Think Win-Win: GoTeam’s Discover You Session for April 2021
Our remarkable virtual assistants and colleagues’ milestones. Check out GoTeam and Global Office news and updates, our Values Awardees, and Book of the Month.
One of the positive notes in the pandemic was a rise in bank deposits in the Philippines, as most households chose to be more frugal than before.
Bank deposits in the Philippines grew by 9 percent and reached P14.9 trillion (about USD312 billion) in 2020, Business Mirror reported in April.
What concerned the GoTeam tribe in April was not the state of actual bank deposits but the health of our emotional bank deposits (EBA) instead.
Before we get to the training session of this month’s Discover You session, however, here’s a quick summary of the key points that our CEO Fiona Kesby and Founder Matt Kesby mentioned.
Care at Work: At least 1,007 team members and dependents were covered by private medical insurance as of April 2021. Instead of having to wait for 6 months or even a year, which most other companies practice, all GoTeam team members get HMO coverage for themselves and one dependent, for free, starting on their first day on the job.
Branding Better: Matt announced the start of a 6-month transition to a new brand identity, GoTeam, from Go Virtual Assistants. Part of the reason for this is to highlight the range of roles that team members in Cebu can play in businesses that are committed to scaling. Administrative support is part of a long list of roles we can fill for companies that are serious about scaling.
Exploring More Sites: A review of potential hubs for GoTeam will begin this month, with two Visayas locations being considered so far. When asked to suggest where they would love to see tech hubs get organized, the tribe came up with several suggestions, including Bohol, Boracay, and Dumaguete in the Visayas; and Cagayan de Oro, Davao, General Santos, Iligan, and Ozamiz in Mindanao.
Referral Perks: Our Accounting Manager Sabino E. and award-winning Customer Operations Specialist Michelle L. both won special prizes in the raffle that was held for the top 10 individuals who referred the most number of newly hired team members so far this year.
It was fitting to see winners from both the day and night shift, as 30 April was the first time both the Discover You sessions for the day and night shifts were held on the same day.
For Book of the Month, Fiona chose How to Win Friends and Influence People, the 1936 classic by Dale Carnegie. This was the late actor, salesman, soldier, author, and public speaker’s second book but easily his most famous one. One of Carnegie’s recommendations for making people like you was: “Make the other person feel important, and do it sincerely.”
That’s one way to make a deposit in a teammate’s EBA. “Ultimately, at the heart of all relationships is trust,” Matt pointed out. “The feeling of it can be seen in what’s called the emotional bank account. There can be withdrawals from these trust accounts, and there can be deposits.”
Some examples of withdrawals are breaking promises, being unkind or discourteous, bad-mouthing others, refusing to listen, being arrogant, or creating false expectations. The positive versions of these behaviors—keeping promises, being kind and courteous, being loyal, listening, apologizing, or setting clear expectations—serve as deposits.
The challenge in building healthy, trust-based relationships is to make deposits as often as we can. In the breakout session, the tribe shared ideas for how to make plenty of deposits in our colleagues’ emotional bank accounts, guided by their primary love language.
Since 2021 started, each Discover You session has focused on the first three habits in Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. These first three create the private victory. In April, the session highlighted Habit 4 or Think Win-Win, which is the habit of mutual benefit, fairness, and abundance—and also the first of three habits that enable the public victory.
“Think Win-Win is all about attitude,” Matt said. “This is all about saying there is more out there for everyone and that life isn’t about scarcity, it’s about abundance. Unfortunately, the more common paradigm is that there’s only so much and that we have to fight for it. And yet the really effective paradigm is abundance, that there’s plenty out there and more to spare.”
Our Values Awardees for April 2021
Each month, both private and public victories get celebrated when we honor our Values Awardees.
CARE: Antonette Mae Felice works as a Data Admin for an Australian commercial and office cleaning services business.
In just her third month with the GoTeam tribe, Antonette won the Care Value Award, which honors teams and individuals who care deeply about the long-term success of our clients. This award also recognizes those who show care for their workmates and treat everyone as they would wish to be treated.
Antonette works as a Data Admin for an Australian business that provides commercial and office cleaning services in all major cities and states.
Her client Kate P. commended her for showing “great initiative in trying to improve processes and build rapport with our cleaning staff, which is really pleasing to see. She isn’t afraid to ask for help and she asks good questions when she does. I am very pleased with her work so far.”
DRIVE: Novem Mai supports an Australian international media and publishing company as a MetaData Librarian.
Novem Mai won the Drive Value Award just a month after successfully completing her 6-month probation period. She works as a MetaData Librarian for an Australian international media company that is also the leading provider of audiobooks and large-print books.
Her role requires consistent attention to detail and her winning this award makes sense as it recognizes those who possess an internal drive to succeed and to help our clients exceed their goals.
Her client Milena T. wrote: “You’ve been a great addition to the team, Novem. You have taken on challenges with a positive attitude. You are quick to learn new processes and are process-driven and analytical. To more wins in the future!”
HUMILITY: Mayenne works as a Delegate Sales Representative for an Australian business that organizes events and conferences, especially on technology and digital innovation.
