Go back to school with SmartBrief Education’s new Remind class. Sign up to receive weekly updates with links to tips, tools and other resources for the back-to-school season. This month’s updates will explore Disruptive Innovation. We’ll share articles about professional-development trends, connected teaching and learning and ed-tech tips. Educators, administrators, students, parents and others will benefit from enrolling in the class. Join our back-to-school journey today! Related Posts: No Related Posts Join SmartBrief on Remind for tips, tools originally published by SmartBlogs

SmartBlog on Education will shine a light on back-to-school teaching and learning trends during July. In this blog post, educational psychology professor Dorothy L. Espelag outlines three ways to take bullying-prevention initiatives to the next level. "Kids will be kids." "It’s just a right of passage." These are two common phrases frequently used to justify and minimize childhood bullying. However, instead of giving kids a "thick skin," recent research sheds light on the dangerous mental and physical health problems associated with bullying. As a result, such research has sparked action in countless school communities, that are now in search of ready-to-implement solutions that will help cultivate more positive, safe classroom environments. Evaluating the damage One startling piece of research examined data from more than 4,000 participants in the U.K. Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children study and 1,273 participants from the U.S. Great Smoky Mountain study. After evaluating subjects at ages 13 and 18, the findings revealed that of the 680 13-year-olds who said they were bullied frequently — more than once a week — almost 15% were depressed at 18-years-old. Furthermore, of the 1450 teenagers bullied one to three times over six months time — more than 7% were depressed at age 18. In total, up to 30% of depression in the sample of 18-year-olds may be attributed to being bullied as a teenager. Additionally, there are long-lasting physical effects from this behavior. Recent research also found that those who have been bullied as children are more likely to be overweight or obese as adults, putting them at a higher risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses. Specifically, more than a quarter of women who were occasionally or frequently bullied as children were obese at age 45, compared to 19% of those who had never been bullied. The victims of bullies are not the only ones at risk, either. Witnesses to bullying and harassment are more likely to have elevated levels of substance abuse. The long-term effects of childhood bullying has caused many parents and schools to identify strategies and solutions to address harmful bullying behaviors and reduce the negative effects over time. Equipping your community to create positive change Having dedicated my career to bullying prevention research, one strong belief of mine, and what my research has revealed, is that any positive change requires a community-wide effort. Put simply, it takes an entire school community — parents, students, teachers, administrators and other faculty — to build a positive school environment that supports bullying prevention. It’s more than an awareness day, an anti-bullying policy or an anonymous tip line. While these are all positive steps, they are not complete. There has to be a more comprehensive, integrated approach to really achieve long term change. To change behavior and see long-term improvements in school climate, bullying needs to be addressed in three ways: Reporting incidents: It is vital for victims, bystanders and even bullies to know that they have a voice. Historically, the reporting of incidents has been done anecdotally, however, providing students, "digital natives," with the ability to report incidents from anywhere at anytime can increase reporting likeliness as well as increase the quality of the report. Reviewing the incidents: It is most effective for the bullying reports to be reviewed by selected, trained administrators. Because of the serious effects bullying can have, it is important for each incident to be reviewed, validated and documented. A formal review and documentation process can provide pivotal insight into school climate and hot topics that require further attention. Resolving incidents: To facilitate positive change, school communities should be equipped with research based restorative resolution strategies and techniques that facilitate teachable moments to deter future negative behavior. Bullying has become a nationally recognized problem, and it is time for communities to buy-in to treating it as such. With all 50 states having passed anti-bullying laws, the next steps are to equip all with comprehensive, effective resources to combat bullying. From the school bus drivers and janitors, to the parents, teachers, and students — all must be included in anti-bullying programs and given the necessary resources to react appropriately to incidents, before, during, and after they happen. Dorothy L. Espelag, is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s email list for more stories about education. We offer newsletters covering educational leadership, special education and more. Related Posts: No Related Posts Positive resolution strategies reduce bullying originally published by SmartBlogs

