Management Space

The Compliance Officers Killer Application

2009-03-04T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Martin Day

It used to be that only the largest multi-nationals needed a Compliance Officer. Today most practices, regardless of size, would be wise to charge someone within their organisation with the responsibility of keeping abreast and managing the compliance process.

Take as an example European employment law that has been introduced over the last few years that has changed the face of European businesses. Small businesses in particular are finding that a casual and informal approach to employment issues can now result in statutory fines that have no bearing on the financial health of the individual company and could, without as much as a by your leave, directly result in the demise of a company.

Small to medium businesses do not often have the luxury of employing a full time Compliance Officer and although larger organisations can afford a dedicated person they are finding that with compliance issues mushrooming the Compliance Officer now has a team, a department and if not already, how long before compliance becomes a division?

Regardless of size, the first step in compliance for any organisation requires them to identify the areas of compliance that are applicable to them. Rules and regulations are being introduced monthly on a local, regional, national and international level, covering everything from data protection and freedom of information, anti-money laundering to environmental waste control, race relations to health and safety; with ignorance being no defence there is a requirement on the individual businesses to know their responsibilities, and fines for those that wait to be told.

Having identified the areas of compliance the company then needs to understand what they need to do to ensure they comply. It is becoming conceivable that with the shear volume of compliancy issues that companies who can show a good faith effort in complying will, even when they fall short, reduce the risks of fines.

Having identified and understood the compliance issues the Compliance Officer needs to define and implement policy and disseminate the information throughout the organisation.

It is important for the Compliance Officer that they do not inadvertently become the company's patsy. Senior managers are not averse to ignoring the internal memos they receive advising them of their responsibilities. Compliance Officers need to deliver their messages up and down the corporate food chain and record that their advice and directives have been received and more importantly understood.

The Compliance Officer has to avoid becoming the company scapegoat. This won't happen by itself, a sales team that has a long history of success though a relaxed attitude to selling is not going to willingly adopt new, and what they will see as restrictive, practices without a fight. 'I didn't get the memo', 'I didn't understand it', 'I thought it meant something else', 'I thought these were only guidelines' are likely to be stock replies, along with the one or two old timers that didn't think compliance issues applied to them. It used to be a safe bet to blame IT, blame Compliance is rapidly taking its place.

One valuable tool in the Compliance Officer's tool box is the online survey and questionnaire.

The online survey can deliver a message internally to the individual; it can be informative like a memo and educational by referencing detailed policy. Importantly it can become a valuable self registering record that confirms that the information has been properly disseminated and understood.

A single survey question can achieve all these objectives at the same time.

Take an example:-

Are you aware that section 45 of the Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Act 2003 imposes an obligation on directors of certain companies to prepare statements on their company's compliance with its relevant obligations?
(Click here for a summary of Company's Policy on Compliance Reporting Obligations)

Yes
No

For those Directors that have not read the policy the survey will give an opportunity to view the company's policy online (using an embedded live HTML link). Should Directors answer 'No' the Compliance Officer knows who to target.

The survey also records the manager's response and shifts the responsibility away from the Compliance Officer to the individual manager where the responsibility needs rest for a company to meet its compliance obligations.

Using an online website such http://www.surveygalaxy.com where multiple surveys can be managed, easily modified, updated and re-issued on a periodic basis across an organisation online surveys can be the Compliance Officer's killer application.

Through the regular use of online surveys the Compliance Officer will be in the driving seat, leading and not chasing compliance issues, not only circulating the information on a one to one basis but also monitoring and recording the level of awareness throughout the organisation.

The Compliance Officer's role is a difficult one, like a parent keeping a wayward child on the straight and narrow, most employers, let alone their employees, often do not fully understand the true consequence of their, often innocent, minor discretions. Assigning a Compliance Officer is a start but enabling them to fulfil their remit will be the difference between a company being fully compliant and one that risks suffering the consequences for having let compliance take a back seat.

Martin Day is a Director of Survey Galaxy Ltd a web site that allows anyone to create, design and publish online surveys. Martin has provided survey consultancy for a number of Compliance Officers to help develop internal compliance awareness programmes. For more information please visit http://www.surveygalaxy.com

Business Planning Strategy How Can You Use Numbers To Aid Your Business Judgement And Marketing

2009-03-03T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Adrian Pepper

Last week, a client chose to focus our coaching session on his Business Plan. He had read that 80% of businesses that fail have no plan, whereas 90% of those that grow have a plan that they review and update at least once a year.

Although he had good headings, my client was struggling to write the narrative and fill in the numbers. He also worried about maintaining a 20-page document until I suggested that between one and four pages would be more effective for his company.

Set your goals clearly

So we started with "Why are you in business? What are you trying to achieve?" followed by "Who are your customers?" and "What benefits do they want to buy?"

As we made sense of this, we were able to insert the market research data that he had gathered. Asking him "What share of this market can you expect?" naturally led to testing his hopes against his competitors' strengths and weaknesses.

"How do you reach these customers?" was easily answered along with his weekly marketing investment. Of course as a good coach, I encouraged him to explore other ways to reach his market, and he decided to try a couple of them.

Use simple numbers to check progress

Next we worked on "How do you measure progress?". I have found that the numbers that matter in my business are those that help me face reality and do something about it.

I dislike the discipline required but I find that collecting the numbers collapses my anxiety at not knowing and my complacency at thinking everything is fine.

So we spent some valuable time finding some simple ways that my client could check his business progress - and make a weekly habit of recording those measurements.

Stay on a profitable course

Quite suddenly, I had a client who was smiling because he saw the value of his business plan - the text and numbers told a compelling story.

He was anxious about interpreting his weekly results and thought he might need a quarterly review but I am sure this worry will pass. He will find the simple numbers give him clarity to decide how to respond. Since he understands how he wrote his plan, he should be able to re-jig his ideas as his market changes.

Take the challenge So here is a challenge for you: "Does your business plan tell a profitable story and how do you keep it up-to-date?"

Adrian Pepper coaches people through business and personal difficulties, helping companies figure out what to do, how to move forward and what to get organised. You can contact him through Help4You Ltd, through his website at www.help4you.ltd.uk or by phone +44-7773-380133. At feeds.feedburner.com/help4you, you can listen to his podcast for small businesses.

Business Management Case Study Over Disclosure Puts Franchisors At A Competitive Disadvantage

2009-03-02T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

The regulatory bodies at both the state and federal level require much disclosure from Franchisors. So, much information in fact that it indeed puts them at a disadvantage to both their foreign and domestic competitors who may not be franchise companies and therefore do not require the same level of disclosures. The Uniform Franchise Offering Circulars or UFOCs.

This puts franchise organizations at a severe disadvantage and executive business management teams need to be cognizant of this fact when extending brand name a outlets thru franchising in the market place. I believe that these disclosures help hurt franchisees thru competitive businesses snooping for information more than they help franchise buyers with disclosures.

You have to love the government always giving away proprietary information to help hurt your company. In fact a competitor can find more out about your company in the 250 page uniform franchise offering circular then they can going through your office for an hour and having access to all your computers.

Therefore a business management team needs to discuss these issues of over disclosure and how they put franchising companies at a competitive disadvantage before attempting to use franchising as a method to extend brand name and reach into the marketplace. Please consider all this in 2006.

Lance Winslow - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Manage Communication To Add Value

2009-03-01T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Robert Abbott

Management guru Tom Peters says white collar workers and managers in functional departments need to protect their futures.

They have to learn "the difference between doing totally acceptable work and creating very new value...." he notes, in an Industry Week article. In other words, people in departments like Human Resources and Finance need to become entrepreneurial.

With that in mind, let's look at three ways you can use communication to add new value, whether you work in a functional department or not.

First, every department of every organization generates unique information. That comes from being astride several communication flows that come together in one office or area.

Information flows in from suppliers, from staff, and from other stakeholders. For example, people in your department read trade magazines, they attend seminars, they're in touch with people in other departments, and they may belong to trade associations.

If your department consciously gathers, sifts, analyzes, and organizes that information - formally or informally - then it's creating new value. It's now more than just information: it's business intelligence, information with added value. That's what we refer to as generating new information.

Moving to the idea of condensing information, one striking characteristic of modern communication is the amount of it moving around. No doubt you've heard references to information overload, an all too real problem for those whose work life revolves around information.

You can add value by monitoring the information that comes into your office and selecting just the critical parts. Movie director Alfred Hitchcock put it this way, "Drama is life with the dull bits cut out." That's probably not a bad way of thinking about the condensing of information.

You can also summarize. Rather than distributing selected bits of information, you can write an abstract that captures the key data or ideas and reduces the load to manageable size for others. That's great added-value for senior managers who need overviews, rather than details. Many internal newsletters earn their keep by providing regular summaries of useful information. That information can come from outside the organization or from within.

Third, there's other side of the same coin, which involves expanding, rather than condensing, information.

One way to do this is by providing context. Consider, for example, any current issue that gets high profile treatment. Can you take the information you have, and then provide background that helps others make sense of it? You might bring in additional information that provides a brief history, the current opportunities and threats, and some possible directions for the future, along with their implications.

You might also expand information by making connections to issues that don't seem to affect your organization. For example, suppose your factory serves only the domestic market, so globalization seems irrelevant for at least the near future. But, what if you could explain how changes to tariffs would allow you to buy your raw materials at lower prices?

In summary, you can add value to existing information by turning it into business intelligence, condensing it, or expanding it. All approaches may use the same material, but manage it differently, to satisfy different needs.

Robert F. Abbott writes and publishes Abbott's Communication Letter. Learn how you can use communication to help achieve your goals, by reading articles or subscribing to this ad-supported newsletter. An excellent resource for leaders and managers, at: http://www.communication-newsletter.com

How To Write Commercial Collections Letters

2009-02-28T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Steve Austin

It is sometimes valuable to bring the sales manager into this step of the collection process. Information concerning the delinquency can often be obtained from the sales department. Tips for Commercial Collection Letters: When writing commercial collection letters, these points should be considered:

Include all basic information.

The commercial collections letter should state how and when you expect payment. It should suggest why the account should be paid in full. It should motivate the debtor to actually do thisnow.

Use an effective style of writing.

Most commercial collections letters are written to appeal to the writer and not necessarily to the delinquent customer. Appeal to the debtor.

Use the "you" approach.

Too many commercial collection letters emphasize "we." Avoid such phrases as "we insist," "we remind" and "we want." It is much better to put the customer into the letter, saying such things as "you will appreciate" and "it is to your advantage." Remember that the debtor is not interested in your best interest, but in their own.

Don't say, "We will not write again."

This assures the debtor of their success in evading payment, and a phrase such as "to keep your good credit rating" may be impractical in a situation that has reached a certain stage of commercial collection.

Use motivating factors.

If a customer has not paid, there is a reason for it. Although a letter cannot discover the reason, it can give the customer a way in which they will benefit. For example, by paying now, they may continue to enjoy "open account" terms, or your credit rating won't be damaged.

Appeal to pride, honesty and security.

As a last resort, appeal to anxiety. These are factors that can be used to bring prompt payments.

Address the letter to an individual.

Direct it to the person who is authorized to initiate payments. Keep the letter short. Be as brief as possible, and cover only the most important points.

Get free information and advice on commercial collections.

The Importance Of Inventory Control In Accounting

2009-02-27T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by John Cantrell

When you create products in your accounting software you should almost certainly be able to enter the cost, if so make the effort.

Without the cost your accounting software's financial statements will only show a fraction of the story.

The cost that you enter should, in most cases, be as close as possible to the average cost of that item that you have in stock. For example -

What is average stock? Let's assume that you have 1 bolt in stock and it cost you $1.00. You then go out and buy another bolt for stock and the cost has shot up to $2.00. You now have 2 items in stock that cost a total of $3.00. Therefore your average cost is $1.50 per item. When you sell one of these items the software will take into account that the cost of that sale was $1.50. Most accounting software systems will adopt this approach

There is a separate section towards the end that looks at the different types of product cost and what they mean.

Another important issue when setting up your products in your accounting software is closely related to whether there are re-order reports in your accounting software and a Purchase Order module that is linked to the re-order system, and you intend using either or both.

This issue basically deals with the ideal maximum and minimum stock that you wish to keep of a particular product. It can be done several ways but the most common would be -

Maximum and Minimum. Let's say you want a maximum number of the item in stock at any time of 20 and a minimum quantity of 10. When the stock level falls to 10 or below the system will tell you to order whatever quantity that takes it back to 20. The minimum level is also known as the re-order point.

In a similar situation your accounting software may only work to a maximum stock level in which case whenever your stock level falls below 20 it will show an order quantity to take it back to 20. "Your system may allow you to enter different levels based on seasons. For example if it gave you four separate seasons then you would need to give it four different levels. This method is more common in industries where there can be large fluctuations in sales depending on season as in summer and winter, as in Christmas and non Christmas periods etc.

If you operate in a country where you charge GST or similar and later claim this tax back then the cost of the product should be shown excluding the tax.

For example a bolt costs $5.00 plus $0.50 GST then show it as $5.00. This example applies to Australia If you are not sure about your own situation then check with your accountant.

Products Module - Additional Uses

You will have already set up your products in your accounting software before you started invoicing so that part should already be done except maybe for some fine tuning that you need along the way.

To reap the full benefits of a products module you will need to record into your accounting software your stock as you receive it.

One of the more important aspects of the products module though in any accounting software is that it keeps a track of your stock.

Many business people that I have met over the years have seen this as being of not much value to their overall day to day operation.

Before you arrive at this conclusion consider some of the possible benefits of keeping a stock control system from the following

Reflecting and recording the true value of stock and the cost of your sales can directly impact on your profit and, or, loss and, therefore, the amount of tax you pay at the end of the year.

You have various reports on hand in your accounting software to show what stock is running low, therefore you can re-order from your suppliers before you run out and possibly lose sales.

Stock control in your accounting software should show you which are your faster moving items and therefore where your money in stock should be more heavily invested.

Stock sales reports in your accounting software should tell you when you last sold a product therefore have you got stock (and maybe lots of that product) that is taking up valuable storage space which could be used for better selling items, or tying up valuable cash in slow moving items.

Is stock mysteriously disappearing? Is someone helping themselves without your knowledge.

Is product running passed its effective use by date or shelf life.

Are some of your products seasonal so are you stocking the right quantities for the peaks and reducing stock for the off seasons.

Is some of your stock shop soiled and not really in a condition to portray your business image.

Many accounting software packages will create re-order reports for you of what the system thinks you may need without you going out there and physically counting. By all means check the suggested order but let the accounting software take some of the grind out for you.

Some businesses can have an enormous amount of capital tied up in stock and it is important to make sure that this capital has been invested wisely. Could some of this value be liquidated to pay off some debt or to invest in new equipment and so on.

Look at what you have and, if necessary talk to your accountant.

I have been involved in all aspects of the accounting software industry for over 20 years. I run several websites that specialize in various subjects including http://www.diyaccounts.com.au that gives advice on all aspects of accounting software from choosing, setting up and using it. Amongst other sites that I run are http://www.sense-now.com that helps newbies understand what internet business will probably work for them and what won't. http://www.oumas.com.au is all about arts, crafts, hobbies, wine and beer making and much more.

Business Management Managing Bureaucrats In Washington Dc

2009-02-26T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

About the most challenging organization to manage would be a bureaucracy in Washington, DC and it is amazing how many people attempt to do this only to fail miserably. It is truly amazing in fact how many people learn corporate business management and then come to Washington, DC to find out how screwed up that is and how unbelievable the blob of bureaucracy is and how deep it actually goes.

For those involved in corporate management and academia who attempt to teach MBA students how to run for profit organizations they need to realize that the bureaucracy in Washington, DC and the organizational format in which it operates is truly out of control.

It takes a lot of patience to manage the bureaucracy in Washington, DC and it is not the kind of ship that can be turned around on a dime either. Many people will blame the president of the United States or the presidential administration for the inefficiencies of the government in Washington, DC however this has been going along for decades prior to them coming into power.

It is not fair to blame the presidential administration for the inefficiencies of government and there is little or nothing and executive branch can do to turn around such a large ship in only four years. Not to mention the huge amount of self-interests that are involved in the government agencies. Managing the deadbeat bureaucrats in Washington, DC is no easy endeavor.

We should have academic management training for government bureaucracies, which work to streamline and make your government more efficient. Unfortunately academia can even keep corporations running smoothly and efficient so it is a wonder if they will ever be able to streamline our government or trained humans to run it efficiently.

I'm sorry if this article is too cynical for you; but since it is the truth it must stand and if you disagree with me you need to get a life and get real. The bureaucracy in Washington, DC is a friggin joke. Consider that in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Innovation Management Forced Into It

2009-02-25T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Kal Bishop

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.

There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fire route to commercial success, these processes improve the probability that good ideas will be generated and selected and that investment in developing and commercialising those ideas will not be wasted.

Whilst there is a lot of lip service given to innovation, the reality is that it often results from competitors making significant gains competitors who themselves have had to be innovative to challenge existing market leaders. Good examples are i) New Coke, forced into action when it lost market share to Pepsi and ii) IBM forced to change as a result of Microsoft.

An irony is that once innovative companies become less so when they have found their Golden Fleece. Finding a killer product forces a firm to concentrate on marketing and improving that product and results in a degree of parochialism and path dependency. Again, a good example is Microsoft after Windows 95, innovation has been less significant; growth has resulted less from innovation and more from buying up innovative companies.

These topics are covered in depth in the MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased (along with a Creativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea Generator Software and Power Point Presentation) from http://www.managing-creativity.com.

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

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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. 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 on http://www.managing-creativity.com.

Managing People For Performance

2009-02-24T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Graham Yemm

"People improve productivity, not organisations."

Managers who have had any form of training will be familiar with the idea of setting goals or objectives, and probably with the principles of appraising performance. With this in mind, why is it so many managers keep asking about how to motivate their staff or how to get more from them?

This whole area is a key differentiator of good managers and is a large part of what managers are being paid for! In this article I want to offer some ideas to help you become better at getting the performance you want from your teams. I will suggest some of the reasons why you, and other managers, perhaps do not do it very well and what the benefits will be when you begin to apply the principles.

Let us begin by stating the obvious in order to manage people for performance you need to clearly establish what good performance is for each person and role. Too many managers think that this means just setting the goals. Not so, as you cannot manage those. Defining good performance can include what the outputs and results are and how they are being achieved. That is the part you can manage. Recognise that managing for performance is an ongoing process and not an occasional intervention or snapshot.

Why it is not done well.

People do not understand what is needed to manage performance!

Managers assume people will work towards their objectives.

Too many managers think that money is all that motivates people to do what they need to.

Managers are too busy spending their time on the wrong priorities to manage for performance.

Organisations think that because they have an annual appraisal process that they are managing performance.

If you rely on an annual appraisal (or review) as a mechanism for setting objectives and reviewing how people have performed, what problems does this encourage? Are the objectives meaningful? Do they stay in the forefront of peoples' minds? Do they stay relevant throughout the year? How are they monitored throughout the year? When you come to reviewing them, how valuable is the conversation?

What to do.

Firstly, everyone should have clearly defined standards of performance and/or key performance indicators (kpi's). These are same for all those doing similar roles and provide a baseline for performance. There are two types of these the quantitative and the qualitative. The former are more straightforward to do as they will involve numbers, eg. number of calls handled per day, time to respond to queries etc. The latter are more challenging because they require some thought in order to clearly define the standard in a behavioural way which removes most of the subjectivity. This can refer to quality of work, appearance of someone's workplace, answering the phone or following corporate standards etc. When people are working to these kpi's they should be in a position to deliver the performance you want.

Although these kpi's need to be clearly outlined and understood by all involved, the key to managing for performance is to follow the Pareto principle and identify which 20% are the ones which contribute to 80% of the outcomes. These are the things you need to manage. You want to be able to monitor them, to revisit them and raise the standard in order to get even higher performance.

The other thing people need to have a clear goals or objectives. These should be clearly stated, maybe following the SMART principle. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bounded.) The measure can be either numeric or behavioural, which means clear definitions. Goals help in many ways, especially as they link to many of the models of motivation and the fact that a sense of achievement is a powerful buzz for most of us.

When setting goals for people in the workplace, especially if you want to manage performance, think about the timescales you aim for. Giving people 3 or 5 goals at an appraisal with a long timescale will not necessarily provide much drive or motivation. To make them meaningful consider setting several goals with different time deadlines, mainly short and medium term. When they are completed set more and the process becomes more dynamic. It also enables you to reflect any changes in the business and ensure the relevance of the goals.

How to do it.

Make sure you think of this as a key priority so give it time! Make sure that the kpi's are clearly stated, written down and everyone has a copy.

When you set the goals with your team members and they have agreed, get them to develop an action plan for how they will achieve each one. Have them do it, and give you a copy within 48 hours of setting the goals. A simple way of doing this can be to use a simple diagram such as a stairway - and we can happily send you a sample.

Ask them to identify the key steps to take in order to move from "now" to the goal. Between you, agree the timescales for the key stages and also discuss any help required and possible problems. Once this is all agreed and finalised, you will have a copy and the team member has theirs. Now is the first key action for you put those dates in your diary to make sure that you will sit with the team member and review their progress. This is an "A" priority activity and should not be moved!!

As your team members work through their action plans and you have your regular reviews, you will be monitoring their progress in a timely and effective manner. These reviews are almost mini-appraisals and by carrying them out at the agreed times you will make life easier for all concerned when you have the annual appraisal, because it will be a consolidation of these meetings.

During these reviews ask for what needs to be improved, what has gone well and what is going to happen next. Talk about the kpi's which are relevant to their plan and make sure they are meeting these. This monitors and manages for performance. Provide feedback (on performance or behaviour, not personality) whether you have to criticise or reprimand or you can praise. By having these regular reviews, you can avoid the management fault of not telling people how they are doing!!

When the goal is achieved, carry on and set the next goal, get the action plans and continue as before. Not only are you managing performance, you are helping your team to feel more involved, more successful and more motivated. Remember, people just want to know what is expected of them, be given the support to do it and then told how they are doing. What it requires from you is to make time to have the regular meetings with your team, after all they are the ones who provide the performance you need. Give them your time and they will give you the performance.

Graham Yemm is a consultant with 20 years of experience. He runs a Solutions 4 Training Ltd, a UK based consultancy and works internationally. He has worked with many organisations helping them to develop their processes and their managers to improve performance. He can be contacted at Solutions 4 Training or +44 1483 480656.

Performance Reviews That Actually Improve Performance

2009-02-23T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Jan B. King

Employee performance reviews are one of the most dreaded tasks by most managers. It is hard to win here you can never say enough good things, and one word of criticism is generally the only thing they will remember.

Taking the easy way out and just documenting the positive will cause you a lot of trouble if you ever need to fire the employee.

The only way this ever gets better is with a lot of practice, and a pretty thick skin. Think about it this way: a bit of feedback that no one else has the guts to give a poor performer might turn around their whole career. Deliver the negative you have to but make sure the employee knows there are things they can do about it. For more effective performance reviews, prepare at the time of hire by giving all employees copies of the review forms you use in their orientation packet. An employee who knows how she will be reviewed will direct his behavior accordingly from the beginning of his employment and will probably do all she can to be sure he has good reviews.

In fact, an employee should have copies of all survey and review material that he will encounter over the course of his employment. The perception is what you measure is what you care about. Give a description of how often you use each evaluation tool and how. This is particularly important if your company does 360 degree performance reviews. The purpose of reviews is not to trap employees, but to give them the tools to do their best for the company. Accordingly, your review forms should be created very carefully and should cover actions specific to his skills and responsibilities as well as his people skills with peers and subordinates.

I always do reviews in two parts. The first part is for the employee to fill out two weeks ahead of the actual review meeting. It asks questions like these:

What could I do to make your work more productive?
What equipment or training do you need to do your best work that you don't have?
What could the company change (or add or delete) that would help you do your work better?
What skills and abilities do you have that you think are underutilized?
Any other comments or opinions you would like to express?

I have always found that getting an employee to express their feelings first, not only lets them know that you really are interested in their feedback, it also often results in their letting you know what they think their weaknesses are meaning you don't have to be the first to bring these things up.

Most employees really want to do good work. And if you think an employee isn't really there to do good work, you shouldn't be reviewing them, you should be letting them go.

About The Author

Jan B. King is the former President & CEO of Merritt Publishing, a top 50 woman-owned and run business in Los Angeles and the author of Business Plans to Game Plans: A Practical System for Turning Strategies into Action (John Wiley & Sons, 2004). She has helped hundreds of businesses with her book and her ebooks, The Do-It-Yourself Business Plan Workbook, and The Do-It-Yourself Game Plan Workbook. See www.janbking.com for more information.

jan@janbking.com

Pull An Elastic Band Too Far It Snaps

2009-02-22T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Carole Spiers

Building a resilient workforce to manage pressure effectively

'Resilience' is the new buzzword for the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or other 'stressors'. It's how we 'bounce back' from difficult situations. And fortunately resilience isn't a characteristic that we either do or don't have. It involves behaviours, thoughts and actions that can be learned and developed.

Studies have shown that the most important factors in building resilience include:

having caring and supportive relationships

the ability to make realistic plans and take steps to carry them out

possessing a positive self-view

confidence in your strengths and abilities

good communication skills

being able to manage strong feelings and impulses

strong problem-solving abilities

So if these are the qualities we need to increase our resilience as individuals, what lessons can we learn in terms of the characteristics and culture required to build a 'resilient' organisation?

Building resilience by reducing stress

Because our working lives are becoming increasingly stressful, in November 2004 the Health and Safety Executive announced its new Management Standards for work-related stress, which are designed to help ensure that organisations address key aspects of workplace stress (or 'risk factors') including demands, control, support, relationships, role and change. For each risk factor, the Management Standards include a description of what should be happening in an organisation (or 'states to be achieved') in order for the standard to be met. 'Demands', for example, includes issues like workload, work patterns and the work environment. States to be achieved are that:

The organisation provides employees with adequate and achievable demands in relation to the agreed hours of work

People's skills and abilities are matched to the job demands

Jobs are designed to be within the capabilities of employees

Employees' concerns about their work environment are addressed

The guidance centres around carrying out a risk assessment for stress (this is also a legal requirement), the results of which should highlight problem areas that need to be addressed in order to reduce (or ideally remove the causes of) stress.

But while the Management Standards provide a foundation for stress reduction, there are many other actions that organisations should also consider in order to increase its resilience, some of the most important of which include the following:

Commitment to stress management

A Stress Policy should be implemented in conjunction with staff liaison groups, and commitment should begin at the most senior level and be cascaded downwards. There's little point in introducing stress management training for line managers, for example, if senior managers have little or no commitment to minimising or eliminating excessive pressure within the organisation.

Recruitment and selection

When recruiting it's important that both the organisation and applicant understand the requirements of the post and potential pressures involved. One conclusion of a landmark Court of Appeal case in February 2002 was that 'there are no occupations that should be regarded as intrinsically dangerous to mental health'. It's therefore essential to combine an appropriate selection policy with sufficient job-specific and practical training - to enable individuals to carry out their jobs within their capabilities and with the minimum of stress.

Management style

Effective communication is often neglected in management training, yet it's essential to good management by reducing misunderstanding and the opportunity for discontent.

Effective communication includes active listening skills - engaging with the person you're listening to and responding appropriately. Good communication at all levels will help ensure that everyone in the organisation can work with confidence reducing the opportunities for stress to develop.

Work-related training

Many organisations face sudden changes in work demands, and employees need the necessary training and experience to meet the ever-increasing demands made on them. Examples include training in resilience, time management, communication skills, etc. Training in communication (and particularly active listening) skills is essential to help ensure that managers are aware of their team members' problems and in a position to offer early interventions to resolve these.

Stress awareness and stress management training

For stress management to become integral to corporate culture, initiatives must be introduced that will raise awareness of work-related stress. In particular, recognising the early warning signs and symptoms should become integral to management strategy. This can be achieved by monitoring sickness absence (especially short-term), carrying out confidential staff surveys, observing working relationships (especially team dynamics), and questioning changes in attitude and behaviour.

Stress management training can then build on this by teaching employees about the nature and sources of stress, its effects on health, and the personal skills needed to reduce it. Training may also help reduce stress symptoms such as anxiety and sleep disturbances, and has the added advantage of being relatively inexpensive.

Employees also need to know how to raise concerns about work pressure (informally and formally) for example by speaking to their supervisor or manager, through an existing grievance procedure, or under a dedicated stress policy. The key is that employees should find it as easy and unthreatening as possible to speak up about stress at work, and should be able to do so without fear of recrimination or any other negative outcomes.

Mediation and negotiation

In mediation, the parties in a dispute express their views on a contentious matter, establish common ground, and move towards a solution that's acceptable to all. In negotiation, the aim is to reach agreement on a course of action that satisfies at least some of the claims of both sides. Access to mediation and negotiation are therefore vital in enabling workplace disputes to be resolved before they escalate into stress-inducing or bullying behaviours which can be much more difficult to resolve.

Rehabilitation back to work

Where employees have been forced to take time away from work as a result of stress, their rehabilitation back to work needs to be carefully managed. For those employees who require specialist support, Employee Assistance Programmes and counselling services are a vital component in employee well being.

Employee counselling

In February 2002, the Court of Appeal ruled, inter alia, that 'any employer who offered a confidential counselling service was unlikely to be found in breach of duty of care, by the courts'. Counselling should therefore be regarded as an intervention to be included alongside other supportive services available to employees.

First contact counselling teams

These teams are made up of volunteers (from the organisation) who are trained in basic counselling skills, and receive ongoing training and supervision. They're often used as a 'first contact' for employees, for whom they can provide an active listening service and help to deal with work-related problems such as stress, bullying, change and mediation.

Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs)

An EAP offers employees access to a confidential counselling and information service, and to be effective must have the backing of senior management. However, although it can play an important role in helping to deal with stress-related problems, it should not detract from the importance of line managers actively listening to their staff. Nor must an application to the EAP be misinterpreted by managers as suggesting a lack of confidence in their own ability to deal with stress-related issues.

What shouldn't you do?

Depending on the nature of your organisation, concierge services, or complementary therapies such as reflexology, yoga, massage etc, may also be of benefit. Typically, however, they should be incorporated within an holistic approach to reducing work-related stress and increasing resilience rather than being expected to resolve underlying problems on their own.

If an organisation introduces these types of 'stress-busting' initiatives without a solid foundation of stress management training and employee counselling support, they risk adding to problems of work-related stress - through frustration, disillusion, and a belief amongst employees that the true causes of stress aren't being taken seriously, and the organisation is simply paying lip service to the problem.

