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57  THE TECHNO CLUB [ TECHNOWORLDINC.COM ] / Management / Soft Skills are Not a Soft Option in Today's Competitive World on: November 08, 2007, 03:00:33 PM


Take a few moments to consider this: if you could increase the performance of your staff by just 5%, what difference would this make to your company?

It is useful to remember that organisations are not successful, it is the people who work there that are successful. It is people that drive the business forwards, slow it down, or even put in into reverse! Dig into any organisational problem and you are likely to find people. Conflict, stress, misunderstanding, poor communication skills, resistance, low morale and low productivity all have their origins in people and relationship issues. The value of an organisation can be measured by the expertise of its staff and their ability to work together. Thus behind every success in business, is people. Invest in your people, and let them invest in the business.

Research indicates that a typical managers wastes 25% of his/her time to unwarranted conflict, misunderstanding and personality clashes, leading directly to a loss in team performance and productivity. Some 60% of performance issues in a team can be attributed to poor interpersonal skills – or soft skills. Proving that soft skills development is no soft option in today’s competitive world.

Organisations may be using state of the art information technology and yet managing people on outdated people principles which may lead to stifling energy and creativity, and in effect, wasting peoples motivation and valuable resources – possibly, without even realising.

The Winning Relationships programme is a highly practical mix of brief presentations, experiential learning, change, and empowerment. It is skills focused and will leave the participants with real understanding, proven techniques and appreciation of rewarding relationships. People are our working environment; and there is a direct correlation between managing relationships successfully and profit margin.

There can be reduced costs on traditional training as Winning Relationships aligns with and can replace some of the training around performance management and development, diversity, team building, leadership, customer service – internal & external, sales training, the people side of project management and 360 degree feedback.

The results you can expect on an individual level include self motivation, more openness to change, receptive to feedback and taking ownership for their issues, responsibilities and outcomes. Teams will develop a stronger sense of identity, an improved self-belief, greater trust and understanding (of self and others), increased openness and collaboration. The benefits to the individual, team and organization might be seen as faster and smoother operations, more flexibility, more reliability, less stress and cheaper costs through reduced absenteeism and staff turnover, a happier more productive workforce, increased sales and an improved bottom line.

What makes it so special? It works – and the results are sustained through an integrated programme ensuring consistency of message, models and values.

The emphasis is not on ‘management information’ to be digested but on transformational experiences that make a real difference that people can and will buy in to. The programme has a series of ongoing workshops, fun activities, simple follow-ups and measurement tools. Some of the tools and follow-up sessions can be run by you – the client – if you choose, thus developing a greater sense of ownership and lowering costs. Creating Winning Relationships is important at all – executive, management and operations – in all businesses across the globe. Where ever you find people, you find relationships. Making them Winning Relationships, making your company a Winning Company and a great place to work makes good people sense and therefore good business sense.

Being skilled in relationships is fundamental to business success and impacts directly on productivity, morale and the bottom line.

PJ Stevens is a trainer and motivational speaker based in the UK. Visit his website at http://www.leapplc.com

Clients who have already experienced his business development and teambuilding programmes include Siemens, Sony, PepsiCo Foods, Estee Lauder, BAE Systems, Jaguar Cars and Sun Microsystems. It has been operated in UK, USA, South Africa, Russia and Europe.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Stevens
58  THE TECHNO CLUB [ TECHNOWORLDINC.COM ] / Management / The 3 Avoidable Costs of Doing Business on: November 08, 2007, 02:59:42 PM
Have you ever heard the saying, "it's not how much you make but how much you keep?" If you increase your sales by 50%, but lose as much as you make because of waste and inefficiency, what have you truly gained?

Everything that we do in an organization, including sales has a cost attached. No matter your business or industry, companies are always trying find new ways to increase sales, find new customers, or grow their memberships. The combination of increasing competition and savvy customers means that companies must do a better job controlling costs if they want to improve their margins. The goal is to implement cost cutting measures that support your overall strategic position, deliver consistent short term results; produce sustainable long term efficiencies, and improve customer satisfaction.

COST #1 - The Cost of Unclear or Misaligned Goals

If goals are not clear people, work hardest at what they know how to do, not at the right things to do. 75 minutes of time spent working on the wrong activities or time lost performing rework cost a 500 person organization $3.1 million dollars per year (2004 Gallup Poll).

COST #2 - The Cost of Poor Problem Solving

Deferring problems or passing problems down the line, rather than finding and fixing them, accounts for a large part of organizational costs. Early problem recognition allows for the identification of more low cost options and allows the time needed to resolve them. The longer a problem is ignored the more people are affected and the higher the costs rise.

COST #3 - The Cost of Poor Decision Making

Poor decision making represents the highest cost to the organization. When a poor decision is made to chose a particular path or allocate resources in the wrong way, the costs include that allocation and the opportunity lost from not choosing a better alternative. Poor decision making has a ripple affect and unchecked affects more and more areas of the business. You get increasing cost along the way.

Costs, as a function of accounting represent the necessary expense of doing business. Whether it is labor, material, fixed, or variable, costs represent what is spent to keep the business running. Reducing costs has a direct impact on short term profit gains. The question is how do you make sure that you are getting the highest rate of return for dollars spent – how do you keep more of what you make?

    A 10% reduction in costs will deliver about 9% increase in pre-tax profits.

