Last Thursday, MoDOT went a long way toward calming angry drivers who were stuck in hours of traffic because of a mere half-inch of snow. Past storms have dropped much more snow on St. Louis and didn’t cause nearly as many problems. What went wrong this time? MoDOT’s Director Kevin Keith told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “We didn’t do a very good job and my reaction to that is I’m disappointed. I want to apologize to the people of St. Louis and those in that part of Missouri for our efforts. You should expect more from us, and you’ll get it.”

Did Keith need to go that far in his apology? I would say no, but the fact that he did speaks volumes about Keith as a leader and about the entire MoDOT organization. When it comes down to it, MoDOT guessed wrong based on the forecast, and they accepted full responsibility for that guess. When is the last time you saw someone accept full responsibility for something that was out of their control? If Keith and his team had guessed the other way, treated the roads with solution and salt, and the forecast had been wrong, they could have been criticized for wasting taxpayer dollars. From a media and crisis communications perspective, Keith did everything right. He accepted responsibility and vowed to do better in the future. Now, let’s cut MoDOT some slack and see how they do with the next snow storm this winter.

When was the last time you or your spokesperson had media and crisis communications training? If you can’t remember, give us a call. We can help! You can also take our crisis communications threat matrix quiz.

Happy Friday the 13^th! Did you know this superstitious day is not only associated with bad luck, it also affects consumer decisions?

The Stress Management Centre and Phobia Institute, based in Asheville, N.C., estimates that $800 million to $900 million is lost every time the 13th of the month falls on a Friday, as people avoid doing business, leaving their homes or flying. This is due partially to the fact that between 17 million and 21 million people in the U.S. suffer from some degree of fear related to Friday the 13^th.

The official names for fear of Friday the 13^th are friggatriskaidekaphobia and paraskevidekatriaphobia, which cause symptoms as severe as panic attacks. Stuart Vyse, professor of psychology at Connecticut College, says the superstition that associates Friday the 13th with bad luck is one of the most widespread in Western culture because it is passed down from generation to generation.

For more interesting facts about Friday the 13^th, check out this article.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/01/12/f-friday-thirteenth.html

St. Louis is a health care town and we wanted to share some highlights from a recent article in the Academy of Health Care Management Journal, titled “Health Care and Social Media: Building Relationships Via Social Networks”, along with some ways local hospitals are using social media.

Health care providers are joining the social media wave as part of integrated marketing outreach to engage and build relationships with current and prospective patients. Some of social media’s benefits to health care marketers include building trust from consumers, helping simplify an intimidating service, answering consumers’ questions about their health conditions and learning what consumers are thinking and saying.

Health care can be complicated. Therefore, when consumers want to determine which provider to go to or find potential solutions for an ailment, they often turn to the Internet and social media. The extensive health information online makes it even more important for providers to be a part of the conversation on social media. Patients can use social media to learn how providers approach cases and get a feeling for their personality.

Not only is social media a valuable relationship-building tool, it helps health care providers learn what questions patients have and what their concerns and needs are.  Providers can reply directly to questions and can send customized messages to individuals using social media.

If you’d like to see how some of St. Louis’ health care experts are using social media, check out these sites:

• www.facebook.com/#!/MercySTL
• www.twitter.com/#!/bjc_healthcare
• www.youtube.com/user/SSMHealthCareStLouis

Do you seek out health information online? Which social media outlets are you most likely to use when seeking out health information?

Source: Hackworth, B.A. & Kunz, M.B. (2011). Academy of Health Care Management Journal.

I was reading the latest issue of Time magazine (1/9/2012) and ran across Joel Stein’s “My Psychic Powers at Work”.  I was most struck on his amusing take on the end of the world on Dec. 21, 2012.

That’s based on the Maya calendar.  The end of days of the 13th Bak’tun, or the end of a 5,125 year cycle happens December 21, 2012.  We’ve had no end of cable channel programs and movies on what this means.

