Problem-Solving Success Tip: Avoid Bug Mentality

Author : Jeanne Sawyer
Fixing bugs fixes symptoms: like taking aspirin for a headache, it may provide temporary relief but does nothing to prevent the next headache. It's ok, and often necessary, to relieve the symptoms but you have to dig deeper if you're going to prevent problems from recurring.The reasons and benefits for getting past the symptoms to the root causes are well-known, but many companies still tend to confine their root cause analysis efforts to well-defined technical problems such as physical component failures. We need to apply the same philosophy to general business problems, especially if they are chronic.The first difficulty in getting to root causes of business problems is in identifying that a problem is chronic in the first place. To continue the headache analogy: taking aspirin and forgetting about it is appropriate behavior for the occasional headache that most of us get. However, if the headaches are chronic, it's time to find out why they're happening. In the business world, we tend to treat customer trouble calls as isolated incidents—the occasional headache. We treat the symptoms, get the customer back in business, and move on to the next one. To get past the bug mentality, we need to look actively for the patterns that will tell us if a chronic problem is developing.The second key difficulty is maintaining focus (and resource commitments) long enough to finish identifying and eliminating the root causes of a problem. When a crisis situation occurs, we correctly focus on treating the symptoms and getting things operational again. That's when the root cause analysis effort should begin to determine why the crisis occurred and take the appropriate steps to eliminate those causes. What usually happens, though, is everyone involved heaves a huge sigh of relief at having survived and moves on to the next crisis. To get past the bug mentality in this situation, we need to change the business model so we don't consider a crisis over until the root causes are identified and fixed.Copyright 2005. Jeanne Sawyer. All Rights Reserved.Jeanne Sawyer is an author, consultant, trainer and coach who helps her clients
solve expensive, chronic problems, such as those that cause operational
disruptions and cause customers to take their business elsewhere. These tips are
excerpted from her book, When Stuff Happens: A Practical Guide to Solving
Problems Permanently. Find out about it, and get more free information on
problem solving at her web site:

http://www.sawyerpartnership.com/.
Keyword : problem solving,business,root cause analysis,project management,teamwork,process improvement,tips

Basic Management Skills - Relationships

Author : Christopher J Thomas
Recent studies have shown that industrial supervisors are working at less than 60 % of their potential. Basic management skills training is guaranteed to change all this and at such little cost.Building and maintaining relationships
The building, protecting and repairing of relationships is at the center of all our lives. Family life is the best possible example of relationships at work. You spend almost as much time in work as you do with your family so it is not surprising that relationships are considered of fundamental importance.The art of motivation is nothing new to us as we do it as a matter of routine in our lives. We motivate our children to succeed and we encourage our friends in their pursuits. Building and maintaining relationships takes time and effort but these can be so easily lost. An excellent relationship developed over five years can be lost in a second due to a hasty comment or a sudden action.As a supervisor or manager you will build and maintain thousands of relationships during your career so it is worth developing your relationship skills. Although relationships and motivation are not exactly the same they are totally inter-related.For example, when you successfully motivate someone to do something then that will improve your relationship. On the other hand, if you have a good relationship it becomes easier to motivate because you are trusted.Here are some good tips on building good relationships1 Build new relationships quickly and carefully The advantage of new relationships is that they start from a clean slate. This is a great opportunity to build a healthy and lasting relationship. Be careful not to show favoritism, as you cannot damage the existing relationships in the process. If you are the new boy then you will need to work very hard to establish your relationships with your new group. You will be the center of attention so be careful.2 Relationships require constant attention Do not take relationships for granted, as they need maintenance in the same way as complex machinery. A common problem is to only talk to your people when there is a problem or a specific reason. This is a clear sign to everyone that the job is more important than the person is.3 Repair damage quickly No matter how skilful you become in building relationships the occasional breaks are inevitable. When these happens you must act quickly, don't allow them to fester. It may be a simple misunderstanding that can be resolved in seconds or perhaps an apology is required.4 Don't build one relationship at the expense of another It is possible that one of your groups needs much more attention than another. In building one relationship, it is easy to neglect the others. Make time for each group member and never allow your personal favoritism to show.5 Don't play games with relationshipsA relationship is not a toy or an experiment that the supervisor is free to experiment with freely. A relationship is based on trust and this must be treated with respect.6 Keep the channel cool The relationship line can become emotionally charged. Extreme emotional feelings can make the channel very hot. An emotional outburst is one of the easiest ways of damaging relationships.7 Separate business from pleasure The best policy is not to mix your business and pleasure lives separate. It is difficult to discipline someone if you are close friends.
Of course, in many cases you will have been co-worker and friends with most of your group for many years and there is no justification for changing these relationships. However, you need to exercise caution in these relationships.Try to do business things in work and social things outside – don't mix the two.8 React to relationship breakdown Sometimes in spite of all your hard work you fail to build a workable relationship with someone under your supervision. It is difficult to admit defeat but it is also important to protect the other relationships in the group. This nearly always means removing the person from the group. This can be achieved by the transfer the person or by his termination.Making these decisions is never a pleasant task, but in some cases it is inevitable. Ironically, this action is usually the best for both parties.9 Your behavior The last but not the least important aspect of people management is your behavior. This is the one area where you have enormous advantages over machine management in that you have the choice. Others usually choose our machines and you can do little to change that, but the way you behave is your choice.Chris Thomas is the author of the Managers Toolbox training material located at http://www.managers-toolbox.com and runs the very successful Basic Management Course for new leaders and supervisors.
Keyword : Supervisor training course, Management leadership training course, Supervisor/manager

How to Make Good Changes Stick!

Author : Donald Bryant
Making quality improvement changes in the healthcare field are difficult. Making the changes stick is even harder! Consider, if you would, some change at your site that made a vast improvement in quality. Time was saved, patient care improved, and the bottom line improved. Now, look back, is that change still in place? Sadly, after some time has passed, many positive changes disappear. Why? We slip back into old habits. They are hard to shake. What personal habits have you tried to change? Was it hard? Habits in an organization are just as hard to change, if not harder, since more people are involved. Another reason your site changes didn't
stick may be that personnel changed. One organization I know of had several changes in top leadership. Each new leader wanted to make his/her imprint on the organization; so, they instituted changes which saved money immediately but which overturned best operating procedures which had been successful and which had been developed with a lot of effort by staff. There are many other reasons quality changes don't stick.How are you going to fight this, then? I don't have a cure all, but let me suggest a
technique used in many organizations—a written Standard Operating Procedure. If
you look up Standard Operating Procedure in a search engine on the internet you
will get many hits. It is especially common in government sites and the military.
What is it? It is a manual or text describing how things are done.As a quality engineer I've worked on successful projects that saved significant
amounts of money for organizations. The changes were made permanent by writing
them down in a manual for the department in which they were used. That way, if
changes in personnel occurred, the standard operating procedure stayed in place.
Too, the written manual was used to disseminate the changes throughout the
organization. The change leaders incorporated the changes in the organization
manual for standard operating procedures and then made sure that the techniques
were followed by all involved. Manufactures who are ISO certified use this technique
commonly.Once you have written the quality changes into your manual and spread the word, is
that enough? No. I believe that you should occasionally take an audit of the
procedure. By that, I mean that once in a while, you as a change leader should go
out to wherever the change is incorporated and observe if it is still being followed.
If not, corrections should be made to make sure the changes are followed again. In
other words, make sure the changes are practiced until they become the habit.Beyond incorporating the changes in your manual and making sure they are
followed over time, try to make the top leadership aware of the operating manual
and respect it. If you can demonstrate that the ideas are money savers for the
organization or that they meet some other important goal of the organization you
will probably be successful. If current leaders buy into the manual as a body, then a
new leader who wants to incorporate unproven changes will probably meet
resistance by others who buy into the manual. In other words, a good standard
operating procedures manual is self-perpetuating in spite of the changes that occur
in the organization.Does this mean that no changes should ever be made in the manual? No. If new
personnel come on board with new ideas then they should be given the chance to
prove their ideas. If the new ideas are indeed better for the organization then the
manual can certainly be amended.Summarily, to incorporate changes in your organization and make sure they stick in
spite of changes in the work environment, create a standard operating procedure
manual or manuals (you may have different ones for each department, as long as
they are compatible with other manuals in the organization) which are respected by
the top leadership and which are continually referenced by those involved. If you
don't have such a manual on site, don't try to create a mammoth volume that
incorporates all present practices. Rather, start small with a manual that
incorporates new changes and use it until you feel comfortable with it. Then, go
back and add other best operating procedures.Donald Bryant helps healthcare providers meet their challenges. If you liked
this article and want more free tips, visit
http://www.bryantsstatisticalconsulting.com for a free article to help you start
making improvements at your site immediately.
Keyword : lean healthcare, quality improvement, CQI, healthcare quality improvement, healthcare management