Water is the one integral ingredient you need to operate your restaurant. The food you serve, cooking you do and proper sanitation practices you use probably wouldn’t exist without water. But for restaurateurs, the big problem is you likely are wasting an enormous amount of the precious liquid every single day. Think about it. A seemingly small leak, if left unfixed, could literally cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year, and tens of thousands of gallons of water wasted (or more).   According to the Food Service Technology Center, these leaks — as well as thawing food under a running faucet — can drain you dry financially as well as impact our local streams, rivers and farms that all need water to survive. Use a drip gauge to understand how much leaks are costing you. You might be surprised! (Photo: NRA Conserve) So why aren’t we conserving more water? Perhaps we’re just thinking about it in the wrong way. Here are three facts that could help bring about that change: The cost of water is rising faster than inflation. According to Circle of Blue, a nonprofit water research organization, the price of water shot up 6% in 30 major U.S. cities in 2014 alone. That’s a 33% increase in water prices over the last five years. In contrast, according to U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, average inflation in the United States was 1.6% in 2014 and the Consumer Price Index (an estimate for inflation) rose only 9% from 2010 to 2014. Less than 3% of all water is fresh water. Yes, it’s true. According to the S. Environmental Protection Agency, only 3% of the earth’s water is fresh water and 97% is salty. The water we collect from streams and in aquifers is limited, and most countries, including ours, are vastly overusing these resources. These issues are summed up nicely in a National Geographic video: Why Care About Water? If you waste water, you waste energy and vice versa. Bet you don’t often think that water needs to be pumped into your restaurant, that it has to be treated in sewer plants, and returned to streams. All of this requires energy. Alternately, many power plants often need water to cool down equipment, which consumes water through evaporation. California serves as a good example. Twenty percent of the state’s electricity and 30% of the state’s non-power plant natural gas (i.e. natural gas not used to produce electricity) is used to move water to farms, houses and businesses. The average retail value of the electricity used across the state to move this water is approximately $9 billion a year. Think about these three facts when you see your employees wasting water, when you find leaks in your sinks, or if you’re over-watering your lawn to the point where water runs on the sidewalk. You may not currently have drought conditions in your area, but our water supply is limited and uses more resources than just the water itself. Visit the National Restaurant Association’s Conserve program for low-cost best practices on preserving your water supply. __________________________________________________ If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s email list for more stories about the food and beverage industry. We offer 14 newsletters covering the industry from restaurants to food manufacturing. Related Posts: 3 easy and inexpensive ways to save water Q-and-A: NRA Conserve director talks restaurant sustainability Don’t get boxed in: How restaurants can save big with cardboard recycling 5 steps for practicing sustainability in 2015 Reflections on food culture: The forces that shape consumer behavior 3 facts to stop you from wasting water originally published by SmartBlogs

The Young Entrepreneur Council is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses. Read previous SmartBlogs posts by YEC. If you enjoy this article, join SmartBrief’s e-mail list for our newsletters on small business and entrepreneurialism. How do you ensure that onboarding new employees is done efficiently — and without disrupting other employees? 1. Continually record and pass on knowledge We have our current employees continually update manuals and on-boarding materials as they learn something new about their role so that their knowledge can be passed down to future employees. I try to ensure that there is overlap between the person leaving and the person coming on board so that the new employee can learn from them and tasks can be seamlessly shifted from one employee to the next. — Diana Goodwin, AquaMobile Swim School 2. Systemize everything We’ve standardized the tools and equipment we use across the organization to make both on-boarding and day-to-day work more efficient. All developers use the same type of laptop, OS and software tools. When a new hire starts, they are up to speed within our codebase in an hour and can start contributing. We choose our tools carefully and invest time to ensure they continue to make us efficient. — Arian Radmand, CoachUp 3. Create a new employee Basecamp group We created a "New Employee Checklist" template in Basecamp that we use for onboarding employes. This does two things: it gets new hires familiar with Basecamp, our project management software, and it also helps ensure no steps are skipped. Employees are able to see all required tasks (choosing benefits, installing software, etc.) and check each one off as it is completed. — Brittany Hodak, ZinePak 4. Use training modules Creating systems and having a rough idea of what you’ll cover during training is just the beginning. Set up custom training modules so you can put new employees on autopilot and they can learn via written instructions, short videos and practical application. Start with the tasks every new employee will use like email account set up. Best of all, you’ll be able to observe how they work