There are several things that you can do to begin to Reduce Costs:

   1. Set clear goals and communicate them often.
   2. Figure out where you’re a losing money, why you’re losing it, and stop it immediately.
   3. Improve the problem recognition, problem solving and decision making ability of every employee.
   4. Make decisions that are aligned with the overall goals and not by popular vote.
   5. Provide the best tools and resources that aid in job performance.
   6. Spend in ways that increase the value of the business, employees, and customers.
   7. Evaluate the trade-offs and look for the highest available return.
   8. Avoide unnecessary costs.

Cost Avoidance

Far better than cutting costs is the ability to avoid indiscriminate costs that come as a result of poor business practices. Opting for cheaper materials and inexpensive labor, or skipping process steps may, cut costs but they will not save you money. Cutting corners rather than planning reduction and saving strategies may help in the short run but the time, money, and effort spent on rework will send your cost through the roof. More proactive strategies for reducing costs include developing the strategic mindset of your employees and aligning the goals and priorities of everyone in the organization.

Remember that any attempts to cut costs must be in service of the customer and not at their expense. Reactionary cost cutting measures like massive layoff or drastic cuts in employee development; however do the opposite. Low quality products and services delivered by inexperienced, improperly trained employees will send customers running to the competition. The most appropriate way to reduce costs is to eliminate waste found in poor processes and ineffective job routines. Wasted materials, effort, and wasted time not only drive up the costs, but they also limit opportunities for growth.

Valarie is CEO of Think 6 Results -- a knowledge broker passionate about learning and improving performance in organizations. She’s a writer, presenter, and executive coach on a mission to get every employee and organization focused on and thinking about the SIX business driving goals that matter.

Looking for just the right SPEAKER for your special meeting or event; we offer full-day presentations, training workshops, and keynote addresses. This high-energy presenter is ready to cover topics like: strategic thinking , career strategy,leadership, change management, teambuilding, employee engagement, or organizational learning. Let us customize a presentation for you. You won't be disappointed.

We want you to share this article with others. Feel free to copy this article when you include the copyright and contact information listed below.

Contact Valarie at [email protected] or by calling 630-705-1189. Visit us at http://www.Think6Results.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Valarie_Washington
59  THE TECHNO CLUB [ TECHNOWORLDINC.COM ] / Management / Problems & Why They Don't Get Solved on: November 08, 2007, 02:58:31 PM


It is possible to find about 2,050,000,000 “problems” on the internet.

Often, problems do not get solved because they do not have an owner. They saunter around like orphans that are not taken care of.

This could be the case when a problem is too big to address for a single owner. Today, a local newspaper reviewed the situation about the shrinking of the Greenland Glaciers. It is a problem that might cause a disaster in the end, but which (impact) is nearly invisible at the moment. It is a standard long-term versus short-term issue where the former is not often favored. Until there is no real need, no action will be undertaken. Besides that, not everybody could be convinced that the melting will indeed cause a problem.

Problems that do get attention are those where the urgency is high. The Internet site of a company that goes down for example. The production process could delay because of a part that was not delivered (and previously purchased) by the purchase department. Or a constant jam in the traffic to your call center because of a lack of agents (the problem of giving stress to your agents). For this last issue the owner of the problem is the manager of the call center. Although...

There are available agents in the team next door, owned by another manager. The call overflow could be routed to this neighboring team (call center), but the problem will be shifted; to another team and to another moment in time.

It is not sexy to talk about problems. You should rather focus on a challenge. Either way, something needs to get solved. And that is no problem;

It is possible to find 3,230,000,000 “Solutions” on the Internet.

And that is another reason why problems do not always get an owner. It is much more interesting to own a solution. There are too many of them, the question is, do they solve "your" problem?

© 2006 Hans Bool

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days. You can apply for a free demo account

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hans_Bool
60  THE TECHNO CLUB [ TECHNOWORLDINC.COM ] / Management / Diversity in Organizations on: November 08, 2007, 02:57:30 PM
Organizations have enormous power to focus efforts on collective goals, objectives, issues, problems, and results, if they so choose. It’s the power of an organization’s convergent effect — people coming together in a planned way to accomplish something mutually beneficial for all involved. That’s the theory of organization.

If organizations exist to unite diverse perspectives, capabilities, and talents in pursuit of common purposes and mutually beneficial results, why do they stifle diversity, seek sameness, discourage individuality, promote conformance, reward uniformity, and punish nonconformity? Because managing diversity is harder than managing uniformity — managing diversity is more challenging, expensive, time consuming, demanding, stressful, and prone to fail.

Managing uniformity requires little more than an authoritarian hierarchy, strict enforcement of procedures and performance standards, command and control management styles, and a conforming workforce — the allure of uniformity lies in its ease of administration, stability and predictability, efficiency of operations, low cost and on-budget performance, minimal volatility with few surprises and quickly conforming culture. However, an abundance of research and experience shows that organizations and work environments with high levels of required uniformity inevitably stifle creativity and innovation, retard initiative-taking, prevent widespread accountability for results, limit freedom to expand and create value, and weaken individual motivation, commitment and fulfillment. A truly diverse organization or work environment, on the other hand, unified through common vision and purpose is healthy, strong, innovative, dynamic, and capable of blending a multiplicity of perspectives, experiences, and abilities, and it is able to weather significant competitive challenges.