Creativity Management - Structured Creativity for Consultants

Author : Kal Bishop
Most creativity consultants will focus on "mind bending" or "creativity aptitude" or some such angle during their consultancy. However, this approach is rarely the most effective one.The most useful tool consultants can give clients is a structured and tangible approach to enhanced creativity. This involves understanding creativity and innovation and doing away with some of the misconceptions.The first rule is to define creativity and innovation. One useful definition is that creativity is problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation is idea selection, development and commercialisation. This allows clients to first focus on identifying problems – ask five people what the problem is and you will hear six different answers. It is not unusual that problem identification sessions alone continue for a few hours.Each problem is the root of its own idea generating session. Again, tangibility is the key. Defining creativity as the number of ideas generated, the diversity and novelty of ideas, allows us to benchmark and improve on performance. There are an infinite number of techniques for generating more ideas and more novel and diverse ideas.The above is simply the tip of the pyramid. Structure is also applied on many more levels:Creating an organisational structure that allows the rapid generation of ideas but also their movement to decision makers. Here, there is much in common with Knowledge Management – it has to be transferred to where it is most useful.Creating an organisational culture that fosters idea generation.Creating an organisation teamed with motivated people. Intrinsically motivated people are much more likely to engage with a problem and come up with richer results. There are multiple levels of motivation (task feasibility, distance to ideal self, competency expansion, recognition and reward and so on).Team structures. There is a huge difference between the productivity of various size teams. Large teams are inherently inefficient (politics, stunted information flows, status deference, social loafing, low idea elicitation and so on).There is so much more…You can read more about this topic, purchase the MBA dissertation, DIY audit, Power Point presentation, Good Idea Generator software and more from http://www.managing-creativity.com/The author is available for training, speaking and workshops in the london area.You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.Kal Bishop, MBA**********************************You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author's name and site URL are retained.Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://www.managing-creativity.com
Keyword : Creativity Management, Structured Creativity

OE Consultants: Is There a Future for Them?

Author : Michael Beitler
Since my "Death of the OD Practitioner" article was published about a month ago, I have been asked whether Organizational Effectiveness (OE) consultants will experience the same fate. My answer is "no." Of course, that assumes that OE consultants do not follow the same destructive path that Organization Development (OD) practitioners chose.OD practitioners made the mistake of not partnering with their clients to produce business results. OD practitioners looked at business executives (their clients) with disdain.
They saw business men and women as bourgeois money-grabbers who didn't care about their workers. Their anti-business, anti-capitalism, anti-management rhetoric has led to their own demise. (You can't look down your nose at your business client and expect to stay in business yourself.)OE consultants, who share a different mindset, will share a different fate. OE consultants respect their clients and serve as business partners. Let me make the following predictions about the future of OE consulting:1. OE consultants who serve as strategic business partners will rise in status and recognition in their organizations. Salaries will rise too as the value of their expertise becomes more widely recognized. (A value-added approach will be critical to fulfilling this prediction.)2. The title of Chief Learning Officer (CLO) or Director of Organizational Effectiveness will become commonplace at leading corporations. These positions will be responsible for all organizational learning and change efforts.3. The role of OD practitioners will continue to decline in importance for two reasons: (a) OD practitioners have not adopted a strategic business partner approach, and (b) many OD practices have already been adopted by mainstream American businesses.4. OE consultants will become more responsive to the needs of senior management. OE consultants will become a valuable in-house (or independent) source of guidance on tough management issues such as succession planning, the creation and transfer of tacit knowledge, and the development of organizational talent.5. OE consultants will develop higher levels of consulting skills to increase their value to their clients.If you are an OE consultant, there are several things you should keep in mind:Bob Pike has said, "Deliver what is needed, not just what is requested."David Ulrich predicts, "Business organizations in the future will compete aggressively for the best talent."I have predicted, "In the years ahead, senior executives will be looking for high-level tacit knowledge and experience that will add to their organizations' core competencies and competitive advantage. These core competencies, in the form of highly developed human capital, will become the organization's most important form of sustainable competitive advantage."How are you going to add value to your organization's (or your clients') core competencies and competitive advantage? You can't stand still in a fast-moving world!Dr. Mike Beitler is the author of the books "Strategic Organizational Change" and "Strategic Organizational Learning." He has many free articles and resources about organizational effectiveness available at http://www.mikebeitler.com/
Keyword : organizational effectiveness, organization development, management consulting

Exploding Six Sigma Myths

Author : Peter Peterka
Six Sigma doesn't improve the customer experience. It may seem that Six Sigma turns the focus away from the customer because it is driven by data. In so many companies, quality improvement is driven by the latest customer complaint, or some manager's latest issue. This may seem like you are being responsive to the customers, but such an ad hoc and scatter-shot approach is inefficient and ultimately doomed to failure. The question you need to ask is what data is presented to the organization in order to select improvement projects? Without the right data, how can you succeed? Unless the approach is systematic and the solution driven by measurement and analysis, there is little hope for lasting quality improvement.Six Sigma is oriented toward the solution of problems at their root cause and the prevention of their recurrence, as opposed to attempting to control potential causes of failure on a project-by-project basis. Six Sigma inspired process redesign will change the way a company thinks about how they do their work and deliver their services. So many companies are focused on short-term financial goals. The "show me the money" attitudes of shareholders and the stock market shift focus away from the customer. Six Sigma, on the other hand, is clearly focused on the customer. It accomplishes this because it centers its attention on the end results and long-term cultural change.Six Sigma is not just about number crunching and finances. All of the numbers are just data used to reach the real goal of Six Sigma: helping increase quality and service for the customer. Companies need to figure out what their customers want and need. One thing any customer of any business in any industry wants is a better experience. Quality and efficiency don't only help the financial bottom line, they help the customer experience.Companies need to remember that their first and final allegiance should be to the customer. By embracing Six Sigma, a company can achieve greater quality and efficiency in the flow of information and interaction between people, especially interactions with customers. Transforming the process of these flows will yield quality results for the customer experience.Six Sigma is just another fad. There have been so many quality improvement fads over the years. It is not surprising that people are now a little jaded. The weakness of many of these fads is that they have the superficial appearance that something profound is happening, yet the substance is not there. A whole bunch of numbers and graphs on spreadsheets are not enough to bring about substantial and lasting quality improvement in an organization. The fads sell themselves as cheap and easy quick fixes. The reality is that there are no quick fixes to significant process improvement. Six Sigma understands that.Six Sigma is neither a fad nor a quick fix. The data and descriptive statistics that Six Sigma mines out of a project are real data and meaningful data. You use data to create actionable goals, analyze and determine the root cause(s) of defects, and then measure the results to shows how those goals were achieved. The data determines the causes of the problems that need improvement and how to eliminate the gap between existing performance and the desired level of performance. Tools are put in place to ensure that the key variables remain within the acceptable ranges over time so that process improvement gains are maintained. The changes brought about through Six Sigma are real, significant, and long-lasting.Also, Six Sigma is not a simple 1-2-3-you're done process. It is a "way of life." It is a multi-level, cyclical movement toward continual process improvement. Six Sigma is a time-consuming and high-energy process. Companies develop a long-term plan that outlines the move from current performance levels to Six Sigma performance levels, with tangible, short-term goals in between.Successful Six Sigma programs are built on a solid organizational foundation. The organizational structure and system needs to be clearly identified and communicated to the entire organization to successfully implement Six Sigma Quality. Becoming a Six Sigma organization doesn't just happen. Planning and training goes into setting up a successful Six Sigma organization. Employee roles and responsibilities must be established and clearly communicated to all.The more Six Sigma projects your company completes, the more involved you become with more mature and meaningful projects than when you began. Six Sigma becomes part of the core of your business. It isn't a quick knock-off program; it keeps growing and changing as your business needs grow and evolve. The other fads didn't last at your organization, but Six Sigma will.Peter Peterka is President of Six Sigma us. For additional information on Six Sigma DMAIC or other Six Sigma Green Belt Training project programs contact Peter Peterka.
Keyword : experience,Six Sigma,quality,improvement,complaint,projects,causes,

Managing a Language School

Author : Jesus Davila
As an owner of a Spanish Language School, I have been able to apply various lessons and tips I had already learned in my College Courses. Believe it or not, most of the things I learned while acquiring my economics BA are things I have never used, but the things I used have been worth it.To start a business school, the first step is researching: most people start business without any research, the eventual result is bankruptcy. Researching involves checking who your competition is, checking if the spot you selected for your business is accessible, and checking your costs. Without covering each point, success is not a guarantee. Take your time to write an expected cost-benefit analysis on a sheet of paper, and always exaggerate your costs, not your benefits.If you find your business plan profitable, start thinking about a possible name for your school. Keep in mind this hint: if your school name has the word SCHOOL in it, you might need to require further permission to the Ministries of Education in your country.The next step is a must do: Get your school's name registered! If you don't register your name you won't be able to get a bank account and if somebody registers that name, you might be subject to a law suit.The first three months in business are crucial: most people might give up after a couple of weeks. The most important thing to understand is that business is an investment, some returns might be expected in further dates. Select personnel you really trust, this can avoid you contract problems during the first months.Remember: maximizing utilities is equivalent to minimizing costs, so minimize costs as much as you can, this can boost your business confidence.While the first three months might be difficult, remember to show confidence. Many companies don't do well because lack of confidence in the managers is reflected to the employees. Keep good moods and confidence even in the worst times.For administration of your school, always have more actives than passives. My success has been achieved through this, I have never had more passives than actives in my balance. Even before starting my school I had more actives: I didn't pay any rent for the house where classes are taught because I own it, I own the chairs and tables, I own the whole thing!!Remember: keep a good mood, more actives than passives, minimize costs and you will maximize benefits!Jesus Davila was born in Mexico City in 1981. He has a degree in management in a local university. Manager of Frida Spanish School http://www.fridaspanish.com
Keyword : school management, language school, education, workers