So, how do people react?  Of course some would decide to do a “Rave to the Grave” dance party Dec. 20-21 in Oslo to welcome in Armageddon.  Nearly 14,000 Facebook users say they plan to attend.  But the Maya (we learn it’s not Mayans) around today, say it’s not the end of the world.  It’s just the beginning of a new time and “new things are going to happen.”  What a relief.

Does this mean we still need to form those New Year’s resolutions, or do we skip a year? After all, what’s the point if you can’t try to remember last year’s resolutions every January 1?

As you head into this year, there are a few resolutions you can make within your company. Improving communication among your staff and to your external audiences is just one of them. If you need help improving  your communications efforts this year, The Vandiver Group can provide customized services to get you where you want to be.

By Laura R. Vandiver, Director of Research and MBTI^® Certified Practitioner

Thinking (T) and Feeling (F) & Judging (J) and Perceiving (P)

For the past few weeks I’ve been talking about the MBTI^® tool and how TVG uses it.  Today, I’m focusing on the T/F and J/P preferences.

Thinking and Feeling

First, let’s look at Thinking and Feeling.  These designations have to do with how people make decisions, which is a big part of team dynamics. Thinking types tend to approach decision-making analytically and logically. They are most concerned that everyone is treated equally. Feeling types tend to guide their decisions based on their personal values, and place importance on group harmony. They tend to be compassionate and want everyone to be treated as an individual.

Practical Tips for Team Leaders: Thinking types will present you with unbiased facts when faced with making a decision, while feeling types will help gauge the human impact of the decision.

Judging and Perceiving

This dichotomy on the MBTI scale has to do with how people view the outer world. Judging types tend to take an orderly and methodical approach to the outer world, while Perceiving types like to keep things open and spontaneous.

Practical Tips for Team Leaders: Judging types are fantastic at coming up with plans and checklists, and tend to be deadline-driven. However, they may sometimes lose sight of all the options available to them. Perceiving types are often open to last-minute ideas and are flexible and adaptable. They become energized by tight timelines and will sometimes work until the last minute to get something done.

The Vandiver Group, Inc. has several certified MBTI^® trainers to help your teams learn to work better together. Click here to learn more about MBTI^® training for your team, and TVG’s additional training classes designed for your business success.

So you’ve proofread your resume a hundred times, checked for spelling and grammar, made sure all of the bullet points are aligned and inspected the document from top to bottom. Now you just have to save it so you can email it to prospective employers.  That’s the easy part, right?  Well, maybe not…

I bet you’re thinking about naming the document “Resume”.  How do I know that?  Because nearly every resume document shares the same name.  Before we talk about what to name your document, let’s review what not to name it.

Here’s a sample of some actual resume document names.

• “Yes – this is the correction version” (I’m glad I didn’t receive the previous version of this resume.)
• “Advertising Resume” (I wonder if there is a PR Resume, Marketing Resume and Communication Resume, too.)
• “Resume1” (Is Resume1 better than if I received Resume3?)

So now that those options are out, what should you name the document?  How about starting with your name? If you have other attachments, such as your cover letter, writing samples and references, wouldn’t it be ideal if the recipient of these files could save, sort and review them using your first and last name along with any attachments included with the document?

Everyone says your resume is your first impression, but in this electronic age, the name of your document is actually the first impression for HR and talent acquisition departments.  And, if you’re selected to interview for a position, wouldn’t you rather have them call you by name instead of asking for “resume1”?

Stay tuned for more resume and interviewing tips from the TVG staff.  For information on our current job openings, email info@vandivergroup.com.

By Laura R. Vandiver, Director of Research and MBTI^® Certified Practitioner

Sensing (S) and iNtuition (N)

TVG uses the MBTI^® tool in some of our training seminars and facilitations with teams.  For the past few blog posts, I’ve talked about the four-letter designation that indicates each person’s preferences.  Today, I’m going to cover Sensing and Intuition.  These two designations indicate how people prefer to gather information.  Sensing types prefer to take in information that they can gather through their five senses. They tend to be detail-oriented and like to find concrete, practical solutions to problems by relying on their past experiences. Intuitive types, on the other hand, see themselves as big-picture people. They prefer to focus on the future and all its possibilities, and they like to think about things as patterns and meanings rather than specific details.