immediately. — Kelly Azevedo, She’s Got Systems 5. Create an employee wiki Create a wiki of all information relevant to a new hire: key policies and procedures, how processes are currently managed, and who is currently responsible for what. As employees develop new processes and institutional knowledge, they can add it to the wiki, making a living, breathing document that is relevant for all future hires. — Sathvik Tantry, FormSwift 6. Set them up with a partner/mentor In addition to providing new hires with the appropriate materials to study, it’s a good idea to partner them with someone who has plenty of experience in the same field. This allows the new employee to get up to speed as quickly as possible as he or she can watch and study what the mentor does. Gradually, the new employee should be given more and more tasks to complete independently. — Shawn Porat, Fortune Cookie Advertising 7. Make sure everything they need is in one place My employees are asked to be extremely independent, and are assigned deadlines with the absolute expectation of meeting them. New team members use Basecamp so every resource they need is in one place. I also use LastPass to provide access to other programs. By assigning tasks and giving full access to everyone, business goals stay completely organized. — Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now 8. Create a welcome committee The best practice to ensure a smooth incorporation process of new employees is to continually train mentors to be their go-to people. This person is always available to assist the trainee and make them feel like part of the team. They assume the responsibilities of a typical welcome committee, helping the trainee get accustomed to the company, its values, the office and their own daily tasks. — David Tomas, Cyberclick 9. Provide a strong support system We provide a strong support system for every new employee. First, we provide training that covers the company, leadership, benefits and procedures. Every employee is assigned a coach who explains the specifics of the job and assists with any issues the new hire faces. Our goal is to make new employees feel supported as they adjust to a new company and clients. — Alfredo Atanacio, Uassist.ME 10. Hold a welcome orientation On day one, we have a welcome orientation for the new employee by walking through the entire office and introduce him/her to everyone in the company one by one. This way both the new employee and existing team get familiarized with one another, minimizing any disruption. — Fenella Kim, Reliance Star Payment Services Related Posts: How can leaders can assess the work readiness of new graduates? When do you let an underperforming employee go? What resources can help entrepreneurs be better managers? Common mistakes leaders make during periods of fast growth What would you change about your company’s 2014? How do you efficiently onboard new employees? originally published by SmartBlogs

Organizations are made up of teams and individuals who execute specific tasks to drive a greater, overarching business goal. However, the link between individual actions and broader organizational goals is often unclear. Most employees, including leaders, do not realize the impact that their actions (or lack of) can have on business operations. When key business tasks are carried out, whether on small projects or large initiatives, accountable behavior is essential. It is most significant when expressed as timely follow-through on commitments despite shifting priorities, conflicting goals and role ambiguity. The need for accountability is clearly evident during moments that test leadership, but it can often go unnoticed when it comes to smaller, everyday activities and behaviors. If left unchecked, a lack of accountability can have a serious impact on business performance and operations. As such, spotting the signs early and addressing the issue strategically is imperative. Some signs of insufficient or lack of accountability are: Ongoing missed deliverables Duplication of effort Lack of ownership for the quality of work Giving excuses Blaming others Putting off important tasks Doing the minimum Acting confused and playing helpless These can all lead to missed deadlines, scapegoating, and overruns as well as severely impact productivity and business performance. According to our 2014 Pulse Survey, only 18 percent of respondents reported the highest level of accountability in their organizations. This reveals that the vast majority of respondents feel most individuals within their organization did not take account of their actions and honor the commitments they made to others as much as they could or should. The main reason for this lack of accountability is leaders themselves do not model accountability. In fact, according to Forum’s survey, less than half of leaders were seen as behaving in a way that promotes accountability in their people. They were unable to keep their promises, model responsibility, ensure clear goals and even provide necessary resources and abilities. Key behaviors that demonstrate a leader’s personal commitment to accountability and encourage peers to also take more responsibility for their actions are: Setting clear standards and expectations with teams around what accountability is and the importance it has on achieving and meeting goals/expectations; Defining who is accountable for successfully completing assignments and achieving objectives; Being open to feedback and problem-solving without placing blame when deadlines, tasks or deliverables are missed; Teaching and demonstrating