Building A Practice On Purpose Series Part #6 - Forge A Practice On Purpose Operating System

Author : Brad Swift
We're all familiar with the importance of our computers having a dependable operating system, if for no other reason than we may have experienced the contrast of NOT having one. Operating systems are foundational to building a strong practice and life on purpose. While this article is about building such a system in your practice, don't forget that it's also vitally important to take the time and invest the energy into building and maintaining a similar personal foundation.Here's a skeletal framework that can be used for building a dependable operating system that will help assure your practice stays on purpose.PURPOSE PRINCIPLESPurpose principles are standards or guidelines you intend to adhere to that will maintain the practice staying true to its vision and your personal life purpose. For example, one of Life On Purpose Institute, Inc.'s (LOPI) Purpose Principles is: We add value to people's lives for the pure joy of it. For me this practice is consistent with our vision of a World On Purpose as well as an expression of a "life of mindful abundance balanced with simplicity" portion of my life purpose statement. Here are a couple more:* The people who work and play at Life On Purpose Institute are crystal clear that their involvement is a full expression of their own life purpose and that as the vision of LOPI is realized, their life purpose is also being realized.* At LOPI, people not only work in their jobs and their accountabilities, they also work on them, continuing to improve, innovate and implement.* At LOPI we realize that anything and everything can be resolved through communication and we'd rather err on the side of over-communicating than under-communicating.PURPOSE PRACTICESPurpose Practices are ways of implementing and operating consistently with the Purpose Principles. Here are a few examples:* We've started providing each fr.ee teleclass a complete set of notes and with a follow up 'purposeful present' for those who attend. These practices are consistent with adding value to people's lives for the pure joy of it.* Everyone who joins the Life On Purpose Team goes through the Life On Purpose Process to clarify their true life purpose and learn the tools for living true to it. This practice is consistent with the principle that all people at our enterprise be crystal clear about our life purpose.* And consistent with our commitment to both work in our business and on our business, I've set aside two half days to work on the business which includes a weekly Team-LOPI phone meeting for that purpose.PURPOSE PROJECTSIn one sense a business is what I refer to as a "Meta" Purpose Project in that it is usually an amalgam of several smaller Purpose Projects. The key point to remember is that for a project to be a Purpose Project it needs to be consistent with and an expression of the vision of the business (which, since the vision arises from the owner's life purpose, the projects of the business will be consistent with that as well.)
Again, as an example, Life On Purpose Institute, Inc. is a Meta Purpose Project of my life purpose, and the business is made up of several other Purpose Projects such as:* Speaking On Purpose Project - This includes our fr.ee teleclasses, live presentations, and soon will include offering our services to radio talk shows, and also developing speaking opportunities to the Spanish speaking world.* Practice On Purpose - our subsidiary is its own Purpose Project and personal coaching practice where I work with burned out boomer professional and business owners.* Visionary Writers On Purpose Team - Our growing team of writers committed that the Power of Words can shape our world and create a World On Purpose. The list goes on and on, but I won't. I think you get the point.SUPPORT STRUCTURESThese are the physical structures that you may need to maintain your principles, practices and projects and could include:* Weekly team meetings* Displays of your principles and practices* Notebook where you keep your list of Purpose Projects, etc.Building such an operating system in your business and in your personal life takes time, which is why it's important to carve out 'working-on-your-business (and on your life)' time for such activities. In the process of forging such a system you are bringing a level of integrity to your business and life that will serve you well in the long run.©2005 Brad Swift of Life On Purpose Institute, Inc.
This article can be reprinted freely online, as long as the entire article and this resource box are included.Dr. Brad Swift founded Life On Purpose Institute in 1996 with the vision of creating a World On Purpose by assisting people like yourself to clarify their life purpose & live true to it. Determine how on or off purpose your life is with the fun & insightful Self Test at:
http://lifeonpurpose.com/_forms/self-test.php?source=ezart

Inspire yourself with a fr.ee subscription to Purposeful Pondering Ezine:
http://lifeonpurpose.com/index.php?dir=_ezines&task=view-ezines
Keyword : living on purpose,business,Inherited Purpose,transform your life,transform your business

Mission: How Leaders Create The Greatest Version Of What You Can Be

Author : Eric Garner
A statement of mission is one of the most powerful things you can do, whether you are running a major corporation or a small team. It expresses the purpose for the organisation's existence, its raison d'etre, and becomes the rallying point around which everyone can unite.Often managers create mission statements because they think they should and then leave them gathering dust on the shelf. But this is to mistake the real power and purpose of mission statements. If put together with real understanding of what a group of people can achieve, they can act like irresistible magnets drawing everyone in the same direction.It is one of the core roles of leaders, whether at the top of the organisation, or anywhere within it, to confirm, verify, communicate, and live the mission statement. Here are some of the ways that can happen.- Write your Mission Statement down. Although it can be used for promotion purposes, it should never be seen purely as a promotional tool but as the group expressing the best version of itself.
- Think first about how the group benefits others. These could be those who work for it, those who are its customers, the wider community, or future generations.
- Think in terms of being sent on a mission by a higher power. If you see the organisation as fulfilling a role at some profound level, beyond perhaps your immediate understanding, then the Mission Statement becomes easier to write. Your mission will have far more power if you get a sense of the business's unique and special purpose, rather than simply re-stating its aim to make money for its stakeholders.
- Tie in your Mission Statement with your goals, aims, and visions.
- Use language that everyone can understand. The best Mission Statements are simple monosyllabic one-liners.
- Don't worry about getting it right first time. Just like our own understanding of our purpose on this earth, understanding the mission of your organisation is a work in progress. So keep at it and revise it as you go.Of course, it is easier to state these high-sounding aims, another to find the right words. So, take a look at some famous mission statements used at various times by well-known companies.1. Reebok: "Our purpose is to ignite a passion for winning, to do the extraordinary, and to capture the customer's heart and mind."
2. Walt Disney: "To make people happy."
3. Wal-Mart: "To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same things as rich people."
4. The Body Shop: "Tirelessly work to narrow the gap between principle and practice whilst making fun, passion and care part of our daily lives."
5. Marks and Spencer: "Our mission is to make aspirational quality accessible to all."
6. Sony: "Our mission is to experience the joy of advancing and applying technology for the benefit of the public."
7. Coca Cola: "The basic proposition of our business is simple, solid and timeless. When we bring refreshment, value, joy and fun to our stakeholders, then we successfully nurture and protect our brands."
8. 3M: "To solve unsolved problems innovatively."
9. Glaxo: "We are an integrated, research-based group of companies whose corporate purpose is to create, discover, develop, manufacture, and market safe effective medicines throughout the world."And here to top these statements is the mission statement of Ringland Bros circus, penned in 1899:
"To be good, mankind must be happy. To wreathe the faces of humanity in smiles for a time, to loosen the chains that hold man captive to his duties and return him to them better fitted for his obligations, is the mission of amusement.
Amusement unfetters the mind from its environs and changes the dreary monotony of the factory's spindles to the joyous song of the meadowlark. It softens the wrinkles of sorrow, makes smiles of frowns.
This is the mission of amusement - and the circus with its innocent sights of joy for the children and its power to make all men and women children again for at least one day, comes the nearest of any form of amusement to fulfilling this mission."We can of course write our own mission statements. Doing our own statements makes writing them for our organizations much easier. Here is the mission statement of a working mother:
"I will seek to fulfil my duties towards both my work and my family since both are important to me. My work is the place where I aim to achieve service towards others, the expression of my technical knowledge and the building of harmonious and satisfying relationships. My home is the place where I aim to find happiness, peace, contentment and joy. Despite all the challenges, I aim to balance work and home and the genuine needs of those who look to me to help them."Let the last word be with Paul Beeston of mission-coach.co.uk: "To live your mission is the most generous thing you can do. Your mission is always going to make a major contribution to your life, the lives of others and the planet. Humankind and the planet needs you to live your mission. Your mission is part of the tapestry of life and without it there are stitches missing. Is there anything more important for you to do?"© Eric Garner, ManageTrainLearn.comFor instant solutions to all your management training needs, visit http://www.managetrainlearn.com and download your FREE personal copies of our training software. And while you're there, make sure you try out our prize quiz, get your surprise bonus gift, and subscribe to our newsletter. Go and get the ManageTrainLearn experience now!
Keyword : mission statement, mission, vision, aims, goals, destiny, purpose, raison d'etre, service, grandest