Practical Tips for Team Leaders: Intuitive types will excel at coming up with great ideas for projects, but will often need to rely on sensing types to help build the precise steps to achieve the end goal. Use the inspirational talents of the intuitive types to come up with multiple possibilities for solving a problem, and then recruit the sensing types to discuss all the related facts and details to choose the best solution.

TVG offers MBTI^® classes and uses the tool in training teams.  Want to know more about our training seminars? Go to the “Stratigem” section on our website or, click here.

TVG has been recognized again by the St. Louis RCGA with a St. Louis Green Business Challenge award. RCGA started the program two years ago.

Andy Likes, Director of Media Relations, accepted the award for TVG. The program encourages companies to take steps toward more sustainable business practices.

Some of the ways TVG improved our sustainable business practices in 2011 included:
• Our Green Team held employee educational sessions that discussed tips for being greener around the office and at home,
• TVG provided recycled materials to a local church to help in their fundraising efforts, and
• TVG used and recommended soy ink and recycled stock for marketing materials.

Andy Likes accepts TVG’s St. Louis Green Business Challenge Award of Achievement. At left is EarthWays Center at Missouri Botanical Garden’s Director, Glenda Abney, and at right is RCGA Executive Director, Richard C.D. Fleming.

By Laura R. Vandiver, Director of Research and MBTI^® Certified Practitioner

Extraversion (E) and Introversion (I)

In my previous post, I talked about how The Vandiver Group uses the MBTI^® tool in our training and group facilitation. Today I’ll discuss Extraversion and Introversion, and how these designations affect communication style preferences.

Extraversion and Introversion in MBTI^® refer to where people get their energy. Extraverts are generally energized by the outside world and often report that they love to communicate verbally and enjoy being surrounded by people and the social environment. Introverts are more energized by their own internal environment and ideas. They prefer to think things through on their own or through writing them down, so they can reflect before acting.

Practical Tips for Team Leaders: Give your team multiple avenues for communication with you. Introverts may prefer e-mail to face-to-face meetings.  Extraverts may prefer to bounce ideas off of coworkers to hash out their thoughts before a meeting. Also, don’t be surprised if an introvert doesn’t speak up much during a brainstorming session or group meeting. It doesn’t mean they aren’t engaged; it may mean they need some time to process the ideas discussed in the meeting. Allow extra time for discussion and questions during meetings for the extraverts, as they tend to appreciate working through their thoughts out loud.

Next week, I’ll talk about the differences between the Sensing and Intuition preferences.

Email tvg@vandivergroup.com if you’d like more information about the use of MBTI^® in helping teams function more effectively and efficiently.

As November wraps up, airlines face some tough PR challenges. See where they went wrong and how you can learn from their mistakes:

Qantas Airlines demonstrated the disastrous effects of not coordinating social media with other communication efforts. The airline suffered a massive PR crisis when it had to ground its entire fleet during a highly publicized argument with pilots, ground staff and engineers regarding pay and work conditions. In the midst of this crisis, Qantas’ social media team started touting the luxury angle of the airline, asking followers to describe their dream luxury in-flight experience. The posts resulted in a harsh negative backlash. Check out the #QantasLuxury hashtag to see some creative answers, and remember to think before you tweet!

American Airlines came under scrutiny this week after failing to communicate effectively with their shareholders about the company’s bankruptcy filing. Several investors complained that information about the situation was difficult to find, even on the Investor Relations site. When dealing with a crisis, it is essential to communicate quickly and transparently with all stakeholders.

Here at TVG, we are pros at crisis communications. We help our clients plan for a crisis and communicate effectively if one occurs. To learn more about our crisis communication services, click here.