Ultimately, reducing workplace stress and building resilience is largely a matter of common sense and good management practice, and simply requires employers and employees to work together for the common good. Both share a joint responsibility for reducing stress which, when this is successful, can help employees to enjoy their work more, and businesses to thrive as a result.

For this to become a reality, organisations need to work towards the creation of a 'healthy', resilient work culture one where there is an intelligent two-way dialogue between managers and employees; where concerns can be raised in the confidence that actions will be taken; and where everyone in the organisation recognises stress as an unnecessary and unacceptable drain on creativity and resources. Or to put it another way, a culture where healthy ways of working have become so ingrained that the need for the Management Standards will no longer exist.

Carole Spiers Group

International Stress Management & Employee Wellbeing Consultancy

Gordon House, 83-85 Gordon Ave, Stanmore, Middlesex. HA7 3QR. UK

Tel: +44(0) 20 8954 1593 Fax: +44(0) 20 8907 9290

Email: info@carolespiersgroup.com www.carolespiersgroup.com

If you would like to book Carole as a keynote speaker or conference chair at your next conference - check out www.carolespiersgroup.com/mediaenquirysheet.php

About The Author
Carole Spiers MIHE MISMA Carole Spiers combines three roles of Broadcaster, Journalist and Corporate Manager in the challenging field of stress management and employee wellbeing. Over the past 20 years, she has built up her corporate stress consultancy Carole Spiers Group (CSG), with prestige clients such as Sainsbury's, Rolls Royce and the Bank of England. Carole is frequently called upon by the national and international media and provides keynote presentations on stress-related issues. Carole was instrumental in establishing National Stress Awareness Day.

Microeconomics Perfect Competition

2009-02-21T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Aaron Schwartz

Perfect competition is a microeconomic model, to the most common traits of which belong the following: - a large amount of small producers (sellers) of a homogenous product; - a large amount of consumers; - both consumers and producers can not influence the price on their own; - mobility of all resources; - operational costs are zero; - equilibrium price (determined by the intersection of supply and demand curves); - lack of barriers to enter or exit from the market.

Under conditions of perfect competition the price is equal to marginal revenue and, in its turn, marginal revenue is equal to marginal costs. When a company loses money, then it is time to decide whether to continue operating on the market or to shut down. In order to make a right decision it is necessary to analyze total revenue and total costs (fixed and variable). As far as the fixed costs are equal whether the company operates or shut down, variable costs are equal to variable. So if the price per product unit is less than the costs per product unit it means that total revenue (quantity of product multiplied by price) is less than total costs (fixed plus variable) and the company should shut down. Of course, if total revenue is larger than total costs the company should continue operating. When total costs are equal to total revenue it is called the shut down price and it does not matter for company whether to shut down or operate further.

In the long-run companies receive zero economic profit and thus other companies are not interested in entering the market (it means that market participants completely satisfy the demand). But if the demand suddenly increases the prices would increase too and thus new participants would enter the market until the price won't become equilibrium. In practice, perfect competition does not exist as others. This model is abstracts and describes the market in general terms. As the most common example there is used local agriculture sector: there are many producers and consumers, the price is close to equilibrium, there are not enter or exit barriers; but operating costs can not be zero because it takes time, efforts and some costs to sell the product; resources are not absolutely mobile.

I would like to introduce my own example and explain why do I think it is quite suitable one: e-trading. Trading through the Internet is very popular now there are many sellers and consumers, there is no any serious obstacles or barriers to enter or leave the market, if to take more precise example books e-trading than the product becomes quite homogenous, the price level is quite close to equilibrium and producers can not seriously influence it nor can customers, resources are quite mobile (especially information there are plenty of resources in the Internet), transaction cost are quite low (but not zero of course).

If the average price of the product, book in our case, is larger than average variable cost, costs on selling and delivering book in our case, then the company receives profit and it can be said that it operates successfully (in the long run there will occur incentives to enter the market); inside out some companies, most probably, would leave the market and may be try to sell something else.

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Finally, I would like to conclude that perfect competition is quite abstract microeconomic model, which describes market under the certain conditions (which can not be absolutely met in practice, but can be met close enough). But this model gives good economic basis for firms to think in advance about their operational activities or business decisions.

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Ten Top Ways For Managers To Motivate Their People

2009-02-20T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Martin Haworth

So to help start the ball rolling, here are ten top ways to get your people motivated. Ten small steps for you to start with.

Recognise them
Recognise your people as people, by saying 'Good Morning', checking that they're OK and taking a little time with them.
Challenge them
People need stimulation at work, so to encourage growth, build on their achievement of one skill, with the introduction of another. Instruct, coach and then delegate the new task.
Encourage fun
Whilst it is a fine line between having fun and anarchy, it is worthwhile spending the time to understand, define and explore that boundary. Having fun is a great way to build team spirit. Checkout where everyone's 'fun' threshold is, respect it and then have a lot of laughs.
Listen - a LOT!
Listening to your people builds rapport and a bond which in itself is powerfully motivational.
Encourage mistakes
By stretching themselves, people sometimes get it wrong - and sometimes make gloriously powerful 'inventions' to move your business forward. By creating an environment where mistakes are not wrong but encouraged, you will find creativity soars. Even mistakes where things go wrong and cost money should not be wasted. Create value from these by really learning for the future...as Henry Ford once said "Bring me people who make mistakes" Make it a safe place!
Say Thank You
It is surprising how much reward we all get from being recognised. The humble (if rare in some organisations), "Thank You" is a simple, yet very powerful way to recognise the efforts every one of your team puts in every day. Think of the last time someone said thank you to you and how great that made you feel.
Be Understanding
This tip needs careful and skilful management and great managers can do it. Understand that your people are real people with emotions and experiences which impact on them. Being sympathetic to their needs, occasionally and not so often that it impacts your business, will bring great rewards and commitment. Do set ground rules for yourself which allow 'understanding', yet enable you to draw the line clearly and firmly when you need to. Be consistent and fair.
Get Out of Their Way
By allowing your people to carry out 'the boss's work', you strongly build self-belief in your people. Be fair and don't just delegate the 'rubbish' jobs, but some of your fun jobs as well (and remember to choose individuals whose strengths match the task).
Share How You are Feeling
By being a partner with your people and showing that you are a real person too, you will encourage others to take big steps with you. This works because understanding that you share hopes, fears and challenges in common with your people makes them feel a committed part of you, as well as your business - this is a powerful message which they share
Reward
Last but not least, pay appropriately. Whilst if you pay brilliantly, yet miss out 1-9 you may get short-term gain, it is unlikely to maintain motivation for more than a while. Conversely, if you pay badly, you may lose people because they simply can't afford to stay with you, however great it is. Striking a balance is the ideal. Don't forget to recognise with some fun rewards and as in No. 6, say thank you a lot. It will pay dividends and is free!

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/motivation.html (Note to editors. This article may be edited for use in your publication or newsletter as long as a live link to the website is included)

...helping you, to help your people, to help your business grow...

The Impact Of Multinational Enterprises

2009-02-19T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Jonathon Hardcastle

To survive, a company must satisfy different groups, refereed as stakeholders. These include stockholders, employees, customers, and society at large. In the short term, the aims of these groups conflict. Stockholders want additional sales and increased productivity, which will result in higher profits and a higher return on investment. Employees want additional compensation. Customers want lower prices. Society at large would like to see increased corporate taxes or corporate involvement in social functions. In the long term, all of these aims must be achieved adequately or none will be attained at all because each stakeholder group is powerful enough to cause the company's demise.

Although the management teams of multinational enterprises (MNEs) must be aware of these various interests, they serve them unevenly at any given period. At one time, most gains may go to consumers; at another, to stockholders. Making necessary trade-offs is always necessary at a corporation's domestic environment. However abroad, where corporate managers are relatively unfamiliar with customs and power groups such as trade unions, the problem is choosing the best alternative can be compounded; this is particularly true if dominant interests differ among countries.

The effects of MNEs on growth and employment are not a necessarily a zero-sum game among countries. Classical economists assumed production factors were at full employment; consequently, a moment of any of these factors existing abroad would result in an increase in output abroad and a decrease to that at home. Even if this assumption was true, the gains in the host country might be greater or less than the losses in the home country. Thus, the argument that both the home and host country may gain from Foreign Direct Investment rests partly on the assumption that resources are not necessarily fully employed and partly on the industry specific and complementary nature of capital and technology.

The relationship between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and societies has generated so many allegations and controversies that it is impossible to examine all of them at once. A number of them deal not so much with whether international business should take place, but most of them rather focus on certain practices. But in theory, host countries may take completely restrictive or laissez-faire positions toward MNEs. In actuality, their policies fluctuate over time but are seldom completely restrictive or completely laissez-faire. Currently, countries such as Bhutan and Cuba are close to the restrictive end, and countries such as the United States and the Netherlands are near the laissez-faire end of the continuum. However, countries between these extremes have policies with varying degrees of restrictions as they attempt to attract investment and receive the most benefit from them.

Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles on many topics including Investing, Finance, and Business

Finding The Gold In A Pile Of Business Cards

2009-02-18T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Casey Dawes

Do you have piles of business cards from other people? Maybe they are neatly arranged in a Rolodex, cardboard box or business card case or in small piles around your office, in your briefcase or in the pocket of the suit you wore to the last event. Hint: they aren't doing you any good there. But how do you take advantage of the gold that's in those piles?

The key is to develop a system that makes sense to you and that you can mine for information when you need it. So dedicate an hour or so and collect all your cards from various sources. As you go through them, put them into piles. I'm suggesting some categories below, but you may also come up with some of your own.

I-Don't-Know-Why-I-Have-This-Card Pile: When you look at a card and you have no idea why you have it and you can't remember the face behind the card, it's time to dump it in the recycle bin. If it is someone you are meant to work with, they will come back into your life.

Referral Pile: These are people you have purchased goods or services from that you might recommend to other people or use again. By referring others, you build good will both with the person you referred and the person whom you referred. At some later date you might sub-categorize them into types of service, or just keep them in alphabetical order. It's important that it works for you.

Current Customer Pile: These are active customers who are using your goods and services. They are part of your gold in these piles. You want to keep these cards front and center in your mind, reaching out to these people on a regular basis.

Past Customer Pile: This is another part of the gold in your business cards. They used your services once; why didn't they come back? It might be a good question to ask. These past customers are also potential future customers. This stack should also be available to you on a frequent basis.

Prospects: Be careful that you don't confuse prospects and contacts. A prospect is someone with whom you've had more than one brief discussion. You've had several conversations and feel that they could definitely benefit from your services. This pile is also part of your gold -- people to keep checking in with regarding how they are doing.

Contacts: Everyone else is a contact. To keep your pipeline full, it's good to keep moving these folks from the contact pile to one of the other piles. Pick a few to check in with each week, sign them up for your newsletter or your blog feed. Remind them periodically that you are around and begin to develop a relationship with them.

So there you have it! A quick few hours work and you have turned business cards into gold. Rumpelstiltskin would be proud!

Casey Dawes is a coach, author and speaker who helps smart women reclaim their power over their lives and businesses. Learn more about Casey by visiting her web site: http://www.WiseWomanShining.com.

Executive Esp A Pathway To Success

2009-02-17T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Jeremiah P. Huck

We all have psychic abilities that we use daily, although most of us don't even realize that. The full study of this issue would take many books, and years of experience to grasp all the factors. Since we can't do that here, we can still focus on applying these skills to making informed business decisions. Those of us making constant business choices, effecting staff, ethics , health, and the botton line ,need all the data we can get our hands on. So these tidbits are designed to help you use your natural abitities, and to improve your business situation!

First of all, there are many, many management styles. It is in your best interest to honestly evaluate your personality and your personal approach to making choices and running your business. This gives you a baseline to start from when adding ESP into your operating formula.The ancient Greeks said " Know Thyself".

Some of us are very mental in perspective, some emotional, and others more physical. These basic personality factors often don't change much during our lifetime. We tend to keep processing life from the same angle. When we pick up psychic data from outside this base personality, we tend to ignore it. It's not comming from our comfort zone.

In the business world, what we ignore can create lost potentials or major problems. What we tune out doesn't really go away, it just stays out of our awareness. So our business is effected but we never get to know it, it stays in our blind spots.

When working in a group situation this blindness is compensated by others around us, often with different main personality types. They can pick up what we miss. This works fairly well, but......

Frankly, at the executive level you often must make choices by yourself. This leaves you open to your limitations. Sure you can get data, but still the final choice is usually yours. Remember that both your strong and weak functions tend to stay that way for life. So you will tend to always focus on some things while ignoring others.

Opening your natural ESP abilities can present a personal challange. As you pick up data from your comfort zone, well...no problem. But when you get psychic information from your weaker traits, again you will want to tune it out......you will tend to feel it as a stress.

So, if you want to include data from a broad range of psychic information..even beyond your comfort zone, there are many techniques you can use......

Realize that stress can be a sign that you are aware of something that you would rather ignore.Then use stress busters to help you handle that. Try to meditate each day, in a quiet place... and see what happens. If stress kicks up try to breathe through it, so you can stay focused on what you are processing.

It takes great courage to trust your whole self, and all your awareness. Don't push yourself beyond your limits, but try to broaden your scope, little by little.

The real test is to see if you are willing to apply your ESP gained data into your daily business planning.

Jerry publishes an online magazine dealing with shamanism and holism as they apply to life and business. http://www.jeremiahhuck.workzsites.com

Proven Secrets To Keeping Your People And Increasing Your Profits

2009-02-16T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lorraine Pirihi

Why are people changing jobs so quickly these days?

Here are a few reasons why:

They have a boring job therefore they feel they are not achieving anything.
They have no leader to follow.
They feel unappreciated.
They work long hours and want a life.
They are not paid what they are worth.
The above reasons are not taken from any figures or facts stated in publications and general media. This is what the people themselves tell me. They are the words from the coal face, real peoplemanagers, personal assistants, administrative staff, sales people; regular run-of-the mill people.

It doesn't take much to retain valuable people and one of the easiest ways is to offer flexibility.

Where is the Family Friendly Workplace?

One of my clients - John - who is a manager in a large organisation - was telling me that his wife Mary, an accountant recently changed jobs, from working part-time in a suburban practice to full-time in the city. She did this as a career move as she couldn't find stimulating work part-time in suburbia. (I'm sure many women can relate to that).

Having two children - 7 and 4, she leaves for work when they're still asleep in the morning and arrives home around 6.30 p.m. at night.

Luckily her husband works locally and can handle the morning care and has his in-laws do the afternoon care. His wife is already feeling stressed, tired and guilty because she cannot be around for her kids.

How easy would it be for an employer to offer more flexibility say 3 days a week start at 10.00 a.m., 3 afternoons finish at 4.00 p.m. Mary wouldn't mind a cut in her pay packet - she just wants to balance her life.

At this rate, Mary will not remain too long with her current employer as she will find the long hours will take their toll. It's even harder for the single parents. Not to mention the long-term effect it has on the person and their kids. A grumpy, tired and stressed person doesn't make for a good productive employee or parent.

Think Laterally

Why isn't there more flexibility in the workplace? Just because people 'start' at 9.00 a.m. and 'finish' at 5.00 p.m. (I know some of you work longer hours), doesn't mean people actually 'work'.

In fact 80% of the day is generally non-productive. To find out exactly where your time goes, fill in a timesheet for one week (email us and we'll send you one of ours). Record what you have done for a full working week and you will be amazed where you spend your time. In most instances you will find your time is taken up by various interruptions, many of which can be avoided,non-productive meetings, and activities which generally are a waste of time.

If you're one of those people who have difficulty saying 'no' to people you will definitely have major issues managing your workload.

Working in a noisy open plan office will also decrease your productivity.

My Former Life

Many years ago I had a stint working as a postie, starting work at 6.00 a.m. each day. It was a great job. In fact it was the longest 'job' I had held - 3 years. I left when I was 6 months pregnant with my first child.

As a postie, the quicker you worked, the sooner you went home. As soon as the mail was sorted you would go out on your round, do the deliveries come back and go home. Now that was an incentive to work as quickly as possible.

In the '9 - 5' workplace you have to be present and yet there's no incentive to actually work as quickly or productively as you can.

Solutions For The Employee

If work is getting too much for you to handle and the hours are getting you down, speak to someone who'll listen, offer some realistic solutions. Do you need to learn how to get organised? Do you require assistance with the workload? Do you need to learn different skills for your role? There's no harm in asking. If they won't listen it's up to you to choose what action you will take whether to stay or go.

Solutions For The Employer

Ask your people how they really feel and work out a solution. Just because they haven't told you about their concerns doesn't mean that everything's fine. If you have people who consistently work long hours then you will definitely have a major problem.

You want your people to be 'on the ball', alive and energised so they are valuable to your organisation. If they do not achieve a reasonable balance between their work and home life then at some stage they will break down. They may take extra time off work due to the pressures they are constantly under or eventually leave.

The Final Word

Don't turn a blind eye. Get proactive with your people. Communicate regularly with them, find out how they are managing, listen to what they have to say and where required take action.

To retain your valuable employees you have to work at it, otherwise you run the risk of not only losing them but all that time and money you've invested in them.

About The Author

Lorraine Pirihi, principal of The Office Organiser is Australia's Personal Productivity Coach.

Lorraine specialises in working with businesspeople showing them how to dramatically boost their productivity, reduce the stress and the mess in their lives and have more time for enjoying their life. www.office-organiser.com.au, lorraine@office-organiser.com.au

What Is Crm Customer Relationship Management

2009-02-15T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Casey Gollan

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

It's hard to find a definitive definition of what CRM means. So I'll outline the broad meaning and then give some examples.

You may have heard of the terms CRM and Customer Relationship Management in regards to software. Well CRM is not just a piece of software. It's more than that.

The CRM Customer Relationship Management software is a vital component, yet the whole business needs to understand CRM Customer Relationship Management in all departments and functions of the business and behave appropriately to make CRM Customer Relationship Management work.

An effective CRM Customer Relationship Management will include methodologies, strategies, software, and web-based capabilities that help an enterprise organize and manage customer relationships.

Why use CRM Customer Relationship Management?

CRM Customer Relationship Management is used to help businesses (a.) understand their customer, and (b.) understand their customers' wants and needs and (c.) help the business serve them more efficiently and effectively

In turn this will help the business to improve customer satisfaction, increase staff productivity, slash operational costs and maximize the effectiveness of each customer interaction.

Let's talk about these three different areas.

CRM Customer Relationship Management to understand the customer

In a CRM Customer Relationship Management application and approach a user will collect as much information about a customer that they can. They'll collect names, addresses, contact numbers, age, sex, number of children etc. A CRM Customer Relationship Management process does this to, amongst other things; help 'classify' their customers.

A benefit of a CRM Customer Relationship Management system is that a user can help analyse which types of customers are best for their business.

Then once they know what customer 'types' are best they can then market to them in a 'personal' way using the information gained about them.

CRM Customer Relationship Management to understand the customers wants and needs

As information is collected about the customers' personal life, information is also collected about their buying habits and stored in CRM Customer Relationship Management software.

Humans are creatures of habit. By analysing the information collected about the customer and their buying habits the CRM Customer Relationship Management can be used to help the business identify what the customers would most likely want or need to buy.

For example, if your CRM Customer Relationship Management information lets you know that your best customers typically like buying 'red apples' in November for an average sale price of $15. You can prepare a marketing approach that is sent out to them prior to November that will steer them towards buying $30 worth of apples.

The customer sees it as useful because it's something they like to do at that time of year, and you're offering them a reminder and perhaps an incentive to buy more. The business benefits by structuring the offer to increase the sales value and therefore increasing the profit return.

CRM Customer Relationship Management is useful to also target new customers

Information gathered in the CRM Customer Relationship Management will help the business to target more of the preferred customers. An analysis using CRM Customer Relationship Management software could tell the business, for example, that single males between 30 to 35 years of age that earn between $50,000 and $60,000 are the best type of customer for the business.

Knowing that information from the CRM Customer Relationship Management, the business can then hire a list from a direct mail list broker of all the single men that fit the description and target their marketing towards them.

The CRM Customer Relationship Management activity of improving the relationship with the customer is to help keep the customer more loyal to the company and thus improve the profitability of the business.

CRM Customer Relationship Management to help efficiency and effectiveness of business

A good CRM Customer Relationship Management application will help the business to become more efficient and effective.

The business can become more efficient because if a customer contacts the business, within seconds the customer service representative can produce the customers file. This will tell the employee all about the customer and their interaction with the business.

So a CRM Customer Relationship Management saves time for the business and is able to help the employees deliver high levels of personalised service.

A CRM Customer Relationship Management software program and approach can help the business become more effective. An example would be marketing.

Knowing all the information about the customers, the marketing strategies can be targeted towards the customers in a personal way. Thus marketing to a defined target market with a past history the potential of improved results is far greater than marketing to a 'cold' list.

This article should only be viewed a very broad overview of what CRM Customer Relationship Management is.

On this website you'll find more detail and resources to help you understand and use CRM Customer Relationship Management for your business.

Casey A Gollan, The Business Growth Specialist for CRM Software Center - CRM Software Center- All the general information and resources for everything CRM - Customer Relationship Management. Visit http://www.crmsoftwarecenter.com for more articles and info on CRM.

Lean Leadership Troubled Waters Require Capable Leaders At The Helm

2009-02-14T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Larry Cote

Canada's lean leaders need to look beyond the horizon and chart the future. In stormy times, true leadership skills emerge.

The rumbles on our economic outlook are troubling. The dollar is still up, foreign investment, profits and sales are down. Low cost Asian competition is eroding our market share. Financial scandals and corporate governance issues keep flaring into the headlines. Disasters such as terrorism, possible pandemics, and war continually reshape the world in which we work and live. There are so many "big" global issues, so much apparent chaos, that our minds are often distracted from the day-to-day jobs we do leading our businesses.

The world as we know it has changed - both economically and socially. What hasn't changed however, is the customers' insatiable appetite for more value, faster delivery and better service.

Most business leaders are eager to return to their pre-recession profits and growth. But even when the economy is robust again, we may find the bounce back to previous profit levels is not a "slam dunk" in spite of a revived and thriving economy. During the past couple of years, while business executives have been making short-term decisions to survive, customers and markets have continued to change at a rate never seen before.

If we turn our worries and blame for new shortfalls to the currency fluctuations and Asian competition, it starts to sound like the same old "blame game" with different players. It's easy to fly high on adrenaline when you look at these global issues and threats. But, for a moment, let's step back and look at our business challenges from a lower altitude and a more local focus.

In doing this, we need to disregard the factors affecting our businesses that we can't influence and begin to look at those we can. The ones we have little or no influence over are things like the recession, currency fluctuations and major disasters. The area we can influence and affect is our own long and short-term strategies for transforming our companies, making them more competitive and customer focused. The bottom line is let's stick to our "knitting," do our jobs and focus more on our roles as organizational leaders.

In North America we've proven that we can provide products and services competitively through innovation, inspired product development and comprehensive efforts to eliminate waste. But it does require a prolonged and concentrated effort. Leaders aren't hired to cry wolf when chaos threatens. The terms of employment are to use our leadership talents and drive improvements that will be seen and sustained on the bottom line.

We need to readjust how we use these talents and not be distracted by global factors, which are out of our control for the most part. We must accept the role we were hired for and focus on the business operations where we can have a real impact.

We are leaders, so let's lead. Most activities, whatever the company, can be classified as waste of one kind or another once you start to see it. As leaders, it is our responsibility to set the direction and motivate our staff to understand how to remove this waste properly rather than making incremental or point improvements.

This requires seeing and analyzing the process from end to end, not just at points or segments of the process. That becomes your road map to success.

Beneficial change happens in a very structured, sequential and organized fashion. Your teams aren't caught running around chasing low hanging fruit while creating what we call "exciting chaos." When everyone rushes reactively to improve their individual areas they feel virtuous, after all they are helping the company, aren't they? In fact, they are only improving their areas or departments, often at the detriment of the entire process. It's your leadership and your measured future state plan that will bring order to chaos. Reactive flurry kills profits faster than any big external threat!

Striving to improve our own competitiveness by providing customers faster and better products or services will accomplish more than worrying about the next global crisis looming just around the corner. The only futures game we need to be in is the one that cuts waste so the customer sees more value.

Science tells us that nature likes order - it's human agents that generate the chaos. There are things that we can control - so let's get busy and do it!

Larry Coté is well known for his penetrating analysis and creative energy. He was with the Lean Enterprise Institute in Boston for almost two years as C.O.O./E.V.P. He was the Founder and President of the Lean Enterprise Institute Canada.

Over the years, Larry has worked with 100's of companies at various stages of their Lean journey in many different business sectors. Larry has expertise in Toyota Production System concepts, diagnostics and assessment of Lean readiness. He works with the corporate leaders to develop effective plans for transforming organizations using Lean and adapting it to their particular culture.

Larry Cote
President
Lean Advisors Inc.

Lean Advisors Inc. (LEAD) provides Lean Training And Lean Implementation support to organizations of all sizes and sectors including healthcare, office, service, manufacturing, mining, aerospace, food processing, high tech.

How Invisible Communication Barriers Kill Productivity

2009-02-13T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Azriel Winnett

Many kinds of interferences or disturbances can confuse a message. Communication specialists call them ''noise.'' A noise is anything that competes against communication.

Obviously, if we want our communication to be effective, we have to be continually on our guard to detect such noise, whatever the source. When we find it, we must drown it out. Or better still, eliminate it altogether.

Of course, before we can overcome such barriers, from wherever they come, we must be able to recognize them. When they take the form of literal noise, they're usually easy enough to distinguish.

But what we don't appreciate enough is the plethora of forms of metaphorical noise. In the workplace, for example, we often find conflicting thoughts competing for attention.

Most business executives (and their secretaries!) are familiar with this type of scenario: the boss may call for a certain file from the filing cabinet, and be quite amazed that this simple request turns out to be so problematic.

He or she doesn't know this instruction has triggered an unexpected stimulus: ''File? Yes, I must remember to stop by the store on the way home to pick up a nail file...''

Then again, many executives fail to realize the extent to which distrust can distort messages. A manager who routinely insists that every printing order is urgent, is not too likely to find receptive ears when time really is of the essence.

Let's take a look at an incident in the working lives of two very special imaginary characters - Mr Thompson, Chief Operating Officer of a flourishing corporation, and his work supervisor, Mr Brown..

This is a day for which Mr Brown has been waiting in very keen anticipation. Why?

Our Mr Brown has been rather unhappy of late.

The economic downturn hasn't touched our company yet. Business, in fact, is booming. Mr Brown has no complaints about that, for he's a devoted worker, to say the least, and he's gratified to be a key player in his firm's success. He has never been one to panic at the prospect of hard work.

Then what's the problem? Simply this: relative to the time and energy he has invested in his job, Mr Brown is underpaid. Period.

But a few weeks ago, he took the bull by the horns.

Knocking on Mr Thompson's door, he explained that, in the long run, a hefty raise would be in the company's interest as much as his own. In return, moreover, he would be very happy to take on extra responsibilities.

Our COO seemed more than sympathetic. The vice president in charge of the budget was out of the country at that moment, but Mr Thompson promised to raise the matter immediately on the VP's return. In all probability, his consent would be a mere formality.

Today is the day that has been set down for the verdict to be delivered.

The butterflies in our supervisor's stomach give way to cautious optimism as he enters his superior's office. He has faith in the justice of his cause, and isn't Mr Thompson on his side?

''Ah, Mr Brown, good to see you!''

Mr Thompson's warm smile suddenly freezes in mid-air. His face seems to change color - or perhaps we're just imagining it?

''Ahem...Yes...'' He pauses for the proverbial two seconds that seem like an eternity. What's the matter? Has Mr Thompson, who never forgets anything, only just remembered something important?

''Look, I'm sorry, I didn't have a chance to discuss that matter with Mr Hodgkinson yet, but I have some important information in connection with our machinery problems. Can you make a note of a few things?''

But Mr Brown, the epitome of conscientiousness, is as human as the next person. He's hardly in a state for mental notes.

The kind of emotional blackout the work supervisor is now experiencing is an obstacle to effective communication as real as it's intangible.

It's no less of a barrier than the noise of a pneumatic drill punctuating the conversation of two people in the street.

Azriel Winnett is the creator of HODU.COM - YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS PORTAL. This popular website helps you to improve your communication and relationship skills in business and professional life, in the family unit and on the social scene. New material added almost daily.

The High Cost Of Employee Turnover Among Project Managers

2009-02-12T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Craig Ruvere

Imagine for a moment this scenario from a frustrated Senior Manager of a large pharmaceutical organization: "Our organization has experienced a large turnover among project managers in the past year. This creates problems providing ongoing quality and service to our stakeholders. We just don't know what is causing the problem!" Sound familiar? Well you're not alone. I remember that filmmaker Woody Allen once said that "80% of success is showing up." However, the greater challenge is finding ways to keep people there.

Employee turnover is simply a fact of life in the business world. The days when employees would stay and grow with a company for the duration of their working life are gone. Studies today reveal that individuals stay with their current employer a maximum of five years before moving on. While 0% turnover is simply unrealistic, increased turnover in your organization could indicate a serious problem in your working environment.

In a random poll of project managers conducted for this article, the following reasons were given for high turnover among project managers at organizations today:

Internal communication problems
Poor time management
Trouble scheduling and controlling staff
Lack of project manager authority and experience
Poor staff training
No project management tools/systems
Monetary compensation

Organizations are in a constant state of restructuring. The demand for experienced and dedicated project managers is on the rise, however it seems that less experienced personnel are attracted to the profession. So then why do some organizations experience increased turnover?

Generally speaking, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics recently found that 40% of those that quit their jobs were doing so because they simply felt a lack of appreciation, of teamwork, that the organization was perceived to not care about employees. Serious charges from 40% of the people.

As of February 2005, the average turnover rate in the United States was 3.1%. And while that number seems low, when you think about how many employed individuals there are in the United States alone that number can be staggering. And yet many organizations let turnover go undetected.

CEO's just accept it as part of doing business in today's competitive marketplace. But more cost conscious and successful organizations will see the negative cost factors that turnover inevitably will have on productivity, quality and service.

F. Leigh Branham believes there are Six Truths About Employee Turnover. They are as follows:

1. Turnover Happens
2. Some Turnover Can be Desirable
3. Turnover is Costly
4. More Money is NOT Always the Answer
5. Management Holds the Key to Keeping Talent
6. Reducing Turnover Starts with Commitment

All of the above information while general can also be applied to the profession of the project manager.

