Microsoft Edge

How did the team at Microsoft pioneer, build, and shepherd the company through exponential growth in a constantly changing market? How can you apply what they've discovered to your own career? Microsoft veteran Julie Bick reveals all the insider strategies in this invaluable book, packed with on-the-job insights and practical techniques.
From vice presidents to front-line managers, Bick interviews Microsofties to learn how they:

• Launch new products and get the most out of not-so-new products
• Design websites and do business on the Internet
• Work with service agencies, dealers, coworkers, and the press
• Hire the best people they can and keep them happy

Contents


Introduction

1. People: Hiring the Best and Keeping Them


Hiring the Best

New Employee Success Factors

Hire the Person for Three Jobs, Not One

Retaining the Stars

When Making Changes, a Little Human Goes a Long Way

Five Ways to Make Sure Your Employees Will Look for Another Job

Don't Wait until They Threaten to Leave (to Find Out What They Need to Stay)

Be As Religious about Retention As You Are about Recruiting

Turn Everyday Assignments into Employee Compensation

Settlers vs. Pioneers

Let the Pioneers Go a Little Wild

Settlers Need to Innovate without Putting the Business in Jeopardy

At Some Point, a Pioneering Project Turns into a Settler Business

Competitors Can Teach You Interesting Things, and Not Just about Products

Make Your Own Map of the Stars

Employee Surveys

Junior Boardroom: Training the Next Level

Setting Up the Sales Force to Succeed

Organizing Everything around Customers

Data Analysis: Examining the Market, Setting Goals

Creating Global Initiatives that Everyone Owns

Setting Up Compensation to Meet Corporate Goals



2. Doing Business on the Web

Don't Abandon Your Web Site When It Is "Complete"

Make It Sticky

Walk through Your Web Site

Get in Front of a Bad Experience

Constant Product Improvements

Use Your Customer Contacts

Free Samples on the Web

Your Web Site: Space for Quiet Reading or Place to Get Things Done?

Building Your Community

There Is No Manufacturing...or Is There?

Advertising: No Time to Be Cute

Communicating with Netiquette


3. New Products

What a Dumb Idea? You Might Not Be the Right Person to Make That Statement

Change the Center of Gravity

Right Target and The Right Time

Integration Day

A Core Business Will Be Jealously Guarded

Teaming Up with a Competitor to Enter a New Market

Keeping It Simple Takes a Lot of Thought -- the Message Is the Message

To Ship or Not to Ship....


4. Not-So-New Products

Momentum Releases and Other Tricks to Keep Your Product in the News

Press Buddies

Rapid Response Teams

Momentum Press Releases

Ride Someone's Coattails to Get the Most Out of a Small Budget

Create a Shadow Competition

Who Is Your Competitor?

Your Worst Critics Can Turn into Your Biggest Advocates

A Defense So Strong It Becomes an Offense

Just Because Customers Didn't Ask for It, Doesn't Mean They Don't Want It

Don't Fix It, Feature It

Shut Down and Salvage


5. The Partners You May Not Think of As Partners (Coworkers, Service Agencies, Dealers, the Press)

Getting the Most Out of Your Hired Agencies

Informative, Inspiring Input to Generate Creative Compelling Output

Involve the Agency Early

The Ad Team Should Create the Ad

One Agency Doesn't Fit All

The Right-Flavored Carrot Along with the Properly Sharpened Stick

In a New Job, Start with What You Already Know

Absent Partners: Be Nice, Even When They're Not in the Room

Think You've Really Screwed Up?

Managing through People's Filters

Starting with a Graceful Exit

If Something's Eating Up Your Time, Make Sure Your Boss Agrees on the Menu

Let Your Boss Say No (to Other People)

Keep the Pricing Simple so Your Distributors Can Concentrate on Selling the Product

Epilogue