Delegate Successfully - The Four Level Rule

Author : Martin Haworth
Delegation is a subtle, yet vital art in business. It can work very effectively for you - but only if you use it well. And use it for the benefit of all involved. There is a vital 'ground rule' that you must accommodate. And that's around a clear 'level of authority' to act...Most business owners, managers and executives who are successful have a clear strategy for making the most of their own skills. To quote Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder of easyJet, the originator of no-frills short-haul airlines in Europe, in their latest in-flight magazine:-"They find out what they're good at and delegate the rest."Nothing too amazing there then. Yet so many bosses fail to do this. They sit on stuff they aren't good at for all sorts of reasons, and key actions are performed late, or badly, or worst of all, never get done at all.Delegation through your people effectively resolves this. Yet you need to ensure that they have the skills that you haven't (which means that you creatively recruit people who can).These people are capable of learning the stuff you want to delegate and even improve it, with their own particular capabilities, to deliver it better than you could yourself.But they need help in getting this right. Picture something delegated, in the middle of a meeting, without clear understanding around how far they can go.Do they think about it and take action?Do they always check with you - which isn't going to be very effective at all, is it?.Or do they take a special interest in the shine on their shoes, every time you start looking round for some help.So, here are four sizes of delegation you can cut to fit both individuals and circumstances. You tell them that they judge each issue by the following 'levels of authority':-Level OneYou make every decision in this area and deliver it without reference to me (the boss) (leaf).Level TwoYou make every decision on this and inform me as you take action (branch).Level ThreeYou make decisions and discuss with me before you take action (trunk).Level FourDecisions in this area are so vital that we take decisions together after debate, before any action is taken (root).The descriptions at the end of each line come from Susan Scott's excellent, if fearsome book Fierce Conversations. If you have a series of decisions you can take at leaf level, then they aren't going to be too disastrous if they go wrong (leaf falls off - not the end of the world). Up to root - where a mistake here can easily be life-threatening. It's a neat analogy.For the boss, these levels give some degree of safety and analysis of a persons capabilities to make the right decisions. For the individual, they know how far they are permitted to go in an issue. This builds trust and confidence.They also know the whole series of levels (the whole tree) exists and that they will be able to achieve a higher level if they show they can get this one right. Hugely rewarding and stimulating.Having a boss who takes the care to set this up clearly also means, frankly, that they are probably setting up their individual employees to succeed and so will be around them as they need help and guidance (some might call it coaching!).And a boss who is able to delegate a chunk of their work to people who may well be able to do it better and to grow their capabilities and confidence is the ultimate win-win.Ah yes. And the business grows. What with all these employees growing in their skillset and confidence and with a boss who is working at peak, in a focused way, using his or her true strengths to the max.Martin Haworth is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide, mainly by phone, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders. He has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website, http://www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com. ...helping you, to help your people, to help your business grow...
Keyword : delegate,delegation,performance,confidence,employee,accountability,manager,management,skills,ability

Interim Management Provides Hope for UK Manufacturing Sector

Author : Pauly Wilson
Businesses of all types are now exploring the benefits of using Interim management. What was once seen as the exclusive territory of large multi-national companies may turn out to be the saviour of the UK manufacturing sector.Paul Wilson, Managing Director of Aster Interim Solutions takes up the story, "Interim Managers were once exclusively used by the larger companies to aid in company turnaround or implement business re-structuring but are now being used by companies of all types and sizes from both the public and private sector.Typical reasons why companies may use interim managers include:-
Company turnaround and business restructuring e.g. 'Company Doctor
Introduction of change management
To bridge a 'gap' to cover for maternity, secondment etc
To provide additional resources when companies need it most such as through periods of dramatic growth or the building of company infrastructure
As a 'safe pair of hands' whilst the replacement of a permanent member of staff is sought following their sudden departure
As a project manager to manage a transition e.g. introduction of new business systems etc.
The UK manufacturing sector has been 'ravaged' since the 1950s by cheap imports resulting in job losses and the gradual transition of our manufacturing base to lower cost geographical areas. Many of the UK manufacturing companies left are now 'working smarter not harder' in an attempt to outwit their competitors.One of the ways this manifests itself is by the use of specialist interim managers. Whereas Finance and Human Resources have historically been disciplines where companies have used interim managers, businesses are now using interim manufacturing/operations managers to help them in their efforts to implement philosophies such as six sigma and lean manufacturing.Many UK manufacturing companies are now using interim managers to provide their business with 'manufacturing best practise'. By using the experience of the interim manager companies can become a leaner and fitter business in a shorter period of time than they would otherwise have been achieved.In addition, the cost of hiring the interim manager is tangible and only temporary. This makes the 'interim' proposition very attractive for a number of our clients".This all goes to demonstrate, perhaps the strategic use of Interim Managers can provide our remaining UK manufacturers with a powerful weapon in their bid to stave off low cost offshore competition.Paul Wilson
Managing Director
Aster Interim Solutions Ltd
http://www.aster-interim.co.uk
Keyword : Interim Management, Interim Manager

Problem-Solving Success Tip: Choose Solutions that Work and Implement Them Completely

Author : Jeanne Sawyer
Choose solutions that are effective—and implement the solution completely. The solution phase is where everything gets tied together and you start to get results. This part of solving problems is straight-forward in concept but not necessarily easy to do. Choose a solution strategy that works, i.e., fixes the right problem and is practical for your situation. Then implement the strategy--completely.Because you've defined the problem carefully, identified the root causes and verified them, you know what the problem is and why it occurs. You've also assessed the impact of each of the causes, so you know which causes to focus on.Solving the problem requires eliminating each of the root causes that are important enough to bother with. Take each of them one at a time. Decide how you will eliminate that cause and write down your action plan: the tasks that need to be done, who is responsible, when they're due and completion criteria that will tell you when each task is complete. Cross-check your action plans to be sure:
• When the action plan for a particular cause is completed, the cause will be eliminated,
• When all your action plans are completed, you will achieve the success criteria for the whole problem,
• Your contingency plans are sufficient to deal with any surprises.Double-check to be sure your solution plan really will eliminate the causes you've identified. This is a good time to apply the motto, Everything necessary, nothing extraneous. Make sure each action plans includes everything necessary to eliminate the cause it is focused on. Eliminate anything that doesn't contribute to eliminating that cause.Then execute the plan. Implementing the plans will take your best project management skills to keep everything on track. This is the time when you and your colleagues are most at risk of getting distracted by other projects. Don't let your action plan join the list of good intentions.Copyright 2005. Jeanne Sawyer. All Rights Reserved.Jeanne Sawyer is an author, consultant, trainer and coach who helps her clients
solve expensive, chronic problems, such as those that cause operational
disruptions and cause customers to take their business elsewhere. These tips are
excerpted from her book, When Stuff Happens: A Practical Guide to Solving
Problems Permanently. Now also an ebook, find out about it and get more free information on
problem solving at her web site:

http://www.sawyerpartnership.com/.
Keyword : problem solving,business,root cause analysis,project management,teamwork,process improvement,tips

Employee Recognition: Are You Creating A Monster?