The Domino Effect

The loss of a project manager during any phase of the project can signal disaster. Many times while the methodologies for managing projects are set forth by the PMO (Project Management Office), individuals have their own unique system for completing tasks and organizing workloads. Therefore, the ramp up time associated with trying to decipher how an individual works can bring the project to a screeching halt. Project staff members find themselves asking the following questions after a project manager departs:

Where did they leave off?
Who were their contacts?
Were they organized?
Will there be ramp up time associated with understanding their job?
Were they on schedule or will you need to bring the project up to speed?
Is it more cost effective to divide the work or train someone new?
Have stakeholders been notified of any new developments?
Has the budget been adhered to?

In fact the departure of a project manager influences all of the following:

Scope What needs to get done
Time Ramp up increases
Cost Overtime and training
Quality Deadlines effect final outcome
Communication Promises made cannot always be kept
Procurement Poor choice of outside vendors

So how then can turnover be prevented among project managers? As we discussed in the beginning, 0% turnover is improbable. Limited turnover however can be viewed as desirable for organizations. For instance new employees are bound to bring new ideas and methods with them thus revitalizing what might have been a stale environment to work in.

But turnover in and of itself is not fully understood. Many organizations fail to realize the high costs associated with turnover at many levels. Turnover can become a financial burden to your organization with recruitment and selection costs, training for new employees, ramp-up time, increased work loads for existing employees, overtime, reduced productivity and that's just naming a few. In fact it costs a company approximately 1/3 of a new hire's salary to replace an employee. If more organizations took the time to view turnover as a financial hit rather than passing it off as part of day to day business life they might save their organizations ten's of thousands of dollars.

There are ways to not only reduce the amount of turnover at your organization but also to be prepared for it. In the random poll of project managers conducted for this article, the following suggestions were given as ways to reduce the amount of turnover among project managers:

Offer training opportunities to increase knowledge areas
Assess the changing workforce culture
Measure the companies turnover rate
Become more employee oriented
Hire the right people
Set up effective Change Management

While change in inevitable in an organization, you can be prepared. Issues arise in the normal course of project activities and timely resolutions are essential to maintaining project timelines and team momentum as well as keeping stakeholders happy. Change Management practices can help. A Change Management plan with immediate response that can be implemented quickly will have a greater chance for project success and thus have less overall impact on the project's progression. Change Management can help:

Reduce productivity loss
Encourage employees who might be resistant to change
Minimize impact on productivity and quality
Reduce the effect on stakeholders

Left unmanaged issues can derail or even cause an entire project to fail. Some questions to ask when developing a Change Management plan are:

Responsibility breakdown
Additional training required
How much ramp up time will there be?
Replacement of personnel internal?
Overtime required
Who can make a lateral move?

A Change Management plan for employee turnover translates into a rapid, cost effective solution so projects can be delivered on time, on budget and on scope without effecting stakeholders.

Measuring Turnover at Your Organization

Many organizations have little knowledge of the turnover rate at their organization. Moreover, they are unaware of the hidden costs that turnover can place on an organization once an employee leaves. Measuring turnover is done simply and should be done yearly with the following formula:

Turnover cost can also be measured and should be reviewed on a bi-yearly basis. The formula below will help you to calculate turnover cost:

Even with all of this new found data, the answers to why employee turnover may be a problem at your organization are still unclear. Moreover exit interviews will not give you the feedback you are looking for since the most common reason given for leaving an organization is always more money and a better job.

It is up to management to take the time to be critical and look inward. Understand that a problem exists. High turnover is a warning sign, a red flag that there are internal problems within your organization, some of which might be caused by senior management. While the turnover of a few employees can hardly be considered reason to be concerned, high turnover rates should make you question the working environment that your organization provides both emotionally, physically and financially. Ask yourself these questions:

· Are employees managed the way I would want to be managed?
· Are employees monetarily and emotionally compensated?
· Is the organization viewed as employee oriented?

It used to be that an employee was devoted and loyal to one company during the duration of their employment. Today however employees are looking out for themselves more focused on their quality of life and the needs of their family. That means that organizations today must motivate and inspire individuals to want to stay. Engaging and empowering employees is one of the great assets you have in the fight to reduce employee turnover. Data gathered by Development Dimensions International (DDI) shows that companies or businesses with highly engaged employees experience a lower turnover rate. How does your organization stack up?

· Listen to employees
· Treat employees with respect
· Praise a job well done
· Ask employees for their input
· Show trust with more responsibility
· Be fair and impartial
· Be firm but not tyrannical
· Apologize or admit when wrong
· Pleasant working condition
· Room for advancement

While there is no one answer to the issue of employee turnover there are many proven suggestions on how to limit the chances of it happening at your organization. We tend to forget that the people working for us are typically the ones getting the job done from start to finish. We rely on their knowledge, their skills and most of all their commitment to perform top quality work in a timely fashion. As an employer, take the time to show your appreciation to those that work so hard to make your business a success. Most importantly listen to their needs and find ways to show that you're committed to them. 80% of success is showing up; make the other 20% increasing the ways you make them stay.

Resources:

© SSI, Inc. 2005
Successful Strategies International, Inc. (SSI) is a training, leadership and mentoring organization, recognizing the need for quality training and services that are both time and cost effective. For information on how SSI can help your business create a Project Measurement System, give us a call at 877-390-3057 or visit us at www.ssi-learn.com.

Tom is the President and co-founder of Successful Strategies International, Inc. (SSI). For over ten years, SSI has been a successful training, leadership and mentoring organization that specializes in Project Management and Leadership Development.

Prior to forming SSI, Tom was involved with the startup of PCI Global Inc., a training organization where he remained for over 14 years. Tom brings to SSI over 25 years of professional experience in training and business management and development.

Education:
BS from Widener University in Chester, PA
MBA from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA

Experience:
As a corporate officer of SSI and previously at PCI Global Inc., Tom has worked with such Fortune 1000 companies as Johnson & Johnson Worldwide, Wyeth International, CitiCard, Marriott International, Sony, Standard Chartered Bank, Olympus, Cablevision, Pearson and many others to help resolve their project management and leadership needs, thus improving quality and performance. As an instructor, Tom has facilitated courses on such topics as Project Management, Supervisory

Do Boards Need A Technology Audit Committee

2009-02-11T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Michael Siersema

What does FedEx, Pfizer, Wachovia, 3Com, Mellon Financial, Shurgard Storage, Sempra Energy and Proctor & Gamble have in common? What board committee exists for only 10% of publicly traded companies but generates 6.5% greater returns for those companies? What is the single largest budget item after salaries and manufacturing equipment?

Technology decisions will outlive the tenure of the management team making those decisions. While the current fast pace of technological change means that corporate technology decisions are frequent and far-reaching, the consequences of the decisionsboth good and badwill stay with the firm for a long time. Usually technology decisions are made unilaterally within the Information Technology (IT) group, over which senior management chose to have no input or oversight. For the Board of a business to perform its duty to exercise business judgment over key decisions, the Board must have a mechanism for reviewing and guiding technology decisions.

A recent example where this sort of oversight would have helped was the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) mania of the mid-1990's. At the time, many companies were investing tens of millions of dollars (and sometimes hundreds of millions) on ERP systems from SAP and Oracle. Often these purchases were justified by executives in Finance, HR, or Operations strongly advocating their purchase as a way of keeping up with their competitors, who were also installing such systems. CIO's and line executives often did not give enough thought to the problem of how to make a successful transition to these very complex systems. Alignment of corporate resources and management of organizational change brought by these new systems was overlooked, often resulting in a crisis. Many billions of dollars were spent on systems that either should not have been bought at all or were bought before the client companies were prepared.

Certainly, no successful medium or large business can be run today without computers and the software that makes them useful. Technology also represents one of the single largest capital and operating line item for business expenditures, outside of labor and manufacturing equipment. For both of these reasons, Board-level oversight of technology is appropriate at some level.

Can the Board of Directors continue to leave these fundamental decisions solely to the current management team? Most large technology decisions are inherently risky (studies have shown less than half deliver on promises), while poor decisions take years to be repaired or replaced. Over half of the technology investments are not returning anticipated gains in business performance; Boards are consequently becoming involved in technology decisions. It is surprising that only ten percent of the publicly traded corporations have IT Audit Committees as part of their boards. However, those companies enjoy a clear competitive advantage in the form of a compounded annual return 6.5% greater than their competitors.

Tectonic shifts are under way in how technology is being supplied, which the Board needs to understand. IT industry consolidation seriously decreases strategic flexibility by undercutting management's ability to consider competitive options, and it creates potentially dangerous reliance on only a few key suppliers.

The core asset of flourishing and lasting business is the ability to respond or even anticipate the impact of outside forces. Technology has become a barrier to organizational agility for a number of reasons:
Core legacy systems have calcified
IT infrastructure has failed to keep pace with changes in the business
Inflexible IT architecture results in a high percentage of IT expenditure on maintenance of existing systems and not enough on new capabilities
Short term operational decisions infringe on business's long term capability to remain competitive

Traditional Boards lack the skills to ask the right questions to ensure that technology is considered in the context of regulatory requirements, risk and agility. This is because technology is a relatively new and fast-growing profession. CEOs have been around since the beginning of time, and financial counselors have been evolving over the past century. But technology is so new, and its cost to deploy changes dramatically, that the technology profession is still maturing. Technologists have worked on how the systems are designed and used to solve problems facing the business. Recently, they recognized a need to understand and be involved in the business strategy. The business leader and the financial leader neither have history nor experience utilizing technology and making key technology decisions. The Board needs to be involved with the executives making technology decisions, just as the technology leader needs Board support and guidance in making those decisions.

Recent regulatory mandates such as Sarbanes-Oxley have changed the relationship of the business leader and financial leader. They in turn are asking for similar assurances from the technology leader. The business leader and financial leader have professional advisors to guide their decisions, such as lawyers, accountants and investment bankers. The technologist has relied upon the vendor community or consultants who have their own perspective, and who might not always be able to provide recommendations in the best interests of the company. The IT Audit Committee of the Board can and should fill this gap.

What role should the IT Audit Committee play in the organization? The IT Audit function in the Board should contribute toward:
1. Bringing technology strategy into alignment with business strategy.
2. Ensuring that technology decisions are in the best interests of shareholders.
3. Fostering organizational development and alignment between business units.
4. Increasing the Board's overall understanding of technological issues and consequences within the company. This type of understanding cannot come from financial analysis alone.
5. Effective communication between the technologist and the Committee members.

The IT Audit Committee does not require additional board members. Existing board members can be assigned the responsibility, and use consultants to help them understand the issues sufficiently to provide guidance to the technology leader. A review of existing IT Audit Committee Charters shows the following common characteristics:
1. Review, evaluate and make recommendations on technology-based issues of importance to the business.
Appraise and critically review the financial, tactical and strategic benefits of proposed major technology related projects and technology architecture alternatives.
Oversee and critically review the progress of major technology related projects and technology architecture decisions.
2. Advise the senior technology management team at the firm
3. Monitor the quality and effectiveness of technology systems and processes that relate to or affect the firm's internal control systems.

Fundamentally, the Board's role in IT Governance is to ensure alignment between IT initiatives and business objectives, monitor actions taken by the technology steering committee, and validate that technology processes and practices are delivering value to the business. Strategic alignment between IT and the business is fundamental to building a technology architectural foundation that creates agile organizations. Boards should be aware of technological risk exposures, management's assessment of those risks, and mitigation strategies considered and adopted.

There are no new principles hereonly affirmation of existing governance charters. The execution of technology decisions falls upon the management of the organization. The oversight of management is the responsibility of the Board. The Board needs to take appropriate ownership and become proactive in governance of the technology.

Do Boards need a Technology Audit committee? Yes, a Technology Audit Committee within the Board is warranted because it will lead to technology/business alignment. It is more than simply the right thing to do; it is a best practice with real bottom-line benefits.

MICHAEL SIERSEMA is a Managing Partner/CEO of Phoenix2000 Group LLC focusing on technology advisory services.

Phoenix2000 Group is a new breed professional services partnership of senior technologists that fit a niche at the senior executive support systems. Like the CEO looks to lawyers for advice, the CFO leans on CPA and audit firm for counsel, the technologist needs an organization to find true independent guidance. We don't sell solutions, we sell answers. http://www.phoenix2000group.com

Problems With Group Decision Making

2009-02-10T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Andrew E. Schwartz

DECISION BY AUTHORITY RULE: Many groups start out withor quickly set up a power structure that makes it clear that the chairman (or someone else in authority) will make the ultimate decision. The group can generate ideas and hold free discussion, but at any time the chairman can say that, having heard the discussion, he or she has decided upon a given plan. Whether or not this method is effective depends a great deal upon whether the chairman is a sufficiently good listener to have culled the right information on which to make the decision. Furthermore, if the group must also implement the decision, then the authority-rule method produces a bare minimum of involvement by the group (basically, they will do it because they have to, not necessarily because they want to). Hence it undermines the potential quality of the implementation of the decision.

DECISION BY MINORITY RULE: One of the most often heard complaints of group members is that they feel "railroaded" into some decision. Usually, this feeling results from one, two or three people employing tactics that produce actionand therefore must be considered decisionsbut which are taken without the consent of the majority. A common form of minority rule is for two or more members to come to a quick and powerful agreement on a course of action, then challenge the group with a quick "Does anyone object?", and, if no one raises their voice in two seconds, to proceed with "Let's go ahead, then." Again the trap is the assumption that silence means consent.

DECISION BY MAJORITY RULE (VOTING AND/OR POLLING): More familiar decision-making procedures are often taken for granted as applying to any group situation because they reflect our political system. One simple version is to poll everyone's opinion following some period of discussion. If the majority of participants feels the same way, it is often assumed that that is the decision. The other method is the more formal one of stating a clear alternative and asking for votes in favor of it, votes against it, and abstentions. On the surface this method seems completely sound, but surprisingly often it turns out that decisions made by this method are not well implemented, even by the group that made the decision.

Copyright AE Schwartz & Associates All rights reserved. For additional presentation materials and resources: ReadySetPresent and for a Free listing as a Trainer, Consultant, Speaker, Vendor/Organization: TrainingConsortium

CEO, A.E. Schwartz & Associates, Boston, MA., a comprehensive organization which offers over 40 skills based management training programs. Mr. Schwartz conducts over 150 programs annually for clients in industry, research, technology, government, Fortune 100/500 companies, and nonprofit organizations worldwide. He is often found at conferences as a key note presenter and/or facilitator. His style is fast-paced, participatory, practical, and humorous. He has authored over 65 books and products, and taught/lectured at over a dozen colleges and universities throughout the United States.

Firing Someone Does It Have To Be Painful For Them And You

2009-02-09T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Robert Selden

The need to write this article came about through the recent experience of two of my friends. Both had been fired. One for supposed poor performance (although she had never been counselled and at the time was in fact on sick leave) and one because the start up facility she was employed by, suddenly closed down. Both were senior managers. Both were loyal, hardworking employees but are now very angry and taking legal action against their former employers. Why are they so angry? One could say it's because they have lost their jobs and this would be quite understandable. However, the main action that has triggered their anger and catapulted them down the legal pathway (in both cases), was that they were informed of their dismissals by emails. Yes, that's right by email! They were never given the courtesy of a face to face discussion.

Many managers, when faced with the challenge of firing someone, forget, or are unaware of the emotions that are experienced by the person being fired. Nor are they aware of the behaviour that most often results from these emotions. It has been well documented that the death of a loved one, a marriage or long term relationship breakup and the loss of one's job, have an equal and similar impact on one's emotions. Think for a moment about the loss of one of your dear relatives or friends through death how did you feel? That's exactly the same feeling that people have when they suddenly and unexpectedly lose their jobs.

The psychologists tell us that there are 5 stages that people go through in this "grief cycle" Shock, Resistance (often manifested as anger), Acceptance (of the current situation), Exploration (of new opportunities), Commitment (to a new future). Can any of these emotions be managed via email?

I can well recall the first time as a manager I had to fire someone. It was for poor performance and I was scared. I did not sleep the night before wondering what I would say and what would be her reaction. I carried out the interview in the morning with great fear and trepidation. I was not sure how the interview went, but was relieved when it was over and then took a break for lunch, but was unable to eat. I did not know about the "5 stages" at the time, I only knew that I had to do the right thing by the organisation and by the employee. I arrived back from my break to find a box of chocolates on my desk with a very nice note from the employee saying how much she appreciated my courtesy and kindness. I guess, intuitively I must have got something right.

Now, from years of experience, I know two things about firing someone:

1. Firstly, the person at all times must maintain his or her self esteem. This is one of the most basic and important needs that all people have (emailing someone, or even worse as I heard since starting this article, texting, sends a clear message that they are not worthy of a face to face discussion)

2. Secondly, it is vitally important to realise that all people will go through the five stages of the grief cycle (quite often at different paces) and as a manager, it is our role and responsibility to help them progress through these stages, particularly the first two that are likely to occur when they are still with us.

How do you do this? Well, in my usual style when writing an article such as this, I did my web research. Sad to say there was not much there. Under "firing someone" there seemed to be a plethora of articles about the legal requirements and many about the steps to take. For example, one article suggested the following steps: Give warning, Document, Document, Document! Time it right, Prepare the paperwork, Don't go it alone (ensure you have someone from HR there), Ensure privacy, Be brief, Watch your tone, Seek feedback, Give a good send-off. Few of these steps would address the 5 stages of grief. Many could probably be done by email with the same impact and result! If these steps were followed, I wonder what "feedback" the manager would receive would there in fact be a "Good send-off"?

I'm not suggesting that we don't have to address some of these. For example, you must cover all of the documentary and legal responsibilities pertinent to your country and organisation's requirements. But keep in mind that the fired employee is first and foremost a person just like you with feelings and emotions that must be managed.

Here are some suggestions (assuming of course that you have fulfilled all the other requirements) for the next time that you have to fire someone:

Before taking any action, ask yourself: "How would I feel if my boss came to me today and said you're fired!" Write down a list of words that describe your feelings.

If you were in the situation of being fired, how would you like your boss to handle it? What would you like him/her to do and to say? Jot down some of your thoughts.

Now write down a list of the words that best describe your feelings about having to fire someone. Review all the words you have scribbled down so far and pick out the two or three strongest. Also keep in mind how you would like to be handled in similar circumstances.

Script the start of the conversation using the two or three words you have discovered. e.g. "This is really difficult for me. I feel apprehensive and worried that I won't get it right."

The next part of your opening script will depend on the circumstances. For example in a "lay off" situation, it might go something like; "I have been advised that I have to terminate the employment of a number of people. I am really sad to say that your name is on that list". Or, for a non performance issue, it could be something like; "We have discussed my expectations about your performance and unfortunately they are still not being met. It now really saddens me (or whatever your feelings are) that I will have to terminate your employment".

Be careful. You can only script the opening few lines, but they are important because they set the scene for the entire interview.

It is most likely that during the remainder of the interview, the employee will travel backward and forwards between "shock" and "resistance". Give your reasons for the termination clearly and succinctly, but do not get into a discussion about justifying yours (or your employer's) reasons. Doing so will keep the employee fixed in either of the first two stages and will not help them to progress. Only sincere listening and clear questioning (not reasoning) will help the employee progress to the acceptance stage.

One factor that is often overlooked when firing someone, is that the way it is done can have as much impact (positive or negative) on the people who remain. They will be watching (and will invariably get a first hand report from their colleague) about how well or otherwise the process was managed. The people who remain in the organisation, and whom I assume you want to keep, get a good look at both the manager's and the organisation's real people management skills when under the stress of firing someone. They'll most certainly ask "Could this happen to me?"

Bob Selden has been a supervisor, manager and senior manager in a number of both large and small organisations. During his career, he has had to grapple with the challenges of hiring and firing. Now, as MD of the National Learning Institute, he offers his advice free to managers and aspiring managers on how to best manage their people. Contact Bob with your people management issues at http://www.nationallearninginstitute.com

My Companys Leadership Sucks

2009-02-08T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by John McKee

Maybe it's the season or just a more buoyant job market; but lately I'm sure involved in a lot more discussions about leadership.

I'm receiving more requests for help defining the key characteristics which make a great leader; and I'm hearing a lot of negative stuff from clients about their bosses.

Most leaders die with their mouths open:

I recently read an article in Fast Company magazine which reflected on the issue of leadership. In it, they quote Ronald Heifetz, the founder of Harvard's Center for Public Leadership, who made the above comment back in 1999. He followed it up by saying that, "leaders must know how to listen - and the art of listening is more subtle than most people think it is. But first and just as important, leaders must want to listen."

You'd think this is simply basic stuff, right? Like what we learned in Management 101. I doubt there's any exec in business today who wouldn't say they 'know' this already. But in my experience, in many cases, leaders don't seem to think it applies to them.

And yet, I'm continually told by executives and professionals that they don't feel 'heard' enough by their superiors. And here's the really interesting thing about it - I hear this frustration cited by people at every level within organizations! < What this means that managers at every level, are busy looking 'up' the organization chart for someone to listen to them - but they're not giving their own managers and staff 'below' them the same benefits!

So we have the situation, in many companies, where the managers go around telling those who report to them what to do & how to do it but rarely ask those same people for their input. How dumb is that?

Our North American companies are pretty inefficient:

OK - this is a random poll: Please raise your arm if you believe that your company is at least 90% efficient.

Based upon what I hear from clients, there aren't many arms raised out there, I'd guess. In fact, most executives tell me that their own organizations are actually inefficient. Many are concerned that their employer is getting less competitive on a global scale. Some worry about cutbacks or reduced investment spending which may result.

At the same time, they'll often tell me that they personally are bored, unchallenged, stale, and losing interest. So, let's review: Inefficient businesses - no one is listeing to those closer to the real action - and stale managers who are worried about global competitiveness. Is this a coincidence? Not likely.

We can fix this situation. And it's not that hard. Remind yourself once in a while about that lesson of Management 101 and become a better leader by becoming a better listener. Simply start asking - and here I mean showing that you really want to hear your team members' ideas about making your department or organization more efficient. Show clearly that you are on a new mission and want to make 'listening' a priority. When your direct reports start to believe that you are serious - watch out. I guarantee that you'll start to hear new ideas which will kick-start your organization's success. With that will come renewed enthusiasm for the job. And the cycle of success will build from there.

You don't need to die with your mouth open.

Tips:

1. Give your team credit for having the same basic needs and expectations as you have yourself.

2. Shut up once in a while.

3. Ask your subordinates how they'd deal with a problem or situation.

4. Get enthusiastic for the game again. There was a reason

you took this job.

If you thought this article was worthwhile, you many want to take a free 7 part mini coaching course, "7 Secrets of Leadership Success".

John McKee is the visionary behind BusinessSuccessCoach.net, the premier online coaching service for business people and professionals at all levels. During his over 25 years as a senior executive, he personally hired, promoted, and fired literally thousands of people. Now, as a business coach, McKee uses the phone to coach others to become more successful using field tested approaches.

What Does Honest Abe Lincoln Have To Do With Company Growth

2009-02-07T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Jim Symcox

Is formal training important? After all we can all learn from other employees or from outside consultants we bring in can't we?

Well, in my previous life as a consultant IT project director I noticed people would often be too busy doing their own job to learn the skills of an outside consultant too.

That's despite massive efforts made to train people.

But unless skills are used regularly after training they fade away.

Learning from others in your own organisation can also be fraught.

Learning by "sitting next to Nellie" as it's known can work. But it means that any weak custom and practise procedures are copied.

These weak procedures may actually be the direct opposite of the company strategy.

Also if you're learning from someone because they're just about to leave the company. For whatever reason.

You don't get their total focus on teaching you their job.

So ways of doing things can become less and less effective as time goes on.

That means that service to your customers becomes worse. Simply because the people serving them don't know the best way of working.

Research shows that over 60% of customers leave a business because of poor, ineffective or indifferent service.

Let's look at the story of two woodcutters

Once there were twin brothers. They were tall, strapping lads who had both become lumberjacks at the same time. One year they took part in a logging competition together. Each was strong and beat everyone they came up against. Until they reached the final where they met each other.

They seemed evenly matched. The crowd looked and urged them on as they both started cutting timber at a strong rate of knots. After an hour one of the brothers stopped for a few minutes. Let's call him the "idle chopper". He soon resumed work but every hour he kept stopping.

Eventually the competition finished and it was immediately obvious that the idle chopper had cut down significantly more wood than his brother.

His brother shook his hand to congratulate him and asked, "how on earth did you cut twice as much wood as me despite stopping so frequently?"

The idle chopper smiled and said "I wasn't really resting I was sharpening my axe so my cuts went deeper faster than yours with your blunt axe."

The "idle chopper" was really the "smart chopper" because he'd taken to heart what President Abraham Lincoln had said.

Abraham Lincoln said "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."

People can look at training as a complete waste of a company's time. Because it's preventing their staff from getting the job done.

But look at the woodcutters the one who kept stopping to sharpen his axe won.

The same is true of any company that gives their staff training. It may stop the busy, busy time for a short while but it means that staff become more productive and therefore achieve more.

Getting yourself and your staff trained is essential if you want to continue to grow and develop,

If you don't you'll be like 90% of businesses over a 10 year time frame and be out of business.

It's really that stark a choice.

There are a number of effective training strategies that I would recommend you to use.

Two of the most powerful are as follows:

a) A Weekly Company Workshop b) Formal Courses - with a twist

Let me explain exactly how they work so that you can go and apply them in your business immediately.

Weekly Company Workshop

1) Set-up an hour per week where all employees gather together.

The first workshop is the Set-up and Introduction Workshop.

2) In this workshop you all brainstorm the issues and problems that you and your customers have with the company.

Someone is designated to takes action notes. That is notes that simply list the actions to be taken with the person responsible and the date to be completed (always before the next meeting).

3) You then prioritise and agree the issues amongst everyone there.

Hint: Give particular weight to customer issues as they are quite likely to resolve one or more internal issues too.

4) Provide a full list of prioritised issues to all attendees. The attendees should be everyone who works for the company, unless they're sick.

The Second and subsequent workshops are Issue Eaters

5) Take the first issue from the list that was issued the day of the last meeting - it's that important.

6) Brainstorm possible solutions to the issue.

For example the customers are returning a product to you in large numbers but you can't see why. The issue is "You don't know why the product is being returned".

Several possible solutions occur:

a) Ring customers and ask them why they're returning them. Also ring customer's who've kept them and ask them why too.

b) Send every customer a questionnaire asking several questions, including one on returns and also specifically for the product in question.

c) Ask the sales force to go and see each customer and ask for their most honest feedback.

d) The managing director to ring the companies concerned to see what the problem is.

Collate the answers and provide the information and analysis to the group the following week.

7) If the solution calls for a better procedure or company process to be implemented designate someone to write it and for it to be issued before the next meeting for review and agreement.

8) Only address one issue per session - even if you finish it in 10 minutes. But you must focus completely on that issue.

9) Review the solution and check that it is working. Then sign it off and add to the list of completed issues.

Guess what you're building with the documentation?

It's a company file that allows new staff to get up to speed on how your company has got to where it is now and what the current procedures and processes are.

Not just that. It means that at a stroke you've pooled the brainpower of several people to produce new and better ways of working that help customers and your staff.

You tell me. Do you think your customers are going to become even happier with an organisation that addresses and resolved issues?

Now you may be thinking I'm only a one person or two person company?

This method applies equally well to you too.

The great thing about it is that as long as you document you'll have processes in place when you get more staff.

Formal Courses - with a twist

1) Have a formal training strategy for each person. It doesn't matter whether you're a one person or 3,000 person company. You need a strategy because otherwise you'll get asked for training that doesn't fit with your company goals.

2) Plan what courses staff (and you) should attend during the year.

3) Attend the course - there should be no excuse for non-attendance.

4) Now here's the twist before your staff go on the course tell them that you're going to ask them to do a short presentation on the course at the next weekly meeting to all the staff. The presentation is a short summary of the course content, and the 6 to 10 things that the person has learnt and will apply in their job. Followed by 10 minutes of questions.

The reasons for this are:

a) Others benefit from hearing what the course was all about

b) The attendee will pay much more attention to the course and learn more from it

c) You're training staff to feel comfortable giving presentations in a relaxed environment.

d) Other staff may learn things they can apply in their job.

5) Make sure that they do the presentation. If not you get none of the benefits outlined previously. Make sure everyone does the presentation, even someone who is quaking in dread. Help them get over it by letting them stay seated, or just present over 2-3 weeks. But make sure they do present - it must be a condition of attendance.

6) Been on a course yourself? Right. You do the same as your staff. They're learning about what you do.

Finally and most importantly there is a set of Golden Training Rules I always use which is

a) Training must be applied when you return from the course

b) You and your staff must support attempts to use the training. It may not work very well initially as people start to apply it.

c) Re-train at intervals because skills can only be improved by repetition. Look at karate, golf, football and other sports you have to keep practising to get better. It's the same with work training.

For example people learn everything on a time management course but maybe only apply 10% of what they learnt and forget the rest. When they go again they learn pretty much the same thing but then apply another 10% of what they learn and forget the rest.

So over time they apply more and more of what they're taught until eventually they're using all the time management techniques and are experts. Get them to teach new staff!

d) Once you've got trained up experts use them to train your own staff.

Does training staff stop the company making money? Ultimately the answer is it makes you even more money than you did before they were trained.

Remember the two axmen?

You want to be the smarter chopper.

Jim Symcox, also known as the Marketing Magician has worked as a consultant since the mid 1980's.

He is a marketing coach, copywriter and the author of "How to Leap Ahead Of Your Competitors".

For a free copy of "How To Leap Ahead Of Your Competitors email him at web@acornservice.com with "ezine" in the subject line.

Why Is It So Difficult To Collect Timesheets

2009-02-06T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Michael Potas

It's an all too familiar story: It's Friday afternoon, and you need to finish your accounts and get those invoices out so you can stay in control of your cash flow. You look over your staff timesheets and see that, as you predicted, many of your staff haven't submitted them yet. You chase them up, only to find out that one of your staff is at a meeting at a client site and cannot be contacted, and a couple more have already left for the weekend. Then there are those that have to be told three times to do their timesheets. How are you supposed to cope with this and still have time to run your business?

There are a number of methods to deal with this type of situation when it occurs. There is always the possibility that you will find yourself in this situation even with the very best of planning, so you need to have some kind of coping strategy. Here are a few coping mechanisms that you can use:

1 Wait until next week to do your invoicing. This method is probably the easiest solution to handle from an accounting point of view, and it means you can go home early too! However, if you are currently struggling with cash flow this may not be an option.

