Dear Coach...
Are you wondering what to
say or ask for in the memos you broadcast to your R&D Team
members?
Below is a collection of 28 of the actual memo 100 or so
memos that I've broadcast to the CoachVille R&D Team over
the past 8 months, so you'll see quite a range of topics and
formats, depending on the need I had.
The Assignment memo
Sometimes, you can package
your request for input as an 'assignment.' Makes it sound
more official.
example
here
The What Should I Do?
memo
I am often not sure what I
should do or what approach I should take with a project or
service, so I ask for input from my R&D Team about what I
should do.
example
here
The Announcement/Feedback/Sales
memo
From time to time, I'll do a broadcast to the R&D Team about
a new class or program or service that is ready for the public
to buy. I'll ask for tweaking input from the R&D Team
AND invite them to buy it now, with a link to ordering it
online. I use this approach sparingly because I don't want
folks to see my R&D memos as a sales pitch. And,
whenever I broadcast this type of memo, the sales results ARE
quite tempting.
example
here
The Just an FYI
memo
There are times when you don't want or need feedback but just
want to share something with your team. Nice to have these
'buffers' in between request for feedback memos.
example
here
The Photo memo
A photo or you, a staffer, or your dog, etc. can be entertaining
for your team. And it can personalize/humanize you.
example
here
The Trying to Figure
Something Out (graph) memo
Rather than try to figure stuff out by yourself, why not include
your R&D Team in the process? Helps you figure it out
faster, and they enjoy seeing the inside track and thinking
process.
example
here
The How Should I Price Something
memo?
Ask and they WILL tell you! Duh!
example
here
The Should I Do This? memo
Their feedback is a great barometer of whether or proceed in a
particular direction or product.
example
here
The Project Announcement
memo
Basic announcement memo for when you are announcing something
new and want to give folks background/context of the
project. I try to give as much context as I can't so that
I get the best feedback possible. Plus, providing context in
this memo forces me to make it clear to them, which helps the
project crystallize for me.
example
here
The Sharing a
Distinction That Educates memo
Sometimes it is fun to share new things you are learning, in
this case a new distinction. In this example, I also
included a lesson/nugget from one of my ecourse. RD&
Team members like to be stimulated intellectually, and they
enjoy receiving nuggetized content from time to time.
example
here
The Getting Feedback
About Licensing memo
Asking for this type of feedback helps you learn how to properly
package your IP, and also lets the team know that your IP does
require licensing for us.
example
here
The Potpourri memo
From time to time I include several times in the same broadcast,
typically updates on several projects. Note: I've learned
to make most of my memos a single request. If you ask for
more than one thing per memo, folks get overwhelmed and they
don't respond much.
example
here
Program design memo
If you are designing a TeleClass or client program this this
example will be helpful to see how to set it up for the
members. Remember, team members probably receive 100
emails a day from other sources, so I've learned to use a catchy
subject line and to also lay out the case for the program in the
first paragraph or two. Don't just tell folks how great
idea is, tell them WHY it's so great and to whom. That
helps them see the value to them of this program and they are
more likely to respond with feedback.
example
here
The Input Sought to
Create Content memo
In creating the Client Bill of Rights, I wanted actual line
items/content, not just tweaking or feedback. If you're asking
for actual content, make sure you give them enough example of
what you are looking for, vs just tell them what you are looking
for. Folks find it easy to adapt than to create from
scratch.
example
here
The Personal Touch memo
It was Dave Buck's birthday one day and given that many of the
R&D Team members knew or knew of Dave Buck I asked folks to
email Dave a CoachCard or other email. (Dave received
nearly 200 birthday wishes within a week he still hasn't
forgiven me.) FYI, as a side benefit, the members who
didn't know who Dave Buck was, now know that he's someone
important to me and CoachVille given he leads TeleClasses and
manages the Teleclass Leader team.
example
here
The Sharing Personal
News memo
Your team members generally enjoy hearing about your personal or
professional wins. About once every 20 memos, I'll share
something along this line.
example
here
Asking for translators
Sometimes, you need a special skill set that only 2% of your
members will have. It is fine to broadcast a memo to
everyone on your team, even if you have a very narrow type of
request such as this memo did.
example
here
The Asking for Stories
memo
Stories, usage examples, testimonials, etc. are very important
when you're building a course, ebook or website. The
consumer is more likely to believe happy customers than they are
to believe you.
example
here
The Examples memo
Here's an example of a request for more 'examples' of something
that you're building. This, for a course I am building on
the various coaching styles. Given the different
personality and style types on my team, the input 'rounded out'
my first version.
example
here
The Building a
Comparative List memo
I wanted to build a chart comparing Therapy vs Coaching.
The team's input was exceptionally helpful.
example
here
The Finished Product
memo
It's a great idea to share the finished product of something
that the team helped you create. This closes the loop and
increases feedback rates.
example
here
The How Are You
Benefiting? memo
From time to time, it's important to ask your team members
if/how they are benefiting personally and professionally as an
R&D Team member. This prompts them to look, and they
are usually impressed with what they discover. Further
bonds them to you and the process. Broadcast selected
comments *(with permission) to educate/remind everyone what the
benefit to them are.
example
here
The Building Content for an
Ecourse memo
I am building a 42 lesson ecourse called the 42 Income Streams
for Coaches ecourse. I wanted help with identifying the
full list of 42 different sources of income that coaches can
earn, and I also needed mini case studies/examples to help fill
out and personalize each of the
example
here
The Tease memo
Sometimes, you just can't help yourself and you send out a
'coming soon' or 'tease' memo. Definitely gets their
attention!
example
here
The System Beta Testing
memo
I always turn to the R&D Team whenever I want a system beta
tested before releasing to the full CoachVille membership.
R&D Team members make create beta testers and save us from
embarrassment by releasing something with bugs in it to the
general membership.
example
here
The Help Me Build a
Q&A memo
Q&A's are an effective format to convey a lot of information
in usable chunks and provide situationalized answers to customer
questions. And, I find it much easier to create
intellectual property when I am responding to specific
questions. By asking your team to send in a lot of
questions they have on your topic and/or having them read the
Q&A list that you've started, they'll ask you questions that
never would have occurred to you prompt you to explain your
course or product in a more complete manner.
example
here
The Introducing a Big
Idea memo
Quite a few of my team memos have to do with ideas I'm having
that I want on which I want feedback. These are only ideas
at this stage, but your team can provide valuable insights and
opinions which will help you see the idea more clearly and/or
evolve the idea very, very quickly, even before you've started
developing it.
example
here
I hope that this was helpful.
Thomas
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