Author : Donna Cutting
Recently, I was asked the following question: "How do I set up a recognition program for employees without having them coming to expect the rewards?"This is a great question, especially if you are setting up a centralized and structured program of recognition for your employees. If you set up a precedent that when an employee achieves such and such, then he or she receives a tangible reward, other staff members may expect the same reward for the same result. Then your recognition program actually becomes an incentive program. This may not be a bad thing, if the incentives are creating the desired results in your business. However, it can become expensive.Furthermore, if you give all employees the same reward, at the same time of the year, it will become an expected treat. An example of this might be the holiday turkey or a holiday bonus.To truly be effective, employee appreciation must be more than a special event or an incentive program. It must be part of the culture. You can acknowledge the efforts of your staff members without "creating a monster" whereby they expect a tangible treats just for showing up and doing a great job. (Other than their paychecks of course!)For the record, it is my opinion that all people who do a great job at work have the right to expect appreciation and acknowledgement from their bosses and their co-workers. While employees must be held to the standard of the company, they also have the right to be treated with understanding and respect.Yes, your employees should expect to work for someone who cares enough to create a company culture where they are valued as human beings and recognized for the contribution they make to the workplace. This can involve both tangible and intangible rewards.The best way to make employees feel appreciated, without setting up the expectation of constant tangible rewards, is to start at the grass roots level.Although it is important that the corporate office and human resources set the stage for a caring workplace, the most meaningful recognition comes from a person's own supervisor. Here are a few steps to setting up a successful recognition program.TRAIN YOUR SUPERVISORS in employee relation and recognition techniques. I can't say it enough!! A corporate incentive and rewards program will not make a dent if your staff members don't feel respected by their own boss. Too often a person is promoted to supervisory status because they excel in their own job. However, their supervisory skills are sorely lacking. To keep morale up and employee turnover down, you must have supervisors who know how to treat their team members well and show their gratitude for a job well done. This step is too often skipped, and it's why many centralized recognition programs don't work!WALK THE FLOOR and start to look for reasons to thank your employees. Ken Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager, said it best when he reminded us to "Catch Them Doing Something Right!" When you do "catch" them, sometimes a simple thank you is all that is needed. A "way to go!" or a "you're just terrific!" can go a long way. Will your staff members come to expect that you're a boss who cherishes his/her employees? Probably! What's wrong with that?Sometimes, you'll find that more tangible rewards are deserved. If you notice someone has gone above and beyond, you may want to send a note to their family, give them a gift certificate or day off. You may want to empower the supervisors under your leadership to do the same for their team members. Yes, you can do this without creating the anticipation of a steady stream of tangible rewards.SURPRISE THEM! Dawn Winder was the name of my boss when I worked for Parkview Retirement Home in Clearwater, FL. (Actually, although she's no longer my boss, her name is still Dawn Winder!) She was absolutely one of my favorite bosses. In fact, she inspired loyalty in every one of the staff members that work for her directly. We would do just about anything for her, because she was fun, understanding and acknowledge us when we did a great job. We would often pitch in to help other departments, or stay longer hours for special events, without too much griping. We did this, not because of any tangible rewards, but because we knew our contribution was valued. However, occasionally, Dawn would surprise us with thank you gifts such as a certificate to a favorite restaurant or store. The key words are occasionally and surprise! We did NOT look for gifts of appreciation, because they came to us spontaneously, individually and unexpectedly. When you give tangible rewards on an individual and spur-of-the-moment basis, you are more likely to inspire loyalty than greed.BE SPECIFIC! When you give a reward for a job well done, be specific about why you are sending the gift. What did the person do to merit a reward? The words "You handled that customer complaint with poise and respect" are much more meaningful than simply "Great Job." Perhaps you want to give a simple thank you for every day good work, and something more tangible when someone truly goes above and beyond. Be sure that the behavior being recognized merits the size of the reward given. My colleague, Dave Timmons of Six String Leadership puts it this way. "As a former senior manager, I always reserved the right to reward specific, non-recurring behaviors that were clearly "over and beyond". I never worried about creating a monster although I hoped for one." BE SPECIFIC with your tangible rewards! A gift card to your employee's favorite store says a lot more than a generic token from the recognition closet. Can you give to one employee and not another? Yes and No. Although sometimes it's appropriate to recognize the entire team, it's also important to acknowledge the work of an individual. The key is to acknowledge EACH individual for their SPECIFIC contributions at different times.BE SINCERE! Don't have a recognition program just because it's the "thing to do!" Truly look for the good things your employees are doing right. Try to catch each of them individually! Be sincerely thankful. If you design a recognition program without heart behind it, you will NOT produce the desired results of a positive workplace with high morale and low turnover. If you can't find something in EACH of your employees to be grateful for, than perhaps you need to take a look at your hiring process. Either you aren't looking closely enough, or you have the wrong employees in the wrong positions.ENCOURAGE PEER TO PEER RECOGNITION! Give your team members a vehicle to appreciate their co-workers. Perhaps you could give them space in the employee newsletter or bulletin board for warm fuzzies, or support the formation of a staff spirit team. Regardless of what it is, encouraging gratitude among co-workers will give your staff members reasons to look for what is RIGHT in your workplace.Finally, ask yourself the following question.Would you rather have employees that expect to come to work and be disrespected, undervalued and unnoticed or would you rather they expect to be appreciated, acknowledged and championed??If the recognition your employees receive has heart behind it, the "monster" you create may be happier, more productive and less likely to leave! The choice is yours.©2005, Donna Cutting, St. Petersburg, FL. You may reproduce this article in it's entirety in your publication if you include the byline at the end, including the web address and telephone number. If you would like a photo to accompany the article, email us at rachel@donnacutting.com. We would appreciate a copy of the issue in which the article appears. Please send a copy to ShowStopping Solutions, PO Box 76461, St. Petersburg, FL 33734.Donna Cutting is a speaker, author and consultant who helps leaders create places where employees get Standing Ovations and customers receive a Celebrity Experience. She can be reached at 727-525-5818 or via her website at http://www.donnacutting.com/Companies and Associations across the United States enjoy her presentations filled with immediately applicable ACTION steps delivered in a FUN, upbeat and interactive style. She is otherwise known as Gal Morale!
Keyword : morale, employee appreciation, employee recognition, appreciation ideas, leadership

Moving the Needle on Employee Engagement and Commitment

Author : Regina Barr
When it comes to employee engagement and commitment to an organization, most companies would agree that they 'have some, want more.' Why? These companies have come to recognize that their organization's long-term success relies on employee performance, which is directly impacted by the level of employee engagement and commitment to an organization.How is employee engagement and commitment defined? According to a 2003 report by Towers Perrin, it is defined as "employees' willingness and ability to contribute to company success." What does that mean in real terms? It is the extent to which your employees are willing to put discretionary effort into their work in the form of "extra time, brainpower and energy."If you're like most corporate leaders, you are probably thinking to yourself, 'Wishful thinking." Worse, some corporate leaders think that simply making people happy and paying them more money is the solution. Not so. These are certainly important considerations for any company that wants to attract and retain the most qualified individuals, however, they are less important when it comes to engaging employees in their work. Further, engagement requires both a rational and emotional commitment. And, as you might suspect, it is far more difficult to engage employees emotionally. You have to engage not only their minds but their hearts as well.So, what's a company to do? Here are some suggestions to help get you started in moving the needle on employee engagement and commitment.1. Measure: start by establishing a baseline. Develop an annual engagement survey. To maintain confidentiality and build trust with your employees, it may be beneficial to work with an outside consultant.2. Analyze: when reviewing the survey data, ask yourself these key questions: How do we compare with other companies in our industry? How do our employees compare across job levels? What attributes of engagement is our company strong in? Weak in? It is also a good idea to conduct employee focus groups as part of the analysis process. This will provide additional meaning and richness to your analysis, while providing an opportunity to further engage employees in the process.3. Plan: identify those areas that your company will focus on. Identify goals and involve your employees in developing an action plan. Remember to involve employees at all levels. Your plan should include sponsorship, change management, training, communications, key measures as well as the tactical plan for actually implementing your goals.4. Perform: now it's time to execute your plan and measure results. This should not be relegated to Human Resources. Rather, all divisions need to have accountability for employee engagement and commitment and should have engagement goals that tie back to the corporate goals. And remember, you have to inspect what you expect. It is advisable to develop an engagement and commitment scorecard that is reviewed at least quarterly by senior management with monthly check-ins on key initiatives as appropriate.It's a fact that highly engaged and committed employees outperform other employees. Use the MAPP process noted above and watch employee productivity and morale improve with a corresponding impact to your bottom line. Of course it will take time and commitment with a focus on long-term results. However, no matter how you slice it, focusing on employee and commitment just makes good business sense, but remember, it's an ongoing journey, not just a destination.Regina Barr is a business consultant with a passion for helping companies develop their full potential by focusing on their most valuable asset: their people. For more information on her programs and services, check out her website, http://www.RedLadder.com and sign up for her free email newsletter, Developing People...Inspiring Success.
Keyword : employee engagement and commitment

Who Doesn't Love Ya Baby?

Author : Peter Hunter
People leave their jobs because they are not happy.I saw recently a list of "General reasons why people decide to leave their jobs", and against each reason there was an action.Each action was something that, it was suggested, the manager could do to change the working environment. Something the manager could do to change the way the employee felt about their job and therefore allow them to stay.Why does the manager not understand that these actions were what he should be doing all the time?It is time that we realised the real influence of the manager.The manager is responsible for the performance of his team.The manager is responsible for finding and training new employees.The manager is the person who creates the environment at work that causes people to leave.The manager is responsible for the loss of experience when people leave the organisation.The manager is responsible for creating the unhappiness that causes people to leave.The traditional view of the function of a manager is that this is the person who tells others what to do.This view suggests that when people do what they are told then things work well.The same view suggests that when they don't do what they are told things don't work well and that it is then the fault of the workforce for not doing what they were told and therefore not the fault of the manager.But in the real world it is the fact of telling people what to do that causes the resistance that prevents them from doing it.If I never want to get a shirt ironed again all I have to do is tell my wife to iron it.Telling her to iron a shirt will make it almost impossible for her to do it.The manager by telling the workforce what to do has a hugely destructive effect on their ability to do it.Thus instead of blaming the workforce for failing to do what they were told, we should be blaming the manager for creating the environment, by telling the workforce what to do, that prevented the workforce from doing what they were told.If we can accept a list of actions to prevent people from leaving their jobs as valid then its use should not be as a sticking plaster solution to prevent people from leaving.It should be used as an everyday checklist for the manager to allow him to create the working environment in which his employee are content such that the thought of leaving never crosses their minds.When people feel good about what they do their performance is amazing.When they don't feel good they want to leave.The manager has the ability to make the workforce feel good about what they do and therefore must accept responsibility for their poor performance and for their failure when they want to leave.Peter A Hunter
Author-Breaking the Mould
http://www.breakingthemould.co.ukIf you have ever experienced or learned something which you then knew was instinctively right - you will never have forgotten it.
Peter Hunter learned something years ago which, regrettably, most of us have still yet to learn.When we do - once we have understood the simplicity of his book 'Breaking the Mould' - it will transform our lives forever!
Vic Baxter – Business Workout.
Keyword : management, environment, soft skills, unhappy, workforce,