2 Send out your invoices today and add the missing timesheets to future invoices. There are many reasons not to do this, as it can create difficulty with administration, and it can also confuse your clients. However, if you are strapped for cash, it may be the best option.

That being said, the best way to handle these situations is to plan ahead so that they never occur. Here are a number of proven methods that you can use to get those timesheets in more painlessly:

1 Make timesheets due days (or weeks) before the it's time to send out the invoices, and check to make sure you have received them well in advance of needing them to do the billing. While this may sound obvious, you'd be surprised at how many businesses have difficulty achieving this.

2 Delegate the task of collecting timesheets to a staff member you trust. This will allow you to spend more time on what you are good at; running your business.

3 Provide an incentive for staff to submit their timesheets by a certain time. By far the most effective method of doing this is to "link" the collection of timesheets with the payroll. Not the nicest way to go about it, but you'll probably never see another late timesheet!

4 Automate the process as much as possible. If you have a lot of traveling staff, make it possible for them to submit their timesheets via email. You can also put systems in place to automatically email staff to request missing timesheets.

If you require a reasonable level of detail in your timesheets, you will generally benefit from implementing a time tracking software solution. Staff can have a program that is installed on their computers and is easy to use, allowing them to enter timesheet information easily while they work. Some time tracking packages will also automate the process of timesheet submission and will link directly to your accounting software, making life easier for everyone.

The key to the success of any time tracking system is for it to be an integrated part of the corporate culture. Hence, staff should be informed that part of their job description includes the submission of timesheets by the deadlines. If you can get staff to create their timesheets while they work and submit the daily, it will be easier for both staff and manager.

If your staff spend a lot of time behind their computers, you may wish to consider a software package that can help the staff fill in their timesheets. One such package is Spherical Technology's Time Tracking Software, which logs the files and applications that a staff member uses, and makes it easy for staff to create an accurate timesheet at the end of the day.

Timesheets are an important but much overlooked aspect of running a successful business. With the right planning and systems in place, timesheet creation and collection can be painlessly integrated into the day-to-day operation of your organization.

Michael Potas is currently employed by a time tracking software company, and often provides advise to management issues related to small business. Please take a look at his timesheet software and time tracking software for a solution to many time tracking issues.

Six Sigma Theory Of

2009-02-05T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

Six Sigma is a management methodology for accuracy in manufacturing, etc. to make sure things are done right the first time and with that comes increases of economies of scale-fewer returns, etc. Such processes are especially important in Military, Health Care, manufacturing, transportation and computer industries.

When every thing is right with fewer returns, less time is spent fixing your mistakes, thus higher profits. Some of this could be classified as Micro-management of little details which goes against the theories of Fly by the seat of your pants, entrepreneurs, yet when working on lower margins in low cost high volume matured industry sectors, if you cannot do it the Six Sigma way, you will be passed and put out of business by someone who is.

So I would say to those in any industry that the devil is in the details and Six Sigma is worth a read. You should start with Jack Welch's Biography and then go pick up a Six Sigma management book, yes you should be aware of this. I would also recommend that entrepreneurs also respect those resumes, which contain Six Sigma Black Belt in them. Although as I study this stuff I can tell you that you still need an entrepreneur and visionary out front and most are from the gut and few can do both.

So companies should be careful if they are looking for a problem solver or General Patton hard charger when you have a perfection systems guy of Six Sigma, most likely they are NOT the same animal and many times they will not even get along personally. Just make sure there is mutual respect and admiration for each of the others abilities. Too often Sign Sigma's think they know it all and forget the reality of the market or the customer. The sales teams or counter person is gold for information. Six Sigma black belts or whatever cool titles they give them now a days need to be full spectrum to work. Consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Managers Who Spend Pr Wisely

2009-02-04T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Robert A. Kelly

If you are a department, division or subsidiary manager, your budget is a precious possession whether you work for a business, a non-profit or an association. So why stand by while your public relations team spends too much time and treasure on tactics like press releases, column mentions and brochures? Especially when you could be using an aggressive PR blueprint to persuade your most important outside audiences to your way of thinking, then move them to take actions that lead to your success?

The good news is, that aggressive blueprint shines the PR spotlight directly on those outside groups of people who have a large say in how successful you're going to be namely, on your key external target audiences. It reads this way: people act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished.

Look at the kinds of behaviors that are possible using such a blueprint. A big jump up in capital contributions, increased membership queries, new prospects showing up, more current buying and even repeat purchases occurring, and even new proposals for joint ventures.

Spending your PR $$ wisely implies that you are getting serious about your public relations by changing the emphasis from communications tactics to a workable plan for reaching those outside groups of people with a large say about how successful you will be. I refer, of course, to those key external target audiences of yours.

What do they think of you, anyway? Ask your PR staff why they believe that's important to you? Hopefully, they'll agree that target audience perceptions usually do lead to behaviors that can help or hinder you in achieving your operating objectives. In other words, is your PR team guided by solid fundamentals rather than mechanics like special events and communications tactics?

Next, decide together, then prioritize exactly which external audiences have the most impact on your operation, and let's do some work on the audience at the top of that list.

Since you must monitor perceptions by interacting with members of that audience, you can elect to join your PR folks as they ask some penetrating questions: "Do you know anything about us? How do you feel about our services and/or products? Have you had any contact with our people? Did it work out to your satisfaction?"

Remember that you can also employ a professional survey firm to interact with members of your target audience. Only drawback here is the considerable cost involved in taking this route versus using your own PR folks who, as we know, are already in the perception and behavior business.

Either way, while the perception monitoring effort is proceeding, all questioners must stay alert to misconceptions about your unit, as well as inaccuracies, exaggerations, rumors or false assumptions. And keep an eye out for evasive and hesitant responses to your queries.

Once all the answers are in-hand, you're ready to establish your public relations goal, thus fixing what needs correcting the most. And that may well be to clear up a potentially damaging misconception, shoot down a hurtful rumor, or clarify that misleading exaggeration.

Now, how do you reach that new goal? The right strategy is what you need and that means one of these: create perception where there may be none at all, change that offensive opinion/perception, or reinforce an existing perception. But make sure the strategy you pick fits naturally with your PR goal.

You still need a message that will correct/alter the negative perception turned up during your monitoring activity among members of your target audience. It must be a compelling message, one that is completely believable and one that explains why the offending perception is either untrue or unfair. The message must be clearly presented because you want to alter what people believe in a way that leads to the target audience behaviors you need to achieve your unit objectives.

Fortunately, delivering the message to those who need to hear it and read it is a simple matter. You have a real variety of communications tactics to help you from speeches, luncheon presentations, media interviews and emails to newsletters, facility tours, brochures and electronic magazines. Just be certain the tactics you use have a good record of reaching people similar to those who make up your target audience. So as not to call too much attention to the original misperception, your PR team may wish to deliver the corrective message as part of various presentations to target audience members rather than risk a high profile, news release transmission.

Now, to demonstrate program progress, you and your team must once again monitor perceptions among your target audience watching carefully for indications that your message and tactics have moved those perceptions towards your views.

Of course, to speed up the process, you can always add new communications tactics to the mix and increase their frequencies.

Finally, at this point you should be reassured that your new public relations effort has (1) persuaded your most important outside audiences to your way of thinking, (2) moved them to take actions leading to your success, thus (3) helping achieve your department, division or subsidiary objectives.

About The Author

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit: http://www.prcommentary.com

Leaders Make Decisions Its Not Part Of The Job It Is The Job

2009-02-03T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Don Doman

I was watching one of my favorite television mini-series, HBO's Band of Brothers, and I came across a forgotten viewpoint from the production.

Although the program centered around the time immediately following the Battle of the Bulge and the besieged 101st Airborn during World War II, part of the drama focused on the leadership of a lieutenant and his platoon. This lieutenant would simply leave his men and wander off for a walk . . . to talk to regiment . . . to get help . . . or god knows what. He was never there to set direction, to discuss operations, to counsel, or even to listen. One scene has him asking questions of a soldier in a foxhole. The soldier answers and then asks the officer a question, but the soldier is talking to thin air. The officer had already turned his back and faded away . . . as if he had never been there at all.

The officer should never have commanded a combat team. He was possibly put there to gain experience, while seeking further advancement. He was shown with an academy ring. The implication being that he was part of a "good old boy" network. This is not unusual in business or the military. The minor sin was that he received command from favoritism or preferential treatment. The major sin was that he assumed command without proper training.

The First Sergeant described the situation exactly: he wasn't a bad leader because he made bad decisions, he was a bad leader because he made no decisions. A bad leader is worse than no leader. A leader has responsibilities and the people under that leader should have expectations of ability. When an attack was imminent by the platoon, the sergeant complained to an officer up the chain of command. There was no one else to send, but the captain took aside the lieutenant and explained exactly what was to be done: keep advancing and take the village. The attack came and as soon as the platoon came under fire, the lieutenant froze and gave confusing orders to his men. The advance was stopped.

The captain took another lieutenant from another platoon and sent him as a replacement in the thick of the battle to bring order to the attack and finish the advance. Within minutes they took the village.

Now, of course, sometimes it is better to make no decision, while you survey the job, the market, the industry, or your employees, but when decisions are needed, the leader must step up and make decisions. In the case of the lieutenant, his indecision cost lives, including his own.

"Leadership is action. In its most basic form, leadership involves moving people from one place to another, either physically or figuratively. And if you're going to get people moving, you'd better be sure you know where you're headed. You have to make decisions about your desired destination and how you're going to get there. You need to make the right decisions, you need to make them stick, and you need to accept the consequences."
-- John Baldoni from his book 180 Ways to Walk the Leadership Talk

You could say the lieutenant accepted the consequences and died, but he didn't even do that. He merely shut down. He died as a consequence, but didn't really accept the consequences.

A leader needs to make decisions, and he should be trained to make them. There is nothing wrong with a bad decision based on sound judgment (unless it becomes a pattern), but no decisions based on no judgment, is unforgivable. No decisions can cost time; cost money; and can even cost lives.

Author Don Doman: Don is a published author of books for small business, corporate video producer, and owner of Ideas and Training (http://www.ideasandtraining.com), which provides business training products. Don also owns and Human Resources Radio (http://www.humanresourcesradio.com), which provides business training programs and previews 24-hours a day.

Reaping The Benefits Of Value Stream Mapping

2009-02-02T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Peter Peterka

Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a proven tool. Well suited for a broad range of industries and processes, VSM is ideal for creating positive organizational changes, developing efficient future states, and producing system-wide benefits in cost, quality, and flexibility. In short, it helps eliminate waste.

But like any tool, VSM must be applied properly. That means avoiding the common errors that invalidate the mapping process. Below are tips on developing an accurate VSM. These tips will not only improve the accuracy of your map and facilitate the mapping process, they'll also help you reap its system-wide benefits.

But first, let's define a value stream. It includes all the activities required in bringing a product from "raw materials" into the customer's hands or in providing service to a target audience. Michael Porter, author of Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, was among the first to talk about value chains and value streams. In his definition of a value stream, he includes primary activities, like inbound logistics, and support activities, like procurement. Porter relates these activities to gaining a competitive advantage.

One key to value stream mapping suggested by Porter's definition is to clearly define the product or service to map. In other words, make sure you have a value stream to map before engaging in the process, since the objective is to identify system-wide waste occurs and then remove it. Unfortunately, some apply VSM in situations where there's no product or control part, such as in product development processes. Make sure there's a repeatable action or control part to follow before creating a value stream map. Otherwise, you'll just be wasting time and resources.

Another key to developing a VAM is observing performance first hand. While many value streams are simple, many are also complex. In some cases, the production process or service delivery effort is long and tedious. It other cases it maybe set aside for a few days or a few weeks or the person developing the process needs to complete the map quickly. All of which makes developing a value stream map difficult.

In addition, much of what takes place in the day-to-day operations of a business phone calls, interruptions, reprioritizations of workisn't stored on a computer or in someone's memory. So depending on engineering standards to fill in the information boxes and determine potential savings won't work, nor will trying to develop a map while sitting in your office. While the Map might be technically correct, you would be missing many of the activities actually happening on the floor.

Unfortunately, these activities affect production time and the product's value. Therefore, you must observe the product as it is being produced or the service as it is being delivered to determine which activities add value and which do not. While it's sometimes hard to do, it's critical to gathering accurate data for your VSM. Otherwise, you're creating a process map, not a value stream map.

Also, make sure you follow the product undergoing production or the service being delivered all the way. Sometimes an observer follows the worker through a long drawn out production process. When he or she stops dealing with the product, the observer, follows the worker instead of the control part. This can spell disaster.

Let's say, for example, the product is a patient in a doctor's office. When the doctor finishes his exam, the observer needs to follow the patient, not the nurse who's updating the patient's chart. If the observer follows the nurse, he or she is mapping the nurse's work, not the work being done on the control part, which stopped when the patient went home.

In addition, be aware of product families when developing a VSM. Most firms produce more than one product family. Sometimes, it gets complicated following a single product family because the observer did a poor job of identifying the key product family before hand. By not identifying the product family, the observer risks being distracted and following the wrong processing path.

Two common problem areas in value stream mapping are ignoring shared resources and double counting time. These pitfalls can invalidate the accuracy of a value stream map.

Most companies have shared resources. These resourceswhich may be people, assembly lines, or equipmentoften support multiple product families. If the observer forgets to identify these shared resources when developing a value stream map, the map will be incorrect. Identify the shared resources in a value stream ahead of time. Forgetting to do so will produce incorrect estimates for things like cycle times. And that in turn will affect the map's end product.

Also, makes sure you understand exactly what goes in an information box and what is a processing step. Changeovers usually go in an information box, but what about travel time. The key is separating the actual work involved in completing the product or service from the things that cause inventory to build up. Long changeovers cause inventory to build, but what about long distance travelling? Both activities may need be eliminated because they both cause inventory to build.

These tips will help you develop accurate value stream maps. The maps will, in turn, help cut waste from your production processes or service deliver sequence, streamlining operations, cutting costs, and improving customer service. More importantly, they'll help you reap the system-wide benefits VSM provides, making your efforts both productive and profitable.

Peter Peterka is President of Six Sigma us. For additional information on 6 Sigma or other Six Sigma Online Training programs contact Peter Peterka.

Optimizing Your Cash Flow With Proper Accounts Receivable Management

2009-02-01T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Marc Eskew

Businesses miss on growth opportunities and even close their doors every day, not because they aren't profitable enough, but because they are strangled by poor cash flow. The problem is that while their profit and loss statement shows success, their bank account cries poor. Excessive money tied up in delinquent receivables, bad checks, and bad debt write-offs, rob businesses of valuable cash flow, handcuffing their ability to grow or even stay in business at all.

It doesn't take long for a business to get caught up in a spiraling trend of increasingly late receivables, only needing a few additional delinquent accounts to start the process. Most companies lack the expertise and manpower needed to handle a spike in delinquent accounts. Soon, their staff is doing more work chasing late receivables, and they end up neglecting the easier to collect, more current accounts. Eventually, a higher and higher percentage of accounts become delinquent and more and more accounts become uncollectible, forcing companies to employ expensive collection agencies to recover at least some of their money at a big loss or they write off the debt completely. The end result is a loss in profitability and a serious strain on cash flow.

There are some more obvious, common sense practices that companies can employee to maintain a healthy accounts receivable portfolio. A few examples include:

1. Perform a credit history check before extending credit.

2. Set and adhere to credit limits.

3. Establish your credit terms in writing on statements and invoices

4. Require all sales and money management staff to know and follow credit policies.

As for maintaining or restoring a healthy accounts receivable portfolio, companies may need to invest in additional personnel or outside services with expertise in delinquent debt collection. If a company's receivables are large enough and they have a budget which allows them to add experienced, full-time debt collectors to their staff, they should make the investment in additional personnel. If a company can't afford it or their delinquent receivables don't require full-time attention, outsourcing would be a better alternative.

National Revenue Corporation is a collections agency that specializes in "preventative maintenance" collections strategies. They offer variety of low, fixed fee solutions that make it attractive for businesses to employ their services to perform collections on delinquent accounts right as they become delinquent. They provide the necessary expertise to collect on the harder, delinquent accounts, while their client's staff focuses its efforts on the more current, easier to collect accounts. With this approach, both current and delinquent account collections improve yielding improved cash flow and a well-balanced accounts receivable portfolio.

Marc Eskew is widely recognized in the area of accounts receivable management. For more information on preventative maintenance approach to accounts receivable management or to contact Mr. Eskew, please visit http://www.fmxservices.com/cashflow

Medical Billing Ca0 Record Fields 20 Through 30

2009-01-31T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Michael Russell

In continuing with our review of the CA0 record for medical billing claims through electronic means, we're going to cover fields 20 through 30. Some of these get a little tricky so we'll cover those in a little more detail, starting off with the first one.

Field 20, position 173, may seem a little strange to those who aren't in the business. This is the patient death indicator field. Many people think why would you bill a claim for a patient who has died? Well, whether the patient lived or died, the provider of services still needs to be paid for the work done. So why the indicator? This is to let the carrier know that the patient has died and by date of death, the provider can't bill for any other services after that date. That's why the indicator.

Field 21, positions 174 - 181, is that patient's date of death. This is recorded by the carrier so they know the patient can no longer be billed for services. This is another way of cutting down on fraud.

Field 22, position 182, is the other insurance indicator. This tells the carrier that the patient has other insurance in addition to the carrier's insurance. This is important in cases where a carrier only pays a partial payment.

Field 23, position 183, is the claim editing indicator. This is a field that just about nobody uses so don't concern yourself with it. If it is needed, consult the manual.

Field 24, position 184 - 185, is the claim type indicator. This is a two character code that tells the carrier what type of claim this is, such as DME, dental, etc.

Field 25, position 186, is the legal representation indicator. This is one of those very complex fields but we'll try to simplify it here. In some cases, a patient has a guardian or somebody with a power of attorney. Basically, this means that there are legal issues involved with the care of the patient and therefore the submission of the claim. This has to be indicated here. These are usually very messy claims as far as who is paid, how much and when.

Field 26, positions 187 - 195, is the origin indicator. This indicates the care facility that the patient was admitted to and where care was given. There are a number of codes for this that can usually be found in the software's lookup table when doing medical billing.

Field 27, positions 196 - 212, is the payer claim control number. This is currently not supported by any carriers using NSF 3.01, so there is no point even trying to explain what this number is for.

Field 28, positions 213 - 227, is the provider number. This MUST match the provider number that is transmitted in the provider record or the claim will be denied.

Field 29, positions 228 - 233, is the claim ID number. Every claim has one of these and it must be transmitted. All references to this claim will be made through this number.

Field 30, positions 234 - 320, is filler national and must be left blank or the claim will be denied.

This concludes our review of CA0 record fields 20 through 30 for medical billing of claims through electronic means.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Medical Billing

Corporate Event Planning

2009-01-30T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Eddie Tobey

The company that you are working for is having a fundraising event to provide financial resources for a charity organization.

It excites you to think that this big conglomerate is planning and holding a big event such as this one, and it most especially appeals to you because the proceeds will be helping out a charity that really is in dire need of resources so as to continue its mission and goals.

However, what does not appeal to you right now is that this big event is all your responsibility. Your boss has appointed you as the main person in charge of this important event.

Frazzled nerves are what you are experiencing right now. You do not know where to start and you also do not know what to plan for and prepare for. This is not your kind of thing. And, of course, you surely would not want to put your boss down. He is counting on you to push this big event through.

The Internet holds answers to the many questions regarding corporate event planning. There are plenty of resources that could assist corporate event planners on different issues. These online resources also list things to consider in regard to corporate events. If your company has a sufficient amount of resources, there are many small companies who specialize in corporate event planning.

Corporate event planning requires that many things be taken into consideration so that effective decisions can be made. There is the venue and location, the entertainment, the invitations, the publicity, the food and drinks, the music, the decorations, and a whole lot more. Keeping a checklist helps corporate event planners tremendously. It is important that each detail of the corporate event be taken care of.

Event Planning provides detailed information on Event Planning, Convention Event Planning Services, Corporate Event Planning, Event Planning and Production and more. Event Planning is affiliated with Corporate Event Management.

Business Needs Vs Network Performance Critical Challenges Facing Network Managers

2009-01-29T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Amichai Lesser

Networking is getting tougher. Networks must deliver a growing range of services, from ERP, CRM and email to VoIP and web services applications, each of which has its own idiosyncrasies and requirements. Each new service introduced onto the network contends for available resources with every other service, impacting the network's ability to support the business.

Meanwhile, the network itself is constantly changing. New locations are added some of which may be in another country or on another continent. Equipment is upgraded and/or re-configured. New management and/or security tools may themselves impact service performance. Decisions about data center consolidation and business re-organization also affect the network in different ways. All of this makes the network a highly dynamic environment where even subtle changes can have a major, unforeseen impact on application performance and availability.

Yet business users expect this complex environment to be as reliable as electricity despite the fact that networking budgets are not being increased in proportion to these growing challenges. So network managers can't simply over-provision network infrastructure to make sure every service has all the bandwidth it needs. Moreover, over provisioning may not even solve the problem and/or ensure the required level of performance.

That's why network managers are facing many challenges, including:

1) Pinpointing potential network performance issues early in the development lifecycle

Ideally, the impact of the network on a new application or service should be dealt with from the very beginning of the development process when potential problems are much easier and less expensive to fix. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. Problems with an application's "networkability" are typically discovered only after its roll-out into the production environment is initiated. At that point, it's usually too late to make any significant changes in the application's design. So the problem gets pushed onto the shoulders of the networking team. That's why, in '05, smart network managers will focus on nipping these problems in the bud.

2) Validating new or modified applications and infrastructure before they are deployed in production

As the network becomes more complex and more critical to the day-to-day-operation of the business, network performance related risks associated with application and infrastructure change are continuing to rise. In fact, some of the worst business interruptions that companies have historically experienced have not been the result of unexpected equipment failure. They've been the unexpected consequence of a planned modification. Networking teams must therefore implement change management best practices in '05 that prevent them from having to put out fires that they accidentally started themselves.

3) Improved troubleshooting of intermittent/transient network problems

One of the most frustrating things for a network manager is dealing with a problem that keeps disappearing before it can be adequately understood and remedied. However, as the business's tolerance for network interruptions continues to drop, these intermittent problems will become a bigger management issue. So this year, network management teams need to develop more effective methods for capturing transient network conditions and discovering the root causes of these problems.

4) Accelerated time-to-benefit for new and/or upgraded applications

When C-level executives decide to make investments in new applications and services, they want to see those investments pay off quickly. That's why the slow, staged production roll-outs of the past won't cut it anymore. Instead, networking teams need to be able to quickly deploy new applications across the enterprise. This can only happen if caution and uncertainty about the actual behavior of these applications in the production environment is replaced by confidence and certainty in '05.

5) More intelligent planning for and support of business growth

Network managers constantly have to cope with change. They have to determine how increases in network utilization will affect application performance. They have to decide how to best engineer the network to support business expansion, re-organization or mergers and acquisitions. However, they can only do so if they have an effective means of performing capacity planning tasks and assessing a full range of "what-if" scenarios. Such scenarios are also critical for formulating realistic contingency plans that can ensure business continuity under a variety of possible conditions.

Looking at these challenges, it quickly becomes evident that conventional production network management tools alone are no longer sufficient for today's networking teams. These tools are great for monitoring the production network and discovering certain types of problems but they don't enable network managers to validate new technologies and applications before they're deployed on the production network. They also force network managers to solve problems that should have been addressed in application design.

Conventional tools aren't very helpful for troubleshooting intermittent and/or transient network problems either, since they don't provide a means of reconstructing and analyzing such intermittent conditions. Nor do they help accelerate production roll-outs, facilitate experimentation with "what-if" scenarios, or support formulation of network contingency plans.

So what's an overworked, under-resourced network manager to do? The answer is to look at network modeling technologies. These technologies provide an environment in which new applications, technologies and problem-solving strategies can be safely and thoroughly evaluated. Because they allow an application's network behavior to be fully validated before it's deployed in the production environment, these technologies also empower network managers to perform more rapid, glitch-free roll-outs. Plus, modeling technologies are uniquely able to provide insight into any number of "what-if" scenarios so network managers can make plans for growth, corporate re-structuring and/or disaster recovery.

"Empirical" modeling solutions offer today's network management teams particularly excellent business value, because of their accuracy and relative ease of implementation. This accuracy and ease is achieved by running the actual applications against a model that uses captured conditions from the production environment. The result is a clear understanding of the user experience well ahead of deployment.

To learn more, visit www.shunra.com. Shunra empowers enterprise organizations and technology vendors to eliminate the risks associated with rolling out complex, distributed, applications and services. The Shunra Virtual Enterprise (Shunra VE) solution provides accurate, highly granular insight into how networked applications will function, perform and scale for remote end-users. It creates an exact replica of the production network environment, allowing users to safely develop, test and experiment with applications and infrastructure in a lab environment before deployment in production.

Amichai Lesser Bio

Amichai Lesser is the director of product marketing at Shunra Software, a company that delivers award-winning solutions that recreate a replica of any production network environment for testing the functionality, robustness, performance and scalability of applications and services - before rollout.

This article is copyrighted by Shunra. It may not be reproduced in whole or in part and may not be posted on other websites without the express written permission of the author who may be contacted via email at Shunra@digitalbrandexpressions.com.

Project Management I Want It All

2009-01-28T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Luc Richard

The knee-jerk response to prioritizing requirements is to mark everything as a must-have . "I need everything before the product becomes generally available. I want it ALL!" Give me a break.

Granted, if a requirement is written in the SRS, then it must be because you want it. But the reality is some features are more important than others and a good product manager can tell them apart.

If everything is high priority, then there are no priorities. Let me repeat that statement once more. If everything is high priority, then there are no priorities.

Unless this is your very first software project, you know that time is always a constraint. Combine an overly optimistic project schedule with a list of requirements that aren't prioritized, and what do you get? A team of developers that implement what they want, when they want.

You have a choice. You can (a) leave it up to the development team to pick and choose their favorite features to implement, or (b) give them a clear sense of direction by prioritizing the requirements. Have them start with the must-haves, followed by the nice-to-haves. When the project deadline comes up, you can decide to extend the project schedule to add a few more nice-to-haves, but you won't be forced to because your product will already include all of the must-have requirements that would make or break your sales. In other words, you're managing the schedule instead of letting the schedule manage you.

Wondering how to best prioritize requirements? Check out First Things First in The Project Mangler's archives.

Luc Richard is professional speaker and author with over 10 years of experience managing the development of software applications. He can be reached via The Project Mangler (http://www.projectmangler.com).

The Difference Between Typical Project Management And Six Sigma Project Management

2009-01-27T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Peter Peterka

The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) became an accepted standard (as established by the Project Management Institute) that is still widely used in many industries around the world. At a basic level, many of the methodologies advocated by PMBoK and Six Sigma have a great deal in common. Both seek to establish a sound plan; identify and communicate with stakeholders; conduct regular reviews; and manage schedule, cost, and resources.

Six Sigma is not just another project management initiative or process improvement program. Six Sigma is not just a new term for project management nor is it a mere repackaging of old concepts. It is more than that because it is a robust continuous improvement strategy and process that includes cultural and statistical methodologies. Six Sigma is complementary with existing project management programs and standards but differs in significant ways. Both disciplines seek to reduce failures, prevent defects, control costs and schedules, and manage risk. Generally, professional project management attempts to achieve these goals by encouraging best practices on a project-by-project basis, often through the mechanism of a project office that promulgates policy, provides templates and advice, promotes appropriate use of tools such as critical path method, and perhaps performs periodic project reviews.

Too many project management methods have failed not because they weren't adding value but because you couldn't measure the effectiveness of the methodology or quantify the value added by process changes. Six Sigma provides a structured data-driven methodology with tools and techniques that companies can use to measure their performance both before and after Six Sigma projects. Using Six Sigma, management can measure the baseline performance of their processes and determine the root causes of variations so they can improve their processes to meet and exceed the desired performance levels.

Six Sigma allows managers to take their projects to new levels of discipline and comprehensive commitment. For standard project management ideas, you can approach them ad hoc and implement them as you learn them. You can't do Six Sigma halfheartedly, and that is a good thing. Six Sigma is not for dabblers. You can't implement it piecemeal. If you're in, you're in deep, and you're in for the long haul. Again, that is a good thing because that level of commitment not only gets everyone involved and keeps them involved but also leads to more substantial and far-reaching change in your processes.

There are many challenges facing project managers: data gathering and analysis, problem solving, understanding and evaluating existing processes, developing and tracking measurements in a standardized manner, and making quantitative evaluations. Six Sigma methodology provides tools and techniques to help a manager be successful in all of these challenges. This success is accomplished by means of understanding what the methodology is, how it is applied, and how it used.

Six Sigma is not simply another supplement to an organization's existing management methods. It is a complementary management methodology that is integrated into and replaces the existing ways of determining, analyzing, and resolving/avoiding problems, as well as achieving business and customer requirements objectively and methodically. Six Sigma can be applied to operational management issues, or it can directly support strategic management development and implementation. Six Sigma's set of tools are more broadly applicable than those commonly applied within typical project management. Six Sigma is more oriented toward solutions of problems at their root cause and prevention of their recurrence rather than attempting to control potential causes of failure on a project-by-project basis.

The breadth, depth, and precision of Six Sigma also differentiate it from typical project management. Six Sigma has a well-defined project charter that outlines the scope of a project, financial targets, anticipated benefits, milestones, etc. It's based on hard financial data and savings. In typical project management, organizations go into a project without fully knowing what the financial gains might be. Six Sigma has a solid control phase (DMAIC: Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) that makes specific measurements, identifies specific problems, and provides specific solutions that can be measured.

Six Sigma is a robust continuous improvement strategy and process that includes cultural methodologies such as Total Quality Management (TQM), process control strategies such as Statistical Process Control (SPC), and other important statistical tools. When done correctly, Six Sigma becomes a way toward organization and cultural development, but it is more than a set of tools. Six Sigma is the strategic and systematic application of the tools on targeted important projects at the appropriate time to bring about significant and lasting change in an organization as a whole.

Peter Peterka is President of Six Sigma us. For additional information on Six Sigma Green Belt or other Six Sigma Certification project programs contact Peter Peterka.

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 has successfully developed Six Sigma deployment strategies and training for Product and Process Development, Manufacturing and Business Process Improvement. His broad experience across many technologies helped him gain insight on how to apply Six Sigma methods to Business Processes.