An abundance of diversity exists in nature until it’s altered. An untouched acre of ground in Maine, for example, may contain up to 10,000 different varieties of tree and plant life. Such diversity is not only inspiring and beautiful, but also ecologically robust. If you were to level an unharmed acre of ground in Maine, removing all indigenous plant life and then letting it sit untouched, new growth would bring less than 10 percent of the former diversity in terms of tree and plant life. The trees and plants that first gain root in the newly leveled ground would dominate the space, preventing additional diversity from developing. Once removed, diversity rarely returns on its own. The uniformity mandate of the dominant species makes it impossible for diversity to flourish naturally. The lesson for modern organizations and their management teams is obvious: Diversity must be carefully and constantly nurtured, because creating an organization is a lot like leveling ground. Both activities create new space where the initial staffing or first species will attempt to dominate and control diversity. The very act of establishing and staffing an organization begins a process of limiting diversity, unless diversity is genuinely valued and vigilantly nurtured. Diversity by definition is the attempt to bring together competing interests into a single whole, Without constant nourishment, vibrant and productive diversity will eventually fade into ineffective, unfulfilling uniformity. Organizations with high levels of uniformity are ineffective and stagnant — ultimately producing inbred corporate cultures that lack the new perspectives, pioneering capabilities and fresh ideas necessary to survive. That is the curse of uniformity.

Organizations and their management teams often define diversity too narrowly by tolerating, rather than embracing, government guidelines about inclusion of gender, racial, and sexual diversity in the workplace; focusing on the avoidance of legal risks, rather than the benefits of diversity; and doing the minimum necessary, rather than the maximum, to promote diversity. In the end, they promote uniformity rather than diversity, and understand only those customers who are most like their employees.

Craig Hickman is the author or coauthor of a dozen books on business and management, among them such bestsellers as Creating Excellence; The Strategy Game; Mind of a Manager, Soul of a Leader; and The Oz Principle. After receiving his M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School, he worked in the areas of strategic planning, organizational design, and mergers and acquisitions for Dart Industries and Ernst & Young. In 1985, he founded Management Perspectives Group, a consulting and training firm that helped companies implement the business strategy, corporate culture, and organizational change principles set forth in Creating Excellence and Mind of a Manager, Soul of a Leader. His clients have included: Proctor & Gamble, American Express, Unilever, AT&T, PepsiCo, Honeywell, Amoco, Nokia, and the U.S. government. He has lectured throughout the world for the U.S. State Department as part of its American Participant Program and is currently CEO of Headwaters Technology Innovation Group, a subsidiary of Headwaters Incorporated (NYSE: HW).

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Craig_Hickman
61  THE TECHNO CLUB [ TECHNOWORLDINC.COM ] / Management / Get Your Performance Appraisal Discussions Off to a Good Start (Part 1) on: November 08, 2007, 02:55:30 PM
But a lot of the awkwardness in performance appraisal meetings can be eliminated by following some simple suggestions. Here are a couple of tips that will help put both players at ease. (In Part 2 of this article, I’ll provide some additional suggestions.)

Gather Your Appraisal Information and Materials in Advance

The most important item you need to have is a copy of the individual’s performance appraisal. That’s obvious. But that’s not all. At the beginning of the year you and the individual probably had a performance planning meeting. Ideally, the individual would have taken notes on a blank copy of the appraisal form and made a copy for you. That document should have all of the key items that you discussed during the meeting. Be sure you have a copy of that planning document in case a question about the original goals comes up.

You’ll also need information about the individual’s performance, particularly if there are some areas where the performance varied significantly from your expectations. Whether the variation was in a positive or negative direction, you’ll need to be able to demonstrate why you assigned the rating that you did. If the assessment is that the individual’s performance was less than you desired, then it’s critically important that you have all of the evidence you used in order to come to that “Unsatisfactory” or “Need Improvement” performance appraisal rating. There’s a magic phrase to use here. That phrase is, “For example . . .” Make sure you’ve got plenty of examples that support a less-than-satisfactory evaluation.

You may want to have a copy of the individual’s development plan. You may want to have copies of weekly reports that the individual submitted that described progress against the goals that were set. You can’t make a mistake by having too much support material. It will prevent the embarrassment of being unable to find anything of substance to justify the rating you gave.

Make a List

What are the key points that you want to cover during the discussion? In addition to having a copy of the performance appraisal, write down a list of the most important items you want to discuss. It’s easy to refer to them during the meeting to make sure that everything that needs to be discussed gets covered.

Pick an Appropriate Place

Probably most performance appraisal discussions take place in the manager’s office, with the manager behind the desk and the appraisee sitting directly in front of it.

Is that the best place to hold the discussion? It may well be, particularly if the performance appraisal is not very good and the manager wants to trot out all of the power and authority available to make the subordinate understand that immediate change is necessary. But too often the authoritarian, boss-behind-the-desk arrangement serves to emphasize the power relationship at a time when a more collegial approach might be more effective.

More important than the actual location where the discussion ends up taking place is the decision-making process the manager engages in to determine that location. Too often, managers conduct the performance appraisal discussion behind their desks by default — they haven’t given any thought to the matter and just let it happen in the place where they are most comfortable.

There are several other alternatives possible. The manager’s office might not offer complete privacy, particularly if walls are thin or it’s a cubicle arrangement. In this case a conference room or the temporarily vacant office of an out-of town senior manager might be pressed into service. If the performance appraisal contains good news and the two participants in the appraisal drama are old colleagues, it might best be conducted over a cup of coffee in the cafeteria. And if it is conducted in the manager’s office, just a little furniture rearrangement might reduce the hierarchical nature of the discussion.

If the performance appraisal does indeed contain bad news, and particularly if the manager believes that it will take a dramatic gesture to bring home the message of “Change or else!”, the appraiser’s boss’s office might be a good location. Having your boss give you your performance appraisal in her boss’s office — with her boss sitting in as an observer / reinforcer — certainly communicates the seriousness of the message being delivered.

