Dr. Margaret Gremli and I will be speaking at the Key Media Seminar (PDF document)on September 27, 2005.

Maggie will be speaking on ?Workplace Harassment ? Could It Happen to You?? while I will be speaking on ?Blogging in Organizations?.

We would love to meet you in person should you be attending the seminar.

A Few Observations Are Worth 1,000 Questionnaires

A great interview with IDEO founder David Kelly by Morgan McLintic

Excerpts from the interview:

?The second phase is built around observation. We feel strongly that to understand people’s latent needs, you have to observe them. You can’t just listen to what they have to say. We haven’t gained a lot of benefit from distributing questionnaires?asking people about their needs and experiences. If you watch what they do, however, it’s a different story. If I were to redesign a gas station, I’d go stand near the pumps and watch what goes on. Eventually I’d see the problems people were having. But if asked those people about their experience, they’d say it was fine.?

?Innovation is a team sport; I don’t think anybody would disagree with that. You put people on teams, and suddenly you have many viewpoints, which in turn leads to more interesting innovations. In the mechanical engineering department, we taught project classes, but if you put four mechanical engineers on a team?which is what we always did?your answers always take the form of mechanisms, whether you’re trying to make it more fun to wait in line at Safeway or something else.?

Visit Thoughtless Acts? to preview a quirky book by Jane Suri and IDEO that show ‘how people behave in a world not perfectly tailored to their needs’ .

I recall Hemu Ramiah, CEO, Landmark, a pioneer in ‘book retailing’ in India share how she used ‘the power of observation’ to make business decisions.She facilitated browsing since she noticed that shoppers liked to read a little before deciding to buy a book. She reduced floor space for greeting cards when she observed the trend of sms messages being used to convey wishes instead of greeting cards.

This month?s HR News and Views on Seven ways to stay updated: An essential aspect of your Professional Life

Being current with the latest information in our area of work is a necessity rather than a luxury in today’s workplace. Yet, with the information deluge, we often don’t seem to have the time to read what we should be reading let along keeping up with what we’d like to read!

Did we ever think that computers would help make our jobs more efficient, give us more time to pursue our interests, have more time for ourselves!

As Jonathan Schwartz, President and CEO, Sun Microsystems put it succintly, “You are not about to send fewer email messages, watch fewer movies, or download fewer songs. Demand is unceasing. It is up to us to meet it.”

In this issue, I have tried to explore some efficient ways of keeping oneself updated using the web. While I never think of myself as an embracer of technology, the ‘opportunities to learn’ made possible because of technology continue to amaze and enchant me!

Read the Seven Ways to stay updated
here

Just after I finished sending out the ezine, I came across the following resources:

Acknowledging the fact that men and women seek different experiences while shopping, GAP is planning to have separate entrances for men and women.

“”Research showed that men want to come and go easily, while women want an exploration,” says Mark Dvorak, Gap’s VP for store design. The women’s sections are organized by occasion, such as work or going out, with accessories scattered throughout to foster browsing. The men’s side is more straightforward: Signs list basics required to build certain outfits, and items are stacked by size for a quick in-and-out shopping experience.”

While play areas for kids are common, there seems to be room to attend to the companions.GAP stores have lounges where bored companions can play games and read magazines.

- GAP offers pagers to customers wishing to use the fitting rooms but hate to wait or queue up. Customers can continue their shopping until a room is free.
-Hand held scanners that allow customers to take charge of their grocery shopping through ?self scanning and bagging?.
-?Touch screens? that give more control to customers and offer benefits such as guiding you to cereals or washing powder, enhancing Customer Service or introducing loyalty programmes, placing orders for products that are not on the shelves

The article on GAP’s retail initiatives can be read here and how Bloom is using scanners can be read here

• Deepa