Tales From The Corporate Frontlines Senior Management And Directional Change

2009-01-26T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Josh Greenberg

This article relates to the Senior/Top Level management of an organization, and how a huge vision of directional change translates into the day-to-day operation of the company. AlphaMeasure defines senior management as the team of individuals at the highest level who have the day-to-day responsibilities of operating the organization. For many employees, this competency will target the managers occupying positions above their immediate supervisors. This competency covers topics such as strategic leadership, corporate vision, and corporate direction. Evaluating this competency can be especially useful in understanding how much your workforce favors the present direction of the organization.

This short story, Senior Management and Directional Change, is part of AlphaMeasure's compilation, Tales from the Corporate Frontlines. It illustrates how undertaking a drastic directional change within a company requires planning, engagement, and honest evaluation by the top levels of management, those who are ultimately responsible for the implementation of the changes.

Anonymous Submission

When a company decides to change direction in a major way to increase profits and change with the prevailing business climate, change often begins at the top. Our company decided to change its marketing strategy significantly, nearly two years ago. Our main product was extremely service oriented, so it made sense to focus marketing efforts on the Internet, rather than the time-honored methods of TV ads and heavy direct mail.

This meant strategic restructuring- nothing drastic at the worker level, or even at middle management. But at the top level, there was a definite lack of expertise in the area of Internet marketing. Some on the executive team who were most responsible for day- to -day marketing operations not only disagreed with the decision to change strategy; they were also extremely vocal about their reservations.

We waited patiently to see how the parent company executive team would handle the situation. It was no surprise when the objectors were asked to leave. After their departure, responsibilities were restructured to give those in charge of the change maximum resources with which to accomplish the task. As the work proceeded, streamlining eliminated various positions, and certain workers were given responsibility for projects quite unlike anything they'd worked on before. Some training was offered, but apparently not enough. After a few years, it became obvious that the vision for change in marketing strategy was unsuccessful.

A team was assembled to investigate why the effort had failed. It was determined that top level management simply did not have the in depth knowledge and expertise in Internet marketing that was required. The company had removed the workers that were deemed non-essential to the plan, but this was not enough. Top management had not pressed hard enough to properly train those left to handle the transition. Expecting middle management and below to know and handle what the top level did not had deeply wounded the entire transition effort. Our investigation team determined that there was a genuine lack of experience and recommended intense training and education efforts as well as the hiring of highly experienced personnel in key areas. These recommendations were followed, but not before our company learned a tough lesson about top management's role in turning a broad vision for change into day to day reality.

This article may be reprinted, provided it is published in its entirety, includes the author bio information, and all links remain active.

Measure. Report. Improve your organization with an AlphaMeasure employee satisfaction survey.

Josh Greenberg is President of AlphaMeasure, Inc.

AlphaMeasure provides organizations of all sizes a powerful web based method for measuring employee satisfaction, determining employee engagement, and increasing employee retention.

Launch your employee surveys with AlphaMeasure.

Call Centres Customer Or Internal Metric Focus

2009-01-25T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Kevin Dwyer

"Your call is important to us. We will attend to you as soon as we can". One wonders sometimes what is more important to call centres, the call or the customer. In most call centres, customers wait for a few minutes at the end of a telephone line for an answer from an individual who is governed by a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that has more to do with the efficiency of the call centre than satisfying the needs of the customer.

Call centres which fall into the trap of providing a cost focus on single calls tend to be driven by an operational focus over the strategic role in the business of the organisation. They tend to become a law unto themselves with few people in the leadership team taking an active and detailed interest in their role.

Call centres are put in place to improve customer experience and thereby develop increased repeat business for the organisation for which they are providing that service. Using technology to deliver better services at about one tenth the cost of delivering the same services across a counter means the case for developing a call centre in an organisation with a high level of transactions is usually very compelling.

Call centres therefore should have a strong strategic focus. Their focus should, in a commercial environment, be about customers, not calls. They should concern themselves with the retention, annual value, life time value, total numbers and profitability of customers.

In taking a customer view, organisations then would concern themselves in an operational sense with customer access, customer identification, customer issue identification, customer routing, consultant skills, data availability and escalation policy to ensure that customer's issues are resolved first time.

The operational requirements of the number of calls, the average time for calls, consultant attendance, consultant turnover for example, need to be considered as part of the budgeting and reporting mechanism, not as the drivers of the call centres reason for being.

However, forgetting what they are there for, call centres can become mesmerised by the need for efficiency in dealing with a single call rather than effectively dealing with each customer. As a result, the overall efficiency in dealing with their entire customer base over a period such as a year is anything up to fifty percent less than it otherwise could be. Service levels, in the customer's mind, are similarly anything up to eighty percent less than they could be.

An example of how concentration on call centre operational metrics increases costs and reduces customer service can be found in the number of repeat calls a call centre receives. From studies and personal experience, I know that most call centres that I consult with will have approximately thirty percent of calls being repeat calls. The reason for the majority of those repeat calls is that the customer did not have their issue resolved. The need that caused them to call in the first place was not satisfied.

Satisfying needs in the first place or in call centre jargon, achieving first time resolution, can reduce overall labour costs by thirty percent. From my experience achieving ten or twenty percent is quite achievable. The corollary is of course that users of the call centre's services are more satisfied with the service provided thereby improving the perception of the organisation called. Happier customers and lower costs, which organisation would not want that?

One of the root causes for these repeat calls is when consultants feel so obliged to meet an average call handling time that has been set as a target. I once was calling my bank in Melbourne from London to enquire about why the bank had transferred money out of my account into the account of another person I did not know. After three minutes on the phone, not getting very far, I was told that I would have to hang up as the consultant had reached the limit of their time allotted to a phone call!

This was an extreme case. In my experience however, this pressure is felt at consultant level in most call centres, even as an unintended consequence of a well meant set of operational KPIs. The result is that customers do not get satisfaction and do make a repeat call, a more irate one!

With the growing presence of internal and external call centres in Fiji, an opportunity beckons to provide a better service and be more effective and efficient for it. To do so, call centres need to see themselves as being a strategic part of an organisation's business, not just operational.

Call centres must not allow operational focus to obliterate strategic focus. Call centres must understand how they are the means to providing better value for an organisation's customers, not just the end by which an organisation cuts costs.

Kevin Dwyer is Director of Change Factory. Change Factory helps organisations who do do not like their business outcomes to get better outcomes by changing people's behaviour. Businesses we help have greater clarity of purpose and ability to achieve their desired business outcomes. To learn more visit http://www.changefactory.com.au or email kevin.dwyer@changefactory.com.au ©2006 Change Factory

To see more articles visit http://www.changefactory.com.au

Important Features Of Business Improvement Programs

2009-01-24T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Groshan Fabiola

There are various reliable training centers on the World Wide Web that allow business owners to actively participate to various professional Business Improvement Programs. Such professional training programs account for a wide range of features including business management, innovative sales and marketing strategies, as well as long-term business planning strategies. Solid Business Improvement Programs are aimed at debating both the basics and the subtleties of proper business management, accounting for all relevant aspects regarding profitability, the customer-employee relation, the development of strategies for achieving short-term and long-term goals and so on.

The extended curriculum provided by professional Business Improvement Programs renders such training courses appropriate for any business owner, regardless of the previous level of training in the branch. While inexperienced business owners can rapidly assimilate valuable information regarding proper business management and marketing solutions, well-trained business owners can further enhance their knowledge and acquire a set of innovative strategies for boosting the profitability and the longevity of their business.

A complete Business Improvement Program can actually guarantee success in virtually any type of business. Considering the fact that all businesses share similar characteristics, following common patterns of development, a reliable Business Improvement Program can enhance the potential of any business, regardless of its nature, size and market position. Structured on multiple levels, Business Improvement Programs rigorously explore and debate a wide range of subjects related to business planning, management, and development, familiarizing attendants with the entire process of running a business.

Professional Business Improvement Programs are taught by the best professionals in the branch, allowing attendants to acquire vital information regarding proper business management. The training programs are well-structured and contain comprehensive materials, stimulating and facilitating the process of learning. Unlike self-study oriented programs, professional Business Improvement Programs involve active participation, allowing attendants to interact with both "business coaches" and the other trainees. In addition, people who participate to Business Improvement Programs are encouraged to freely express their ideas and confront their opinions with other business owners. Business coaches offer prompt and extended feed-back, ensuring that all participants understand the issues discussed during the program.

It is important to note that Business Improvement Programs are not solely focused on theoretical courses. Professional programs often include seminaries and laboratories which are aimed at developing a set of practical, managerial, negotiation and interaction skills and abilities, crucial in the process of achieving and maintaining a successful business.

By attending to a professional Business Improvement Program, business owners can rapidly assimilate a complete set of knowledge and practical abilities, vital in the process of management. With the help of such training programs, business owners can effectively increase sales by implementing new marketing strategies and by attracting new potential customers to their business. Thanks to their proved efficiency and reliability, Business Improvement Programs are recommended by thousands of business owners worldwide!

So, if you want to find more information about Business Improvement Program, we recommend you clicking this link.

Company Liability Hostile Sexual Harassment Environment

2009-01-23T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Rhonda Goetz

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, national origin, and sex.

Federal sexual harassment law is broken into two categories: Quid Pro Quo and Hostile Sexual Environment. This article looks at Hostile Environment.

A Hostile Environment occurs when unwelcome sexual conduct ruins an employee's work environment.

When this occurs the behavior or its effect unreasonably interferes with work performance and/or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment either at work or at company-sponsored events.

The behavior must be unwelcome and in most cases repeated.

Types of harassment includes:

sexually explicit jokes, pinups, or graffiti
vulgar statements and sounds
abusive language
indirect sexual comments
overt sexual conduct

It is important to note that with this type of harassment, it doesn't matter whether the behavior was intended to be harassing or flattering. The harassment is always defined by the victim. If the victim finds the behavior unwelcome, regardless of the intent, then it is harassment.

The courts have held employers liable in cases that involved supervisors, other employees, and/or customers or vendors.

Court Case

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a settlement with London International Group, LLC (LIG) in a lawsuit charging the Eufaula-based plant, which manufactures condoms, with subjecting a class of employees to a hostile work environment in which they have been subjected to numerous racially and sexually derogatory cartoons and comments since 1995.

Award: $625,000 in monetary damages

For more on other types of Sexual Harassment, read about Sexual Favoritism or Sexual Harassment by Non-Employees.

Protect your business from this type of harassment. Make sure your employees are well-trained in harassment and discrimination prevention and awareness.

Rhonda Goetz
Chrome Zebra, Inc.
Helping Employers Prevent Harassment and Discrimination Lawsuits
866.241.9927
http://www.chromezebra.com
Online Human Resource Trainng

Rhonda Goetz is the owner and CEO of Chrome Zebra. She also is an authorized harassment and discrimination trainer and online instructional designer.

Her online courses provide businesses with an alternate training method that saves time and money. Employees train at their desks or workstations, and can train anytime. Businesses no longer have to lose production time to large training seminars, or hire expensive consultants or be locked into a set training schedule. Online training is cost-effective as well, per employee cost is approximately $25 or less for each employee.

Get the F.ree 10 Tips to Prevent Sexual Harassment, sign up here.

How Productive Are You

2009-01-22T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Mike Myatt

Let's face it...Productivity is the standard by which most of us are judged in the business world. At the end of the day, in most business environments your destiny is likely to come down to a "what have you done for me lately" type of evaluation. My question to you is this...Are you as productive as you think you are, or even as productive as you used to be? In today's blog post I'll share my thoughts about the things that adversely affect your ability to produce as well as some of the key items that can leverage your ability to optimize productivity.

Even though entrepreneurs and executives are typically bright, talented and motivated people known for being highly productive, studies have shown that most professionals, when objectively assessed, are found to view themselves as being more productive than they really are. This is even true with the classic over-achieving type "A" personalities. So, what separates the productive from the non-productive? In working with countless executives and entrepreneurs it has been my experience that those professionals who like to cover a lot of ground and consider themselves masters of multi-tasking are not nearly as productive as those who have an ability to focus (see previous post entitled "The Power of Focus").

OK...Let's examine an all too common scenario: You have 30 minutes before the beginning of a strategy meeting which you are facilitating, and as you start to prepare your final thoughts you receive an e-mail from legal asking you to review the latest version of an important contract before you go into the meeting. As you begin to redline the contract you receive an IM from the CEO asking for your immediate attention on a key issue. As you start to respond to the CEO your assistant informs you that an important client is on the phone and needs to speak with you immediately...As you begin to take the phone call you glance out your window only to see a small line forming outside your door, and just then your Blackberry goes-off with a 911 from your wife...

The sad part about the aforementioned illustration is that for many executives this is standard operating procedure. The pressure to become a multi-tasking phenom is in my opinion at the root of a decline in executive productivity. Multi-tasking in my opinion is choosing to deal with perceived "urgent" matters rather than focusing on truly "important" matters. My father once told me that "part-time efforts yield part-time results" and I have found that with rare exception his premise is correct.

In the scenario presented above it is likely that this fictional executive would not have been properly prepared for his meeting, missed a key business point in reviewing the contract, sent the CEO an indiscernible IM full of typos, upset his important client by not giving him/her the deserved amount of respect and attention, frustrated the co-workers lined-up outside his door and more than likely would have ended-up sleeping on the couch because he forgot to return his wife's phone call.

It is impossible to kind-of, sort-of, almost focus and still be productive. If you find yourself constantly multi-tasking you are exhibiting a lack of focus, an inability to prioritize and regardless of what you think you are not optimizing your productivity. The first step in dealing with an addiction is to recognize it exists in the first place. Technology can be a beautiful thing but only if you learn to be its master and not its slave. Without question the most successful executives I know are the ones that can prioritize, delegate, focus and say "no." Learning to stop trying to conquer the world on your own is what leads to a certainty of execution and an increase in productivity.

Mike Myatt is the Chief Strategy Officer at N2growth. N2growth is a leading venture growth consultancy providing a unique array of professional services to high growth companies on a venture based business model. The rare combination of branding and corporate identity services, capital formation assistance, market research and business intelligence, sales and product engineering, leadership development and talent management, as well as marketing, advertising and public relations services make N2growth the industry leader in strategic growth consulting. More information about the company can be found at http://www.N2growth.com or by viewing http://www.N2growth.com/blog

Decisions How Close Are You To A 100 Strike Rate

2009-01-21T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Eric Garner

Managers, team leaders and their staff can take as many as a hundred or more decisions in the course of a day, each day and every day. Many of these decisions are, of course, no more than automatic responses to familiar situations in which they have to choose between two or three options. However, from time to time, we all have to take decisions on which the course of our future and that of others depends. Then, it is a question of making sure they are right. Here are 6 principles to guide you in right decision-making.

1. Time Them. There are two traps which people fall into when making decisions: making them too soon and making them too late. Some people make decisions too swiftly and without due thought. This may be because they are uncomfortable with the tension that is created when a decision has to be made but they don't have all the information needed. Instead of living with tension, they make the decision before time. Other people delay making decisions because they fear making a mistake or fear the changes that will result. The best decisions are hot-iron decisions: those that are well-timed, which you make when the iron is hot and the time is right.

2. Align Them. The more decisions you make consciously, the more you can align them with your goals and purposes. Studies show that the average person makes 612 decisions a day. Each one takes us closer or further from our ultimate goals in life. In a week, that means 4,900 decisions. In a year, 254,800. Results are cumulative. Strategic thinking means looking at how your decisions today affect your tomorrows. When your decisions are in alignment with what's important to you, then life becomes meaningful, productive and delightful.

3. Balance Them.There are three balancing acts to be aware of in taking a good decision. They are:
Care and not care. Do all your worrying before the decision and once a decision has been taken, stop worrying.
Think and act. Too much thinking puts off the action; too much action may be at the expense of thought. Seek the right balance.
Look before you leap and leap before you look. See the possible risks of your decision but, once decided, take the plunge with courage.

4. Act When You Have To. You should only make decisions when you have to. Here are five "don'ts" to guide you.
DON'T make a decision unless you have two or more equally valid options.
DON'T make a decision if it's somebody else's responsibility.
DON'T make a decision unless there is disagreement.
DON'T make a decision about irrelevant matters.
DON'T make a decision if it can't be turned into action. "If there's one thing I've learned in politics, it is: never make a decision until you have to." (Margaret Thatcher)

5. Don't Decide Without Acting. Eric Aronson tells this riddle: If 5 birds are sitting on a wire and one of them decides to fly away, how many are left? The answer is five. One bird's decision to fly away does not mean it did! Theodore Roosevelt said that the worst thing you could do when you have to make a decision is to do nothing. Even if you make a wrong decision, the very making of it and the learning from it are steps forward. As Frederick Langbridge added, "If you don't follow through on a decision, someone else will pick it up and use it. When you make a decision, jump in with both feet, don't just stick your toe in the water. Be daring, be fearless, and don't be afraid that somebody is going to criticize you or laugh at you. If your ego is not involved, no one can hurt you."

6. Keep Your Decision Under Review. Decisions are a mix of what we currently want (goals); what we currently know (information); what we believe (outcomes); and what we can do (actions). There is no guarantee that any of these will stay the same or that they will come right. No decision is perfect. This is because
half-way through the implementation of a decision we may realise we don't want to achieve the goal after all.
after taking a decision, we may stumble across more information which, had we had it before, would have totally changed our decision.
since outcomes depend on an educated guess about the future, we might guess wrong.
a successful decision depends as much on motivation and skill in implementation as on getting it right.

Nobody who regularly makes important decisions affecting the lives of others will tell you hand on heart that they get it right every time. Decision-taking is more of an art than a science. But practice, and learning from our results, may at least take us closer down the road to a 100% strike rate.

For instant solutions to all your management training needs, visit http://www.managetrainlearn.com and download amazing FREE training software. And while you're there, make sure you try out our prize quiz, get your surprise bonus gift, and subscribe to our fortnightly newsletter. Go and get the ManageTrainLearn experience now!

Invite Selfmanaged Staff

2009-01-20T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Linda LaPointe

"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being." -Goethe

Two hundred years ago, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, German poet and philosopher, knew how to inspire and interact with others: recognize the best in them and act upon those positive expectations. This takes conscious effort and constant vigilance to be self-aware of our actions. And we owe our fellow human beings nothing less. Successful supervisors live this sentiment daily in their connections with their fellow human beings. They believe in the basic goodness of people and consciously act upon their beliefs in every contact, every day. These staffers guide the people with whom they work toward self-esteem, self-confidence and self-determination.

Effective supervisors, those who develop staff who are trusted, productive and stable, assist them to become what they are capable of: self-managed, productive and trusted. This requires a combination of the best of 'soft' skills, or how we treat people, and 'hard' skills, or how we engage and support their capabilities.

Supervisors are stronger in one of these skills than in another, but the best supervisors become good at both and make a conscious effort toward a balance. The following ABC's make an immediate and measurable change in the workplace. The A's and B's, or act and believe, are the soft skills in practice, and the C, or coaching, employs the hard skills.

A's & B's: Actions and Beliefs

The seven back to basics beliefs which help us treat people the way Goethe intended:

People are important and deserve respect.
Ordinary people can perform extraordinarily.
People deserve to be trusted.
People are good and want to do a good job.
People are self-motivated.
It is our job to assist others to grow and become "stars".
Supervising is a humbling experience.

Wasn't it your mother who said, actions speak louder than words? Our beliefs dictate our actions, but most of us are too busy to really take each of these and hold them up to the light, inspecting their every attribute and power. We do business as usual without reconsidering our commonly accepted behaviors toward employees.

Do our actions unequivocally manifest positive beliefs? Do our actions demonstrate that we believe that staff are trustworthy, or do we lock up our supplies? Do we act as if frontline staff are the most important worker in our organization because they do the work for which the company is paid, or do we interrupt a meeting with them to take a call or make them wait for us to arrive for an appointment? Do we hover over their work or insult them with insignificant gifts or raises? Do we recognize them for their daily efforts or thank them for being at their work station so we don't have to do their job on any given day? Do we educate them in the business side of the company and ask them for their opinion in big decisions?

These soft skills and actions make the difference between humane or harsh workplaces, between bosses to whom staff will be loyal or bosses who staff plan to leave. All actions articulate our beliefs.

C: Coach as Leader, Manager and Supervisor

The workplace coach functions as leader, manager, and supervisor to support and elicit exceptional performance. Each of these three roles has distinct behaviors, intent, and purpose. The coach as leader: The leader imparts philosophy to create and support care-full staff. Philosophy is the only signpost to give guidance in unanticipated situations. Every coach must lead by imparting philosophy. Vigorously ask & answer "why" questions such as, Why does the company exist? Why does the world and our community need us? Why do we choose to join this endeavor? Why do we do something this way instead of that way? Every one of us wants to aspire to a higher purpose. To be part of something greater than ourselves fulfills our desire to belong and provides us with an important place where we can make a difference in this world.

The coach as manager: The manager conveys knowledge to create and support staff who are mind-full and power-full. The coach in the role of manager answers "what" questions. What business are we in? What do we do to fulfill our purpose? What difference do we make to our customers? What are our goals? What are our expected customer outcomes and business objectives?

The coach as supervisor: The supervisor establishes structure to support staff who are success-full. The coach as supervisor answers "how "questions: How do we do our business? How do we meet our goals? How is this task or activity performed and how do I prove it? How will we know when we get it right?

A good coach supports direct-care staff who are care-full, mind-full, power-full and success-full through imparting knowledge, philosophy, and structure. Goethe gave us the answer to creating humane human service workplaces 200 years ago.

Act, believe and coach your way to being a supervisor who staff will admire and want to work with. Focus on these basic ABC's, to develop a solid team of skilled, self-managed and stable employees.

About The Author

Linda LaPointe, MRA, has trained thousands in these simple but powerful practices. More free articles and pages from her book can be seen at http://www.thenewsupervisor.com; lapointell@yahoo.com

Taking Responsibility For Your Own Career Development How To Make The Most Of It Part 2

2009-01-19T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by John Schonegevel

In Part One we concentrated on how to build a career that meets your personal aspirations, drivers and values. In this part of the article, we'll concentrate on the other key requirement for effective career development - your organisation's needs.

Identifying your firm's needs

It is clear that most organisations have higher expectations of performance than ever before. Standards are both more important and often less clear. At the same time, the traditional measure of good performance - job promotion - is no longer a viable gauge.

Although professionals are expected to focus on growing within their current roles, rather than on looking for the next promotion, most of us do not have an alternative way of discussing or conceptualising our development in terms of role growth.

One powerful model for achieving this is the Four Stages Model developed by Gene Dalton and Paul Thompson whilst professors at Harvard University. Dalton and Thompson were originally asked to investigate performance at a large electronics firm. This organisation tracked engineers' performance over time. Their data made it clear that expectations of individual performance change as people move through their careers. While some engineers continued to be rated as high performers throughout their careers, the majority received progressively lower ratings, even though the work they did remained the same in absolute terms. As Dalton and Thompson continued their research it became clear that the differences could be explained by four stages of development. Subsequent research with groups of professionals and managers from other sectors confirmed their initial findings.

The progression identified by the two professors is independent of position on the organisation chart. It explains why two people with the same job descriptions may be valued differently by their firm. However to be a high performer in the latter stages depends on mastering the early stages. Thus the Four Stages provides a powerful road-map for understanding the long-term expectations organisations have of their employees.

The Four Stages of Contribution Stage 1; Contributing Dependently or The Apprentice

Stage 2; Contributing Independently

Stage 3; Contributing through Others

Stage 4; Contributing Strategically

Stage 1 contributors accept direction, establish basic competence and learn the ropes. While people who do this early in their careers are seen as highly effective, those who continue to depend on others for direction after several years are seen as contributing less than their peers who enter Stage 2 by becoming technical experts.

In the same manner, those independent experts who fail to broaden their perspectives and to develop others will in time, be perceived as less valuable, unless they are brilliant enough to contribute as much on their own as their Stage 3 colleagues do by contributing through others.

Those who are able to develop Stage 4 characteristics of having the vision and credibility to influence organisational direction are perceived as being the most valued by leaders in the organisation.

One of the many interesting and useful findings from the research is that most of the people who perform Stage 3 functions are not in formal management roles; for every manager in Stage 3, there are at least three non-managers performing similar leadership roles.

The implications for career development

The Four Stages Model describes values that have existed in companies for decades. However understanding the model has become extremely important for all those interested in appreciating how to develop their own careers.

Moving from one stage to the next increases an individual's ability to contribute, it increases their value to their employer and leads to increased job satisfaction.

Understanding the process of making this move gives us all more control over our own development as well as a providing a roadmap for increasing our contribution and future success throughout our career. This in turn increases the likelihood that valued employees will stay with their current employer, with all the attendant benefits for both parties.

Further research shows that moving from one stage to the next, especially between Stages 2 and 3 and from Stage 3 to Stage 4 is difficult for most people to achieve without the additional support, coaching and development capabilities provided by enlightened leaders and employers.

Is yours one?

John Schonegevel John (Skoonie) Schonegevel is passionate about people. About how to help them live fulfilling lives at work. About how to create and sustain organisations in which people are able to give of their very best. Organisations where culture and practice encourages personal responsibility and enables every individual to be engaged, enthusiastic and effective. Because organisations need more people like this. You can share and swap ideas with him through his website http://www.new-frontiers.co.uk.

Skoonie is a director of New Frontiers, behavioural change specialists and Novations Consulting Partners.

Employee Satisfaction Surveys

2009-01-18T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Eric Morris

Employee satisfaction has become a very important determinant of a company's productivity. Employees are demanding more and more from their organization in exchange for their services. Employee turnover is very high in most industries, and retaining good talented employees has become an arduous task for even the best companies across the world today.

Every company is faced with the challenge of understanding what drives employees most. Satisfied employees not only remain with the company but are more productive. They are also loyal and are most likely to recommend their company's products and services whenever and wherever possible. They would also help the company to attract the best talent for future recruitment.

Almost every company conducts employee satisfaction surveys now and then to feel the pulse of the employees. The most relevant and important aspects that need to be covered in an employee satisfaction survey questionnaire are: the employee's understanding of the company's mission and long-term strategy; the employee's confidence in the company's leadership; the employee's understanding of his/her role in the company; the importance the employee gives to authority and responsibility in his/her job and the extent to which these needs are satisfied; the employee's trust in the company's culture; the employee's idea about the system of communication within the company; the morale, team spirit and professionalism in the company; the employee's relations with the supervisor/peers/management; the extent to which the company satisfies the employee's explicit as well as implicit needs such compensation, training and development, vacation and other benefits, personal accomplishments, recognition, empowerment, job security, appreciation and encouragement, and so on. Open-ended questions such as "what is the best thing about working for this company" or "what do you dislike most in the company?" are very useful in understanding the exact cause of satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

The questionnaires also generally contain other questions such as the employee's annual income, age, sex, personal details about the family, marital status, the department working in, previous employment record and others. These are useful in analyzing the data more accurately.

However, most companies do not pressure employees to provide these details if the employee is not comfortable with it. It is also very important that the answers are kept highly confidential so that they are not used against the employee.

The questionnaire should be ideally small enough to take around 20-30 minutes of the employee's time, easy to understand and open enough to encourage additional comments or suggestions. The surveys can be conducted on paper or online. Online surveys are faster, cheaper, and are found to have a high response rate. They are also easy to interpret, as comments written by hand on paper are sometimes difficult to decipher.

Generally, employee satisfaction surveys are conducted by the HR department, but these days, companies are outsourcing them to third-party survey agencies which are able to provide unbiased as well as expert advice on the survey results. There are many companies today that are offering comprehensive employee satisfaction survey services professionally.

Employee Surveys provides detailed information on Employee Surveys, Employee Satisfaction Surveys, Employee Exit Surveys, Employee Attitude Surveys and more. Employee Surveys is affiliated with Online Surveys.

Medical Billing Homebased Business Opportunities

2009-01-17T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Michael Russell

In some cases, opportunities for a home-based business in the medical billing field can be a scam. There are many ads appearing on the internet, in addition to ads in the classified sections of newspapers that lure people into the idea they will make good money working at home, filing claims for doctors.

Beware of these ads until you have thoroughly checked them out. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned against these advertised business opportunities and has also brought charges against these scammers for misrepresenting not only the possible earnings, but also, not informing the person of the investment required to start this home business.

Claims of $20,000 to $45,000 a year earnings potential is normally what is promised in these ads. In many cases, people assume they are applying for a job, as their ads will be listed in the 'help wanted' classified section. Some ads will claim you need no previous experience - just simply purchase their software and this will set you up in business!

The cost of this software varies from $300 to $500 and it's claimed there are instructions in the software on how to process claims; plus, this software will contain a list of clients (doctors) who are looking for someone to do this type of work for them. Usually, this list of clients is bogus and completely useless.

The general rule in paying up-front money to anyone is to be sure you know who you are paying it to and this rule would apply in this case.

They will tell anyone who calls their toll-free number, in answer to their ad, that processing medical claims is a very thriving business allowing for them to earn good money. They also inform people that there are many doctors who are in search of medical billing processors.

Be aware, most doctors either contract their medical billing services out to established firms or they have an in-house staff who does this work for them. Thus, it takes time and a lot of work to acquire doctors as clients who will put their trust in someone working from home.

To verify a medical billing business opportunity, ask for references of other people who have bought and used their system. Several names are required to allow you to talk with a few people to get a true sense of the validity of the business opportunity. If only a couple of names are offered, beware, as these people could be 'plants' working for the scammer.

Definitely, do some research on medical billing to determine how lucrative it is and how much need there is for this type of work. Check to see what kind of training is required and how much training it takes to do this. There are medical billing businesses in various communities that could answer some of your questions. Sometimes, doctors will be available to advise on this, also.

Checking with your state's Attorney General's office is always a good idea, when dealing with a company not familiar to you. They will be able to tell you if there have been any complaints filed against this company, but, keep in mind, just because there haven't been complaints, doesn't mean the company is on the up-and-up. These scamming companies are constantly moving and changing their names to hide the unsettled complaints against them.

Bottom line - it's always best to consult an attorney to look over the contract and advise whether it is best for you to proceed.