how to address people when they do not keep commitments and providing guidance on how to interact when holding one another accountable; Applying appropriate consequences to team members who are regularly not able to meet established standards; and Empowering others to hold each other accountable by establishing standards, provided training and role modelling. While role modeling is a key behavior of high-performing leaders that influences accountability among teams, these leaders have to be careful that accountability is not seen solely as a disciplinary action. In such cases, accountability can become an overemphasis on the need to hold the workforce to account when it does not uphold its commitment. Instead, leaders can influence accountability by highlighting and celebrating achievements and giving positive examples during regular employee and team interactions so peers can learn from real experiences. By applying these practices, leaders and their teams can establish internal and external contracts, clarify the conditions that are needed to fulfill them, and provide a process of giving and receiving feedback to keep commitments on track, which can then provide a foundation for further measurement. For example, your organization is asked to roll out a program that came from the corporate office in Europe. Taking accountability means that instead of implementing it exactly as is, you localize the program, ensure that its spirit remains intact, and intended results are achieved and will go a long way. This way, you are not just ticking off boxes on a checklist — you also feel ownership in the actions taken to make the program work. Improving personal accountability is a vital step in increasing employee engagement, which in turn boosts productivity, as individuals are more inclined to honor the commitments they make to others and are energized to put in extra effort. If an organization’s workforce and leaders are aware of their responsibilities, enthusiastic about reaching individual and shared goals, and meet expectations, overall organizational performance will improve. At the end of the day, smaller, personal commitments count the most, as it drives employees to be responsible for their actions, engage in their work and effectively contribute to the bigger picture. Russ Becker is the president of The Forum Corporation. If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s e-mail list for our daily newsletter on being a better leader and communicator. Related Posts: Business IS behavior Questions to guide you in understanding your organizational culture Ensure corporate citizenship with values accountability Create accountability for performance and values in your culture What would your best boss do today? How to nurture accountability with employees originally published by SmartBlogs

What do we mean by "student success"? The proposed Every Child Achieves Act of 2015, does not offer provisions for student well-being as a part of the definition of "achievement or student success." The questions become, then, if the vision for our system of education is "every child succeeds" what does this mean? How are we defining success in the 21st century? Are there going to be effective measures of success outcomes and new teaching and learning methods and/or counseling interventions that produce these desired outcomes? With the overwhelming psychological and physical well-being needs of young people today, why does this major policy not include student well-being? "The bill recognizes that states, working with school districts, teachers, and others, have the responsibility for creating accountability systems to ensure all students are learning and prepared for success" (Every Child Achieves Act of 2015 Summary). Is the assumption that if a child can read or meet proficiency levels in math and science that they are prepared for success in life, both personally and professionally? The Bill still requires the focus upon testing in three core subjects, with major changes being how to hold schools and states accountable for these academic outcomes. Where is the type of creative, new thinking that more accurately reflects the new methods for empowering student well-being? The most direct student success pathway: Self knowledge Our young people require additional support to succeed in school, careers and life. These supports are a combination of personal counseling for personal awareness about life purpose, dreams, and well-being; career counseling for career match or fit; and, academic curricula that supports the development of competencies. This view of student success that combines the personal, with the career, with the academic competencies represents a shift away from a system that still envisions learning about three subjects as the pathway to success in life. As an expert in positive psychology and producing psychological well-being outcomes from schooling processes, I suggest that if Senators Alexander and Murray shift their focus to psychological attributes of students, e.g. purpose in life, dreams for their lives, happiness and awareness of emotions, intrinsic motivations, among others, then students will succeed at much higher levels and will be better prepared for a positive life course trajectory — one filled with well-being. The breakthrough work being done in positive psychology, educational psychology, and mind, brain and education (MBE) certainly offers new definitions of success and pathways to achieve. The research overwhelmingly concludes that the most direct student success pathway is through greater