NERVE 2015 - Nashville

Be Legendary! For my first experience at a global EO function, this was LEGENDARY! The amount of learning and note taking I did over the few days we stayed in Nashville was massive. About 50 pages of written notes filled my iPad. I tried to capture all that I could. Numerous speakers filled my head with self-motivation and focus on being a better leader and business man. They provided I site how to grow your business to points that are beyond your expectations. They encouraged you to share your knowledge with your own team/staff and allow them to better their abilities.

Each day was filled with speakers during the day and networking opportunities each evening. From keynote speakers to breakout sessions and even celebrity country singers, Nashville was filled with more than I could imagine. To make a choice of which breakout speaker I intended on hearing was probably the toughest decision. None we bad....all were awesome. I emerged with an enormous amount of learning.....including a pile of books to add to my reading list! I can't wait to get through them all.

I connected with several individuals including the great Jack Daly. What a huge motivator! Not only did I hear him speak but got the opportunity to run with him Thursday morning and chat a bit. There were about a dozen of us. I feel I am going to be adding an Ironman to my bucket list. What an amazing way to start off my first Global EO experience!

 

Day one was filled with multiple speakers (9 in total) brain was about to explode and I filled my iPad with notes. Here is my day one take-aways. There were many!

Verne Harnish: Locamotion of Species; "With enough pieces of ribbon I could conquer the planet", Napoleon; The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing; In the 21st century we are not confined to our four walls; Passion Purpose & Persistence.

John DiJulius: They don't put people in Disney, they put Disney in people; Day in the Life of a Customer; Making price irrelevant; SIGN: We do $10 haircuts....SIGN: We fix $10 haircuts!; Customer Bill of Rights...never & always.

Jack Daly: Systems and Processes; If you don't have an assistant you are one; Vision = Magnetic + Compelling; Keep people in Key spots; Hire slowly, Fire quickly; Always looking for the number 1 salesman.

Cameron Herold: The little engine that could, I think I can; Ride the roller coaster and scream, or wave and laugh.

Tim Corbin: people are like: Marshmallow-soft outside and inside, Jelly Bean-hard on outside and soft in the middle, Rock-hard on both because of experience; Life isn't fair, it rewards us on its own clock; Don't judge every season by the outcome of the last game; The first part of teaching is trust.

Ron Friedman: Intelligent risk taking; Mistakes are the tuition you pay for success; Exercise makes you smarter.

Biz Dev Done Right: Right Target, Right Message, Right Answers to objections, Right Door Opener, Right execution; 1st 10% improvement, 2nd 10% price change.

Andy Bailey: 7000 thoughts in one day, only ONE task account mp,I shed at a time; You get what you're focused on.

Tommy Spaulding: His story was amazing.....can't wait to read the book after listening to him for just a few minutes.

And the the day was over and off we went to dinner. Right there in the hotel at the Country Music Hall of Fame with entertainment by John Rich who had spoke to us earlier in the day too.

 

All in all it was a fantastic event with lots to learn from. A great time getting to know my fellow members and many of their wives better as well as a lot of others from around the country.

 

D. Eugene Thompson, AIA

Ionic DeZign Studios

 

www.ionicdezigns.com

www.WHHAdezigns.com

 

Team IONIC welcomes Melinda

Melinda joined IONIC in September 2015 after relocating to Virginia from Colorado. Since receiving her communications degree from Oklahoma State, she has explored all aspects of her field of study. Melinda expanded her technical skills and experience as the videographer and editor for a state training agency in Oklahoma. From there, she gained valuable experience as a project manager and grant writer for a small agency in Colorado. Most recently, she began polishing her marketing skills while working as an executive assistant at a financial planning company. 

Melinda brings a varied skill set as she joins the team at Ionic DeZigns. Her experience will allow IONIC to expand their presence in additional markets along the east coast and throughout the mid and southwest. Effective in communications, Melinda will promote further awareness of IONIC's architecture and design talents through various websites and social media venues. Her former project management experience will allow her to effectively help with CA and assist the project managers.

Team IONIC welcomes Gideon

Gideon came to Ionic Dezign Studios after graduating from Oklahoma State University and entering the financial industry in Colorado Springs. He gained experience in finance, project management and system administration with a Colorado-based credit union. He functions as accountant and system administrator for IONIC's financial responsibilities. Gideon organizes and manages the administrative side of the business to occasionally include marketing and business development efforts as well.