Don't let the possibility of being scammed prevent you from starting a home-based business in the medical billing field, as there are legitimate opportunities out there.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Medical Billing

Oltp Vs Dss Systems

2009-01-16T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Kostis Panayotakis

Information systems are classified into two major categories, according to international developments: A. On-line transactional processing systems (also called operational systems)

B. Decision support systems (DSS)

Α. On-line transactional processing systems OLTPs are systems which serve transactions with suppliers, partners and customers, as well as internal business transactions. They support operations throughout the value chain of the Organization:

Supply Chain Management (SCM)
Production support (e.g. MRP, Advanced Planning & Scheduling)
Customer interface management (e.g. sales, order management and billing) (CRM)
Finance and Accounting (ERP)
Sales force automation
Web channel operations (eCRM)
Internal workflow support systems

Β. Decision support systems DSS provide management at all levels of the Organisation, with information which supports understanding of the current Business position and taking informed decisions (fact based management). OLTP vs DSS systems Even though OLTP (on-line transactional processing) and DSS (decision support systems) functionalities may overlap (e.g. an OLTP system may provide some operational reporting functionality used for decision support), it is clear that the purpose of the 2 categories differs, given that they serve different functions and different User groups in the Business. Therefore the development philosophy of the two categories differs radically. Specifically, differences are identified on the following criteria (1 for OLTP, 2 for DSS): System functional requirements:

Clearly specified given that the system serves specific functional needs the predetermined transactions
the determination of a complete requirement set is a challenge, given that there are dynamically changing informational requirements.

Capture of current and historical information:

Current state information is captured (some historical data may exist only to serve potential future transactions)
Recent and historical information is captured (current may not be captured, given that data from the OLTP are retrieved at regular intervals)

Data models used:

Complex, focused on business entities (in terms of relational databases it is called normalized data structure (e.g. 3NF))
Different approaches exist. The simplified denormalised dimensional structure gains momentum, since it allows easier understanding by business users and optimized execution of complex queries.

Information level of detail:

Detailed data per transaction are kept
Detailed data are kept in a different structure and are enriched by 'dimensional' information which allows analytical processing. Moreover, aggregated data like KPIs (key performance indicators), are calculated and stored in persistent storage.

Volume of data:

The volume of data is relevant to the size of the Business and the penetration of IT in it.
The data volume handled by a DSS, is multiple of that of the OLTP systems on which it is based, given that it maintains multiple historical snapshots

Material relevant to business intelligence can be found at www.pleroforea.com

Work Environment Tidbits

2009-01-15T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Jeremiah P. Huck

Color is a big factor effecting all indoor environments. Since most of us spend many hours each day at work, the coloring of the space has a big impact on us. Monotone color schemes can over charge certain personality and behavioral patterns. The color grey can cause depression and frequent change, leading to coping actions like drinking alcohol. Too much grey [ a common business/office main color ] can also lead to unclear thoughts and actions. Sometimes in life and business things need to be simply black and white, clear and simple! The best solution to this problem is to introduce many colors into the work space. Even small items of varied colors can do wonders, so add some to the work-business space and watch the changes.

When getting dressed for work/business each morning wear the colors that are not in the work place......that way your colors become a part of the environment, effecting both you and all those around you........you become a balancer for the colors missing at work....try it.
Stay grounded all day! That means that no matter what is going on around you [ you can't always control that stuff ] you are not so effected. This way you stay stable and help stabilize an often highly charged emotional situation. Staying grounded means to keep both feet on the floor ....no matter what happens! This can be real hard to do since many people around you will try to pull you off balance [ ungrounded ], just keep trying this and you will get better at it.
See your job/business and work place as both mundane and sacred at the same time. That means to do the job and work the space in practical ways while understanding that there is more going on then meets the surface of things. That life and work is all holy and sacred.....not just when you go to church, etc. This helps to bring a higher level of order and purpose to all you do...you tend to get better results in everything. Try it!
Keep the space clean and clear. This sounds too simple to be of real value but this is not true! Try it and watch the results........
Good luck!
The Business Shaman

Jerry is a former psychotherapist and is currently a professional shaman. He publishes an online magazine and newsletter dealing with shamanism and holism as they apply to life and business. You can reach the magazine at this address: http://www.jeremiahhuck.workzsites.com

How To Lead An Effective Meeting

2009-01-14T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Steve Kaye

Leaders determine the success of every event. Here's how to lead a meeting.

1) Open the meeting by reviewing the goals, outcomes, and activities. This helps everyone work with you to accomplish what you want.

2) Start the meeting by describing the culture you expect during the meeting. For example, you might say, "I value all of your ideas. I want you to think creatively because we need powerful solutions to this issue."

3) Compliment the participants during the meeting. Brief praise such as, "Thanks," "Good idea," or "Excellent," will motive the participants to work with you.

4) Maintain a safe, positive working environment. Harsh, predatory cultures inhibit creative thinking. Insist on respect.

5) During the meeting, remind the participants how much time has been budgeted for each activity.

6) Present each issue in the form of a specific question. This focuses thinking on specific solutions. For example, ask, "What could cause Unit #2 to produce 5% more defects?" This is far more effective than saying, "Let's talk about Unit #2."

7) Maintain a state of benevolent urgency. You want to push just hard enough to make the participants aware of offering high value comments. And you want to allow enough time for adequate consideration of an issue before making a decision.

8) After completing a major part of the meeting, summarize what the group accomplished. This celebrates the achievement, reminds everyone what they finished, and formally ends the activity.

9) Introduce each part of the meeting by stating the goal for that issue and describing the process you plan to use. This helps everyone focus on the same task.

10) Model the behavior that you expect from the participants because this determines how they will act during the meeting.

Note: Of course, there's more. Read about Effective Meetings at: http://www.squidoo.com/OneGreatMeeting/

- - -

Steve Kaye helps leaders hold effective meetings. He is an IAF Certified Professional Facilitator, author, and speaker. His meeting facilitation and leadership workshops create success for everyone. Call 714-528-1300 for details. Visit http://www.stevekaye.com for a free report.

The Seven Cs Partnership Danger Signs Conflict Becoming The Norm Part 1

2009-01-13T05:00:00.000-08:00

Writen by Dorene Lehavi

A series of articles exploring the seven critical areas that can indicate a partnership is in trouble.

Conflict Becoming the Norm Part 1

Dr. Dean Ornish, noted cardiologist, says the greatest cause of disease is the stress that comes from conflict. Conflict is bad for your health, your personal life and definitely bad for your business.

When disagreements have reached the stage of conflict, emotions have overcome the issue. At this point no one is thinking clearly or speaking truthfully about the original problem. It becomes all about winning. How useful is that?

You can win the battle and lose a whole lot more. Conflict becomes a nail in the coffin of your marriage, or in your business partnership. Though you may win in court, you often lose in life. This is a major component of the scenario that accounts for the high rate of divorce in marriage and even higher rate of dissolution of business partnerships.

Even if conflict doesn't reach this dramatic result, living with conflict is an unhappy, unhealthy situation. Not only does it cause you misery, but it is contagious. Employees, clients and family members feel the tension. They may be taking sides even without realizing the unspoken details of the issue. You and your partner avoid meeting, may deteriorate into a yelling match when you do meet, or live in silence avoiding addressing other important issues as well. This is not the scenario that inspires you to get out of bed in the morning.

The best solution is prevention. Resolve things at the disagreement level before they become conflicts. If the two of you can't get to resolution where you both feel like winners, call in a coach. Actually, my clients find that a monthly meeting is a great preventative and also teaches them the tools needed to handle most situations on their own.

Now is the time to remember that there were good reasons you chose your partner. If you were honest and sincere in your initial evaluation and desire to succeed, it's helpful to keep that in mind and if things have gotten out of hand, hire an outside expert who can help you get back to that place of harmony and mutual respect.

The first step in resolving conflict is to agree to do so and to agree on the ultimate goal which is greater than each of you as individuals. When you are seriously committed to the same outcome things can usually work out. When you've reached this point, a third party, non-biased expert listener and coach is not just desirable, but essential to direct the discussion and keep emotions at bay.

About The Author

Dorene Lehavi, Ph.D. is principal of Next Level Business and Professional Coaching. She coaches Professionals and Business Partners and teaches teleclasses on techniques to break through barriers to the next level. Dr. Lehavi offers a complimentary coaching session so you can experience how coaching can work for you. Contact Dr. Lehavi at Dorene@CoachingforYourNextLevel.com or on the web at Http://www.CoachingforYourNextLevel.com. Subscribe to Mastering Your Next Level monthly e-newsletter at http://www.coachingforyournextlevel.com/newsletter.html

dorene@nextlevelpartnership.com

Best Thinking A Catalyst That Creates Competitive Advantage

2009-01-12T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Tom Northup

Wise leaders know that they will generate organizational best thinking that is far above what one person can accomplish alone when they draw on the wealth of knowledge that employees, with their differing professional interests, experiences and perspectives, bring to their jobs.

Best thinking is a catalyst that:

Raises the effectiveness of an organization to a level that cannot be reached by any other means.

Gives a company a competitive advantage in its market place.

Builds personal motivation among team members by allowing them to personally contribute both emotionally and intellectually.

Develops focus in organizational direction and initiatives. Focus drives performance, performance drives results.

Brings members of management teams together so that they become change agents, not change critics, working together for the good of the company.

Companies that use best thinking know that these advantages flow to the bottom line. Studies show that companies with strategic plans are 40% larger than those without such plans and have slightly fewer workers, resulting in 45% higher revenue per employee.

This gives such companies a competitive edge because the business cycle in most industries is much shorter today than in past decades. For instance, before the middle of the last century, the telephone took years to change from black to beige and from dial to push button. Now phone features and functions change frequently. The software industry now measures product life cycles in months, not years.

Why isn't best thinking used more often?

Best thinking is not a natural function in most organizations. The most common organizational structure has functional areas that operate as vertical silos. Managers are responsible for their silo and management is hierarchical. It is natural for employees in each silo to think their work is most important.

How can effective leaders develop best thinking?

Change starts with the CEO, the owner and the leadership of the organization. The most effective leaders have strong self-awareness and self-confidence along with a deep understanding of their emotions, strengths, limitations, values and motives. These strongly self-aware leaders are realistic and honest with themselves and about themselves. They know where they are headed and why.

This attitude allows CEOs to share power with employees as they guide and inspire them with a compelling vision. Effective leaders develop high-level, cross-functional best thinking that crosses boundaries and helps expand employee attitudes.

CEOs must trust their management team to carry out their vision. Great leaders learn how to inspire people. When they spend the time to fully develop a team they gain confidence in the team's ability to work together and achieve results.

Where is best thinking most effective in an organization?

Historically companies have used planning and best thinking on a sporadic basis, sending team members back to their silos and their compartmentalized jobs after short brainstorming sessions. These irregular events fail to build best thinking into the everyday consciousness of employees.

For instance, the management team may apply best thinking only at infrequent strategic planning sessions where the management team together plans the direction of the company.

CEOs who wish to develop an environment where shared knowledge becomes part of the culture of the company must build best thinking into the organization on an everyday basis.

Best thinking is appropriate in all planning activities and in every functional area. For instance, in new product development a team encompassing best thinking would receive input from engineering, marketing, sales and production. In manufacturing, inventory planning would receive input from finance, marketing, sales and production.

What are the barriers to best thinking?

The most common barriers to best thinking are:

Lack of commitment and focus from the CEO.

Organizational political realities wherein people develop judgments and patterns of working that block open communication.

A perception among employees that their work ranks first among all tasks.

Lack of expertise among leaders at achieving open, out of the box dialog from a diverse group.

How can companies build best thinking practices?

Building organizational best thinking practices takes commitment and focus from the CEO, who must encourage employees to work and interact together.

Best thinking takes time to develop. Initial thoughts are always fragile and not fully formed. In planning sessions CEOs must allow the time and open dialog necessary for these initial thoughts to fully develop into best thinking. If the company environment is not conducive to open honest dialog without fear, best thinking will not happen.

Organizational best thinking is most effective when it becomes part of the culture and is ingrained in employee's attitudes. Many CEOs start this process by building cross-functional teams that they charge with specific initiatives. These teams can operate at different levels in the organization and work on issues that are appropriate to their level of responsibility. CEOs hold these teams accountable for developing functionally integrated responses to everyday business issues.

Although companies can carry out many team functions internally, some situations, such as highlevel strategic planning, where setting objectives for the next period is simply too important to operate at less than the best level, require use of an outside facilitator.

Skilled facilitators have the experience to bring out the best from all participants. As neutral parties, they overcome the political and hierarchical environment and help fragile thoughts blossom to the highest level. Their systems are proven, ensuring the company's plan is a product of the team's best input and that the team has complete buy-in.

Summary

Properly implemented best thinking is the catalyst that generates high level focus. Focus drives performance and performance drives results.

Companies with high level best thinking are larger, leaner and more profitable. Best thinking becomes the catalyst for competitive advantage.

Best thinking is genius work the highest and best use of the CEO's time.

Best thinking must drive all planning events, which are too important for anything but the best efforts of all members of the management team. CEOs must incorporate best thinking into the culture of the business so employees regularly share knowledge across functional boundaries.

As Ken Blanchard said, "None of us is as smart as all of us."

With more than 30 years in operations management, Tom Northup understands the business complexities faced by today's busy executives. The former CEO and principal of three successful businesses, Tom is his own success story. Through coaching, consulting, mentoring, and training, he provides real-world, practical experience and thoughtful leadershipall with a focus on sustainable success and results. He may be reached at tomn@lmgsuccess.com and http://www.lmgsuccess.com

Manage Your Business From The Rockies Not The Prairies

2009-01-11T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Martin Haworth

The day job as a manager is all about managing your people to deliver, to meet the needs of your customers or clients and generating success after success! Right? And you have consequences if that doesn't happen.

Worst case scenario is that you lose your job or your business, because your people haven't delivered. So the temptation is understandable. Get in there, dirty your hands and work your socks off making it happen.

Admirable, fulfilling even!

But how much energy have you got? How hard do your really want to work. Indeed, how long can you take the pace of keeping everyone else afloat. Before you fall apart, or it kills you?

Or, despite all your years of strife and giving your heart and soul for your business, you lose it, or your job, or both. It doesn't seem fair does it?

But there is another way - and it's easy.

Use your people better

Space ships sent off into the far universe, use the gravitational pull of planets to accelerate them onwards, just like gravity pulls us to earth. It's free energy!

The limited fuel that the rockets have, is used to ever-so-gently fine tune direction, so that as they approach the planet pulling them in, they alter their course to miss the planet and, with renewed energy, they carry on their mission. Clever stuff eh?

That's what you can do

If you play a bigger game than spending your whole life doing the job that others can and should be doing, in the false belief that you are 'helping out', then you aren't going to cut it. In fact, like I once realised, moving from one sized store to a bigger one - you cannot do it all - it's time to manage the business through the people - it's just too big for me now.

And that was a big and painful realisation for me

But I got it!

It came to me one Easter, when I was running a big store and I was filling up the Easter eggs. It was fun! But I wasn't doing what I was paid for - managing and even leading a great bunch of people, all of whom could do this better than me. It was time to do my job. The time had come to leverage their potential and create value using my unique skills and talents.

As it happened, my office was on the fourth floor (because it had a view!) and the business traded on the lowest two floors. And this became my metaphor for managing from high up. The Rockies, not the Prairies.

Even though I spent a lot of my time on the Prairies, I was, in my mind, way up high. I was managing the people from above. I was managing the great people I had.

I was able to step back from working 'in the business' to 'on the business', as Michael Gerber would say. And it made a great difference to me. I realised that part of it was showing my troops that I was working just as hard as they were, and, indeed, I could do their job pretty well.

Yet, I was also resisting where the stretch was for me - letting go of other people's jobs, and doing my own.

For me, it was a shift to the next level, Sure, I did my hands on stuff from time to time. But it was at my choice and to work with them to show soldarity and focus when the chips were down. But it was after the management stuff was done.

It was my way of bringing the Rockies down to the Prairies, yet enjoying the fruits of both.

Copyright 2005. 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

(Note to editors. This article may be edited for use in your publication or newsletter. But please leave a live link to the website)

...helping you, to help your people, to help your business grow...

Lean Principles In Action

2009-01-10T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Adam Sommers

Abstract

The electrical products industry is one characterized by fierce competition, declining margins, and legislative regulations, all that have forced the majority of electrical product manufacturers to rethink their business models. This article describes a successful story from a leading electrical products manufacturer and its journey towards lean, which to date, has saved the company over $65 Million in hard dollar savings.

Background

Tefen has worked closely with one of the world's leaders in Power and Control products. With worldwide consolidated sales exceeding $9 Billion in 2002, the company has roughly 200 manufacturing plants worldwide, with about half of them in North America.

In North America, Tefen has specifically worked with a division known for quality switchboards, switch gear, breakers, and other electrical components used within the energy, building, industry and infrastructure markets. The company faces stiff competition from General Electric, Siemens, and Westinghouse Electric in most categories. Given the level of world-class competition, the company has continually pursued strategies to improve its cost position, quality, and overall order fulfillment processes.

In the industry, this company is renowned for its ability to tailor its products to meet the specific needs of its clients. The ability and willingness to customize has created a competitive edge for them, while at the same time created operational challenges. Engineer to Order (ETO) products with a high degree of variability can often drive long lead time from design to production, large inventories, obsolescence, design control issues, production complexity, and inefficient scheduling, among other problems.

From 1996 to 2001, the highly competitive North America market and economic downturn drove steady margin erosion. In response, the company launched an enterprise-wide initiative to reduce manufacturing costs by 20-25% within two years at select manufacturing sites. Further, it set goals to build the skills base necessary to generate lasting continuous improvement, drive consistency in production systems, and optimize key areas of the supply chain.

A major plant in South Carolina was chosen as a key ETO facility to target for manufacturing cost improvement. With its 258,000 square feet of production space, large dollar opportunity, and products of strategic significance, it was a logical target. Tefen was engaged to understand the current state operation, define improved methods by applying Lean techniques, and then drive rapid implementation. The stated goal was to reduce conversion costs by a minimum of 20%.

The Situation at South Carolina

During the first week of the 3 week long diagnostic phase, Tefen worked with plant personnel to understand the current state of the operation. The Motor Control Center product (MCC), along with the Fabrication area (Fab), were the subjects of particular focus. Here, a number of key findings highlighted the need for dramatic operational improvement. Specifically, it was uncovered that the two areas of focus were characterized by:

-	Long changeover times  -	Excessive  WIP and Raw Material  -	Excessive active part numbers  -	Long lead times  -	A functional layout with poor material flow  -	High order variability  -	Inefficient labor utilization  -	Inefficient order entry processes  -	High level of overproduction and rework  -	High transportation costs

These underlying issues hindered the company's performance at the plant level, which in turn, diminished the overall corporate operating result. Besides diminished cash-to-cash cycle time efficiency, the plant experienced

less than optimal order fulfillment performance, low inventory and asset turns, and high overall supply chain costs.

The Solution

During the second and third weeks of the diagnostic, Tefen defined a number of key levers to drive significant conversion cost savings. To conduct the diagnosis and quantify tangible savings, a number of tools and techniques were employed. For example, Value Stream Maps were created for both the "current state" and envisioned "future state" of the facility. Besides providing powerful visuals of the operations, these maps were used to quantify cycle times, inventory levels, number of operators, and the ratios of productive times to lead times. Another key analysis looked at the demand data to understand the volume/product/order mix. By coming to grips with the level of variation, smarter scheduling and better flow techniques could be devised. A full listing of analyses and the associated tools used to conduct them are shown below in Figure 1.

In Figure 2. the levers for savings and associated key activities are detailed. At the core of Lean is speed process cycle-time efficiency is the overall defining Lean metric that paints the picture of a manufacturing plant's health. By applying Lean principles, Tefen was able to identify ways to dramatically improve cycle time efficiency, which in turn, pointed the way to a 21% reduction in conversion costs. Recommendations focused on several key areas including improved material handling through a revised layout, reduced touches and dedicated handlers, reduced changeover times through standardized work, a flexible workforce operating within a flowing cellular line, and a scheduling system based on customer "pull" rather than forecasted "push." In addition, Tefen recommended implementing a Constant Daily Output (CDO) system to produce the high volume products to a schedule. Instead of ramping production up and down in response to order volume, production of high volume material would be leveled based on order volume history.

Getting Results

Having identified what to fix, the next step was to put together a workable roll-out plan and begin implementation. Prior to the diagnostic, the pervasive culture at the SC plant was a typical one. There was a lack of urgency for improving things inefficiencies were accepted as the normal mode of operation. One of the by-products of the three week diagnostic was an awakening among plant personnel. By including plant personnel as an integral part of the diagnostic process, new possibilities became apparent to them. Word spread and when it came time for implementation, there was more of a willingness to change. Further, Tefen's "Go-Fast" implementation approach instilled a true sense of urgency and importance throughout the plant. The "Go-Fast" approach is designed to obtain significant results within 10 weeks, achieve more than 50% of the targeted savings within 6 months, and foster a continuous change culture.

Figure 1.

  Improvement Lever	                Key Activities  Reduce Overproduction Waste	 -	Schedule starts based on a pull system  Align Lead Time Information Flow -	Define lead time across all systems  Improve Material Flow	-	Cellular layout and elimination of excess storage  Reduce Order Variability	-	Produce 80% of volume to a daily demand  Improve Labor VA Utilization	-	Flexible work force, 5S discipline, shorter C/O  Reduce  Transportation Costs	-	Load consolidation and lane simplification  Improve Order Processing 	-	Develop Constant Daily Output order generator  Standardize Work Methods	-	Improve C/O, eliminate multiple handling  Improve Inventory Management	-	Constant daily production on top 80%, use stores

At the SC plant, a number of dramatic changes were made which drove significant savings in a relatively short amount of time. Within the first 10 weeks, over 40% of the targeted 6 month goal was achieved, 30% greater than what was predicted.

Numerous changes were implemented to increase efficiency and reduce inventory. In the MCC area, a pull approach was employed to reduce WIP by employing a build trigger for the main structure. Prior to the implementation, structures and a related component were scheduled separately and were connected together at an area called plug-in. This created WIP of structures and the component waiting for their mates. By triggering the structure build when the component was done, the structure WIP at plug-in was dramatically reduced. In addition, the entire structure line was redesigned to balance the stations, shorten the cycle time, reduce space, and reduce the raw material inventory needed at the line. Production space was reduced by introducing U-shaped work cells in both the structure line and wiring areas

In the wiring area of MCC electronic work instructions were employed to allow the wirers to always have the latest revision print, reducing rework as well as part shortages.

To further drive efficiency and reduce unnecessary material handling, kitting and "milk run" concepts were implemented. With these techniques, fewer operators were needed as productivity rose with more time on task.

In the Fab area, the other area of particular focus in South Carolina, additional improvements were implemented. A cellular layout based on material flow and capacity analysis was created. Changeover times were greatly reduced by division of internal and external work content to maximize operator value-add time. Further, a constant daily output (CDO) scheme was implemented to help reduce the effects of variability. Level loading of Fab production was accomplished by observing the 80/20 rule where 80% of the volume is driven by 20% of the part types. For the remaining 20% of the volume, which reflected special customer orders, lead time was greatly reduced by using a Supermarket to provide a buffer to demand variability. The Supermarket technique allowed for a lead time reduction from 6 to 2 days.

Other improvements impacted the entire plant, beyond the MCC and Fab areas. Scrap reduction of over $40K month was accomplished via coil re-banding. At the plant, raw material arrives on a coil. When a part type is finished at its CDO quantity, the coil is taken off the press and re-banded instead of becoming scrap. Previously, before the re-banding implementation, 21% of raw material became scrap. Improvements in the Tool crib added another $100K in inventory reduction.

Implementation of actionable performance metrics solidified the overall gains and instilled a culture of continuous improvement. The metrics enabled a focus on reducing waste and drove operator empowerment at the cellular level. KPI's are now tracked at the plant level, the department level and the cell level to illuminate cost/efficiency, service level, quality, and continuous improvement. Examples of KPI's implemented include: CDO Stability, Supermarket space requirements, Planned schedule versus actual, and the percent of good parts out.

Looking forward, the outlook for further improvement is bright. About 60% of the total identified savings will be realized according to schedule. The remaining savings are on track to be realized within a year and a half of the implementation start.

About Tefen Tefen is a publicly traded, international operations consulting firm with seven offices in United States, Europe and Israel. The firm has over twenty years of experience in improving the overall operational effectiveness of Fortune 500 clients around the world. Tefen designs and implements solutions that enhance operational performance throughout an organization. The main areas of focus include operational excellence, manufacturing, quality, customer service, research and development, and supply chain management. All of Tefen's support programs are ISO 9001 and TCS (Total Customer Satisfaction) certified. Our hands-on approach has achieved success in delivering quantifiable and value-driven results. The company has remained profitable since its inception and currently employs over 250 professionals worldwide, 40 of whom are certified Six Sigma Black Belts.

Adam Sommers is the author and Partner at Tefen (http://www.tefen.com/). For questions or further information regarding this article, please contact Raymond Cheng, Marketing Manager, at info@tefen.com.

Adam Sommers, a Partner with Tefen USA, has over 15 years operations management and strategic planning experience. His background and expertise is in all aspects of organizational improvement including manufacturing productivity, supply chain management, and business strategy. Adam has worked with leaders in a variety of industries including Aerospace, Energy, Telecom, Electronics, Medical Devices, and Travel. Currently, he is helping an $8B Power Distribution equipment manufacturer achieve significant productivity gains via a focused Lean/Six Sigma program. Prior to Tefen, he ran the corporate strategic planning function for The Columbia Energy Group, a Fortune 200 diversified energy company. Adam received his MBA from The Wharton Business School and a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Polytechnic Univers

Who Has The Keys To Open The Door Of Success

2009-01-09T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Larry Galler

There, right in front of you is the golden door with a sign above it. The sign says "SUCCESS." All you have to do is open the door and walk through into entrepreneurship's holy grail. You grab the handle and pull. "Drat!" the door is locked. Who has the key?

We all have the key. It's right there on our key ring. But there are many keys on the ring and we have to find the right one to open this lock.

If there was one key that opened every door it would be easy. The problem is that each business, even businesses in the same industry, have different key factors for success and we have to discover which key will turn in our lock. For some businesses the door is locked because it can't get control of labor costs so the "efficiency key" will open the door. A fast-growing business needs more access to capital and the "vault key" will turn the lock. Another business needs to motivate the customer-contact people to become friendly and helpful and they need to find the "customer service key." Those keys and many more are all there, right on the key ring. The key to the door of success is discovering which key is the "Key Factor For Your Success."

You might go through all the keys at your disposal one-by-one The "Strategic Planning key? Jiggle turn-pull-cross fingers - Nope! The "New Customer Acquisition" key? Jiggle turn-pull-cross fingers - Nope! The ""Shipping Department Dispatch" key? Jiggle turn-pull-cross fingers - Nope! This can be a time consuming, long effort.

You might take some time to critically look at your business, go over your financial statements. Compare them to your business plan (No Business Plan? Maybe that's the Key!) with your financial advisors, survey your customers and prospects, survey your staff. Ask them all probing questions to discover the vital key factors that can radically affect your ability to unlock that door. When you discover and improve your "Key Factors For Success"

Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, "Front Lines with Larry Galler" Sign up for his free newsletter at http://www.larrygaller.com Questions??? Send an email to larry@larrygaller.com

Decision Support System A Snap Shot

2009-01-08T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Zarfishan Batool

The concept of a decision support system (DSS) is extremely broad and its definitions vary depending upon the author's point of view. A DSS can take many different forms and the term can be used in many different ways.

In a more precise way, it can be defined as:

"An interactive, flexible, and adaptable computer-based information system, especially developed for supporting the solution of a non-structured management problem for improved decision making. It utilizes data, provides an easy-to-use interface, and allows for the decision maker's own insights."

DSS are computer-based support for management decision makers who are dealing with semi-structured problems. With respect to computer terminology it can be defined as:

"Interactive computer-based systems that help decision makers utilize data and models to solve unstructured problems."

Though, it is impossible to give a precise definition including all the facets of the DSS. Nevertheless, the term decision support system remains a useful and inclusive term for many types of information systems that support decision making. Every time a computerized system is not an on-line transaction processing system (OLTP), someone will be tempted to call it a DSS. As it can be see that there is no universally accepted definition of DSS.

Additionally, the specifics of it is what makes it less generalized and more detailed. In addition, a DSS also is a specific Software application that helps to analyze data contained with a customer database. This approach to customers is used when deciding on target markets as well as customer habits.

History of DSS

The concept of decision support has evolved from two main areas of research: the theoretical studies of organizational decision making done at the Carnegie Institute of Technology during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the technical work on interactive computer systems, mainly carried out at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1960s. It is considered that the concept of DSS became an area of research of its own in the middle of the 1970s, before gaining in intensity during the 1980s. In the middle and late 1980s, executive information systems (EIS), group decision support systems (GDSS), and organizational decision support systems (ODSS) evolved from the single user and model-oriented DSS. Beginning in about 1990, data warehousing and on-line analytical processing (OLAP) began broadening the realm of DSS. As the turn of the millennium approached, new Web-based analytical applications were introduced.

It is clear that DSS belong to an environment with multidisciplinary foundations, including (but not exclusively) database research, artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, simulation methods, software engineering, and telecommunications.

Historical development

The role of business information systems has changed and expanded over the last four decades. In the incipient decade (1950s and '60s), "electronic data processing systems" could be afforded by only the largest organizations. They were used to record and store bookkeeping data such as journal entries, specialized journals, and ledger accounts. This was strictly an operations support role. By the 1960s "management information systems" were used to generate a limited range of predefined reports, including income statements (they were called P & L's back then), balance sheets and sales reports. They were trying to perform a decision making support role, but they were not up to the task.

By the 1970s "decision support systems" were introduced. They were interactive in the sense that they allowed the user to choose between numerous options and configurations. Not only was the user allowed to customize outputs, they also could configure the programs to their specific needs.

The main development in the 1980s was the introduction of decentralized computing. Instead of having one large mainframe computer for the entire enterprise, numerous PC's were spread around the organization. This meant that instead of submitting a job to the computer department for batch processing and waiting for the experts to perform the procedure, each user had their own computer that they could customize for their own purposes. Many poor souls fought with the vagaries of DOS protocols, BIOS functions, and DOS batch programming.

As people became comfortable with their new skills, they discovered all the things their system was capable of. Computers, instead of creating a paperless society, as was expected, produced mountains of paper, most of it valueless. This information overload was mitigated somewhat in the 1980s with the introduction of "executive information systems". They streamlined the process, giving the executive exactly what they wanted, and only what they wanted.

The 1980s also saw the first commercial application of artificial intelligence techniques in the form of "expert systems". These programs could give advice within a very limited subject area. The promise of decision making support, first attempted in management information systems back in the 1960s, had step-by-step, come to fruition.

The 1990s saw the introduction of "strategic information systems". This was largely because of developments in the subject of strategic management by scholars like M. Porter, T Peters, J. Reise, C. Markides, and J. Barney in the 1980s. Competitive advantage became a hot management topic and software developers were happy to provide the tools.