But beware the unusual location. The district sales manager who gives one of her sales reps his annual performance appraisal while the two of them are in the car, driving down the highway on route to a new prospect’s office, is exercising bad judgment. So too is any manager who selects a location significantly away from a business setting, unless the necessity for conducting the performance review at that time, in that location, is obvious to both players.

These are some small suggestions that will help to reduce the awkwardness that always seems to surround the performance appraisal discussion. In Part 2, I’ll provide a couple more tips that will help put both players at ease.

Dick Grote is one of America’s most well-known speakers, authors, and consultants on employee performance reviews. He is the Chairman and CEO of Grote Consulting and the developer of the GroteApproach online employee performance management software. On the web: http://www.groteapproach.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shell_Harris
62  THE TECHNO CLUB [ TECHNOWORLDINC.COM ] / Management / Employee Performance Reviews — Dealing With Disagreements on: November 08, 2007, 02:54:45 PM
Start by listening to figure out the source of the disagreement. Is it an issue of fact (you wrote that the employee received a customer satisfaction score of 79 but the employee says that his score was actually 83), or is a matter of judgment (you wrote that the employee’s customer service skills were unsatisfactory; she feels that her skills are terrific)? If the disagreement involves an issue of fact, get the facts and make any corrections necessary. If it’s a matter of judgment, ask the employee for additional evidence. Then determine whether that evidence is weighty enough to cause you to change your mind, revise your judgment, and amend the rating that you assigned on the employee’s performance review.

Most of the time, you have a reasonably good understanding of the areas where disagreements are likely to pop up in the course of the performance review discussion. Before beginning the discussion, re-read the review you wrote and try to spot the areas where you and the individual may not seem eye-to-eye. Then ask yourself, “What am I going to say when George disagrees with my assessment that his performance on the Thompson project just barely met expectations?” If you’ve taken to time to review the appraisal you’ve written for potential hot spots, and given some thought to how you’ll respond, you’re much less likely to be caught off guard.

During the employee performance review discussion, start with your higher ratings and move toward the lower ones. Be prepared to give additional examples besides the ones you’ve included on the formal written appraisal. Refer back to the informal conversations you have had with the individual over the course of the year.

Of course, if you haven’t had on-going, informal performance review discussions with the individual over the course of the appraisal period, then it’s much more likely that disagreements will surface during the review. That’s one more reason for scheduling periodic, “How’s it going?” discussions with each person on your team.

As soon as a disagreement pops up, switch into active listening mode. “Active listening” involves allowing the other person to clarify both the facts and feelings about an issue so there’s nothing left under the surface. For example, using phrases as simple as, “Tell me more . . .” or, “What else can you share with me about that . . . ?” or, “Really . . . ?” can encourage people to talk more about their perceptions. Simply nodding without saying anything encourages people to expand on what they have said. It’s not at all unlikely that the employee, allowed a sufficient chance to think aloud about what you have written, will end up saying, “Yeah, I guess I see what you mean.”

In dealing effectively with employee performance review disagreements, remember what your objective in the discussion is — and what it isn’t. Your objective in a performance review discussion is not to gain agreement. It is to gain understanding. If the employee agrees with you, that’s great. But particularly if your appraisal is a tough-minded assessment of the fact the Charlie’s contribution toward achieving your department’s objectives was only mediocre, you’ll probably never get him to agree. That’s OK. What you want is for him to understand why you evaluated his performance the way you did, even if his personal opinion is different.

Finally, if you have several employee performance reviews to deliver, don’t start with the individual whose performance was the worst and where disagreements are the most likely to arise. Start with the easiest — your best performer — and move toward the more difficult. In this way, you’ll build your skills and become more comfortable with the performance review process. Remember the advice that John Dillinger, the 1930’s public-enemy #1, once provided: “Before you rob your first bank, knock off a couple of gas stations.”

Dick Grote is one of America’s most well-known speakers, authors, and consultants on employee performance reviews. He is the Chairman and CEO of Grote Consulting and the developer of the GroteApproach online employee performance review system. On the web: http://www.groteapproach.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dick_Grote
63  THE TECHNO CLUB [ TECHNOWORLDINC.COM ] / Management / Wal-Mart Target of Health Insurance Legislation on: November 08, 2007, 02:53:55 PM
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation’s and world’s largest retailer, is quickly becoming Florida’s largest retailer. The chain opened 50 of its 24-hour Supercenters throughout the state during 2002 and 2003, and there are nine Wal-Mart stores in Pinellas County— two Sam’s Clubs, three Supercenters and four regular Wal-Marts.

It is also among the state's largest private employers, with 77,850 employees—far more than the 54,000 employed at Walt Disney World. According to Wal-Mart’s media relations hotline, there are 3,407 people employed by Wal-Mart in Pinellas County.

With these large employee rosters come high costs. Wages, overtime, benefits, taxes and other expenses make staffing and its related costs the biggest expense for almost all employers. When a company is big enough to employ tens of thousands of people, methods for cutting costs are an issue management visits daily.

Often management reduces employee benefits—namely health insurance—as a way to keep costs down, and until recently this practice was met with little resistance. But this month legislative action in both Maryland and Pennsylvania took exception to this practice. And lawmakers in 28 other states, including Florida, Connecticut, Kansas, Colorado and Tennessee, are preparing to introduce similar legislation. The face of cost savings at the biggest employers—and specifically Wal-Mart—may never be the same.

