like to hear
about your experience.
DB: The reason it's worked well for me is because whenever
I'm creating a new program or new teleclass - I used to try
to come up with all the ideas in my own head. I thought I
had good ideas, but many times, they didn't work. Then, I
started using an R"&D team of people interested in
me and my subject. When I used the team, the quality of my
ideas got significantly better, and gave me the opportunity
to cast off all the ideas that weren't so good. I could much
more quickly get to the right idea.
TJL: If you're a creative person, you're going to have a lot
of ideas but not know which ones are good ideas, and the
R&D team can help you figure that out.
DB: That's exactly right.
TJL: Because you're going to want to create something
someone else is going to want to buy, or should buy….
DB: Or something you think is really neat!
TJL: It's important to use your R&D team to weed out
those ideas that just aren't that interesting. The team can
also really polish your product.
DB: Yeah! There's another little piece I found is that - in
most businesses, 50 years ago people made stuff, but now we
don't make stuff, we make choices. We're now making hundreds
of choices every day, and the R&D team is here to help
you make the right choices.
TJL: Well said, and rather than waiting for the quality team
to come in after the engineers have done their work, you
want to bring them in right up front. You can not only share
what you've created, but share the creating with them. For
me that was a real ego brush! It's great for all the folks
to share with you, for example, all the books they've read.
That's been great for me, especially, because I don't have
time to read all the self-help books out there.
DB: I think the biggest thing out there is the perfectionism
trap - people don't want to share things until they think
they've got them perfect. In this situation, you want to
share it before it's almost an idea. For a lot of people,
that's the hardest thing.
TJL: And the most important thing - rather than hording the
ideas you have, you can use the R&D team to realize not
only those, but a ton more. There are also other ways in
which you can use an R&D team. Somebody can just make an
offhand comment in an email, and Boom!
DB: That's another key thing about this - we talk about
needs and environments. If you have an R&D team, you're
always surrounding yourself with new ideas. Like you said,
an offhand remark can really trigger something. Having an
R&D team is like having a group of collaborators that
are interested in your and your topic, and that creates this
whole ecology of ideas and makes you more productive. Not
only do you have more ideas to choose from, but the quality
and value added will be increased because you'll be in touch
with the marketplace.
TJL: Yeah, and often creators are in touch with the mountain
top! You also mentioned earlier about evolution and
environments; they really do becoming an evolving
environment. Those evolving environments are going to evolve
you individually as well, as long as you're open. Dave, how
did you make the leap?
DB: It's a very interesting thing. Part of being a good
R&D receiver is - I think it's being welcome and open to
all kinds of input. I've found recently that when they tell
me an idea stinks, it's actually kind of welcome. It's like,
'I'm glad I fund out now, rather than spending so much time
on this idea!"
TJL: Yes, it doesn't mean you're not going to do it, but you
just have to find a way to make it work.
DB: Another thing is that the team doesn't say it stinks too
often, but they do say, 'I haven't a clue what you're
talking about!" (laugh)
TJL: And that forces you to be what? (laugh)
DB: Much more clear! That brings me back down to earth.
TJL: Yes, they're a lot like translators that way. The
creative process is messy, but you can get better with the
R&D team.
TJL: I agree. You also need to manage yourself in terms of
how you respond to things. Some people are good at being
organizing and being affected by a lot of input, while
others really tend to get to 'overwhelm'. For some people,
you have to grow a new capability of handling lots of input
- sifting through lots of emails, organizing, and collating.
We're not really used to getting 200 emails on the same
subject within 24 hours!
DB: Yes; it's not a normal thing!
TJL: And you can hire someone to go through and organize it,
or what I do is, go through the first 50, look for the one
key thing in each email - which takes about 15 seconds- and
then just delete, delete, delete! You're really looking for
the gold among the ore. Also, for some other personal
benefits - besides more and better products - that I've
experienced. There's a certain virtual comfort in people
sending emails on things I'm interested in. I'm never short
on ideas, and I'm never short on things to toss out to them
because of it. And you know what? 9 times out of 10, there
are at least 5-10 percent of the people in my group online
at any given time, so often, I'll get at least 5-7 responses
back within just a few minutes! If you don't get any email,
you know it's a REALLY bad idea! Any personal benefits of
your experience?