Applications

There are theoretical possibilities of building such systems in any knowledge domain.

One of the examples is Clinical decision support system for medical diagnosis. Other examples include a bank loan officer verifying the credit of a loan applicant or an engineering firm that has bids on several projects and wants to know if they can be competitive with their costs.

A specific example concerns the Canadian National Railway system, which tests its equipment on a regular basis using a Decision Support System. A problem faced by any railroad is worn-out or defective rails, which can result in hundreds of derailments per year. Under a DSS, CN managed to decrease the incidence of derailments at the same time other companies were experiencing an increase.

DSS has many applications that have already been spoken about. However, it can be used in any field where organization is necessary. Additionally, a DSS can be designed to help make decisions on the stock market, or deciding which area or segment to market a product toward. DSS has endless possibilities that can be used anywhere and anytime, for its decision making needs.

Zarfishan Batool
Dept. of Computer Science
University Of Karachi
Pakistan

Great Groups Getting A Group To Think Like A Genius

2009-01-07T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Kevin Eikenberry

Great Groups! - Getting a Group to Think Like a Genius

Wouldn't it be great to have an Edison or Einstein, or Mozart at your next meeting? If you had a genius at your meeting, do you think you might come up with better results? Let me be the first to tell you that those people won't be at your next meeting. But there are some things you can do as a facilitator - some techniques and tactics that you can use with the group that will help them work better. In this article you will learn some of the strategies of geniuses (adapted from Thinking Like a Genius, by Michael Michalko in the May 1998 issue of The Futurist), and how to apply them within any group you are working with.

Geniuses look at problems in many different ways
The key to this strategy is helping a group find new perspectives. Often a group gets "locked in" on one specific solution or cause. The goal should be to slow the group down and help them look at their situation from a variety of perspectives. Once a group has an initial approach, encourage them to stop and force a new perspective - force them to re-conceptualize the problem.

How To Do It
Once a group has settled in on an approach, encourage them to step out of the room. When they return, explain the concept of looking at the problem from another perspective. Ask the group to list three or more other perspectives that this situation could be viewed from. From that list, pick one for the group to reconsider the situation from. (If the group is large enough have sub groups work different perspectives.) The time spent in reviewing the situation from the new perspectives should be as rigorous as the first analysis. Once the group has completed their reanalysis, have them look at all of their results. At this point encourage them to make the best decision, given all the data they have at their disposal.

Geniuses make novel combinations
Sometimes geniuses don't come up with new ideas, but combine existing ones to make great advances.

How To Do It
Once a group has a variety of possible solutions (possibly by using some of the steps above), have them try to combine them, rather than just pick one. Spur them on with questions like:
How could you do both A and B?
How could you gain the benefits of both A and D, while minimizing the risks?

Geniuses force relationships
This may be the genius' biggest strategy of all, and one you can employ easily with groups.

How To Do It
Always have a few (or a lot) of disparate items on a list. At any time that a group is stuck, ask them to force a relationship between their problem to one of the items on your list. (You could also have pictures of the items, which might spur their creativity even further.). These relationships may be forced, and this may be where the breakthrough comes.

Note: Some groups or individuals will scoff at this idea as silly. Acknowledge this, but encourage them to try anyway. They may be very pleasantly surprised. Remember too, that the quality comes with quantity rule applies here. You may need to try more than one or two forced relationships before real progress is made.

Geniuses make their thought visible
This strategy is often put to use in group meetings, but only at the lowest level. Recording a group's work on a flipchart, or whiteboard, is a small step in this direction, but to take this to the next level (to the genius level!), you need to get more visual.

How To Do It
Have members of a group draw their solutions to a problem, or draw the results of implementing their solution. If you want to look at a variety of solutions at once, have sub groups do this for different scenarios. Focus the group(s) on making it visual and inclusive of their whole idea. The goal is to communicate not wow the group with artistic abilities. Once the groups have completed their drawings, review all of them to see if new ideas, or combinations of ideas are found.

Geniuses think in opposites
Often it is very revealing to examine the opposite of your situation, or ask the opposite question.

How To Do It
Rather than having the group ask the direct question on their task, have them ask the opposite. For example, if the question is, "How do we attract new Customers?", more new ideas and insights might come from asking, "How could we drive all of our Customers away?" With the answers to the opposite question, tactics and plans for avoiding this outcome can be developed.

Geniuses think metaphorically
Aristotle believed that metaphors were a sign of genius. If they were good enough for Aristotle, they should be good enough for us!

How To Do It
Have the group compare their situation to anything else (another place for your list mentioned above). The more metaphors (or analogies) the group can draw between their situation and these random items the better. The insights will flow from the discussion of these connections. You can also ask the group to tell you what they might compare the situation to, which is another method of initiating the metaphors.

Geniuses prepare themselves for chance
In a group situation, this most likely fits after a solution has been implemented. This "preparation for chance" will be enhanced by the willingness to do two things: admit mistakes, and spend time reviewing the results of the decision or solution.

How To Do It
After a decision is made, encourage the group to schedule time to review the results of the decision. Time might also be scheduled to discuss the process the group used for coming to the decision. By reflecting on the work and the results, often new ideas and improvements can be found. The decision to take this time is seldom the natural inclination of a group. Group dynamics are such that when the result or decision is made, that the group is ready to "cross that item off the list", and move on. As a facilitator you can provide significant value by encouraging this review process.

©1999, All Rights Reserved, Kevin Eikenberry. Kevin is the President of The Kevin Eikenberry Group, a learning consulting company that helps their Clients reach their potential through a variety of training, consulting and speaking services. To learn more about services on facilitation go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/consulting/consulting.asp or contact Kevin at toll free 888.LEARNER.

The Six Sigma Process Isnt Just For Big Businesses

2009-01-05T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Tony Jacowski

Many small and mid-sized business owners are under the impression that the Six Sigma Process is not for them as it has a reputation to cost a prohibitive amount of money for companies of their size. Though this was true when the original Six Sigma Process came to be, as it continues to grow and evolve, many smaller companies are now quite capable of affording to implement the latest development of its strategy.

This more affordable Six Sigma Process is commonly called Generation III. It has been developed specifically for small to mid-sized companies who are seeking to improve their profitability through performance. Its affordability has been made possible by way of the internet which now offers online training technology, as well as new smaller-scale "live" training options for reducing training expenses.

Naturally, there are a few differences between the original, Generation I Six Sigma Process and the new Generation III for small and mid-sized businesses, however, this is what makes it so beneficial to these smaller businesses it functions with them in mind. Primarily, these differences are made up of the following:

Generation I focuses primarily on defect, while Generation III focuses on value.

Generation I places emphasis on the provider, while Generation III places emphasis on both the customer and the provider.

Generation I expert consultants and trainers are referred to as Black Belts, while Generation III expert consultants and trainers are referred to as White Belts.

Instead of making its primary focus the reduction of costs, Generation III of the Six Sigma Process now involves the creation of value. This is an enormous step in the strategy's outlook. Its aim is to have businesses provide goods and services of the highest possible value. In terms of Generation III, value means that the product or service is provided at the right location, on time, in the right amount, and at the lowest possible cost.

To reduce costs, Black Belts of Generation I who train in costly classroom settings leading to a relatively long development before actual results are seen, have been traded in for the Generation III White Belt. White Belts of the Six Sigma Process provide results much more quickly with less overall training. This is possible due to the White Belt's narrower focus.

Ultimately, this means that companies, no matter their size, are now ready to take advantage of the benefits and potential offered by taking on the Six Sigma Process.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

30 Ways To Be A Butthead Boss

2009-01-04T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Gene Simmons

1. Trust no one. Not your superiors and not your employees. Especially not your employees. They're probably out to get you anyway.

2. Believe that all of your people are lazy, good-for-nothing slackers. Remind them of that frequently.

3. Get mad and shout a lot. This will reinforce to your "workers" that you mean business.

4. Never grant special favors. Having babies, being sick, taking time off to go to weddings, funerals or 50th anniversaries are just ways to get out of work. Don't let them get away with it.

5. Try not to make decisions. Decisions will only give your boss a reason to fire you. If a decision is absolutely necessary, try to postpone it as long as possible.

6. Do not tolerate errors. Of any kind or any size. Even the smallest of errors just reinforces the fact that your people are screw-ups. Fire people for minor infractions.

7. Criticize. Never be satisfied with any of your employees' work products. If they were trying at all, they would be doing better.

8. Refuse to listen to suggestions. Your subordinates are just trying to get you to do something that will get you into trouble. They don't have the sense god gave a goose anyway. Your way is the right way.

9. Complain to various employees how bad the others are. Try to get them on your side so they'll group together and force the really worthless people to leave.

10. Change your mind often. About everything policies, procedures, work assignments. Don't let your employees become complacent with the way things are.

11. Come into work late and leave early. Take long lunches. Show your people that you're the boss and can do whatever you want.

12. Prohibit office celebrations and parties. No birthdays, no holiday parties or decorating, no nothing. This is no place to be goofing off. There is work to do.

13. Never praise your people. They'll just expect more of it. Besides, no one ever does anything that's worth recognizing anyway.

14. Never tell any of your employees exactly what you do. They'll use it against you.

15. Refuse to discuss the status of the company with any of your employees. Finances and future plans are none of their business. They need to focus on just their jobs.

16. Do not train your employees. Give them only the minimum information they need to do their jobs. Let them prove themselves by figuring out the details.

17. Definitely do not cross-train your people. That will only cause them to get big-headed about how much they know. Don't give them a reason to complain about their miserable wages.

18. Give the easy jobs to the employees who always agree with you. They've earned it.

19. Give the really cushy jobs to the really "friendly" people the cutest or best looking ones who aren't afraid to show just how friendly they are. Being a boss is tough. You deserve your perks.

20. Petty cash is your discretionary lunch money. Enjoy it.

21. Cut company expenses by firing whoever you want. Demand increases in productivity from those remaining. Maybe they will eventually get the idea that they need to get to work.

22. Never show your people that you care about them. It would make you look weak and erode your status as a boss.

23. Display your power. Sit behind a big desk. Make sure all the other chairs in your office are much lower than yours.

24. Never go to employees' work stations to discuss anything unless you need to chew them out. You're much too important to leave your office. Make them come to you.

25. Use meetings to intimidate your employees. Be loud, be forceful, pound the table show them who's boss.

26. Do not accept the blame for anything. When your people screw up, it's completely their fault. Never yours.

27. Take full credit for everything good that happens in your group. None of your employees are smart enough to have done it by themselves.

28. Never, ever make your own coffee. You're much too important to spend your time doing that.

29. Tell your employees that you're reading ALL e-mails whether you do or not. Do not permit them to make personal phone calls for any reason. Make sure they know that you are watching their every move. You can't trust any of them.

30. Never, never, never give any of your people access to the Internet. They'll just waste their time accessing porn sites or maybe even self-improvement sites like NuPathz.com.

About The Author

Gene Simmons, through NuPathz.com, provides an easy reading self-help blog, articles, quotations, thoughts and links along with affordable self-help and self improvement books & materials - all designed to help folks find the road to a more enjoyable lifestyle, to pass on some of life's "secrets for survival" in a chaotic world & offer a few smiles along the way. It's a down-to-earth, simple approach to discovering a better life. You can visit Gene at his website.

gene@nupathz.com

Information As A Competitive Advantage Part 7 Cost Reduction

2009-01-03T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Kostis Panayotakis

A cost cutting strategy is very popular in the business world, especially during recession or falling revenue periods. The Business which achieves to maintain the 'cost leader' position, has a major competitive advantage. The ability to sustain a low cost position, is a precondition for long term development in any highly competitive environment. To achieve that, a business has to develop core competencies in lean production, which cannot easily be copied by Competition.

The use of financial and managerial accounting systems for production cost measurement and control, is a common practise.

Profitability monitoring is also enabled by accounting systems. The use of profitability ratios at the organizational level, at a profit-center level, or at the product level, is a common practice which is based on the effective recording and structured analysis of business information. Production cost analysis contributes to the product pricing strategy and profitability estimation. Use of cost accounting techniques like activity based costing, requires monitoring the following facts:

Unit rate for each cost driver which is related to the production of a product or a service (e.g. man hour cost for a specific specialization is 35 Euro)
Actual consumption of each cost driver for the production of a unit of a product (e.g. 4 man hours are required for the drafting of a contract).

Cost drivers relate to direct production costs for which assignment is obvious, as well as indirect production costs for which assignment is done via calculations (e.g. estimation of a room space which is hosting a specific procedure). Beyond production cost, facts should be monitored on marketing resource consumption, logistics costs and technical support costs. Cost and revenue monitoring per Customer, allows per Customer profitability analysis. This way, priority can be given to profitable Customers. Information on Customers with low or negative profitability, should be used to carry out a root-cause analysis. Use of aggregated information on production cost & revenue, instead of detailed information per product, business unit, even Customer, does not yield actionable insight on the production activity and the profitability. Many Businesses do not have sufficient information on the profitability of each product or Customer group. On the other hand, detailed monitoring allows decision support for better product and customer management. The ability to capture integrated information like: speed and setup cost of each production procedure, production rates, time to conclude a production cycle, resource and activity cost, waste cost, is very important. Information capture should support the optimization and cost reduction of production processes.

Material relevant to information management, can be found at http://www.pleroforea.com Kostis Panayotakis - http://www.pleroforea.com

Your Corporate Selfimage Will Determine Your Success

2009-01-02T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Tim Connor

One of the critical factors for success in any endeavor is a healthy and positive self-image. Essentially a persons self-image will determine:

-how they respond to life's circumstances

-how they view the world around them

-what goals they set for themselves

-how they react to failure and adversity

-how they feel about themselves and others

-how they behave when no one is looking

-how they handle difficult situations

-their destiny and much more.

Organizations are made up of groups of individuals with various self-images and therefore create what I refer to in my management seminars as an 'organizational self-image'. Organizations also create a destiny which is often consistent with how the combined group of employees in a department, division, group or even the entire employee base see themselves as an entity.

For example, if a group of employees in a customer service department see themselves as unimportant and unappreciated the department in general will tend to treat customers in much the same way. Yes, there may be select individuals who treat customers with respect and concern, but by an large the department as a whole, because of it's low self-image, will treat most customers poorly.

If the management team in an organization, for whatever reason(s), is not in sync with its direction, goals, decisions, philosophy, communication etc. it will create confusion, a lack of harmony, very little employee empowerment and poor performance among its employees.

If the members of a sales team feel that they are unnecessary, constantly under pressure to perform with little or no positive reinforcement or appreciation or are perceived by other departments or senior management as nothing. but arrogant trouble makers, the individual self-image of the members of the group will become the 'group' self-image. The results of this 'corporate self-mage' is often the same as in the list of consequences listed above. One common sales outcome in this issue is where the sales group's approach to price resistance is generally to reduce price rather than sell value thereby contributing to low margins and profits.

I'll leave you with a few questions to consider - What is your corporate self-image? What do you believe is the general corporate self-image of most of your employees? Are you accurately aware of it and its consequences both internally and externally? What are the ultimate consequences either positive or negative that you are experiencing as a result of this self-image? What or who is contributing or re-enforcing this corporate self-image?

Tim Connor, CSP is an internationally renowned sales, relationship, management and leadership speaker, trainer and best selling author. Since 1981 he has given over 3500 presentations in 21 countries on a variety of sales, management and relationship topics. He is the best selling author of over 60 books including; Soft Sell, That's Life, Peace Of Mind and The Male Gift Giving Survival Guide. He can be reached at tim@timconnor.com, 704-895-1230 or visit his website at http://www.timconnor.com

Generational Managing

2009-01-01T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Murad Ali

Within the corporate world we now see three different generation cultures working side-by-side. Progressive mangers are expected to understand these differences and make peace with the different mindsets and traits that come along each age group. In order to retain top talent and build solid working teams rewards and assignments should take into consideration the personal likes and dislikes of each of the groups.

Culture plays an important part of successful management. For example, older executive managers have a different culture than their younger subordinates. Today there is four different cultures co-existing at once; traditionalists who were born before 1945, boomers who were born between 1946 and 1964, generation x born between 1965 and 1977, and finally generation Y born after 1977 (Sachs, 2006).

An interesting article by Dana Kyles outlines three of these differences with clarity (2005):

Baby boomers are seen as competitive, political and hard working. They hold the majority of management level positions are results orientated instead of the method. They want the status symbols that come with higher pay, special parking spaces, titles and perks. There is approximately 80 million in the workforce.

Generation X's are seen as disloyal, individualistic and technologically savvy. They were raised in a time of single parents and unconventional wisdom. When they began entering the workforce they did so during economic recession and strife. They are not interested in the status symbols that many of their Baby Boomer parents are interested in but want to feel a certain level of satisfaction from their jobs. There is around 46 million in the work force.

Generation Y's are seen as technologically savvy, purposeful and able to multitask. Many Generation Y's have been reared in non-traditional households like the Gen Xers but have come to understand their place in society. They are still individualistic but want to contribute to society. They also desire personal relationships with supervisors and want feedback. Technology and fast paced lifestyles have given them the ability to multi-task with ease. There is approximately 75 million just entering the work force.

Corporations need to adapt their cultures and reward structures to better appeal to the interest of their employees. Companies who adhere only to the interest of the executive management may find themselves having high turn over and low performance at the lower ranks. This raises the cost of business and reduces the overall effectiveness of the organization.

Murad Ali is a two-time published author on business, economics and social reform. He edits the Muslim Times and has related articles on http://www.muradenterprises.org

Some Employees Are More Trouble Than They Are Worth

2008-12-31T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Roberta Matuson

Some employees cost your company far more than they contribute. So why keep them?

Do you retain employees long after they have worn out their welcome? If so, you are not alone. Many organizations underestimate the damage these employees can do to the organization. They wrongfully assume that these employees don't have a direct impact on profitability, but is this really the case?

Impact on morale

Problem employees are highly skilled at hiding out. When problems occur they are the first to place blame on others. They are experts at deflecting criticism. They make conversations so uncomfortable that managers would rather work around them then deal with them.

When this occurs, assignments are given to others in the work group without explanation. Resentment builds as team members put in long hours to handle the extra workload. Dazed and confused, the star workers begin to search for signs of intelligent life on other planets since it's obvious to them that management has left the ship.

Cost of turnover

Ever notice how one department seems to have higher turnover than another? If you answered "yes" then ask yourself why nothing is done to correct this situation. If your company doesn't do anything to fix the situation, your employees will take the matter into their own hands. Employees are in a no win situation when saddled with one or two team mates who refuse to pull their own weight. Most bale out rather than wait for management to finally make a move.

Turnover can be measured in a number of ways but the end result is the same. Real dollars are being spent to replace and retrain employees. Add to this indirect costs like loss of client relationships; the decline of employee morale and chain reaction turnover and you can see how quickly costs add up.

Dissatisfied customers

Dissatisfied customers will move their business elsewhere and may never tell you why. But they will surely tell others of their situation. In today's fast paced world, mediocrity is not an option. Problem employees must be dealt with in a timely manner or business will be seeping out the back door.

Sidebar:

Five ways to address problem employees:

When an employee performs poorly or makes a serious error it is tempting to replace them like an interchangeable part on an assembly line. Here are five things you should do before ordering up a replacement:

1. Determine if it's a system problem or a training problem. Employers are quick to assume that problems are due to lack of training. But often problems exist due to systems problems. For example, no amount of customer service training can compensate for a poorly designed phone system. Make sure your systems are in working order before spending additional money on retraining problem employees.

2. Review the job expectations with the employee. It's impossible for an employee to know what is expected of them if they are never told. Give employees direct feedback. Tell them what you expect and how performance will be measured.

3. Be consistent and follow through. If you tell an employee that they have 90 days to turn their performance around then don't wait six months to evaluate their performance. Mark your calendar and follow up as necessary to provide guidance.

4. Hold managers accountable. Managers are compensated on results, which often do not take into account how well they manage and motivate staff members. If a manager is doing a poor job of managing performance then hold them accountable.

5. Determine if the problem employee is fixable. Sometimes it comes down to fit. You've got a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. When this occurs, it is usually obvious to both parties. Help guide the employee out of the organization by setting up an exit transition plan.

Roberta Chinsky Matuson is the President of Human Resource Solutions (http://www.yourhrexperts.com) and has been helping companies align their people assets with their business goals. She is considered an expert in generational workforce issues. Roberta publishes a monthly newsletter "HR Matters" http://www.yourhrexperts.com/hrjoin.cgi which is jammed with resources, articles and tips to help companies navigate through sticky and complicated HR workforce issues. She can be reached at 413-582-1840 or Roberta@yourhrexperts.com.

Online Employee Time Clocks

2008-12-30T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Marcus Peterson

Online employee time clock service (a web-based application) is an entirely different system from the usual employee time clock system that records employee arrival and departure times by manually entering work hours in a database or sending reports to an accounting staff. By using online employee time clocks to record work hours, an industry can track time more efficiently and allow extra time for constructive activity.

Online employee time clock service can be accessed through websites. A username and a password are given to protect personnel information. The data is recorded on an online form and recorded. In essence, an employee clocks in and out. Online employee time clock service includes all the standard timesheet and hourly rate entry functions, project tracking abilities, as well as automatic salary calculations and comprehensive time and cost reporting. Some online employee time clocks can even feed directly into a check writing software program for automatic check processing (to be verified and authorized by the employer every pay period.) This can be a valuable time-saving measure, in that it will take the accountant less time to process payments, thus freeing up more time for accounting employees.

This service enables employees and administrators to submit and analyze data from any location, at any time. Online services may also include provisions for expense calculations, and some offer their services in several languages. Certain websites offer online employee time clock service sometimes free of charge or at a discounted rate. But make sure you are getting all of the whistles and bells you originally set out to attain.

Employee Time Clocks provides detailed information on Employee Time Clocks, Employee Time Clock Software, Online Employee Time Clocks, Employee Computer Time Clocks and more. Employee Time Clocks is affiliated with Employee Scheduling.

Business Management Case Study 2500 Mobile Oil Changes Is It A Viable Business

2008-12-29T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

If you started a mobile oil change business could you charge $25.00? Would people pay that price for services? Would people forgo the low prices at Wal-Mart of $12.99 for the added convenience of you doing such a service at their homes or offices? Recently this question came up with a gentleman who wished to start an a mobile oil change business in a town which did not have a Super Wal-Mart (only Super Wal-Marts) change oil, regular ones do not have those auto services.

The gentleman was getting ready to launch a small mobile oil change business and he stated: "I think people would be willing to pay $25.00 for a simple oil change if you came to them. Then include wipers, air filters (big considering the price of fuel) and top off fluids."

Indeed there are lots of other things people need, but also realize that this adds up front inventory costs, trying to stock all the possible oil filters, air filters (both engine and cabin), fluid types, etc.. As far as windshield wipers are concerned; well, wipers, are not so bad because you can by three or four types and cut blades to length.

When starting a small mobile oil change business from scratch it is important to watch costs and only carry inventory for what you will need. Additionally it makes sense to try to keep it as simple as possible with only a few add-on services, which you can provide quickly, without adding you too much cost. There are all considerations to be thinking on if you are considering starting a mobile oil change business in your area. Think on this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Pinch Dollars Not Dimes

2008-12-28T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by David Knowles

Instinctively we are constantly looking for ways to cut costs, save here and there and run a tighter than tight ship, all the while conducting our business in an effective and professional way. Sometimes it is not easy but if you want to survive as a business and stay in business this is something we all must do.

Have you herd the phrase "stepping over a dollar to pick up a dime"? Well this saying typifies the plight of many small businesses today. I have consulted with many small business owners and have been a small business owner my self and I know how enticing it can be to try and make your customer base conform to your needs instead of vice versa. Let me give you an example I used to work in a large office with many employees. We started the tradition of all going to lunch together, sometimes choosing the location took longer than the actual act of eating. Many times we would vote unanimously for one of the great mom and pop places that had become a great diversion from typical lunch menus, unfortunately most of the time someone in the group would say I can't go there because all I have is a card, and they don't accept them. There were 10 to 12 people all ready and willing to spend money at your place but you ran the numbers and decided you did not need credit card revenue.

We would all like to suppose that our products and services are so superior that we can set the rules. Just remember there are hundreds even thousands of businesses competing for that consumer dollar. Plastic has become the preferred form of payment in the United States and is closing in fast in all other parts of the world. Accepting credit/debit cards is not just important for larger businesses it is most important for the small business. You are establishing a client base, you are setting yourself apart from you competitors, and you are telling every patron or perspective patron that you want their business.

Statistics show that the average person has regular contact with 30 people a week, 30 people that they exert some type of influence over. Whether they may be family, friends co-workers or subordinates. An endorsement or a condemnation coming from this person has a much greater propensity to set the consumer's mine ether for or against you than does untold dollars spent in advertising.

If you follow this rule of thumb you will most likely come out on top, "never turn down a paying customer".

http://www.oinksolutions.com/cms/merchant_services.php

Growing A Successful Organization

2008-12-27T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Sue E. Thomas

There are lots of things that can help an organization grow, but what is the most important step in the growth of a company. Keep in mind,that companies are not entities that can grow by themselves; companies do not grow. A company can improve productivity, gain new customers, capture new markets, acquire new technology, increase efficiencies, develop creative approaches, increase profitability, etc., but only through one prime ingredient - it's people!

With that in mind, it's common sense to grow and develop the asset responsible for growing the company, right? But many organizations don't see it that way.

Without increased learning inside the company, a company can only grow a finite amount. To recognize the truth behind this statement, just look at technology. Our world is changing at a very rapid pace. If we can't keep up with the changes, we fall behind. And in order to keep up, remain competitive and be successful, we need to ensure that our people have strong "core competencies".

Take a look at your current workforce. What's missing? Are your people trained sufficiently in the software programs they use to do their jobs? If not, that knowledge gap may be costing you in lost productivity and time.

Do you have high turnover? You may need to review your hiring process. It might also be valuable to look at the skills of those doing the interviewing. Have they been properly trained to conduct effective interviews? Do they possess a thorough understanding of the critical skills, knowledge, attitudes and behaviors needed to be successful in the position?

What about morale and the other intangible and hard-to-measure areas (i.e. attitudes) that affect the company? Can you develop these areas in your employees? The softer skills are hard to measure, but attitude, morale and successful behaviors can be developed when you hire the right people.

It's time to rethink how we look at growing our organizations. In order to grow, we must continue to develop our most valuable asset - our people!

Sue E. Thomas, president of Managing Asset Potential (M-A-P, LLC), has over 25 years of business experience, 17 years of equine experience and 15 years of Human Resource Management. She possesses an in-depth knowledge of human interaction and team dynamics. She has extensive skills in organizational development, leadership development, facilitation and executive coaching.

For more information visit us at http://www.mapotential.com

Feedback Make It Descriptive

2008-12-26T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Alan Fairweather

Have you ever heard yourself say to a team member - "You're really great" - "You're a star" - I think you're brilliant" - "You're doing a great job!"

It's got to be a plus point that you're giving Confirming Feedback and there's nothing intrinsically wrong with any of the statements above; however, they could be better. There is also the danger that these statements could come across as a bit patronising.

Managers who find it a bit difficult to give Confirming feedback might also feel uncomfortable with these types of statements.

One of the other reasons for giving Confirming Feedback is to get more of the same behaviour; the statements above may not ensure that. Let me give you and example of what I mean.

Fred has just submitted a report which you're pleased with and you decide to tell him so - "That's a great report Fred; you're brilliant at writing reports!"

But what made the report great and why is Fred so brilliant at writing them? It would have been better to say - "I liked the way you structured that report Fred, the words you used and the use of diagrams made it easy for me to understand. Thank you for the time you have obviously put into it." Fred now knows what it is you like about his report and is more likely to write it in a similar way in the future.

This is what we call being Descriptive. You are describing to the team member what you saw or heard that you liked. This carries much more weight than a - "Well done!" Managers who are uncomfortable with Confirming Feedback find this easier to do because it takes the "emotion" out of the statement. There is also less risk of sounding patronising.

It's even more important to use descriptive statements when you see or hear something you're not happy with.

This is where we need to do a lot more thinking and a lot less reacting.

It's so easy to react when a team member does or says something we don't like. We say things like - "You've got the wrong attitude!"- "You're hopeless!" - "That was a stupid way to deal with that situation!" - "You'll need to shape up!" - "You're not very responsible!" Statements like these will only get the team members back up and won't get the change in behaviour you want.

Let's say that one of your team turns up late for the third time in a week. You decided to ignore the first two late situations but this third time has made you angry. You might say - "You've got the wrong attitude to this job, you're always late and I'm not having it. If you're late again you'll receive an official warning."

That statement is not descriptive, it's reactive. It stresses you, it de-motivates the team member and it's unlikely to resolve the situation. A descriptive statement would be - "I'm unhappy with the fact that you've been late for work three times this week. I'm willing to hear your reasons for being late and agree with you how we can prevent this happening in the future."

You're letting the team member know that you're not prepared to accept their lateness but you're willing to hear their side of the story. When you describe performance you are focussing on specific behaviour. You describe what you see and what you hear in clear terms that the team member can also see, hear and understand.

If you're not prepared to accept that then you need to tell them so. However, you may wish to make a judgement call and accept their timekeeping. At the end of the day it comes back to outcomes - are they producing the results? You may have to consider how their timekeeping affects the other members of the team.

I've only talked about lateness here however there are many other situations where you'll be required to give some Productive Feedback and coach people. It could be the way the team member speaks to a customer or a colleague. It could be for failing to produce the required results. Whatever it is, using descriptive statements and coaching the individual will resolve the situation in terms of your interests and the team members.

Discover how you can generate more business by motivating your team! Alan Fairweather is the author of "How to get More Sales by Motivating Your Team" This book is packed with practical things you can do to get the best out of your people. Click here now http://www.howtogetmoresales.com

http://www.alanfairweather.com

Commercial Office Space Dont Waste Your Money

2008-12-25T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Joshua Feinberg

Commercial office space is unnecessary when you first start out in computer consulting. Unless you have a very compelling reason for renting commercial office space, save your money. You're much better plowing that money back into marketing and promotional expenses.

Even a tiny commercial office space is going to be $400 - $600 a month. A low traffic retail store is even more; at least a $1000-$2000 per month. Rather than waste that money on commercial office space, invest it in marketing and business development. You're going to need to do these things whether you have commercial office space or not. There is no reason to add to your overhead expenses.