Not long after she marked her second GoTeam work anniversary, Mayenne won the Humility Value Award in April. One of the leaders in her client’s business reached out to let her know what a difference she made.
“I wanted to reach out to you as Zendesk is my client and Rebecca and I were just talking about how well you did heading their campaign the other week and that it was, in fact, your first one,” wrote her client Matthew. “I just wanted to thank you and officially recognize what a great job you did. The client is very happy and a large part of that is your hard work. Well done!”
The Humility Value Award honors individuals and teams that create success yet stay grounded and modest about accomplishments It’s all about celebrating a quiet confidence and letting the work speak for itself.
DISCOVER: Annamor works as a Purchasing Officer for one of our U.S. clients, a manufacturing and distribution business that has expanded from transportation to various industrial markets, including agriculture, mining, oil and gas, and construction.
In April, Annamor had at least two reasons to celebrate: a successful probation period and a perfectly timed Discover Value Award.
“Annamor is open to ideas and takes time to learn new things. Her client gave her additional tasks and despite the time difference, she adjusted her time to be trained by her counterpart. She took on every task with excitement but also raised questions to her client,” wrote her Results Coach Franchesca.
The Discover Value Award (formerly the Learn Value Award) rewards teams and individual contributors who possess a thirst for discovering new skills and commit themselves to extended learning. It gives us such joy to think that Annamor’s work directly shapes the solutions her client provides to some of the most important industries in the U.S. economy.
GRATITUDE: Karen works as a MetaData Librarian for one of the leading providers of audiobooks and large-print books worldwide
The Australian business that Karen works with is the market leader in the public libraries market in Australia, New Zealand, and the U.K. The work that Karen does makes it easier for readers in these markets to find what they’re looking for.
Of Karen, her client Rebecca H. wrote: “She always meets her commitments even if these were given at a short notice. Karen’s attendance is perfect and she communicates well. We like her in the team and like how she has grown so far. We like her positive attitude in huddles.”
The Gratitude Value Award is given to teams or individual contributors who do not take anything for granted and who show gratitude for everything that our clients, team members, and mentors support us with. In Karen’s case, winning the award in April gave her another reason to celebrate mere weeks after being regularized after a successful probation period.
EXECUTE: Ma. Perlita and Perbe work with the Maintenance Team in GoTeam.
In March, Perlie and Perbe virtually brought the house down with a memorable performance in the comedy category of the first ever GoTeam TikTok Challenge. They followed up with a more serious accomplishment, winning the Execute Award in April.
“I am very grateful to Ate Perlie and Ate Perbe who have worked tirelessly in the past week during my long hiatus,” wrote their Results Coach Juneil, who is GoTeam’s Facilities Manager. “I was amazed to see the facility in tiptop condition despite the limited face-to-face interaction. They truly deserve this award. Kudos and keep up the good spirit.”
The Execute Value Award honors those who focus and execute to get the job done.
FIND A WAY: The Sales Team for an events and conferences business that specializes in technology and innovation and serves the financial and government services communities in Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia.
It must be said that this award is, in part, a result of leadership by example.
Our client Rebecca M. commended the Sales Team for being “great in terms of adjusting to a complex and quick-shifting environment. They have continued to impress and deliver reliable results.” From the start, this pandemic has created new challenges for the events and conferences industry. This team was inspired to deliver reliable results because they had a terrific example of how to adapt to a complex and always-changing reality, and to find a viable way forward.
The Find a Way Value Award honors teams who take responsibility, accountability, and ownership of their actions, who embrace challenges and commit to finding resolutions to any obstacle.
The newest member of this award-winning team is Jeff, a Delegate Telesales Representative who successfully completed his probation in April. The longest-serving member is David, a Telesales Team Lead who has been with the tribe for more than 6 years now. Also in this team are Team Leader Angelic; Delegate Telesales Representatives Ramon, Dianne, Mary Vanessa, Mayenne, Kim Ralph, and Delegate Acquisition Executive Sheryl.
CEO AWARD: Kristofer Lim works as a Business Analyst for the GoTeam Internal Team
Kristofer won the CEO Award just a month after a successful 6-month probation spent with our night shift team. He helps our clients do the groundwork for exceptional results by documenting their processes and training materials in our in-house productivity software dothis.to.
One such client, Colleen M., commended Kristofer for sending daily uplifting messages (Care) and for adding value with every process that he documents and coordinates (Execute). “He is a student of his position.” (That sounds like Discover, one of our core values as well.)
“His role is a learning role and he goes beyond scratching the surface and adds value. He is a gracious person and a pleasure to interact with,” Colleen also wrote. “Without being asked, he will put processes in place to strengthen the team when he recognizes the need.” (Drive and Find a Way)
When we lead by our values, we boost our chances of making necessary deposits in the emotional bank accounts of those we work with. All work teams, whether virtual or based in the same office and time zone, will benefit from making these deposits as frequently and as sincerely as possible.
GoTeam is a managed operations business that connects business leaders in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries with the highly skilled talent they need, whether in their Finance, Marketing, Sales, Operations, or HR and Recruitment teams.