On Jan. 12 the Maryland Senate voted to override a governor veto of a bill requiring companies with more than 10,000 employees to pay for some health-care benefits. Dubbed the “Wal-Mart Bill,” the legislation is aimed squarely at the retail giant. It is already having a negative effect, as Wal-Mart’s shares had their biggest decline in a month, closing lower by 83 cents, soon after the vote.

Spurred into action by the AFL-CIO, which represent over nine million workers, states are beginning to recognize that healthcare costs must be paid by someone. And if it’s not employers, the burden often falls on the state. "The bottom line is that our health care system is broken—but it didn't just split open. Big companies like Wal-Mart are pulling it apart and profiting at taxpayers' expense," says John Sweeney, president of the AFL- CIO.

Florida state Rep. Susan Bucher, D-Lantana, has filed a version of the health care proposal for the spring legislative session. It closely resembles the Maryland measure. Of Wal-Mart’s costs to taxpayers she says “It might be tempting to dismiss this issue as a larger one of corporate welfare, or to argue that we're singling out Wal-Mart unfairly. But facts are facts: Wal-Mart does not just shift health-care costs onto taxpayers, it does so at a level well beyond that of any other employer."

This legislation, if enacted, would apply to private employers with 10,000 or more employees. These companies would be required to spend at least 8% of total payroll on employee health care or pay the difference into a state-administered fund created to assist the uninsured.

Legislation like this is a direct response to the numbers of people on Medicaid. In Florida alone, an estimated 12,300 of Wal-Mart's 91,000 employees relied on Medicaid for health care coverage in 2004. Wal- Mart’s position is that it has more employees on Medicaid simply because it is the state's largest employer.

Clearly alarmed by these legislative actions, Wal-Mart has lowered its monthly health insurance premiums—some as low as $11 a month—so that more entry level employees can afford its company health care insurance.

Wal-Mart executives are denouncing the campaign, saying the company provides health insurance to nearly half of its employees. Sarah Clark, Wal-Mart Spokesperson, says “More than three-fourths of Wal-Mart associates have health insurance.”

She also commented on the general state of American health care by saying “The American people know that catering to the special interests does nothing to help the 46 million uninsured individuals in this country. Now is the time for legislators across the country to work together to find real solutions to the health care challenges facing every state, every business and every working family.”

Mandy Minor is the Co-founder and Senior Marketing Consultant for J. Allan Writing and Design Studios. A member of the American Advertising Federation, Mandy is the Achievements Chair of Ad 2 Tampa Bay and a staff writer for the Tampa Bay Sun.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mandy_Minor
64  THE TECHNO CLUB [ TECHNOWORLDINC.COM ] / Management / Saving Time and Effort: The Lazy Way to Leadership on: November 08, 2007, 02:53:08 PM
As a leader, if you've looked around you and wondered why some leaders seem to have all the time in the world, while you're feeling stressed and under the hammer, perhaps you need to lead the lazy way instead.

The Oxford University Press defines Lazy as:

1. Unwilling to work or use energy.
2. Showing or characterized by a lack of effort or care.

Both of these are very good definitions of what the lazy leader should be; unwilling to expend useless energy and characterised by a lack of effort. Unfortunately, the definition is somewhat limited in vision for true leadership.

As a lazy leader myself, I often have a basic desire to sit back and relax. Now I could just stop…

…and at some level I have achieved it; but apart from some nice white space, what have I really accomplished? Well, I stopped typing, leant back for a second and breathed deep. I avoided a little bit of work and conserved a tiny amount of my energy for that nap a little later. This does sound at least a little like laziness, and certainly not the characteristic of a leader.

At another level though, my conscious mind is doing a whole different set of things; I may have stopped writing for example, but my brain is asking a series of awkward questions. Can I get away with leaving white space? Will the browser format it out? Will you keep reading and will you, the reader "get it?" So despite being lazy on one level, at another level I've just bought a whole mess of pain and worry -- if I tried to extend this to far, the analogy really breaks down. No matter how lazy a leader I choose to be, I doubt I could get away with an article that consisted of nothing but white space!

At my bloghttp://lazyleaders.blogspot.com, this is the kind of subject I regularly ponder. I hope you see from the above example, that, in and of itself, laziness really won't get you anywhere, however the desire to be lazy can.

Consider a successful Partner I know in a major professional services firm. He is young, up and coming and making lots of money. Many people respect him for both his work ethic and his administrative abilities; he is unusual in that not only does he bring the work in, he also does the administrative work necessary to ensure it is billed and collected too. To most of us, this looks like hard work, but from him I learnt one of the key lessons of successful lazy leadership. Simply put, this is that “Being lazy is sometimes hard work”

In fact, his exact words went something like this:
“If you hate administration, then you have two options do it right first time so it never comes back to bother you again or ignore it and do a poor job and have it come back to you time and time again.”

If you can understand this and how it relates to the definition, you are on your way to a new level of laziness, and I hope better leadership as a result.

Terry Rook is a Senior Manager in a large professional services organisation. At http://lazyleaders.blogspot.com he is taking his own original observations on leadership and how to improve your life, and that of your team, through being lazy.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Terry_Rook
65  THE TECHNO CLUB [ TECHNOWORLDINC.COM ] / Management / The Most Underutilized Company Asset: The Female Employee on: November 08, 2007, 02:52:04 PM
The variable that has the greatest impact on a company’s bottom line is its employees. In today’s business, that population is 50% women. One of the most misunderstood and unknown issues in personnel management currently is that women are leaving corporate America.

Women are leaving the "corporate world" in droves. They are exiting in larger numbers than their male counterparts. What's the driving factor behind this trend and why is it important to your management teams?