When you start out, a home office is the best choice. Until you bring on a lot of staff, it's really not going to benefit you to have a commercial office space. Most of the time you will be servicing clients at their office, going on sales calls, or attending networking events.

In computer consulting your clients will not be coming to you. You go to them. The time you spend in your own office is minimal. The money you spend on your office space should be minimal as well.

You might think that you need commercial office space if you want to run seminars. These are an excellent marketing tool but you can rent executive office space very reasonably. This type of commercial office space is rented on an as need basis by the hour or day.

The Bottom Line on Commercial Office Space

Commercial office space is expensive. There is no reason to put yourself on the hook for $500 or $1,000 a month or more, every single month just to be able to do say you have an office. The time you or your clients spend in your office does not warrant renting commercial office space. Use your home office for as long as you can and rent out space by the hour or day as you need it.

Copyright MMI-MMVI, Computer Consultants Secrets. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}

Joshua Feinberg has helped thousands of computer consultants around the World get more steady, high-paying clients. Learn how you can too get more steady, high-paying clients. Sign-up now for Joshua's free Computer Consultants Secrets audio training.

Corporate Kits At Wholesale Prices

2008-12-24T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Jimmy Sturo

Corporate kits, or sets of documents that are used to track and enter information for the purpose of registering a new corporation, can be applied to wholesalers. Wholesale prices are less than retail, as it involves high volumes. In the wholesale market, quality is key. The customer looks for good quality at competitive prices. Corporate kits includes the corporate seal, printed or blank minute books, by-laws, printed stock certificates and receipts, stock transfer ledgers, government forms, and a padded 3-ring binder with matching slip case.

Customers these days have many options to choose from. Many companies offer kits at competitive wholesale prices. The wholesalers are ready to deliver goods without any added cost. Companies are very prompt and flawless in their services. They dispatch the company seals the same day the order is placed. All the company seals are produced through the same process, so the difference in price does not arise through production. The end product is always the same, whether you buy it from a wholesaler or a retailer.

It is advisable to buy at a wholesale rate first and then check it with the prices as quoted daily by the wholesaler. The kits should reach the retailer within a stipulated period of time. Some wholesalers also offer gifts and discounts for bulk sales. They render services all over the globe, not just domestically. Corporate kits and stock certificates are available for all different types of corporations.

One has to be very cautious while dealing with wholesalers. Negotiate well to find a business deal best suited to your needs and budget.

Corporate Kits provides detailed information on Benefits of Corporate Kits, Buy Corporate Kits, Corporate Kit Estate Binders, Corporate Kits and more. Corporate Kits is affiliated with Corporate Gift Incentives.

Business Intelligence In Taxation

2008-12-23T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Kostis Panayotakis

Government Finance Divisions manage the execution of the fiscal policy:

management of the taxation and tax audit process
management of the budget execution process

Within the taxation framework, each State aims to support its taxation policy:

Support the efficient capture and processing of tax declarations
Assure the collection of tax revenue according to plans
Manage and reduce the risk of Citizen non-compliance: reduce tax evasion levels and fight financial crime
Support the analysis of alternative future tax policies and relevant decision making, e.g. consequences of a change on State revenue
Enhance the Citizen experience, during the tax compliance process (e.g. offer e-government services).

It is proposed that a 'tax monitoring data mart', be designed based on the dimensional model approach. A proposed highlevel logical data model is depicted in the picture (check resource below), based on the assumption that a critical mass of data (geographic & time dimension) in a sufficient data quality exists, rendering the implementation feasible. The proposed high-level data model depicted in the figure, is a star schema with a number of fact tables surrounded by a set of common (or conformed) dimensions. The fact tables are of the 'accumulating snapshot' type, meaning that they accumulate information throughout each individual taxation transaction lifecycle. Most taxation types have a yearly lifecycle (i.e. personal income tax). VAT involves more frequent transactions. This data modeling approach offers advantages, compared to the operational systems data models (usually normalized database schemas):· The model is quite simple and can be easily understood by business (non-IT) users · The model's simplicity has also positive consequences to the performance of queries Based on this infrastructure which would monitor the taxation lifecycle of various taxes, the Government can produce information:· on a taxpayer's holistic view (all transactions she / he made) and support the non-compliance risk scoring and general tax audit process · on tax collection time-series analysis· on the time it takes between reception of tax declarations & clearance· on the tax collection speed· on the Taxpayer demographics (i.e. average declared income per professional code, geographic distribution of income)· total tax collected by tax office, compared to tax office attributes

The model is expandable when the following principle is applied: the star schema dimensions (time, tax office, taxpayer) are conformed allowing the application of queries via conformed dimensions across different fact tables (drill across queries). This approach is known as Datawarehouse Bus Architecture.

The 'tax monitoring data mart' is depicted in the following link http://www.pleroforea.com/tax_monitoring_process_data_mart.htm

A 'tax audit case data mart' is depicted in the following link http://www.pleroforea.com/tax_audit_case_data_mart.htm

Relevant material on Business intelligence can be found at http://www.pleroforea.com

Computer Service Business Resources For Recruiting Personnel

2008-12-22T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Joshua Feinberg

You will need to recruit computer service business personnel not only at the start of a business but continuously after that. There are many resources available to those in the computer service business looking to hire employees, and a computer service business manager able to think creatively will attract better candidates. Advertising, referrals, promotions and the Internet are excellent sources for computer service business managers looking for new personnel.

Ads

Advertising, while the first thought for most computer business managers is by no means the only hiring tool. Classified ads can attract a lot of resumes, but will not weed out unqualified candidates. Ads can also be very expensive, so those in the computer service business taking out ad space should focus on writing adds that target those with as many of the desirable qualities as possible. Those looking to use advertising should think about using agencies or the marketing department to write the most efficient ads.

Promoting From Within

Computer service business managers might be able to use a current employee to fill an opening. Promotions can help build morale within a company, but the individuals promoted must have the right qualifications. When looking for candidates, you may want to look outside the computer service business as well.

Hiring With Referrals

Many times you can find the best candidate within your circle of friends and acquaintances. As a computer service business manager you can also ask current employees to recommend someone within their network. Be careful with this process, and make sure to screen potential employees the same way you would when using any other computer service business hiring tools.

The Internet

As a computer service business manager you should scan the Internet and visit competing websites on a regular basis for candidates. Many business recruiters save significant money by using Internet referral services.

In the computer service business recruiting can be very labor-intensive and costly. Make sure to use resources beyond advertising to ensure you get the best qualified person.

Copyright MMI-MMVII, Computer Consultants Secrets. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}

Joshua Feinberg helps computer consultants get more steady, high-paying clients. Learn how you can too. Sign-up now for Joshua's free Computer Consultants Secrets audio training.

Performance Appraisals The 5 Biggest Mistakes Managers Make And How To Avoid Them

2008-12-21T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Anna Johnson

Performance appraisal.

Or, if you prefer, performance review.

Whichever term you use, mention it to a dozen of your friends -- whether they typically give or receive performance appraisals -- and notice the responses you get.

A grimace?

A roll of the eyes?

Tension?

A satisfied smile?

Let's face it, mentioning "performance appraisal" gets such mixed responses because people have such mixed experiences.

Which is only to be expected... except I bet most of the responses you get are negative.

If your respondents aren't hostile, or scornful, then they're clearly unimpressed.

Why?

Why are performance appraisals seen to be negative experiences?

I mean, isn't a performance appraisal simply a meeting between a manager and a member of his or her staff, where together they appraise the staff member's performance during the year (or other time period) and agree on goals for the coming year?

Well, that's the theory.

But in reality, many managers handle performance appraisals quite poorly. And the result is not only an unpleasant meeting, but one where the manager and his or her staff member never quite understand each other, never quite appreciate the other's point of view, and never quite settle on appropriate goals for the coming year.

It's almost inevitable that the staff member will end up less happy and less productive than he or she was before!

In fact, there are five (5) big mistakes that managers often make in conducting performance appraisals. Fortunately, these mistakes are easily avoided once you make a conscious effort to avoid them.

Let's discuss each in turn.

Mistake #1: Waiting For The Performance Appraisal To Give Feedback

This is the biggie, and all too common. It's where a manager fails to give someone adequate feedback on their performance during the year, and then dumps it on them in the performance appraisal meeting.

Unfortunately, the feedback is almost always negative, so the employee ends up sitting there in shock -- at best, wondering why his or her manager didn't say something sooner; at worst, feeling unjustly victimized.

And you have to wonder -- how can a manager expect an employee to do the right things, the right way, if the manager hasn't provided any guidance or feedback all year?

The solution: make it a habit to tell your employees if they've done a good or poor job, and if it's a poor job, explain how they can do things better in the future.

There should be no surprises in the performance appraisal!

Mistake #2: Overemphasizing Recent Performances

It's all too human to remember, and give greater weight, to recent events rather than earlier events. However, this can lead to an inaccurate and unfair assessment when it comes to reviewing an employee's performance.

To avoid overemphasizing an employee's recent work, take note -- and ideally take notes -- of the employee's work throughout the year.

Mistake #3: Being Too Positive Or Negative

Some managers feel uncomfortable giving negative feedback and consequently, can omit to give employees the constructive criticism they need to improve. And then there are other managers who are instinctively too negative, leaving the employee wondering if they can do anything right!

While, as a manager appraising someone's performance you should give your honest opinion... you also want your employee to understand and appreciate what you're saying.

So instead of being too positive or negative -- which can result in the employee not believing what you say -- think about the impact on the employee you want, and communicate your feedback accordingly.

Mistake #4: Being Critical Without Being Constructive

Following on from Mistake #3... some managers can be too critical and neglect to provide any constructive advice on how an employee can improve.

This doesn't help the employee or the manager. Even if your criticisms all have merit, if you don't explain how the employee can improve, he or she is likely to miss the validity of what's being said and simply think he or she is being victimized. Not to mention the fact that his or her performance won't actually improve.

So if you need to be critical, be constructive too!

Mistake #5: Talking Not Listening

The final big mistake that managers make in performance appraisals is doing too much talking and not enough listening.

These meetings are supposed to be interactive -- where the manager doesn't simply relay his or her own appraisal of the employee's performance during the year, but also listens to the employee's viewpoint.

If, for example, you have criticized the individual's performance -- it's not only fair, but important, to get the employee's response as to why he or she may have underperformed.

Moreover, a key objective of the performance appraisal is to agree on goals for the following year. How can there be true agreement and commitment to such goals, if you don't learn the employee's point of view?

As you've probably gathered, you can avoid these five mistakes -- it just takes a little effort. It's certainly worth it -- if you think employee satisfaction, productivity and performance are important!

Anna Johnson is the author of the How To Manage People System, including her book, How To Manage People (Even If You're A Control Freak!). Get Anna's FREE 12-page report How To Be An Outstanding Manager -- The 8 Vital Keys To Managing People Effectively.

Beyond Management Coaching When Things Are Getting Out Of Control

2008-12-20T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Chris Stowell

Leaders and Managers often ask us, 'What do you do when you have tried to coach and counsel an employee about a performance concern, and the employee has not responded?

Unfortunately, we see far too many cases where the leader hasn't, in good faith, tried to coach the employee or to put the leader's concerns into words. Often, leaders look for a quick fix alternative to what is perceived as a difficult and painful confrontation.

We have also learned from first-hand experience that management coaching is not a one-shot effort. It takes regular ongoing discussions and experiences to achieve the level of support and cooperation needed. When you have truly exhausted all your good-faith efforts to coach an employee into change, you have the right to move to the next best alternative, a coaching based solution.

In certain situations, employees have grown accustomed to and dependent on heavy authority in the workplace, or they just don't feel attached to the job or organization. We are not advocating that the leader wait for someone to pass out a permission slip to try a different approach; rather, the leader should tell the employee that the management coaching approach hasn't worked and it is time to take a different path. Probably the best thing a leader can do is literally call a time-out, pull back, and reexamine the entire interpersonal/working contract or agreement with the employee. The leader needs to reconsider the basic assumptions and understanding about the employee's role and terms of employment in the organization. This is a major renegotiation effort.

It is very possible that the job demands or personal expectations and objectives of the employee or leader have changed sufficiently that a real pressure point has been created in the leader/employee relationship. Remember, a social contract between a leader and employee works as long as there is "mutual consent and valid consideration" for both parties. If a new agreement and shared vision of common goals can be reached, then a new state of leader/employee stability and equilibrium will be achieved. If not, the leader and employee should begin to explore and plan a way to separate effectively.

Some leaders say they can't get along without the employee. No problem you simply need to look for creative ways to restructure the employee's job or reassign or retrain the employee to cut your losses and limit your exposure. You may consider "down-sizing" the employee's role to fit the needs of the situation.

Another strategy is to pursue a path or formal disciplinary or probationary action. Obviously this is riskier; it may be a path of no return in the sense that cultivating a healthy relationship in a climate of hostility and possible resentment, anger, and embarrassment over disciplinary action is difficult. You may be forced to pursue this path to the unpleasant end of a separation, the ultimate challenge for any leader.

The other thing you may consider is to take two aspirin, grin and bear it, and go on lots of short vacations.

If you would like to learn more about CMOE's 27 years of management coaching research and experience, please contact a Regional Manager at (888)262-2499.

To learn more why organizations such as Pfizer, Chevron, Texaco, Samsung, and others have chosen CMOE please visit their website.

Ignorance And Uncertainty

2008-12-19T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Mamak Mamaku

Perfect competition assumes that consumers, firm and factor suppliers have perfect knowledge of cost and benefits. In the real world, there is often a great deal of ignorance and uncertainty. Thus people are unable to equate marginal benefit with marginal cost.

Consumers purchase many goods only once or few times in a lifetime. Cars, washing machines, television and other consumer durable fall into this category. Consumers mat not be aware of the quality of such goods until they have purchased them, by which time it is too late. Advertising mat contribute to people's ignorance by misleading them as to the benefits of a good.

Firm are often ignorant of market opportunities, price, cost, the productivity of factor ( especially white-collar workers ), the activity of rival, etc.

Many economic decisions are based on expected future conditions. Since the future can never be know for certain, many decision are taken that in the retrospect will be seen to have been wrong.

In some case, it may be possible to obtain the information through the market. There may be an agency that will sell you the information or a newspaper or magazine that contains the information. In this case, you will have to decide whether the cost to you of buying the problem here is that you may not have sufficient information to judge how reliable the information is that you are buying!

Project Management Fast Tracking With Gantt Charts

2008-12-18T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Liz Cassidy

Gantt charts are useful tools for analysing, planning and controlling complex multi stage projects.

Gantt Charts can:

Assist in identifying the tasks and sub tasks to be undertaken

Help you lay out the tasks that need to be completed

Assist in scheduling when these tasks will be carried out and in what order

Assist in planning resources and needed to complete the project,

Assist in working out the critical path for a project where it needs to be completed by a particular date.

When a complex or multi stage project is under way, Gantt charts assist in monitoring whether the project is on schedule, or not. If not, the Gantt chart allows you to easily identify what actions need to be taken in order to put the project back onto schedule.

An essential concept behind project planning is that some activities are dependent on other activities being completed first. For example, it is not a good idea to start building the walls in an office block before you have laid the foundations; neither is it a good idea to put the cake mix into the tin without greasing the tin first.

These dependent activities need to be completed in a sequence, with each stage being more-or-less completed before the next stage can begin. We can call dependent activities 'sequential'.

Other activities are not dependent on completion of any other tasks. These activities may be done at any time before or after a particular stage in the project is reached. These activities are called are nondependent or 'parallel' tasks.

To learn more on how to draw up a Gantt Chart; refer to my previous article on Gantt Charts.

Sometimes it is necessary to complete a project earlier than originally planned or than your previously drawn up Gantt Chart says is possible. In this event you will need to take action to reduce the length of time spent on each task and stage. This is called fast tracking.

One way to fast track a project is to pile resources and funds into every single project task to bring down the time spent on each task. This would probably consume huge additional resources and is a very expensive way to complete a project. In my early days as a chemical engineer on a huge Chemical plant, this method was normal.

A more efficient way of fast tracking would be to look only at activities on the critical path. ie Fast track only those tasks which are dependent on other tasks being completed. A construction example is using tilt slab concrete walls which are made at the same time as the foundations are being laid. Resources are added only to those activities which are on the sequential critical path. Costs would still increase but in a more planned and controlled manner.

This method works also well when a deadline on the project is missed, and remedial action is needed to gain time and catch up to the original timetable.

Liz Cassidy, founder of Third Sigma International is an author, Speaker, Trainer and Executive Coach dedicated to facilitating results in the businesses, professional and personal lives of her clients. For more information http://www.thirdsigma.com.au

What Crosscultural Training Can Do For You

2008-12-17T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Brenda Townsend Hall

International business is more complex than ever before. Success in every sector is now seen in global terms. Yet success in working with colleagues from different cultures is no easy goal. In order to connect, we have to communicate effectively and we can only do this in an atmosphere of mutual respect, understanding and trust. Cross-cultural training helps you understand the underlying cultural values that drive behaviouryou first understand your own cultural background and then other people's.

Its outcomes should be first to take the confusion out of cross-cultural encounters. For example, you arrive in Madrid for a business meeting. In your own working environment appointments are made and only changed in exceptional circumstances, and usually with plenty of notice. But when you arrive at your hotel in advance of the next day's meeting you find a note telling you the appointment has been rescheduled. From your perspective this is tantamount to an insult. You feel angry, frustrated, perhaps puzzled. But that's because you come from a typically 'monochronic' background. Spain is much more 'polychronic' and, while you are very time- conscious, punctual, schedule-orientated, many Spanish are easy-going about time, appointments and timetables. It's not an insult, simply a manifestation of a more relaxed view of these matters. If you had understood this before doing business in Spain you would not have been thrown by this sudden change in the schedule.

As well as helping you to understand the differences in other people's behaviour and attitudes, it helps you to overcome perceived barriers. In the situation above, you could arrive at the postponed meeting in a hostile and unreceptive frame of mind. Your business meeting could already be jeopardized by your sense of having been insulted. But if you understand the different behaviour in relation to a different culture's values, you can simply enjoy the additional free time in Madrid and arrive at the meeting ready to thank your counterparts for the unexpected opportunity to do some sightseeing. No hostility, no barriers.

A further benefit of cross-cultural awareness is that it helps you to become more objective. When cross-cultural issues are unresolved, you risk taking the situation personally, as in the example above. But when you understand that different behaviour patterns are entirely normal in another environment, you can stand back and analyse the situation more effectively. Let's say you have been negotiating with Chinese counterparts and feel ready to close the deal. At the end of the meeting, the Chinese thank you for your contribution but say they will now go away to consider the agreement. If you don't understand the collectivist nature of the Chinese decision-making process, you could come away feeling that the negotiation had failed, you may take this as a personal failure. But if you understand the group-orientation of your Chinese counterparts, you will be able judge the negotiation in a clearer light. You will even be able to offer additional input by expressing your willingness to supply further information to the group if they need it.

Team-cohesion is another area that benefits from cross-cultural understanding. Obviously it will be pointless if you as an individual understand these nuances but the rest of your team does not. When you return from a mission such as that described above, they too will think the negotiation has failed unless they understand the issues. As a team you will be able to develop more coherent and effective strategies if you all know what is involved in doing business across cultures.

Cross-cultural training will help you improve your communications skills. You will learn how to listen with real understanding. That means listening with your eyes and your mind as well as with your ears. Let's say you, a man, invite a female secretary from the office for a coffee after work so that you can get to know each other in a more relaxed atmosphere. She looks down at the floor, thanks you and says she'll come. You wait in the café but she doesn't turn up. If you had been listening properly this should be no surprise. She didn't look you in the eye and you ought to know that in her culture it is not usual for a woman to meet a man who is not her husband, father or brother alone but, at the same time, she would have found it impossible to openly refuse an invitation from her boss. As you learn to listen and understand you will develop the communication skills you need to deal sensitively but effectively with your international colleagues.

Cross-cultural training helps you understand how to prepare the ground for mutual understanding by helping you win the trust of those you work with. When people can see that you are sensitive to their beliefs and traditions and respect them, they will be more willing to look at new ways of doing things and finding mutually acceptable solutions.

Brenda Townsend Hall is writer and trainer in the field of business communications and cross-cultural awareness. She is an associate member of ITAP International (http://www.itapintl.com)

A Checklist For Organized Executives

2008-12-16T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Cynthia Kyriazis

I could begin this article by providing a checklist of organizing techniques for you to incorporate into your daily work routine. The goal would be to become and remain organized, improve your time management and reduce your stress while increasing your productivity. This checklist could include items such as managing incoming information, keeping the desktop free of clutter, creating a user-friendly filing system, etc. And I suspect there are many other organizing and time management consultants out there who could provide something similar. But I want to share a different type of list with you.

It's a list with a bigger picture. It's got more to do with preparing yourself to move forward than with taking immediate 'action steps'. In fact, it's about the groundwork you need to lay in order to have the action steps work.

Reality check

Are you organized? Are you an effective time manager? Ask yourself. Then ask others. If you are a supervisor, you are a role model and your actions are studied by others. You might not have asked for this particular role, but your staff or team is watching and wondering how they can be just like you or not anything like you. Same is true of your peers. How often do I hear, 'If you think my desk is bad, let's go for a walk and I'll show you Ted's.' So take a reality check and be honest.

Skills check

Do you have the skills necessary to become organized? Contrary to popular belief, an organized person is not genetically pre-disposed to this condition. Getting organized is a learned skill. Some of us had great role models, some had poor role models and some had no role models. Some of us are organized in one area but not in another. Whatever your situation, there is plenty of information out there on ideas of how to improve your skills and plenty of help to guide and support you to success.

Emotional intelligence check

Daniel Goleman coined this phrase and spawned a revolution. Without emotional intelligence the rest seems somewhat moot. Ask yourself some tough questions about what you need to do to be more successful and less stressed. Chances are that getting organized and becoming a more effective manager of your time might crop up as areas of importance.

What will you do about it?

Cynthia Kyriazis is an organizing and time management consultant, trainer, speaker, coach and author with over 20 years management experience in multi-unit corporations. Organize it, a division of Productivity Partners, Inc. is an organizational training firm she founded in 1995 and has been serving Fortune 500 clients ever since. Cynthia works with business and their employees to help improve performance and realize productivity gains.

Cynthia has appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Kansas City Star and the Legal Intelligencer. She currently serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), member of the National Speakers Association (NSA), member of the Kansas City of the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI-KC) and consultant to the American Coaching Association.

Creativity Management Structure And Goals

2008-12-15T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Kal Bishop

What do creativity managers do?

Replace the word management with the word optimisation.

That's what creativity managers do: they optimise the quality of the idea pool (creativity) and the implementation process (innovation).

There are many methods of optimisation and the creativity leader must be aware of all of them, in other words, he or she must synthesise them for optimal effect.

Areas [within creativity] that need managing include motivation, organisational culture, organisational structure, incremental versus radical effects and processes, knowledge mix, group structures, goals, process and valuation.

Areas [within innovation] that need managing include idea selection, development / prototyping and the art of commercialisation.

It is worth noting that 4000 good ideas result in 4 development programs, which in turn results in 1 winner.

Structure and Goals

Do structure and goals enhance creative output or is a "do your best" approach more effective?

Structure and goals are often resisted. Common complaints include "I feel like I'm conforming" and "you can't force creativity."

However, defining the problem, setting boundaries and incremental goals moves the creator from an original state to a goal state, gets the creative juices flowing and forces out ideas. With structure, you can complete a screenplay (for example), within a set period. Without structure, I won't be surprised if that screenplay rots half-finished under your bed for years.

Structure and goals have to be tempered with the concept of incubation. The reverse of the above is that richer ideas result when the problem is allowed to fester in the unconscious mind.

Hence a combination of time pressure and incubation achieve the best result.

Learn more

Download the MBA research, learn about this topic at http://www.creativity-management.com/

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

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You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made, the author's name is retained and the link to our site URL remains active.

Download the MBA research, learn about this topic at http://www.creativity-management.com/

Lessons From A Sponge

2008-12-14T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by T.J. Schier

As most of you know, cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants is happily employed at the Krusty Krab - a quick serve seen by millions of kids every day on Nickelodeon. Quite a few funny restaurant experiences seem to happen to the SpongeBob crew - they even made a movie about them.

Having an 8- and 10-year old, I recently saw the SpongeBob SquarePants movie and there was actually a valuable restaurant lesson to be learned (that somehow stayed with me after 90 minutes of torture). The second Krusty Krab restaurant was getting ready to open and SpongeBob thought he was going to be the manager, yet he was passed over for a "more mature" candidate. He was crushed. How many times have we done that to our employees?

The lesson to take away is this: Think about training from the inside before recruiting from the outside. How many potential management candidates do you have working for you that lack a bit in maturity, leadership skills, or management experience, and you simply pass them over and look to the outside for answers? We continually hire new managers, lose them after 1.3 years, and hire another. How about reallocating our efforts (and dollars)into teaching our existing employees the skills they need to become great managers.

Based on data I've come across, companies that have a higher rate of internal promotions tend to have longer tenured managers, lower management turnover, and lower employee turnover. Why? These folks are already bonded to the brandthey know what it's like and they buy-in. They simply need to know there is a career path in the organization and the opportunity to succeed (with employer-directed development provided).

Need a new manager? Comb your roster, find out who is interested, see what skills they are lacking, and get them trained, perhaps by a mentor or coach. Numerous assessment tests are available to help you identify what skills your employees need to develop.

Courses are available through many companies. Even the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (www.nraef.org), in affiliation with the Harvard Business School, provides management classes.

Yes, it is an investment. But that investment is safer than the typical recruiting churn. By providing opportunities to your current employees, you're ultimately encouraging them, and others, to stay longer. Now that's something to absorb!

T.J. Schier is service professional, consultant and speaker with over 20 years experience in operations and training. Founder and president of Incentivize Solutions and podTraining, T.J. has helped numerous clients enhance their service and training programs and spoken to tens of thousands of managers, franchisees and operators in various fields. Visit http://IncentivizeSolutions.com/ for more info motivating today's employees, training today's generation and delivering outstanding guest service; or http://podTraining.us/, a unique new system and the foundation of 'i-learning' - using the device of today's generation, the iPod - to train your workforce.

Tips For Collecting Past Due Accounts Receivable

2008-12-13T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Greg Beverly

During a consultation with one of my clients this week, he proudly stated, "Greg, our past due accounts receivable are down from over $100,000 in October to less than $30,000 at year end! I still can't believe what a difference those simple steps made in our collection process." Later the same day, I spoke with a prospect who told me that more than half of his current past dues were more than 120 days. "I've tried everything I know to try. I'm just going to have to start beating the bushes for more business or I'm not going to make it." If both continue down the same path, which one do you think will be the most successful?

My client has been very busy over the last few months taking action so he would NOT be in this position. Unfortunately, the second owner is typical of many business owners today. Complacency when things are going well can be an absolute killer. Sales were good. Profits were good. What else could you ask for? Did you realize that many businesses who closed their doors last year had record sales? Did you realize that many of them also had record profits? The difference between profits and cash flow can be the difference between success and mediocrity, or even failure. One of the worst drags on cash flow is lack of accounts receivable management. How do I know this? I have been through it personally and I learned the hard way that failure to properly manage your accounts receivable can seriously damage your bank account. I was once forced to write off more than $40,000 in receivables to two separate clientsclients that I trustedclients that I did special favors for and let them slide when they were late. I did it because I liked themand I trusted them. Big mistake when you let emotions cloud your judgement in the collection area. When that happened it was painful and I don't like seeing that happen to others when I know how it can be avoided.

But from all adversity, there is a lesson to be learned. Everyone needs a system for collecting accounts. A system alerts you to specific steps at specific times and takes the guesswork out of sending letters and making calls. A system uses a letter that has been proven to work again and again, a call script that has been proven to work again and again and utilizes it increase your cash flow and significantly reduce your past due accounts receivable.

To survive in business, you must always keep your finger on the cash flow pulse. Many business owners I know are so focused on sales and profits that they forget that profits don't pay the billscash does. Some of the most cash flow challenged companies in the world are those that are growing the fastest. One of the best ways to keep the cash flowing is to manage your receivables with flawless consistency.

Make sure that accounts receivable management has dedicated space on your calendar every single week.

And remember, accounts receivable management is not an event. It's an ongoing process that requires regular action. It requires a plan, constant attention, and dedication. Complacency and procrastination can kill you.

Greg Beverly, CPA, MBA has more than 21 years of experience helping business owners get the most from their business. For more information on how to reduce your past due accounts receivable and give your cash flow a boost, visit his website at http://www.accountsreceivable.yougethelp.com

Implementation The Catalyst Of Change For Management To Reach That Next Level Of Success

2008-12-12T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Leanne Hoagland-Smith

From the personal and professional experiences of other colleagues and myself, one of the more critical success factors for management is implementation. Through my observations, I have discovered that people and organization spend a great deal of resources including time, dollars and the cumulative total of the energy generated from these efforts to create business or strategic plans. Yet, these very same costly plans languish in a manager's desk drawer or on an executive's shelf. The incredible inspiration power within these plans lay untouched because few individuals understand how to implement the plan.

Implementation is multi-faceted. This action requires a combination of consistently applying knowledge and skills including communication, decision-making, delegation, goal setting and goal achievement, prioritization, time management and working with the psychology change. However without steady and demonstrated values by all involved, especially those initiating the plan, implementation will falter and succumb to the inertia of indecision and procrastination.

By respecting everyone's needs, the management begins to build What's In It For Me (WIIFM) leading to What's In It For Us (WiIFU). When working on plans whether strategic or departmental, I have learned to validate current behaviors by asking the following question: What do you need from me so that you can successfully implement this plan? This question builds a bridge between management and the team where all now are the catalysts for change.

Successful implementation of change happens when we embrace a clear purpose, attitudes of partnership and steadfast demonstration of core values. Then, everyone can be a "Catalyst Champion" to change.

Leanne Hoagland-Smith, M.S. President of ADVANCED SYSTEMS, is the Process Specialist. With over 25 years of business and education experience, she builds peace and abundance by connecting the 3P's of Passion, Purpose and Performance through process improvement. Her ROI driven process solutions affect sustainable change in 4 key areas: financials, leadership, relationships and growth & innovation with a variety of industries. She aligns the strategies, systems and people to develop loyal internal customers that lead to external customers. As co-author of M.A.G.I.C.A.L. Potential:Living an Amazing Life Beyond Purpose to Achievement due for June 2005 release, Leanne speaks nationally to a variety of audiences. Please call Leanne a call at 219.759.5601 or leanne@processspecialist.com if you are seeking amazing results.

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