Management

New technologies allow companies to attract, reward, and engage customers in new ways. For example, with location-based mobile tools, customers can check in to a store and show their contacts that they've been there. These tools are meant to be playful and fun, and can create free buzz for a retailer. Here are two ways to use them: Make creative offers. Giving people a $1 off for checking in is boring and predictable. Offer a donation to a local charity for every check-in on a certain day or ask customers to post pictures of themselves in your store to earn a discount. Reward the "mayors." People who have the most check-ins earn the title of mayor. Encourage frequent visits by giving them perks: Allow them to cut a long line or get a prime parking spot.

Persuading people to believe in your idea is a critical leadership skill. But too many managers don't know how. Here are three things to try next time you need to gain consensus or secure a deal: Don't make the hard sell. Setting out a strong position at the start gives opponents something to fight. It's better to present your position with reserve, so you can adjust it if needed. Don't resist compromise. Compromise is not surrender. People want to see that you are flexible enough to respond to their concerns and incorporate their perspectives. Don't assume it's a one-shot deal. Persuasion is a process. You'll rarely arrive at a solution on the first try. Listen, test your position, and then refine it based on the group's input.

Spending time with the leader two levels above you can give you a broader perspective on your job and advance your career. But not everyone has access to their boss's boss. Here are three things you can do to catch this manager's attention. Take advantage of every opportunity to touch base. Send a note of congratulations when she gets a promotion or honor. Forward a relevant article. Ask a question only she'll know the answer to. Increase your exposure. Volunteer for a cross-functional team. Send periodic updates on your work to your manager, and ask him to forward them to his boss. Produce results. Impress customers--internal and external--and send your manager any compliments you receive. He will undoubtedly send it on since your success reflects positively on him.

Once you've secured a mentor, kick off the relationship the right way. Here are three things you can do as a mentee to help create a successful partnership: Get to know your mentor. Don't immediately ask for advice. Take the time to acquaint yourself with your adviser. Ask questions about her experience and working style, and share in return. Air concerns. You may be nervous about admitting your mistakes and fears. Establish an expectation of confidentiality up front, and remember this discretion should be mutual. Set milestones. To gauge progress, set goals and chart a path to achieve them. To expedite the process, draft a list of milestones and ask your mentor for feedback.

If you're thrust into an unfamiliar culture, as a manager, you have to modify your behavior to fit cultural norms. This can be tough, especially if it makes you feel inauthentic. If you face this discomfort, try these three things: Identify the challenge. Pinpoint what's making you uneasy. For example, in a culture that values a top-down leadership style, are you struggling to provide clear directives? Adjust your behavior. Make small but meaningful adjustments that both reflect the culture you're working in and stay true to your values. You don't have to yell at employees, but could you be more assertive? Recognize the value. While you may need to behave in counterintuitive ways, focus on the desired outcome.

Most innovators experience crises of confidence--experts dismiss your underlying assumptions, you can't validate market demand, discussions with potential partners stall. If this happens, keep the faith. Trust your intuition that you are on to a big idea and keep moving forward to test your assumptions. Analysis can only reveal so much. You can't be certain you have a good or bad idea until you take action. Get out of the office and try out your idea in the real world. However, don't have blind faith. Research other innovations and understand what kind of patterns indicate things are working, and which indicate they're not.

As a manager, dealing with employees who lack enthusiasm for their jobs or don't feel connected to the company is a big hurdle. Here are three things you can do daily to engage your people: Facilitate progress. Employees feel engaged when they make headway toward objectives. Provide clear goals and resources to support their progress. Make work meaningful. Your company doesn't need a lofty mission to make employees care. They simply need to see how their actions contribute to company value, like a service or product. Reward and recognize. Don't wait for milestones. Show appreciation every day for the work your employees do.

Creativity is not genetically encoded. Anyone can learn to think creatively. The key is to use both the left and right hemispheres of the brain: logical and intuitive, respectively. Start by immersing yourself in a problem. Use the logical left side of your brain to understand what you know about the topic. Then switch to the right side by distancing yourself from the issue and mulling over the information. Exercise is a good way to access the visual nature of the right hemisphere. It often leads to an "ah-ha moment" where you see a new solution. Then switch back to the left hemisphere to challenge your creative breakthrough with rational thinking.

Mentors help you advance in work and life. But don't wait for someone to take you under his wing. Seek out people who can help you. The first step is to figure out which mentor will best meet your needs: The co-mentor. This can be anyone—a colleague, a friend—who needs you as much as you need him. Find a co-mentor if you have a specific skill to learn and something to teach in return. The remote mentor. This is someone outside your organization who can offer objective advice. You may need a remote mentor if you are looking for a fresh perspective and you've already exhausted closer resources. The invisible mentor. You don't have to have a personal relationship with this mentor. You learn from observing and following her example.

Whether you are a new manager or a recently-appointed CEO, you have three months to make an impact. Begin preparing for the first 90 days as early as your first interview. Be ready to answer the question: "What do you hope to achieve in your first three months?" Don't cop out by saying that you will learn and observe before jumping in. Instead, prepare a thoughtful response. Start by stating what you understand about the role and the organization. Avoid being critical. Then make connections between this challenge and your experience. Wrap up your answer by delivering clear recommendations, with some caution, because you will need more detail before implementing them.

