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September 13, 2023
Everyone: Wow, look at the new iPhone, I wonder how all the new features are gonna work.
Us: Wow, look at the new iPhone, we wonder how Apple trained their employees on the new features.
Hot off the SMB press this week:
RISKY BUSINESS
They’re called risks for a reason…
After all, there’s always a chance they could flop. And your small businesses’ resource restraints make it all the more easy to play it safe.
But small businesses that don't take risks are like a pair of running shoes still in the box — safe, but stagnant. Risk-taking is not an optional luxury, it’s a necessity for operational optimization, growth, and success.
So, how do you apply effective, positive risk management techniques? This simple framework requires three actions:
1. Put the most care in the biggest risks.
Sound like a no-brainer, right? But companies tend to put the most energy towards preventing smaller, day-to-day losses, just because they occur most often. Remember that even though the big incidents are rare, they’re much more detrimental. So don’t sweat the small stuff — focus on preventing serious damage.
2. Analyze your success.
That’s right — success. Don’t hyperfocus on your failures when you’ve got the perfect example of a win right next to it.
🔥Tip: When a risk that you took paid off, document it! Your whole team will thank you for the blueprint of the most efficient processes that developed as a result.
Focusing on ideas-turned-risks-turned-losses tells your team that risky ideas aren’t worth trying (or will just get vetoed by the dreaded downers). On the other hand, celebrating wins encourages your team to not only come up with new ideas, but to voice them and give them a go!
TRAINUAL TIPS & TRICKS
Have you ever made a change to a process that you immediately needed to share with your team? Or updated a policy that required a new review and test from your employees? If only there was a way to alert your team to your documentation updates…
🔦 That’s why this week, we’re shining the spotlight on a feature that might have escaped your notice while building content: sharing changes.
When you’re done with all your changes, notify your team with an email right away — with just the click of a button. You can even reset completion scores so your team is required to review the material again. Jump into your account and try the feature for yourself!
👉 Don’t have a Trainual account? Try for free.
STARTER PACK
Remember all those reasons risks are important? (If not, we got you — look up!) Now, it’s time to answer the big question: How do you get your team to take risks?
Because it’s not just the owner or risk manager’s responsibility to bring new ideas to the table and daringly execute them. Every employee — in every department — has to get creative and find out what they can do to take your business to the next level.
That means you need to foster a culture where your team feels that they have the autonomy to take risks. And, more importantly, one where they’re comfortable analyzing the risks of their peers and receiving constructive criticism on the risks they take — AKA, a high-feedback culture.
We know, we know. The word “feedback” can spark some not-so-comfy heart palpitations. But a high-feedback culture is proven to increase profitability, engagement, communication, and growth. It’s just a matter of teaching your team to give and receive feedback (the right way).
👉 Good news for you: We’ve got a Feedback Training Process template that you can send to your team today! It covers why feedback is important, when and how to give it, A+ examples, tips for giving and receiving it, and more! Just give it a once-over to make sure it fits the high-feedback culture you want to establish and hit publish.
Want more templates to help you build your business playbook? Check out our entire template archive of free, multimedia-enhanced, and customizable policy, process, and role starters. New to Trainual? Try for free.
NAME YOUR CHAMPION
Sometimes, you need another perspective.
You may have noticed that we talk a lot about all the ways Trainual can help you streamline your business operations and make scalable growth a reality. And yes, we’re biased, but we’re not the only champions of Trainual — our customers are, too.
That’s why at this year’s Insider Summit, our annual customer conference, we invited three customers — from financial services, trucking, and childcare industries — who have taken advantage of everything Trainual has to offer to organize their businesses and aim for serious growth.
Here’s how these Trainual customers have taken advantage of the product to transform and grow their businesses:
The creation of the “hero model.”
Advisors Excel (AE) is a financial marketing organization that helps financial advisors create solid businesses. At a conference they put on a few years ago, AE asked their clients what their top pain points were. The most common responses? Onboarding, training, accountability and reporting.
So, AE instituted Trainual. They hired an independent consultant to set up a “hero model” (AKA, a model account they can use for all their clients), which contains the company info (with an introduction on how to use Trainual), workflows, processes, and policies any office would need. Now, whenever a new advisor signs up for Trainual, they have all that information ready for them within the product.
AE’s tip for those getting started in Trainual?
Make use of the “Getting Started with Trainual” subject — it outlines the best sequence to getting a subject (AKA, training) into your own account and ready to share with your team. (Want to see for yourself? Try Trainual for free.)
Then, “get your butt into Trainual U.” Also known as Trainual University, this free program sets you up for success by teaching you how to develop content that will engage your team and how to best use Trainual to hold them accountable.