self-understanding with all of the inner psychological attributions of the self. The compelling need for well-being in education The issue of child well-being is becoming more and more acute as life in modern society becomes more and more complex as evidenced by the American Freshman Survey, an annual report that is now entering its 50th year. The survey collected responses from about 153,000 full-time, first-year students at 227 four-year public and private institutions in 2014. When asked to rate their emotional health in relation to other people their age, only 50.7% of the students reported that their emotional health was "in the highest 10%" of people or "above average." It’s the lowest rate since the survey began measuring self-ratings of emotional health in 1985, demonstrating that college and career readiness standards need to include well-being standards and measurement of well-being outcomes. Academic skills or well-being understanding? Self-knowledge is the number one protective factor for children’s mental health and a positive life course trajectory. Educating for well-being requires that we teach self-knowledge in order to produce emotionally, psychologically, physically whole children who are equipped with essential 21st century attributes and flourish in school, careers, and life. To deliver on the promise of education in the 21st century don’t we owe it our students to consider their total well-being and positive life course trajectories as they pass through our classrooms? And not merely how well they do academically? Henry Brzycki has more than 30 years of experience providing leadership to the fields of education and psychology. Brzycki founded The Brzycki Group, where he pioneered positive psychology and strengths-based counseling methods. He is the author of "The Self in Schooling: Theory and Practice -How to Create Happy, Healthy, Flourishing Children in the 21st Century" and creator of the iSelf model. Related Posts: 5 new realities in education CTE: Creating opportunities for students Why we shouldn’t glorify billionaires who dropped out of school How is the U.S. faring in the great #skillsrace? How making expands students’ visions of themselves Student success: A new definition for the U.S. Senate originally published by SmartBlogs

When Old Navy turned 20 last year, they held a celebration meant to put the spotlight back on their fans — as well as earn some real-world buzz. Using 20-foot machines in Times Square and Hollywood, they recreated rasterized images of their fans’ selfies by blowing up nearly 1,000 balloons. How it works: Fans tweet a photo to Old Navy with #selfiebration, Old Navy’s community managers manually approve and prep the images, the machines illustrate them in balloons, and Old Navy creates a gif to tweet back to the fan of their selfie being blown up. But to make it a success, Old Navy’s Associate Marketing Manager of Social and Digital Media Angela Scibelli says they worked across teams to develop a fully integrated campaign. In her presentation at SocialMedia.org’s Member Meeting, Angela shares these key points: Influencers can be more powerful than you think. Angela’s team worked to create a party-like atmosphere around the physical spaces by bringing in social media influencers to pump up the crowd. She says that while she expected the influencers to bring a bigger digital audience, they weren’t prepared for the mobs of fans who showed up in person to meet their favorite Vine stars. Keep the barrier to entry low. After doing some market research, Angela’s team knew Old Navy target audiences were already sharing tons of selfies. To get them to participate in this campaign, they piggybacked on what their customers were already doing. Leverage your employees. While Angela’s team sent out email blasts to tell Old Navy headquarters employees to promote the event, she says next time she’ll include their thousands of store managers to spread the word even further. Watch Angela’s full presentation below: Check out her slide deck. Related Posts: Andy’s Answers: How EA puts social at the center of their media newsroom Andy’s Answers: How Toyota launched the new Camry through social media Andy’s Answers: How Keurig earns its customers’ love Andy’s Answers: How Dunkin’ Donuts learned to celebrate its fans Andy’s Answers: Why EMC had to rein in its "Social Sprawl" Andy’s Answers: How Old Navy brought a social campaign to the real world originally published by SmartBlogs

It’s time to tee it up, ladies! Too many women are left out of boardrooms and corner offices across America because they don’t play golf. This may sound extreme, but I’m not kidding. Think about it. Have you ever been asked to play in a work golf outing and politely declined? You validated your decision by saying that you "had too much going on" and could stand some quiet time in the office when everyone else was out on the links. What you don’t realize is that you just missed out on five to eight hours of quality time with your bosses, colleagues and clients. When do you have meetings that last that long? When have you ever sat with your boss for seven hours? If you think about it like that, you can’t afford to miss out on an opportunity like this again. The next time this happens, I implore you to say YES. Here’s why: You don’t have to be good. You don’t even need to be kind of good. You don’t have to wear a perfectly coordinated preppy outfit. You don’t have to know the rules. You don’t have to own the latest equipment. You do, however, need to bring the following to your day on the links: a polo shirt