Aubrey Blanche, Atlassian’s Global Head of Diversity Inclusion, has overseen an impressive 80% jump in women joining the technical team. In a field that’s all about uncertainty and running experiments, Blanche’s have clearly worked. One of her most successful initiatives has been standardizing the way current and prospective staff members are evaluated. One of the major ways people move up in organizations is by gaining visibility while working on large projects. To make sure everyone has this opportunity, you should standardize the way people are selected for high-profile projects — something that is often very subjective or ad hoc. “Write down the qualities that you want the ideal person to embody,” says Blanche. “Rather than going with the people who jump to mind first, pick based solely on how well someone matches up to those desired qualities.” The same mindset should be applied to job candidates. Focus on skills rather than specific experience. Why say “B.S. in computer science” when you really mean “experience building high-quality software”? Or instead of “startup experience preferred,” perhaps you really mean “ability to work in close collaboration with a team in an ambiguous and fast-paced environment”? Blanche recommends standardizing all interviews around a specific set of questions that indicate behaviors that are successful at your company, and then generating a list of appropriate answers.
Looking at the history of startups, it is often clear that most businesses will fail within the first 18 months. The reason behind the same is that people don’t know how hard it is to become a successful entrepreneur. No one can promise that your business will definitely bloom, but with these considerations, your journey will become smooth towards the success. More info can be read on Entrepreneur resourses.
To substantiate the business plan you will need to do a market research, but this is just the beginning: to increase your chances of success in business you need to become an expert in the industry, products or services you deliver, if you are not already. An initial solution would be to sign up for professional associations. An entrepreneur is not and does not have to be a man – orchestra: you do not have to be an expert in everything and you do not have to propose yourself, so you learn to work with professionals in those areas you do not master: accounting, legal, marketing, business consulting etc. A useful guide to choosing a consultant can be found here: How to hire a consultant. You risk losing a lot of time and money if you try to learn to do all the things a specialist should do, so don’t hesitate to call in experts whenever you have a specialist problem.
Truly listen and empathize with your clients. Everyone is so interested in getting their own personal message across, that no one pauses for a moment to actually listen and hear the root of the problem or pain. Believe in listening 80% of the time, clarifying 10% of the time, and responding wholeheartedly and intentionally, is the remaining 10% of the time. – Stephynie Malik, ChiqueSpeak Source: https://theentrepreneurresearch.com/.