DB: On the personal side, the biggest thing for me was being
able to share ideas before I thought they were perfect. It's
about not being so much of a solo operator - it's just a big
thing.
TJL: And a lot of creative people are solo operators -
they're not really collaborators, and you can really develop
it through the R&D team. Another professional benefit is
that you can become known better; I've become known better
and I know Coachville has too. If you're creating
intellectual property, you're going to be developing and
enhancing your own reputation. You want people to know what
you're up to - you're going to get business from it, and
people are going to be forming positive opinions about you
and looking to you for leadership in a particular topic.
Why not start with an R&D team and have them educate you
about what you don't know? You'll become an expert in a
hurry. You don't have to be an expert in a topic to start an
R&D team.
DB: That is true - when I first started working on branding,
I didn't know much about it, so I led free teleclasses for
50 weeks. I didn't call it an R&D team, but that's
really what it was for me - I learned so much about the
subject.
TJL: That's great! We're going to have the study group hosts
to lead their group at this point lead the folks in their
group through a few exercises that are in their manual. We'd
also like to suggest if you're listening to this on Real
Audio, we'd like to think abut having your group work on
this one question - What would I like to work on that would
merit having an R&D team? Most folks will really be
attracted to your topic, not just you. What would be so
exciting for you to learn about or create that you'd want to
start an R&D team?
Dave, thanks for being with us. We'll have the study group
host turn off the Real Audio player, and we'll wait for just
a moment while that's done.
(Thomas asks Dave to take over the group for a few minutes
at this point)
DB: Well, how is everyone doing? Okay, why don't we work on
that exercise for a bit? What would be something that would
compel you to start an R&D team?
Donna: I'm actually in the process of creating both a
workshop and an e-book on making yourself over from the
inside out. I think an R&D team would be really valuable
for the workshop and workbook portion of that.
Yes, very good! That's a great example.
Joyce: I'm just starting to do teleclasses on feng shui and
I want to switch that into an e-book. I think starting an
R&D team would really help me with the e-book.
XXX: I'd join that R&D team
DB: I think a lot of people would - it's an interesting
idea! For example, if you were doing a teleclass, they could
help you with the title of the class. That's the key t get
people signing up for the class.
Joyce: I got that from taking your class. Someone in the
group came up with the name for me! I'm doing my first 5-day
next week. Basically, your class served as the R&D team.
DB: I appreciate you saying that. One thing I hope to
accomplish in that class is to have people set up an R&D
team for all aspects of a program - the title, the slogan,
the description, and the content. All that, you can come up
with it yourself, but it's great to have an R&D team.
That's a wonderful thing to use an R&D team for. And,
the next level of this is that if you get into the practice
of using an R&D team in your first teleclass, then you
can just make that process the way you do things. Part of
your process of inventing things is the R&D team.
TJL: Dave, I'm back.
DB: We were just talking about what we'd use an R&D team
for.
TJL: Great! if anyone else wants to come up with an idea,
and you want us to walk you through the process, we can do
that with you. We can also do a Q&A for managing the
process.
DB: We went through with Joyce on how to use the R&D
tea, so that would be great.
XXX: How would you respond to someone who's interested in
the concept but has the fear around somebody taking their
idea and running with it?
TJL: And you've got a client that you'd like to suggest an
R&D team idea to?
XXX: Well, as a study group host, I'm thinking there might
be some participants - I'm on one of your R&D teams
myself so I see how it really works, but it's an interesting
question on how you're able to share so much and still
really own it.
TJL: Well, ideas really aren't copyright-able. Often, I've
had people working on the same idea I was and neither of us
knew it. The 2nd thing is that if someone is going to take
the execution ideas and re-format it, that's a legal issue.
Are you talking about how someone doesn't want to release
something because it's going to be the cornerstone of their
business?
XXX: Yes, and sometimes people will seek out your advice,
but won't give you any details to help them. They want to
just horde the information.