and an appropriate set of shorts or golf skirt (read: nothing too short), a set of clubs (you can rent them at most golf courses so don’t fret), golf balls (easily purchase in the course pro shop), the wherewithal to pick up when you’re playing slowly, and a positive attitude. Like many things in life, your golfing experience will be determined by your attitude and expectations. This is difficult for highly successful people to grasp because golf is a game of conundrums. For example, a stationary target should be simple to hit, and swinging harder should yield a longer shot. A good attitude will guarantee that you have a great day even if you couldn’t hit the ball in the air or hit it over the water. Golf is a difficult game in the beginning, which is why I recommend that people take lessons from a PGA or LPGA professional. If lessons aren’t an option right away, you can still say yes to whoever is beckoning you to join their foursome. Corporate golf outings are commonly played in a scramble format. A "scramble" means that everyone hits a drive, then you all drop your golf ball to hit your second shot from a selected favorable location, and so on. This serves as a "no-pressure" opportunity for those who are less golf-inclined. You could be the person who sinks the putt that saves the team. YOU could be the hero in the foursome! You will never know if you sit in your office responding to e-mails all afternoon. The best part about a golf outing is that (1) you usually get a prize of some sort for participating, and especially (2) the outing is typically followed by lunch or dinner depending on the time that you tee off. After a day on the links, this is the perfect time to unwind and relive the glory that you felt from the putt you made on No. 17. It’s also a perfect way to spend some more quality time with your group and network with others. People immediately have common ground. You can finally chat with that person that you always see at the copier because you can talk about golf! You never know, your playing partner may promote you to partner eventually — all because you made that putt! The big thing is to have fun, enjoy the fresh air with the people around you, and keep up with the group ahead of you. To keep up the pace of play (a hot button for most golfers), pick up your golf ball if you’ve hit it more than eight times and drop it on the green. You don’t have to keep score, but be honest, as too many people sink themselves in business dealings by cheating on the golf course. If you cheat on the golf course, there’s a certainty that you can’t be trusted in more important ventures. Here’s a little secret that all of you beginners out there must remember: We all started out with golf once, too. It was just as maddening for us as it may be for you. If you’ve whiffed the ball 90 times, we’ve whiffed it 990 times. You hit it in the water hazard. Well, there are about 10 dozen of my old golf balls in the lake at my home course. At one point, hitting it over the water was such a task that I started stocking my golf bag with range balls (I don’t endorse stealing range balls). It’s my sincerest hope that you say YES to your next golfing opportunity. And prepare to say YES to your next promotion! Katie Brophy is the women’s golf coach at Georgetown University. a graduate of Notre Dame with a degree in sociology, was a four-time National Golf Coach Association Scholar-Athlete, a two-time team captain and MVP at Notre Dame. She earned her master’s degree at Indiana and then finished her course work for her Ph.D. in human performance. John Keyser is the founder and principal of Common Sense Leadership. He works with executives helping them develop organizational cultures that will produce outstanding financial results year after year, and a striving for continuous improvement, theirs and their team’s. His contact information is john@johnkeysercoach.com and 202-236-2800. Related Posts: Women, leadership and improved success Emotional intelligence: Key to our success Are women less ambitious? Confessions of a corporate dropout Career success 2.0: An evolving definition Blazing your own path to success Teeing up for success: Saying yes to corporate golf events and other business golf originally published by SmartBlogs

(Photo:kaboompics.com/Pixabay) "We need to build a mobile app," is one of the most terrifying phrases that I’ve heard uttered over the past six months. Far too often, brands jump into building an app simply to check the box and without a thoughtful strategy in mind. Deciding to "go mobile" with no purpose is like deciding to go fishing without a fishing pole: success is highly unlikely without hooks. The impulse to go mobile is understandable, with more than 75% of mobile subscribers owning a smartphone and the average smartphone user reaching for his mobile phone 150 times a day (or far more in my case). Yes, not having a mobile app in 2015 is the equivalent of not having had a website in 2000. But I cringe when I hear marketers talk about mobile apps as nothing more than another "engagement" tool that simply replace the engagement tools of old. More often than not, marketers view the smartphone as nothing more than a screen that lots of people have and like to look at or a new form factor for a plastic card or a sheet of paper. And so, it’s no surprise that many marketers gravitate towards mobile app framework companies that promise to build them mobile apps, without any specific expertise in a utility that is meaningful to restaurant guests. These mobile app framework companies seem content with overpromising