Women now constitute 53% of the workforce. In many industries the percentage of women hasn't reached that level, but it’s only a matter of time until they catch up everywhere. As companies become strapped for talent it’s important to be aware that the majority of college degrees are going to women (57% vs. 43% for men), that women are entering the workforce at a growth rate that outpaces menus.

Many industries such as the forest products and paper industry have begun to see the pipeline being filled with women. In most cases, the businesswomen’s presence hasn't yet reached the top echelon but progressive companies will make this happen. Surprisingly, the upper stratum women are being recruited from outside the industry. It is almost virtually impossible for a woman to come up thought the ranks into senior management in our industry. So why should companies care about their more junior employees?

There is a large hole that is developing within the age brackets of female employees. The younger generations, those that are starting their careers in entry-level positions, are too busy learning the ropes to care about career advancement. The more seasoned veteran employees, middle to upper management, are career women. Most have already carved their path and learned the necessary measures to get where they ended up going.

It’s the middle group that is the future bottom line employee. This group is the one that is going to make or break a company in the coming years. They are the ones that have lost the drive, vision or need to make their way within the ranks of the corporation. Companies aren't doing any thing to rectify the situation either. They either don't care or don't understand how important cultivating that group will be to the future business health of the company. Here are some points to help them understand the attributes women have that will benefit the companies of the future.

1. Women bring different skill sets to the table than men.
2. Women think different strategically.
3. Women care about social responsibility.
4. Women have intuitive skills.

Need to know more? Why is this so misunderstood? Companies are tuning out to the real issues that drive the contemporary women. With over 50% of the workforce composed of females it’s time to look at the important issues that impact women workers differently than they affect men. It is not just about the salary difference. Are you surprised to know that women still only make $.78 to a man’s dollar?) It’s about the quality of life on the job. Things such as flex-time, telecommuting, autonomy and responsibility have new meaning.

Before you sit down to your next "executive meeting" ask yourself what strategies are you employing to retain the women at the company and how can you continue to secure top female talent!

JoAnn Hines the Packaging Diva has been on TV, traveled to China, worked with the SBA and spoken at the White House (twice). Why do they seek her out? Because she knows how to package products so that people will buy them. When Faith Popcorn made her business trend predictions for 2006, she called JoAnn to find out what was going on in the world of packaging. Businesses large and small call upon her to solve their packaging problems.

She loves to share her proficiency in packaging. JoAnn speaks on the subject around the globe and made the packaging world more understandable when she created several web portals, http://www.packaginguniversity.com, packagingcoach.com, womeninpackaging.org and packagingdiva.com, to answer packaging questions and resolve packaging problems.

Her expertise is important because packaging is the third largest industry. In fact, 10% of every dollar spent at retail goes directly to packaging materials. Most importantly, you cannot have a product without a package. If you need to package products to sell email the #1 packaging expert at [email protected]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=JoAnn_Hines
66  THE TECHNO CLUB [ TECHNOWORLDINC.COM ] / Management / Commercial Energy Conservation on: November 08, 2007, 02:50:54 PM
Many factories and warehouses today are utilizing old technology lighting in order to illuminate the warehouse or work environment. Factories are primarily using HID Lighting, which consumes 460 watts of energy per fixture. Example: A factory using 100 fixtures that are on 24/7 will spend $22,314.00 in electrical charges per year. By removing the HID fixtures and replacing them 1 for 1 with a fluorescent high bay the company would save $11,448.00 per year in electrical charges, typically with a payback from 12-24 months.

Budget Lighting’s main goal is to reduce electrical demand while increasing ambient light levels. Demand is the maximum amount of energy that a company requires to run their equipment/ machines/lighting/air conditioning etc. By reducing demand the kilowatt-hour charges are significantly reduced saving energy and money!

By reducing demand, the environmental impacts will be pollution reduction and natural resource savings. These projects have cut the production of harmful emissions and reduced the amount of natural resources used in the production of the electricity saves. According to the Environmental Protection Agency each kilowatt-hour usage of lighting translates to the production of approximately 1.6 pounds of carbon dioxide, 5.3 grams of sulfur dioxide and 2.8 grams of nitrous oxide. Lighting retrofit projects completed by BLI within the last 3 years total 59,746,704 kwh’s saved, and 6820.40 kilowatts saved.

Pollution reduction:

Global Warming (Carbon Dioxide, CO2) 95,594,726 lbs
Acid Rain (Sulfur Dioxide, SO2) 7,169,604 lbs
Smog (Nitrous Oxide, NOx) 3,584,802 lbs

Natural Resource Savings:
Coal 561,619,018 lbs
Oil 45,407,495 gallons
Natural Gas 5,974,670,400 cu. Ft

Many utility companies listed offer rebates to the customer to entice them to retrofit to Energy Saving Lighting. The rebates range from $200.00 per kw reduced to $400.00 per kw reduced. With this additional incentive, rebates to retrofit from the HID 400 watt fixture to a fluorescent high bay drawing 224 watts can be as high as $95.00. Most companies offer a flat $75.00 per fixture to the end user.

Each Project has different fixture spacing, heights and foot-candle requirements. If the factories have air conditioning, there will be additional energy saved, because the arc tube of the metal halide fixture (HID) can be as high as 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. The fluorescent high bay fixture lamps run at 95 degrees Fahrenheit with this temperature reduction, the energy can be reduced by approximately 1 ton per 2200 watts of energy saved.