TJL: If they're coming from that place, I wouldn't bother.
They'd have so far to go to really embrace the R&D team
concept. If you're open to the idea, you understand that you
have lots of ideas so you won't worry so much about just
one. It's just human nature, so I wouldn't push it. An
R&D team is really for someone who wants to create
something in a hurry and have it be good. My focus is really
never on the idea or the product; it's really on the
end-user. If you can get them to switch their focus, that
may take them off the control issue. Who else has any
question about the process?
XXX: My big question is that I have a big list of people I
email regularly, but it's not in the hundreds. How would I
add people for my R&D team?
TJL: I would start with people you know and give them an
incentive for joining. Find a topic that they would be
excited about, and let them know you're going to be working
on it for about 6 months. You'll give about 5-10 percent of
your list to come in with you, but make sure they have a
real reason to join. Make sure they see the benefits to
them. Also, one of the resources we'll have for this module
is a document on understanding the benefits of an R&D
team that you can include in your letter. I think you can be
passionate about the idea, but always be coming from their
perspective.
XXX: Great; thank you.
TJL: Who's next?
Allison: How do you make sure that your R&D team is
representative enough of your target market so the feedback
is truly valuable?
TJL: It's almost always truly valuable. You can certainly
pre-qualify people who come into your team, but I generally
don't try to do that too much. I think if you get a wide
range of folks on your team - those with lots of knowledge
and those who don't have a clue - you never know who's going
to give you the best advice.
Allison: Do you ever find yourself second-guessing the
feedback from your team?
TJL: What does that mean?
Allison: Maybe you really have a sense of where you want
something to go and the feedback is challenging that, do you
have a sense that you still know better?
TJL: Yes. You can tell in how they're phrasing their
comments where they are on the continuum of evolution. I've
got people on the team that when they really hate something,
I know it's going to be a huge success - and it always
works! Some people just don't get it, and they never will,
but they're great to have on the team. On one topic, I got
35% negative, which is unusual for most of the team. I knew
I was going to move forward with the project, but I am also
mindful that it's going to turn off a lot of people.
Allison: So you don't just accept all the feedback you get?
TJL: Yes, it may be useful, but it's not gospel.
Susan: If you start your R&D team around a product, and
it has a shelf-life and you want to move on to something
else, do you invite them to a new team or find new people?
TJL: I generally just have one team that's an ad-hoc group.
What you can do is invite them to join the new team, and
offer them the opportunity to either stay on or opt-out.
XXX: Thank you.
Katie: Could you talk a bit about converting an existing
group to an R&D team? I have a focused group that I've
been using for a couple of years as an informal R&D
team, but I'd like to use them much more in that way. Can I
move into R&D with them, or should I just continue using
them informally like that?
TJL: Okay, they've been acting as an R&D team, but you
haven't labeled them as such?
Katie: Not really, because the kinds of things I share have
been few and far between.
TJL: I would make a big deal out of the fact that you're
starting an R&D team and invite them. Let them know if
they'd rather not, that's okay, but that you'd love to have
them. Maybe you could educate them in their new role, too.
Katie: I think the quality of responses would be better too.
TJL: Yes, and they're really competing with each other to
get your attention - that is part of what's happening. They
want to be recognized, make their point, and change your
mind. Talk about evolution!
Katie: Thanks!
TJL: We have just a couple minutes left; I'd love to get
feedback from you about the notion of R&D teams.
Donna: I think it was very helpful to think about the
benefits to them, as opposed to just yourself.
TJL: Great; who's next?
XXX: I have more clarity in how to communicate to others
about an R&D team.
TJL: Thank you. Who else?
Joyce: I like the feedback I got on my idea.
Katie: I like the idea of being more formal with the R&D
team - that helps me understand and focus my thinking even
more.
TJL: Yes, and they'll be able to talk about it better too!
It gives them a more formal role.
DB: I just wanted to highlight the same point about helping
them understand the benefits of being on an R&D team.
TJL: Yes. We need to educate them on why they'd want to
bother at all. Thank you for joining us - bye now!
end.
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