Worcester Business Journal

18 Worcester Business Journal | September 30, 2019 | wbjournal.com By Jeannie Hebert Jeannie Hebert is president and CEO of the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce in Whitinsville, which has launched a women's net- work. Reach her at jhebert@blackstonevalley.org 10) Networks for women in the workplace are increasing in both importance and demand. They provide opportunities to pursue growth and learning by sharing experiences, challenges, and wisdom with like-minded professionals. 9) Women who try to network like men to get ahead actually do it less effectively. That's because they are missing one crucial ingredient, a close inner circle of women, which provides critical information on job opportunities and challenges. 8) Female entrepreneurship is rising. Between 1997 and 2017, the number of women-owned busi- nesses increased by 114%, a rate 2.5 times higher than the national average. Last year, 11.6 million U.S. businesses were women owned. 7) Networks can help female entrepreneurs avoid isolation and tackle the challenges they face by having a group with shared experiences, having a resource focusing on education and making con- nections, and having a forum to discuss and gain advice without judgment. 6) Participating in a women's business network is an effective way to find a mentor. According to a LinkedIn study, 82% of women surveyed believe having a mentor is important, yet one out of five women reports lacking this experience. 5) Just 34% of female Baby Boomers (45-66 years old) interviewed for the LinkedIn study have had a woman mentor, while 51% of Gen Y (18-29) women have. At female-only networking events, attendees meet many successful women ready to help. 4) Women spend more time doing and less time networking. In today's business world, networking has become the lifeblood of a successful profes- sional life. With the demand on women to perform at an equal or better level than their male counterparts, female leaders sometimes assume they don't have the time for social engagement – yet they should. 3) Joanna Barsh of McKinsey & Co. says "that women's lack of access to informal networks is a structural obstacle to their career advance- ment, comparable in impact to lacking a mentor, or appropriate coaching and training." 2) It has an impact on leadership development. Leadership is increasingly defined not just by how many hours are spent on computers, but the ability to connect to others, how to incorporate outside perspectives, and how to manage time. 67% of women report they learn the most important lessons about leadership from other women. 1) Networking for women in the workplace is not optional anymore; it is a crucial skill to master. It is not a merely exchanging business cards, but it is building relationships on the basis of trust involving a give and take. It is about helping people know who you are, and it is about giving so you can help others. K N O W H O W FY2020 budget due in October, November? 10 1: I N C L U S I V E M E E T I N G S R unning an inclusive meeting – where all present feel comfortable contributing and that their input is valued – is part of an inclusive corporate culture. More than just a nice thing to do, inclusive meetings boost employee engagement and help company decision making. Keep interrupters at bay. If someone interrupts another employee during a meeting, be sure to nip it in the bud. Kathryn Heath and Brenda Wensil of Harvard Business Review suggest saying something like, "Wait a minute, I want to hear more of what Janice has to say," or "Back up. I am intrigued with what Luke was telling us. Luke, can you finish your thought?" Avoid conformity bias. Conformity bias is when meeting attendees feel pressured to agree with everyone else in the room. Sending out meeting agendas ahead of time, making clear alternate perspectives are welcome, is one way to work against conformity bias, says Rebekah Bastian at Forbes. "Follow up aer the meeting with a recap and a call for additional thoughts," she advises. Don't forget the introverts and remote workers. Extroverts or senior- level employees can tend to dominate meetings. But inclusive meetings should mean everyone is heard, points out Brigid Warmerdam at Salesforce.com. e more perspectives contributed, the better. She notes calling out quiet workers at a meeting by name isn't recommended, but you can ask them how they would approach a certain problem. Or deliver an invitation to attendees who haven't spoken up, such as, "For those who haven't chimed in yet, what are your thoughts?" Remembering to ask for input from team members joining via conference call is a good idea, too, to extend your company's inclusive practices in a thorough, committed way. 10 T H I NG S I know about . . . ... Women's networks BY THOMAS CHARLES BELANGER Special to the Worcester Business Journal Y ou are back from summer vacation. Your kids will be back in school this month. If your company's fiscal year ends in December, your budget is due soon, maybe October. e pressure is on. Where do you start? e process can be less stressful this year. What will change in fiscal 2020 from your 2019 budget? ere is guess- work involved, and some unknown unknowns, and known unknowns, such as the number of days of rain. Whether this is your first or 20th annual budget, here are key questions to answer. 1. Which programs and projects will you propose for next year? Synch up your programs and projects with your organization's strategic plan. Which projects are the highest priority for the company? Every project has some degree of uniqueness. ere will be probably be a mix of familiar, definable projects, very similar to those that your team has accomplished before. ere will probably be projects you have never accomplished before. Be prepared to defend your time and cost estimates. 2. Will your company be entering a new industry, or niche? Sales and marketing projects may be required. Are customer surveys used to improve customer service? Have sales declined? How did target markets change since last year? Were some products retired? Which products or services are the cash cows? Are your new product ideas being stolen? 3. How will your human resource needs be different from last year? To do this, look at both routine work such as bookkeeping, and project work – and all resources you will need. Most use soware for enterprise resource planning. Try to determine all of your internal resource needs, and external resource needs. is is big category, including everything from clean rooms, or other specialized facility, to temporary contract labor. For most companies, there will be a high-priority effort to secure company systems from hackers. For this, you are likely to require training and development of internal resources, as well as external experts. 4. Unless you are lucky enough to have a blank check you will need to put forward a convincing, logical budget to finance your company or department. How is the overall economy doing? Will downsizing or rightsizing make cuts necessary in several areas? Should you plan for a recession? How many projects were initiated? Any pending? Where is there pressure, or constraints on your budget? Is a competitor undercutting your prices? Do you expect an increase in your cash flow and/or your budget? Will your department be funded by cross-charging other departments? Is cash flow closely connected to your operations? 5. What are the changes for this year on your radar? Can new changes appear? Is your company growing rapidly, and you want to avoid growing too fast? Is a new cash cow needed? Some changes will come from the strategic plan, such as the desire to enter a new market or niche. More acquisitions? Is a reorganization in the best interest of your department or the larger organization? Can the benefits obtained from these changes be quantified? Thomas Charles Belanger is a partner at Fitchburg consulting firm Plannapalooza Partners. Reach him at plannapalooza@ gmail.com. BY SUSAN SHALHOUB Special to the Worcester Business Journal W W W

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