With this ground breaking fixture technology, factories are enjoying cooler summers with less energy used. Other benefits of the fluorescent lighting system are:

50-100% Increased light levels
95% maintained light output over the life
Up to 30,000-hour average lamp life
Instant on, instant restrike
No flicker, ballast operates on high frequency
Sound Rating A, no hum or buzz, silent operation
Excellent color 88CRI with No color shift
Very wide, even light distribution
Natural Color and High color rendering, A quality light source

Jim Coykendall is President of Budget Lighting, Inc. BLI Lighting Specialists owns the business product and information site BudgetLighting.com http://www.budgetlighting.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Coykendall
67  THE TECHNO CLUB [ TECHNOWORLDINC.COM ] / Management / Turn Meetings into Pep Rallies of Productivity on: November 08, 2007, 02:49:53 PM


Everyone has to attend or lead meetings at some time, but not all meetings are created equal. How many people dread going to any meeting verses a particular meeting? How many people feel the attended meeting was a waste of time? Does anyone think the meetings are really producing the desired results? How can meetings be made more effective and productive?

Since everyone has to go to meetings, should those meetings be something people value and look forward to attending? Working together in a meeting requires all the coordination and cooperation required of any team. So why shouldn’t the team feel like each meeting is a pep rally leading up to the work or game and of course ultimately achieving a win.

There are a lot of different answers out there for the above questions and a multitude of recommended methodologies. However, if a closer look is taken of each, all the good ones have four suggested elements in common. Those common elements make up the R.A!R.A! Approach which stands for Roles, Agenda, Records, and Actions. Sure there is more than four factors to a great meeting and the full R.A!R.A! Approach covers a lot more, but the minimum of these four can turn a non-productive meeting into a productive meeting. Let’s take a high level view of the R.A!R.A! Approach and how it increases the effectiveness and productivity of a meeting.

Before the meeting:

    * The first step in planning a meeting is to assign any roles necessary to the meeting going smoothly. Typically the meeting will need a leader or facilitator and a recorder (a.k.a. record-keeper) as the minimum roles. If the team is new to meetings a trained facilitator is useful in coaching the team towards good meeting practices. Other roles may be included as the team or leader sees fit.

    * The next step is for the leader or facilitator to define an agenda (game-plan) for the meeting. A rough draft of the agenda may have been established by the team in a prior meeting or by the leader for a new meeting. The defined agenda should include the topics to be covered, who will present them or discuss them, and a time limit per topic. When the reminder of the meeting is sent out, include the proposed agenda and if there was prior meetings include any outstanding actions.

During the meeting:

    * At the beginning of the meeting, there should be a quick review of the roles and the agenda. The team should agree to these because the roles and the agenda are used to keep the meeting on-track to time limits, defined topics, and keep team working in a cooperative and coordinated effort.

    * Throughout the meeting, the facilitator, leader, or recorder will record items of discussion, decisions reached, and actions to be taken either outside of meetings or in the next meeting.

    * At the end of the meeting, the team will review the list of actions and make sure each one is assigned to a person along with a due date. If there is a follow-up meeting planned, the team may draft a tentative agenda for the next meeting. The tentative agenda will be defined in more detail by the facilitator or leader before the next meeting.

After the meeting:

    * When the meeting is completed, the recorder will type and distribute formalized minutes of the meeting as a record of what occurred. Records are important for reviewing past discussions and verifying decisions that were made and why. The records should also include the original meeting agenda at the top, and the actions assignments and next meeting tentative agenda at the bottom.

    * Having the actions in the record serves as a reminder to the team members of what they need to do next. If individuals have actions they need to accomplish, they will know when they are to be done by.

The next time a meeting is planned, begin introducing the four elements of the R.A!R.A! Approach: Roles, Agenda, Records, and Actions. With the acceptance of each element as a norm in any team meeting, the team will not only notice a difference in productivity, they will know they are becoming more effective and will begin enjoying the meetings more. The more enjoyable and effective the meeting, the more people are willing to attend and follow-through by completing their assigned actions.

Copyright 2006 Shirley Lee. All Rights Reserved.

Most of the information in this article has been adapted from the “Wizard of When - a Series on Planning” which contains training on the R.A!R.A! Approach. The series is copyrighted © 2003 by Shirley Lee, All Rights Reserved.

Shirley Lee is a consultant/facilitator who helps organizations increase employee, communications, and system capacity to produce results. Shirley designs and facilitates a variety of team building, problem solving, and productivity improvement events. Her programs include managing time, facilitating meetings, project management simplified, workspace or group organization, the problem solving process, and team-building.

http://www.geocities.com/slee_rightfit/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shirley_Lee
68  THE TECHNO CLUB [ TECHNOWORLDINC.COM ] / Management / Why Managing Baby Boomers, Generation X And Generation Y Is Impossible on: November 08, 2007, 02:49:14 PM
You've probably heard about how, as a manager, you need to consider the varying needs and wants of Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and other "Generations."

Well, I'm here to tell you to forget even trying!

Because it's impossible to manage any of these Generations.

Why?

Because none of these Generations exist!

That's right -- Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and whatever other Generations there are, are just a figment of the collective imagination of various social scientists, market researchers and self-proclaimed "gurus."

Okay, maybe I'm being a bit harsh. Perhaps these social scientists, market researchers and gurus have a legitimate reason for categorizing entire populations of people based on when they were born.

Perhaps being born and growing up during a given time period has some particular meaning or importance.

And yes, it sure does make the job of the marketing manager easier if she can simply classify a given target market as Baby Boomers, Generation Y, or whatever.

But how does it help you, as a manager?

