Clubs, Picnics And Processes

I was not completely surprised at the huge turnout of channel partners at The
DQ Week awards function. While they had gathered in big numbers to celebrate the
winners, the real reason was something much beyond that. It was for
networking-with friends in business to share experiences, and with new people to
know what is happening. Clearly, the next step for the channel community is
towards building processes and expanding.

My big observation was that quite a few of the guests, most of who come from
the channel community, arrived on time. This was a pleasant experience as
compared to previous years when almost all the guests would arrive 30 to 60
minutes after the scheduled starting time. When I asked one of them how this
change, he said that they have now learnt to handle it, by better time
management and by having someone else mind the shop, when they go out. This was
very different till not very long back when work never seemed to get over. A
great sign, at a time when the total amount of work is growing.

Without doubt, many in the channel business are realizing that systems and
processes need to be introduced for a variety of reasons, including efficiency
of operations, employee satisfaction, and personal work life balance. In the
party, I met a few small-time channel players who have joined health clubs, go
to picnics with employees, and have set a formal system to handle customer
calls.

This silver line is very obvious. And the desire for change is coming out
loud and strong. Unfortunately, most of the small channel players do not know
how to proceed further. I would strongly urge channel associations, that they
encourage big channel players to share process-related knowledge and experiences
with the small players. And also request vendors for the same. It will go a long
way in strengthening everybody, because as competition goes up, markets grow,
customers and employees become more demanding, processes will be have to be
implemented.