Getting people to do what you want is difficult, especially if you lack authority. When direct techniques like asking fail, try more subtle approaches: Talk less, listen more. Colleagues are less likely to resist when you've taken the time to acknowledge their concerns. Listen to their worries and make sure your solutions recognize them. Make them like you. It's hard to say no to someone you like. We tend to like people who share our background and interests, so play up similarities. Flattery also works. If your colleague does a good job, tell him. Do a favor. Doing something for someone gives you influence. Everyone understands the need to repay what another person has given them.

It's unorthodox, but to continuously improve your organization and get the most of your high performers, give them boring work. As companies grow, they develop mediocre processes that get work done, but no one wants to do these dull jobs. That's why they need your best people. Your high performers are likely the only ones who can come up with solutions that challenge the inefficiencies, reinvigorate the process, and create new opportunities. Your stars may not want to work on these issues, but it is your job to get them excited about transforming the dull, boring--and essential.

Many managers know when their next promotion is coming, but few take advantage of this time to prepare. Instead of waiting for an official announcement, start with "phase zero." Use your insider status to become familiar with your new unit's people and performance and to discern the opportunities and challenges of your upcoming assignment. In the weeks leading up to the transition, carve out at least 30 minutes a day for this endeavor. Look through company documents, such as performance reviews and reports on services and operations. Identify problems and develop hypotheses for solving them. Turn to colleagues who have supervised the role, interacted with it, or previously filled a similar one. Ask them questions that will help you understand what to expect for the transition.

Managing perfectionists is tricky. They may be sensitive to criticism, but they need feedback to grow like everyone else. Here are two things you can do to help the stickler on your team: Be clear about expectations. Perfectionists may set unrealistic expectations for themselves. Let them know ahead of time what is most important. Be explicit so they don't waste time on aspects of the project that don't matter. Encourage regular check-ins. Perfectionists notoriously only share end products, fearing that a work-in-progress might be seen as the best they can do. Work on iterations of a project together to create a sense of collaboration and reduce the likelihood that the perfectionist will get bogged down in unnecessary details.

Which is worse: receiving a performance review, or giving one? At least with the latter you have some control. When you're the one conducting the review, try doing these three things to make it a productive experience. Set expectations early. Make employee-evaluation practices clear at the beginning of the year with individual performance planning sessions. Set the right tone. Everyone hates the "feedback sandwich": compliments, criticism, then more niceties. Deliver a positive message to your good performers by mainly concentrating on their strengths and achievements. Confront poor performers and demand improvement. Avoid money talk. If possible, don't mention compensation during the review; but if you must, divulge the salary information at the start of the conversation.

Knowing what you want from a mentoring relationship is critical. Before you sit down with your mentor for the first time, decide what you hope to learn. Ask yourself what you want in work and life. Which assets will help you get there? Identify the strengths that will best serve you. Then, honestly examine the roadblocks, challenges, or weaknesses that are slowing you down. Once you do that you're ready to articulate your goals and share them with your mentor. Keep it to no more than five goals, so they don't detract from what your mentor has to offer.

Many managers hate office politics. But avoiding them altogether may hold you back. If you've ever worked for a boss who lacked clout or credibility, you understand the risks. As a manager, you're responsible for building productive relationships throughout the office so you can influence people beyond your immediate sphere. But you can avoid "playing politics" while building the influence you need. Keep your efforts clearly focused on the ultimate good of the organization. Work with others for mutual advantage, not just your own. And always conduct yourself according to your personal values, no matter what others do.

Unintended consequences are common in business. Well-meaning managers often implement new policies only to find that in addition to what they envisioned, they've also created problems. You can't predict the future, but you can help mitigate the negative with these two steps: Plan ahead as much as you can. Gather the people the change will impact and scenario plan to see what might happen, keeping in mind that there will always be something that surprises you later. Test the waters. Conduct short, focused experiments to see how various parties will react, and use the results to rejigger your plan. You can't eliminate all negative possibilities but you can get ready to deal with them.

Even if you know your annual targets and goals, you may not always know everything your boss expects of you. Every manager has unspoken expectations. Here are three things you can do to meet them: Collaborate. Bosses want people who cooperate. Overcome differences with others and work together effectively—even if you don't like each other. Lead initiatives. Those who raise their hands climb the ladder faster. Don't be reluctant to take on new initiatives, even if they may not pan out. Stay current. Bosses rely on their people for information. Regularly consume the news to stay informed about your competition, your customers, and what is happening in the marketplace.

Email has fundamentally changed the way we interact. But, it cannot replace live conversation. This especially applies when resolving a conflict or communicating an important business decision. Far too many people try to do sensitive business via email. This is problematic because tone and context are easy to misread. In a live conversation, how one says something is as important as what they are saying. Without inflections and intonations, it's hard to understand the feelings behind the words. In fact, email-based conflict often escalates because you aren't forced to be as thoughtful as you would be in a one-on-one conversation. Next time you have a delicate or complex issue to discuss, take your hands off the keyboard and pick up the phone.