Taking the Stress Out of Financial Management

Author : Caroline Jordan
A lack of understanding about the numbers side of your business can cause you tremendous headaches. For a case in point, let me introduce you to one of my new clients who I'll call John. John is a contractor who has been in business for more than twenty years. He hired me to come in and clean up a mess caused by 1) his lack of knowledge about small business finances and 2) his reliance on marginally competent bookkeepers.It's a classic small business scenario. A business owner who doesn't understand the financial side of his business hires a bookkeeper to handle "all that". But, because he doesn't understand the financial side of his business, he doesn't know what to look for in a bookkeeper and he has no way of knowing whether the bookkeeper is doing a good job.This is the perfect set up for all sorts of unpleasant consequences including inaccurate financial records and tax returns, missed or inaccurate filings of mandatory forms and payments, useless financial statements, lack of information about how the business is really doing, and a potential for fraud and embezzlement. Scary, huh?So, what's a business owner to do? Here are some tips to help you stay out of trouble.1. Understand that the numbers side of your business is a critical factor in your quest for a successful and prosperous business. You can hire someone else to do the work but you still need a basic understanding in order to run your business.2. Know the difference between hiring a bookkeeper and hiring a financial professional. A good bookkeeper will understand how to accurately enter information like payables and receivables, process a payroll, make collection calls, and reconcile a checking account. All those are important and necessary tasks. Notice I call them tasks. Bookkeepers are task oriented. A professional finance professional may also perform these tasks but their real value is in taking the information that has been entered and translating it into knowledge about your business and then communicating it to you in a way you will understand. Financial managers are analysis and knowledge oriented. Two different ways of looking at your financial information by two different professionals.3. Sometimes you can find someone who can perform both sets of competencies but individuals like that are few. Generally, it is more cost effective to have a competent bookkeeper perform the task oriented pieces of the financial puzzle—entering vendor and customer invoices, receiving payments, processing payroll, etc. and then use a financial manager to help you understand what the numbers mean.4. A financial manager can be someone like your CPA (certified public accountant--they're not just for taxes anymore) or you can use a CFO (chief financial officer) who specializes in working with a number of different smaller businesses. Usually you can get the information you need by hiring someone to look over your financials once a month, do some analysis and report back to you on trends and operating efficiency, and give you solid advice on how to improve your business. Be sure to find someone who understands the ins and outs of managing cash flow since this is such a critical challenge for small business owners.5. When you set up your accounting system, get professional help. Again call your CPA or CFO to help with this. How you set it up is directly related to how useful the information is. Part of the problem my client is dealing with is a very poorly set up QuickBooks company. The set up was done in such a way that all the useful features like bank reconciliation and job costing have been rendered un-useable. Getting it set up right in the first place costs a pittance compared to having someone come in and spend hours or days fixing it later.6. Make sure you have internal controls to protect your business from theft and fraud. Some examples: never have the same person who signs checks also reconcile the bank statement, always scan through cancelled checks or your bank's check copies for any checks that look out of the ordinary, protect your passwords, keep checks (including the ones from your credit card company) in a secure place, know the basics of navigating your accounting system so you can at least appear knowledgeable, have a trained professional looking over your books regularly to deter fraud and to pick up on any clues that fraud may be happening.7. When you hire a finance person for your business whether it's a bookkeeper, a CPA, or a CFO, find one with experience in a business like yours. If you are a contractor like my client, find professionals who have worked with other contracting businesses. If you are a lawyer, find one who has worked for a law office or other professional service office. Check references. Ask for a few customers/employers you can contact to find out more about how the person is to work with. Red flag—an unwillingness to provide any information demonstrating their ability to do the job.My client John now has a plan to move beyond the days of chaos and stress. He will use a bookkeeper to enter his invoices, receive payments, and keep his job folders under control. He will use my CFO service on a monthly basis to help him learn about the numbers side of his business, to get the information he needs to run his business, and to provide oversight and professional input for his bookkeeper. My involvement brings the stability and consistency that his business has needed for years. With a big sigh of relief he is able to say, "Goodbye Chaos! Hello smoother sailing."Caroline Jordan, MBA provides financial coaching, consulting and information products to help small business owners and self employed professionals understand and use the numbers to build a stronger, more successful business. For more articles and tips to help you build your business visit http://www.TheJordanResult.com
Keyword : bookkeeper,book keeper,bookeeper,accountant,accounting,cash flow,cashflow,embezzlement,finances

Risk Management - Managing Milestones

Author : Michael Russell
Part of planning for risk involves allocating each identified risk to a project milestone. Very often a milestone is attached to a payment, so a risk can also have an accurate value attached to it. By its nature, each risk will impact, if at all, at a certain time. For example, Milestone 1 is "Delivery of Software X, Issue A to the Customer".If this risk impacts, we will not receive the Milestone 1 payment from the Customer. This payment has been planned to cover costs of staffing, materials, sub-contractor payments and a variety of other project expenses including finance charges up to this point. The cost of this risk, or any other associated with this Milestone, impacting is basically the cost of borrowing that amount of money, from the time it should have been received up until the time when it is actually received.In order to manage this risk, regular project meetings will be held, a part of which will cover the progress of identified risks. The risk owner will report on each risk with their assessment of the likelihood its occurring. If the likelihood of any risk impacting increases, steps will be taken to implement the mitigation measures already identified.In the case of this example, the mitigation measures might be "Introduce interim acceptance testing to identify problems early".Let us assume that the introduction of this mitigation measure has become necessary and the interim acceptance testing has shown that the software is far from ready for delivery. This will mean that fall-back or contingency plans must be implemented.This is a very undesirable state of affairs but such plans might be: "Introduce additional software engineering effort to identify and resolve bugs" or, assuming we don't have the personnel available to throw extra resources at the problem "Put project software engineers on overtime in order to identify and resolve bugs".In themselves, these contingencies will, of course, have a cost but this must be weighed up against the possibility of delaying the milestone payment and worse, failing to meet the milestone timescale. Once one milestone is late, it's very hard to catch up and much rescheduling is needed in order to still meet the end delivery date. Failing to meet milestones is usually very unpopular with the Customer and not at all likely to do the company's reputation any good.On the up side, if a risk does NOT impact and the milestone with which it is associated is met, that risk can be deleted and forgotten, leaving time and space to concentrate on the next one.Next in this series, we'll look at managing the risks associated with suppliers or sub-contractors.
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Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Risk Management
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Keyword : risk management

Am I Managing Or Leading?

Author : Kreg Enderson
I used to think that "leadership" was the graduate level of management. As you learn more about people and the skills necessary to manage, you magically become a leader. In reality, it is vital to be both a manager and a leader. Here's a summary of what both look like.Management basically means to maintain. So as a manager, you come in every day and focus your resources to accomplish objectives. So if you are in manufacturing, you focus on completing a number of widgets each day and make sure that the efforts of your team are aligned to do so. Management is more of a short term focus on immediate goals. Management is really the nuts and bolts of how things get done. If most of your activities during the day involve telling people what to do, then you are managing.Leadership is the act of inspiring others to want to accomplish long term objectives. Leadership deals much more with emotions. As a leader, you must create a vision of what the future will look like, and inspire your team to perform to a level to accomplish this vision. Leadership does not rely on day by day or even minute by minute direction from a manager. One of the key elements is to link the team member's daily activities to this long term vision. Team members see the future and understand how their daily actions will help to create that future. If you spend your time coaching and teaching, then you are most likely leading.So we all need to carry both the leadership and management "hat" with us each day. If you only wear the leadership hat, you are probably falling short on the day to day objectives. If you are only wearing the management hat, you are failing to build a long term strategy and your team members will lack passion in what they do.I hope you all have a successful week.Kreg Enderson is a certified coach, speaker, and trainer that helps leaders become more effective with people. More information can be found at http://www.leadershipmentor.net
Keyword : manager, management, leader, leadership, supervisor

Business Architecture & Management - Information Systems

Author : Hans Bool
Architecture is (normally) about buildings, cities and infrastructure (and the like). You can see it around you and everybody has an opinion about it. You either like the style of that building or you don't and all the nuances in between. Between the Style of an organization and the goal it pursues (although not everybody shares this approach of goal-oriented organizations) unfolds the area of systems.Systems are a response to functional needs. A library provides the function to exhibit the public word. Accessibility is therefore an additional non-functional requirement.
Once you or your organization is aware of the functional requirements it can start building Systems providing the appropriate Construction.This Function-and-Construction matching exists of three pairs, like the three pairs of wings of a building :
The organization (human resources and organizational structure) that responds to the business process.
The information and functions that are accommodated with systems.
And the non-functional requirements that are solved with infrastructure. The metaphor of a building is not exactly appropriate, because between the different wings and each floor there are many connections...In that way, the systems that companies use are accommodated on the middle floor and play a central role in the organization. The structure of the systems exhibits much of the style and the business priorities.This is a list of the systems of which one or more could be present in your organization:
ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning. Systems that manage the internal operation.
SCM – Supply Chain Management. Dedicated to the management of information with third parties.
DMS – Document Management System. Controlling the flow of documents.
CMS – Content Management System. Organize content that is to be shared by everyone.
HRM – Human Resource Management. Systems that are to manage the human resources.
CMS – Contact Management System (e-mail responders for example).
DWH – A Warehouse of corporate client and product data.
TCS – Telecom Systems. A wide area of systems that manage telephone traffic.
...etc.
If you think that this list represents the left or right wing on the second floor, you can imagine that many powers influence this area. Every company, with whatever size, struggles with area. First because it is prominent and eye-catching; everybody is dealing with it. Managing information systems is like managing politics; everybody has an opinion about how it should be.
The challenge is about managing new business and taking these systems with you...on your way...© 2006 Hans BoolHans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days.
You can apply for a free demo account
Keyword : Information systems, managing information, managing information systems