Team IONIC open employment

Team IONIC seeks additional talent

Ionic DeZign Studios is looking for a Junior Architect/Designer to join our ever growing practice.

IONIC is a Virginia Beach based Architecture and Interiors firm along with its newly acquired location in Richmond, WHHA + Ionic DeZign Studios. We work on a variety of project types, including retail, restaurants, hospitality, corporate offices, mixed-use and commercial, financial, municipality projects as well as a being a significant player in Religious Architecture. WHHA formerly known as Wm Henry Harris and Associates has a strong history of over thirty years doing work in the church community. IONIC is a firm that strives to set the bar higher in terms creativity and ingenuity throughout the design process. Team IONIC is about relationships. Within a supportive and mentorship philosophy, IONIC provides a climate where you'll succeed and be a part of a continuously growing and evolving family of designers.

We are immediately seeking individual/(s) to join our team in possibly both offices for new construction and renovation type work. Respondent must be capable of working on multiple projects in various phases simultaneously. Proficient in Revit, AutoCad and 3D Max is preferred for production of construction documents. Must work well with others for team collaboration. 

Qualifications Summary:

Completion of three to five years in architectural degree program.
Minimum of 3 years total professional experience; experience required in construction documents; beneficial for all other phases of project work including preparation of conceptual, schematic, design development and supporting materials.

Proficient in AutoCad, Revit a plus.
Licensed or actively seeking licensure.

Send resume and references to info@ionicdezigns.com

D. Eugene Thompson, AIA

2015 Race for the Cure

Thanks to all those from Team IONIC that participated in the Race for the Cure at the beach on Saturday. It started off a bit windy and rainy but all in fun and support of a great cause. We will continue to join together as a team as this was something like ten years we have done this race together.

A nice organized picture of our crew.

A selfie that wasn't easy to take to get everyone in. NICK you blinked again!

Even the young get involved.....Slater is probably saying, "What in the world are all these crazy people doing?"

A quick stop for breakfast afterwards. We did burn a few calories!

Thanks again Team IONIC. Have a fun run! 

Eugene Thompson

Ionic DeZign Studios

www.ionicdezigns.com

IONIC grows Bigger

Ionic DeZign Studios and William Henry Harris & Associates have teamed up to expand our businesses. IONIC owner Eugene Thompson and WHHA owner Harry Harris will work together to bring the two firms together. WHHA has a solid history and portfolio in the Richmond market having completed more than 200 church projects since their founding in 1983. IONIC has a diverse and creative portfolio that ranges from large commercial projects to intimate residential plans. They have more than 1,000 projects on their books as they begin their 16^th year of business. Building client relationships and producing projects that surpass expectation remain the focus of each company. Uniting these two successful firms should make for an excellent partnership. By combining the two firms’ services, history and experience, we hope to be able to continue to grow and better serve our clients. 

 

D. Eugene Thompson, AIA
Ionic DeZign Studios + WHHA

www.ionicdezigns.com
www.WHHAdezigns.com coming soon

Make Meetings Productive not Pointless

As the English proverb goes, “Time is the soul of business.” What are the biggest time thieves in business? Research shows that, next to conversations at the water cooler and computer and software problems, meetings are the biggest culprit. They are an insidious productivity killer for small-business owners. I had never thought about this. I always thought it was a good thing to meet and get an update all the time regarding my team's progress. That is until one of my team leaders told me he felt the meetings were a waste of time......can you imagine my dismay?

Well-conducted meetings can lead to enhanced communication and greater buy-in and consensus. However, many meetings fail to achieve objectives because the person running the meeting didn’t plan the end properly. I needed to make sure that I established a better method on meeting (pun intended!) the objectives......and accomplishing a take away. Do you do any of the following at the end of your meetings?

1. Not paying attention to the “meeting after the meeting.”

Someone who holds a meeting after the meeting, usually behind closed doors, to disagree with a course of action is hurting productivity. End with a “closing round” to give everyone a chance to comment on the meeting out in the open. Often, this unveils issues you can address to prevent them from surfacing later. As Ev Williams, co-creator of Twitter and Medium, explains, in a closing round “there is no discussion or back-and-forth allowed. People tend to talk for less than 30 seconds (often a lot less), so you could close a large, 10-person meeting in less than five minutes …The closing round is worth doing, because it gives everyone, in a sense, a ‘last word’—the chance to get something off their chests that they might otherwise carry around or whisper to their colleagues later.”