and under-delivering when it comes to utility, failing to deliver a compelling user experience and thus failing to deliver a meaningful return on the restaurant brand’s investment. I imagine the tradeshow floor conversation going something like this: Marketing Executive: We need to build a mobile app. App Salesperson: That’s great! We can build you a mobile app! ME: What could our mobile app do? AS: What would you want it to do? ME: What should we want it to do? AS: How about a game? ME: Millennials love games! Sold! The smartphone is so much more than a screen or a replacement for a plastic card or a sheet of paper. The smartphone is identifiable, contactable, interactive, web-enabled, location-aware and commerce-ready. The smartphone provides restaurant brands with a new way to do business with their loyal guests, enabling greater hospitality through enhanced service models that make the guest experience faster, more accurate, and more personal. The smartphone empowers the guest to order and pay from everywhere and the restaurant to accept orders and payments from everywhere. When restaurant brands come to Olo to build a mobile app, it’s always with this kind of reimagined service model in mind. Brands come to Olo to deploy a multi-channel digital ordering platform (call center, desktop web, mobile web, mobile app, and whatever comes next!) as the core of the mobile app experience. The restaurant brand then has a choice to make: 1) have Olo build the mobile app or 2) have a digital agency build the mobile app, utilizing Olo’s API for ordering-as-a-service. When restaurant brands want additional utilities (e.g. loyalty) incorporated into their mobile apps, they may want to choose the second option. Digital agencies like Bottle Rocket, Chaotic Moon, Push, Fueled, Fuzz Productions and Solertium are all solid partners to serve as mobile app developers, building on top of utility partner API’s to deliver a stellar mobile app experience. If your brand is thinking about "going mobile" or is stuck working with a mobile app framework company that’s incapable of adding the utilities to your mobile app that will make it worth a guest downloading and using, it’s time to rethink. To quote author and speaker Simon Sinek, "start with why." Why do you need to build a mobile app? What’s your brand’s purpose in going mobile? What’s the key utility that you’re hoping to provide? What would make you want to download your own app, if you truly think like one of your loyal guests? Decide on the utility that you want in your mobile app first and pursue relationships with best-of-breed utility players that can provide your brand with the utilities you need. Then talk to your utility provider partners about who they recommend build your mobile app. That’s the cleanest and clearest way to create a mobile app that your guests will love and one that will generate a meaningful return on your investment, not just check a box. Noah Glass is the Founder & CEO of Olo. Since 2005, Olo has helped restaurant brands increase revenue per square foot by delivering faster, more accurate, and more personal service through digital ordering. Today, over 10 million consumers use the Olo platform to order ahead and Skip the Line at the restaurants they love. _________________________________________________ If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s email list for more stories about the food and beverage industry. We offer 14 newsletters covering the industry from restaurants to food manufacturing. Related Posts: How "grocerants," millennials and technology are changing the shopping landscape Does your business need a mobile makeover? Food retailers find allies in social media followers Experts: Using mobile technology to enhance the dining and shopping experience How the food industry is making sense of big data ‘We need to build a mobile app': agencies and utilities vs. frameworks originally published by SmartBlogs

When you are presenting your ideas, you don’t have to sublimate your personality. It may be your most important asset. Effective leaders know how to inject their personality into their ideas. How? One, think about what you want to say. Make a well-reasoned argument. Two, reflect on what your words really mean. Whom do they affect? What the benefits of your ideas? Three, add an anecdote from your own life — or lives of people you know — to make your message more memorable and compelling. Effective presenters connect with their audience on two levels: intellect and emotion. As a leader, you need to keep a balance between the two in order reach people’s hearts as well as their minds. Click here to view the embedded video. John Baldoni is chair of leadership development at N2Growth, is an internationally recognized leadership educator and executive coach. In 2014, Trust Across America named him to its list of top 100 most trustworthy business experts. Also in 2014, Inc.com named Baldoni to its list of top 100 leadership experts, and Global Gurus ranked him No. 11 on its list of global leadership experts. Baldoni is the author of more than a dozen books, including his newest, "MOXIE: The Secret to Bold and Gutsy Leadership." If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s e-mail list for our daily newsletter on being a better, smarter leader. Related Posts: The art of the sound bite Communicating in a crisis Exude confidence when speaking to your CEO, part 2 Exude confidence when speaking to your CEO, part 1 Developing your leadership presentation Put your personality into your communications originally published by SmartBlogs