Getting Over Ambiguities in Your Decision Making

Author : Sergey Dudiy
How do you normally go about non-trivial decisions?Even if you prefer to take time to do your homework and systematically clarify and prioritize all gains or costs, you can still face many grey areas, when pure logic by itself does not arrive at one convincing conclusion.It could be that your criteria for analysis are difficult to formulate unambiguously. You have gaps or conflicts in your data. Circumstances may be changing too fast to give you enough time to systematically sort out all the data. What do you do then?In such situations you will probably turn to your "gut feeling", also known as your inner voice or intuition. When it comes to poorly structured problems like and ambiguities, your decision making effectiveness is determined mostly by your ability to use your intuition.In contrast to logical reasoning process, which occurs mostly in your conscious mind, your intuition works at the subconscious level. The intuition grasps your decision making situation as a whole, processing different pieces of information in parallel. It somehow connects the inner pattern of your new situation with various subconscious pieces of your previous experiences. Then one moment you will receive the conclusion of that inner work as an intuitive message, a message communicated in the language of your subtler feelings.While intuition is an indispensable tool in business decision-making, there are still traps you can fall into if you are not careful.One trap is using intuitive approach as an excuse not to do your homework. Did you ingest all the key facts? At least those that you can get in cost- and time-effective ways. While intuition will help you work around many gaps and ambiguities, even your inner voice can be misled if too many of your facts are wrong or missing.To effectively collect and organize all the relevant data, try to start with a systematic analysis in writing. As much as you can, capture on paper the ideas on the main options and the criteria for evaluating your choices. Write down the key facts and factors you need to keep in mind.Another dangerous trap is confusing your inner voice with the background noise of your current emotional state. Whenever you need to make an important decision, pay particular attention to your overall mood. If you are stressed or in a bad mood, your true inner voice will be distorted or lost in the background of your strong negative feelings. A similar effect may happen with strong positive feelings. Are you also carrying a baggage of suppressed feelings that biases your judgement?Finally, the reliability and effectiveness of your intuition also depends on how much you let it develop. The more experiences you go through and the more attention you give to the intuitive messages in each case, the better "gut feeling" guidance you will get.Sergey Dudiy, Ph.D., is a personal effectiveness writer and web entrepreneur, creator of Time-Management-Guide.com, a web resource dedicated to building a stronger foundation for your success, one skill at a time, from managing time and setting goals to making decisions and building teams.You have the permission to reprint this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as you keep the above resource box. A courtesy note would be appreciated.
Keyword : decision making, intuition, time management

Coaching - A Secret Ingredient for Effective Leadership

Author : Rick Johnson
Coaching is the frontline to improved employee performance. Mentoring is a skill required for selected employee long term development. We are going to focus on coaching in this article. Coaching is proven to work when these two factors are present. First, the employee is willing and wants to grow, second, there is a gap between where they are now and where they want to be. These two basic factors are absolutely essential for you and the employee to solve problems, create a new life, turn a business around, to increase sales and profitability, and design and implement a plan of action.Ultimately humans consistently do only that which they naturally and effortlessly love to do. Finding that passion again and determining what you really want for yourself and your business is your first task. Coaching will help distinguish between what the employee "should want" and "have to want" from what they truly want for themselves. Once you help them develop their vision, they are much more likely to naturally and consistently proceed in that direction.Very few people ever learn the skills of how to think. In our schools, families, and social structures, we learn "how" and "what" to do and we learn "what" to think. Our world is full of individuals who have chosen dependent, me first, excuse ridden attitudes. It has become a way of life. This type of attitude is a dead end for employees. It is unwanted, unproductive, and unprofitable. Possibility thinking through coaching opens the door to a whole new way of seeing and interacting within the environment of the business world we find ourselves in.The old saying "No Pain, No Gain" is exactly the same as the scientific principle of cause and effect. The employees you select to coach and mentor will learn to produce more with less effort. They become more productive and more valuable to the organization. Coaching can help employees eliminate roadblocks and help identify if not eliminate critical constraints that prevent success. Coaching helps employees intensify their focus and become more visionary and productive. Supportive and mutually beneficial relationships are what business and a friendly family culture are all about. Unfortunately, few people learn the communication, decision-making, and perception skills needed to nurture these incredible skills. It is amazing how simple they are to understand and how difficult they are to implement. Coaching can increase the skill level in each of these areas.The Five Key Objectives of Coaching1. Identifying the obstacles to success and helping the employee overcome them. Personal and professional success comes much more easily when you have a strong coach or mentor.2. Better decisions are a result of the willingness to discuss ideas and concerns. Winners are always seeking feedback from others.3. Expand the self imposed horizon and boundaries the employee has created for themselves4. Setting individual goals and objectives5. Identifying and working on individual weaknesses that can impede successThe Umbrella PrinciplesThink of coaching like an umbrella. There are several principles that fall under this umbrella that support the five key objectives of coaching, these include:• Observing Behavior• Effective listening• Providing Feedback• Recognizing performance• TrainingThe Five Steps in the Coaching ProcessAn effective coaching process requires that goals and expectations are clearly understood. It is essential that the employee being coached receive all the appropriate training based on his job responsibilities and future developmental needs. Behavior observation, communication and finally behavior modification are essential to success at coaching. This includes feedback and positive reinforcement.1. Set clear goals & expectations. Setting goals and objectives is no easy task. They must be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. (SMART) Goals and objectives are the very first step in effective coaching. The employee should participate in this process. After all, the goals should be specific to that individual and they must take ownership. As goals or expectations change, it is your job as coach to communicate these changes to your employees. The goal should be negotiated, not dictated.2. Training. To be an effective coach, you need to understand the employee's strengths and weaknesses. This includes a thorough understanding of their training needs and accomplishments. Do they have the necessary skills and knowledge to accomplish the goals and objectives that have been set? Making sure that the employee has the opportunity to get the required training to develop their skill set is a prerequisite to effective coaching. One of your basic challenging responsibilities as a coach is to identify the skills and knowledge the employee needs and then arrange for the appropriate training.3. Behavior Observation. How does the employee react to a crisis? How do they handle themselves when they are placed in leadership situations? How do they react to peer pressure? As a coach observing the employee's behavior and noting specifics that need attention and discussion is a primary responsibility. It is important that you collect and record both positive and negative performance along the way to add credibility to your feedback.4. Feedback. Meeting with the employee regularly to discuss performance and other issues is absolutely critical to their development. The key is not in telling the employee what to do but it is helping the employee find the answers on their own. This can be done by asking very specific thought provoking questions. Make sure you give the employee kudos for all the positive behavior you have observed.5. Positive Reinforcement.Believe it or not, employees want to be held accountable. If we re going to hold employees accountable, they have to know how they are performing. Specifically we should emphasize the positive aspects of their performance. Focusing on the good things an employee accomplishes will motivate them to continue to do good work, and in turn will ensure repeat performance.It's About LeadershipMake no mistake, coaching and mentoring is about leadership. It is difficult to be a coach or a mentor without leadership skills. Coaching and mentoring is all about the development of others. It requires effective development activities and projects related to current and future performance expectations. It requires the unique ability to recognize potential skill and ability in others that is worthy of development. A good coach or mentor possesses an innate ability to motivate and inspire others to achieve stretch goals. They have the ability, the knowledge and the sensitivity to generate an adaptive style according to the individual and circumstances at hand earning respect and trust. E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com for a list of the key characteristics of a good coach or mentor and a questionnaire to help define personal goals.http://www.ceostrategist.com Dr. Rick Johnson (rick@ceostrategist.com) is the founder of CEO Strategist LLC. an experienced based firm specializing in leadership and the creation of competitive advantage in wholesale distribution. CEO Strategist LLC. works in an advisory capacity with distributor executives in board representation, executive coaching, team coaching and education and training to make the changes necessary to create or maintain competitive advantage. You can contact them by calling 352-750-0868, or visit

http://www.ceostrategist.com for more information. CEO Strategist – experts in Strategic Leadership in Wholesale Distribution.
Need a Board Member --- contact rick@ceostrategist.com.
Keyword : Leadership, board of directors, executive management, mentor, coach, organizational development