In his seminal book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make The Leap … And Others Don’t, author Jim Collins researched highly successful companies and found that one of their practices is to unify behind decisions. No matter how heated and vigorous the debate is in search of the best answers, when they leave the meeting, people stand united regardless of parochial interests. If this is not the norm in your company, confront team members to change the culture.

Rarely do we have any major disagreements or heated discussions but the point of our production meetings would be and should be feeling unified with a direction to pursue during the week. A course of action with a purpose.....preferably their purpose. Value of purpose is a far greater inspiration when it is held within the individual rather than the leader.

2. Failing to designate responsibility.

How often have we attended meetings, or strategic retreats, where the gathering ends with a lot of excitement and decisions to pursue new directions, only to see it all fizzle a few weeks later? This is because the meeting ended with no clear accountability on who will do what. Apple has a system it calls the Directly Responsible Individual (DRI). This is assigning one individual, not a team, to be responsible for an action item.

Adam Lashinsky of Fortune magazine explains how the DRI concept establishes accountability and helps a giant company such as Apple function like a small startup. All meetings at Apple have an action list, and next to each action item is the DRI. Consider following this model so you eliminate any confusion on who’s responsible for what at the end of each meeting.

We have recently added this line item to our production reports. While we already have a project manager in place to take responsibility, often times other team members are jumping in to assist or are responsible for a piece of the whole.

3. Not following up on action items.

A surprisingly common problem with meetings is not having a system in place to follow up on action items, making sure people do what they say they’ll do. By having something in place, possibly within your current project management software, you can eliminate redundant follow ups later. The leader knows, by some tracking method, that the task was completed. Now we all don't have to waste time following up with an email or in the next meeting by recognizing what was finished and what still remains. You can focus on the tasks that need to be done rather (the future) rather than the tasks that have been completed (the past). 

4. Taking too long to share notes from the meeting. 

I am so terrible at this! So I can share how important this is from my team's perspective. Meeting notes are crucial to help everyone remember what was discussed and decided. In our case, to turnover a project initiation to the design team. Often, the designated note taker makes detailed notes but they are either distributed too late or not distributed at all. I mostly listen in all my meetings with minimal note taking and unfortunately never get around to providing detailed notes. One way to get around this problem is to use a program such as Evernote, which helps you minute your meetings easily and make notes available to everyone without delay. It’s free and you don’t need to be connected to the Internet during the meeting to use it. Two other note taking tools that will help you simplify your meeting process are OneNote and Less Meeting. Setting this task should be a priority because it helps you keep record of the meeting's intent and gives direction to others if they will be performing the tasks discussed.

5. Not evaluating the meeting.

Ending each meeting without evaluating how it went is a surefire way to ensure that unproductive behaviors and procedures will be repeated from meeting to meeting. You show respect for people’s time and efforts when you take a moment at the end of each meeting to check in on how people feel about the meeting. A simple, “What worked well?” and “What could we improve?” can yield useful information that will save time in the future. You can even designate someone to monitor the meeting and provide a brief, verbal report at the end. Tough practice because not everyone gets the same thing out of our production meetings. Mostly ours relate to getting me info and keeping me up to date with the firm's activities. Something we may need to try.

6. Not ending the meeting on time.

One of the worst practices in meetings is not respecting the announced ending time. Frequently, this is due to the meeting starting late, or the meeting chair letting some team members ramble on or go off topic. As the principle of the firm take the huge guilty pledge right here. When I was once told that the production meetings weren't an efficient use of time by a colleague, I took it to heart. I recognized that we needed to be more productive in our productive meetings and get through them quicker. Just yesterday my schedule for out of wack and we had to move the meeting to the afternoon. I said, "Only 15 minutes!" It took 45 :( I was unsuccessful at getting to my goal so I certainly need to continue to work on this. Maybe I'll take inspiration from Google, which often has a giant timer on the wall to exert subtle pressure and prevent meetings from running off schedule. 

7. Ending a meeting at a bad time.

Often, customers, employees or other stakeholders who work in others cities join the meeting by phone. When these individuals are in different time zones, they sometimes have to excuse themselves from the meeting just before the meeting is concluded. This can result in inefficiencies as they may miss last-minute details of what was decided concerning action items that are their responsibility. Make an effort to schedule meetings that take into account optimal times for everyone’s attendance. Use the World Clock Meeting Planner to help you in this regard.

Originally written By Bruna Martinuzzi

Edited by D. Eugene Thompson

Ionic DeZign Studios + WHHA