Your Special Helper
Those that can, do.
Those that can't, teach.
Those that can't teach, consult.
Yes, the withering ol' joke. Punching up, down and across to those supposedly fallen from the greasy pole.
Because that pole deserves to be greased.
I have lamented lately - admittedly mainly with HR types who either claim to have someone already place, do it themselves or prioritise other areas; in my opinion all misplaced and flawed thinking for video meeting proficiency - too many a box ticking exercise mentality going on.
I major on video sales calls here, but these points apply throughout the realm of needing any degree of outside assistance. Everyone will have some type of wish for guidance that's only available outside their present operations. (Is videoing on your list?)
One particularly alarming recent encounter was with someone employing not a person with any track record in or knowledge of best practice in the field. Instead using someone with ability to say they've crossed a topic off their list, no matter the actual level.
I immediately commented that you wouldn't ask a lawyer to do your accounts, nor ask an accountant to draw you up a contract. But hey, someone might know someone in a possibly tangential field, so what the hell. It's not your money and not your career.
There's also the disquieting recurrence of someone adept in one field, when given chance to wax on a different one, believes they can do so. A worrying slant of the Dunning-Kruger Effect. Where not only can people think their abilities are higher than the reality, but when 'expertise' in one arena makes them mistakenly certain they are duly so in another, despite having little to no grounding in it.
I was also reminded of my recent memory of who'd you ask for a piece of home maintenance building work. You don't ask your plumber to fix up some electrics.
Although this needn't be dispiriting. For the good 'uns exist.
For instance. Who's helping you refine video call skills?
A 'unified comms' tech "expert"? A today-perhaps-less-relevant company one-time sales manager now gone solo? A general, broad, anything-business 'coach' or 'mentor' for hire?
They likely done a few video calls. Like who hasn't.
They likely watched a YouTube video. That'll lick it.
They likely have some connection, though obscure, with your business too. Deal sealed, then.
Is there a better gauge? One more reliable. A [pun incoming] reading that's truly revealing?
You might be able to scroll through a few tweets. But as you'll know if you've done so, those genuinely masters of their craft do not appear in vast numbers flooding said platform with their wisdom.
You may well rather seek out longer-form writings.
[disclosure 1: you're reading the longest running blog on the web by someone doing Solution Sales]
And the longest form of all.
Have who you consider for the task written a book on the subject?
Well. Have they?