Steering our Leadership Wheel

Author : Jim Clemmer
"The winds and waves are always on the side of the best navigators." — Edward Gibbon, English HistorianLeaders look beyond the current situation – beyond what is to what could be. That's why leadership is all about change. It's why leadership is action, not a position.Growing our leadership is also a dynamic process. It begins at the center of our being and develops in multiple directions, each represented by the timeless leadership principles described in The Leader's Digest. This "hub and spokes" model is the basis for The CLEMMER Group's Leadership Wheel.Each part of the wheel corresponds to an area of leadership. At the hub of the wheel, we have the vision, values, and purpose with which leaders effectively focus their teams and organizations on the core of their being (Chapter 2: Focus and Context).Leaders also take initiative and do what needs to be done rather than waiting for "them" to do something (Chapter 3: Responsibility for Choices).Leaders are authentic and lead by visible example, fostering openness and continuous feedback (Chapter 4: Authenticity).
Leaders are passionate and build strong commitment through involvement and ownership (Chapter 5: Passion and Commitment).Leaders lead with heart and rouse team or organizational spirit (Chapter 6: Spirit and Meaning).Leaders grow people through strong coaching and continuous development (Chapter 7: Growing and Developing).Finally, leaders energize people by building strong teams, inspiring, and serving (Chapter 8: Mobilizing and Energizing).The wheel model provides a metaphor for situations faced by an organization. For example, just as a wheel's weight-bearing ability depends upon the strength of its hub, so too does the strength of an organization's hub (or core values) determine the weight of the performance and change issues that it is able to carry.The wheel also represents the circular nature of leadership – there is no beginning or end. Each of the supporting leadership principles around the outside of the Leadership Wheel are interdependent and interconnected. If our team or organization develops all the leadership skills, the wheel is well-rounded. If it is deficient in one or more of these skills, the ride may be a little bumpy.Excerpted from Jim's bestseller, The Leader's Digest: Timeless Principles for Team and Organization Success. View the book's unique format and content, Introduction and Chapter One, and feedback at http://www.theleadersdigest.com. This book is a companion book to Growing the Distance: Timeless Principles for Personal, Career, and Family Success. Jim Clemmer is an internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, workshop/retreat leader, and management team developer on leadership, change, customer focus, culture, teams, and personal growth. His web site is http://www.clemmer.net/articles.
Keyword : leaders, leadership, management

Project Management - Time Estimates and Planning

Author : Liz Cassidy
Accurate time estimation is a skill essential for good project management. It is important to get time estimates right for two main reasons:1. Time estimates drive the setting of deadlines for delivery and planning of projects, and hence will impact on other peoples assessment of your reliability and competence as a project manager.
2. Time estimates often determine the pricing of contracts and hence the profitability of the contract /project in commercial terms.Often people underestimate the amount of time needed to implement projects. This is true particularly when the project manager is not familiar with the task to be carried out. Unexpected events or unscheduled high priority work may not be taken into account.Project managers also often simply fail to allow for the full complexity or potential errors and stuff ups, involved with a project. The 2004-2006 Wembley Stadium project in London is often used as an example, although there are countless others of less profile.Time estimates are important as inputs into other techniques used to organise and structure all projects. Using good time estimation techniques may reduce large projects to a series of smaller projects.Step 1 - Understand the Project Outcome
First you need to fully understand what it is you need to achieve. (Refer to my article; Project Management - Begin with the end in mind). Review the project /task in detail so that there are no 'unknowns'. Some difficult-to-understand, tricky problems that take the greatest amount of time to solve.
The best way to review the job is to just list all component tasks in full detail.Step 2 - Estimate time
When you have a detailed list of all the tasks that you must achieve to complete the project then you can begin to estimate how long each will take.Make sure that you also allow time for project management administration, detailed project, liaison with outside bodies' resources and authorities, meetings, quality assurance developing supporting documentation or procedures necessary, and training.Also make sure that you have allowed time for:
• Other high urgency tasks to be carried out which will have priority over this one
• Accidents and emergencies
• Internal/external meetings
• Holidays and sickness in key staff/stakeholders
• Contact with other customers, suppliers and contractors.
• Breakdowns in equipment
• Missed deliveries by suppliers
• Interruptions by customers, suppliers, contractors, family, pets, co- workers etc
• Others priorities and schedules e.g. local government planning processes
• Quality control rejections etc.
• Unanticipated events (e.g. renovating the bathroom finding white-ants/termites in the walls)These factors may significantly lengthen the time and cost needed to complete a project.If the accuracy of time estimates is critical, you will find it effective to develop a systematic approach to including these factors. If possible, base this on past experience. In the absence of your own past experience, ask someone who has already done the task or project to advise what can go wrong; what you need to plan for; and how long each task took previously.You can lose a great deal of credibility, and money, by underestimating the length of time needed to implement a project. If you underestimate time, not only do you miss deadlines, you can also put other people under unnecessary stress.Step 3 – Plan for it Going Wrong
Finally, allow time for all the expected and unexpected disruptions and delays to work that will inevitably happen. Sickness, strikes, materials not available, poor quality work, bureaucratic bungling etc.Liz Cassidy, founder of Third Sigma International is an author, Speaker, Trainer and Executive and Performance Coach dedicated to facilitating results in the businesses, professional and personal lives of her clients. For more information http://www.thirdsigma.com.au.
Keyword : Project,Project management,planning,tasks list,time estimates,Liz Cassidy,third sigma,end point,plan

Connections: Business Process Management and Six Sigma

Author : Peter Peterka
One of the most powerful ways to improve business processes is combining business process management (BPM) strategies with Six Sigma strategies. BPM strategies emphasize process improvements and automation to drive performance, while Six Sigma uses statistical analysis to drive quality improvements. The two strategies are not mutually exclusive, however, and many companies have discovered that combining BPM and Six Sigma can create dramatic results.BPM basicsLet's first take a look at the basics of BPM. It uses a four step method to create better processes and improve performance. The steps are as follows:• Map the process (whether new or existing) from start to finish, capturing each step along the way• Execute the process by using people and automated applications, with specific assignments of responsibilities and accountabilities for each step• Manage the process through information flow, actions and related activities• Analyze process performance and metrics, using findings as the basis for continuous process improvementBPM has a strong base in software applications to help streamline and automate processes. At the software level, BPM is commonly applied within a single department or group to improve a specific process.From the software level, BPM expands to a suite of software applications. The suite level enables BPM to link multiple departments or groups that affect processes. It promotes information sharing and accountability through use of a work portals where multiple users can share knowledge, documentation, and process management.At its highest level, BPM expands to an enterprise-wide system. This level combines software and IT aspects with management practices to address broad structural and systemic issues within a business or organization. Business practices and operations are examined from a holistic standpoint, paying close attention to how occurrences in any one part of the system have a ripple effect across the organization.Six Sigma basicsThe concept of Six Sigma was developed at Motorola in the 1980's as they worked to improve the quality of their products and services. By implementing a systematic, rigorous routine, they were able to improve their products and increase customer satisfaction, thus increasing profits.Six Sigma approaches business processes from a highly statistical standpoint. It incorporates three levels of activity:• Metrics – statistical focus to make process outcomes 99.9997% defect free, otherwise expressed as 3.4 defects per million opportunities• Methodology – structured approach to solving problems that uses specific tools and process mapping to achieve the metric goal• Philosophy – the enterprise-wide embrace of defect reduction by making decisions based on hard data and customer focusIn short, Six Sigma allows an organization to reduce the variability in its products and services so that waste is reduced, efficiency is improved, and customer satisfaction is dramatically increased. Business problems are solved through rigorous application of data collection and analysis tools. The training that Six Sigma users receive is quite intensive, progressing through several increasingly sophisticated levels based on experience and accomplishment. Professional Six Sigma consultants and practitioners usually work to become certified at the various levels, increasing their ability to help guide development and implementation of Six Sigma methodology.The methodology of Six Sigma is key to its success. An organization follows a five step progression that uses factual information and statistical analysis to address achievement of operational goals. There are some differences in the five steps depending on whether they are used to improve an existing process or design a new process. The end goal, though, is always to achieve the standard metric of 99.9997% defect free performance.Combining BPM and Six SigmaWith this basic understanding of BPM and Six Sigma in mind, it is easy to see how powerful it can be to combine the two practices. Their strengths complement each other and create a synergy that infuses the entire operation with a focus on quality and performance.The strength of BPM lies in its ability to automate processes and workflow through modeling and examination of inputs, outputs and performance. It is not as strong, however, in its ability to analyze data associated with very difficult or multifaceted problems. Six Sigma fills this gap by providing the statistical analysis needed to deal with complex problems.The strength of Six Sigma lies in its rigorous approach to data collection and analysis. Through this process it is can identify even the smallest opportunities for process improvement, maximizing an organization's ability to institute necessary changes. It is not as strong, however, in its ability to monitor process improvements and ensure they are applied across the board. BPM fills this gap by providing tools to automate process improvements and connect those improvements across the entire organization.Both BPM and Six Sigma represent significant commitments on the part of a business or organization, and they take time to implement them thoroughly. Tremendous organizational change is often required, leading most companies to start with a single department or pilot project and expand their use over a multi-year period. It is well worth the time and effort, though, to generate the substantial business improvements that are typical with BPM and Six Sigma.ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Peter Peterka is the Principal Consultant in practice areas of DMAIC and DFSS. Peter has eleven years of experience performing as a Master Black Belt, and has over 15 years experience in industry as an improvement specialist and engineer working with numerous companies, including 3M, Dell, Dow, GE, HP, Intel, Motorola, Seagate, Xerox and even the US Men's Olympic Team. For partial list look here. Peter is a certified a Master Black Belt and holds an MS degree in Statistics from Iowa State and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue. Peter worked for 3M over 10 years where he gained extensive experience applying Sigma Methodologies to a variety of processes.Peter Peterka is also President of Six Sigma us. For additional information on Six Sigma Green Belt or other Six Sigma Black Belt programs contact Peter Peterka.
Keyword : six sigma, six sigma green belt, six sigma black belt