Does it really help to know -- or should I say assume -- that because Bob was born in 1950 he values job security above all else or that because Karen was born in 1975 she's willing to put in long hours to fast-track her success? Or because Beth was born in 1955 she's just like Bob?

What if you're wrong?

And that's what I'm getting at folks. You see, if you buy into the idea of Generations then you can't help but generalize and assume -- and both generalizing and assuming are the absolute last things you want to do as a manager.

Because chances are, you'll get it wrong.

So... instead of treating people as part of some Generation, or indeed classifying them as part of any group, why not treat them as individuals?

When you understand your staff as individuals, you'll discover what truly makes them tick -- what talents they have, what they excel in, what work they like doing, who they like working with, what motivates them, how they prefer to be managed and other significant qualities.

Armed with this knowledge you can tailor your management style and approach to each person and, by doing so, get the very best out of them!

So forget about the Generations. Treat your people as individuals. Find out what drives them.

By doing so, you'll not only know how to motivate them, but you'll make them feel valued -- as individuals -- and thereby create a happier more productive work environment.

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.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anna_Johnson
69  THE TECHNO CLUB [ TECHNOWORLDINC.COM ] / Management / The Five Worst Traits in a Boss on: November 08, 2007, 02:48:18 PM


Bosses, also called coaches, are a fact of life unless you are self employed. In that case, your clients and your potential clients are your bosses. But in business, non-profits and organizations, bosses are a reality whether you are a clerk in a mom and pop operation or the number two executive over a multi-billion dollar global corporation. In my twenty-five plus years working for five corporations of varying sizes, I had nearly as many bosses as I had years of employment. Some were great. Many were average. And some were just awful. It is this last category that is the topic of this article. The five worst boss characteristics follow. In each example I have also described the desired trait.

“No show Mo” (names changed to protect the innocent) had a long career in sales and on corporate sales staff. He liked to spend time outside of the office. What did he do when outside of the office? Personal investments, family matters and anything but his job. Mo decided I would be his official second in command. He knew he could count on me. I was young, loyal and naïve. I would receive no additional pay or perks for doing double duty. Mo gave me a “delegation of authority” so I could do his job and mine. I reviewed all his mail and signed all the sales contracts. I handled customer complaints. He got the credit and the raises when everything went well. When something went wrong, I got the blame. The desired trait here is accountability. If you are the boss, you take the good and the bad. Do not pass off your job to an underling.

“Will” was a brilliant man. He had an advanced degree, great ideas and worked very, very hard. The perfect boss right? Wrong! Will also had no personal life. As one of his direct reports, I became his surrogate for a personal life. After a long day of work, he would call me into his office to talk. And to talk. And to talk some more. About his past, his life, his weight, his ex-wives, about his career and about just about anything except work. I had a wife and young kids at home. Did he care? No! I was a built-in audience for the duration of the time that I worked for him. The desired trait here is business is business. If you want someone to talk to about your life, do not drag your subordinate into this role. Look elsewhere for a sympathetic listener. Not only is this bad form for a boss, it creates a level familiarity not positive for the workplace. Keep it business.

“Luther” was a grizzled old line manager. He was probably not as old as he seemed at the time. He had worked his way up from non-management to supervisor to manager. And he reveled in his authority. Every technician, clerk and supervisor was scared to death of him. Except me. I was at the time the new kid just out of college. He liked to intimidate everyone with his yelling and belittling. He gave no mercy to any of his subordinates. He would get on his speakerphone and yell at a supervisor mercilessly. He would do this while I sat in his office – and he would smile while he was doing it. He thought it was quite funny. The desired trait is respect. Treat all your people with respect. Those you supervise, your peers and those above you in the chain of command. Showing respect for others will cause others to respect you.

“Ian” was from another country but had been working in the U.S. for several years. He had worked for several large companies and always been successful jumping to a new job. He liked to build strong relationships with his bosses and their bosses. This was priority number one in his mind and actions. While I could list innumerable qualities of Ian that one should not emulate as a boss, I will just focus on the most outrageous. Ian never returned an e-mail, he never left a voice mail message and he never wrote anything down. He attributed it to technology. In fact, Ian wanted no trail of anything he ever did, said or wanted done. No “finger prints” of any kind. As such he could blame his subordinates for anything and everything. And conversely he could also take credit for anything. It worked well for him for a while. The only problem was that his subordinates, did not trust him and despised him for his behavior.

The desired trait is integrity. If you are unwilling to write anything down or leave a message, then you must be hiding something. And even if you are not, your people will think you are hiding something. While you do not need mountains of paper, thousand of e-mails or hundreds of voice mails, responding in kind is reassuring to members of a team. Document objectives and appraisals on paper and sign them. E-mails with questions should be responded to in a like manner. Calls should be returned with calls. If no one answers, leave a voice mail message to respond to the question or issue and close the matter. It is a matter of trust. The boss must demonstrate integrity in all matters and this will help to create an atmosphere of trust.

Finally, there was “Winston”. A veteran of both large corporations and his own start-up. He was brought in to shake things up. He was not someone from the existing corporate culture, but rather from someone else’s corporate culture. Winston never heard an idea that he did not like, as long as it was his own. He had little tolerance for anyone else on the team’s ideas or suggestions. No, they were there to execute his constant stream of brilliant ideas ranging from new technologies, to products to marketing plans. And Winston had no problem with the team working seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. Why not, he was more than happy to do this. He expected everyone to put their entire life on hold to make him successful. The entire organization was at his beck and call. Nothing was too much to ask in his eyes. Except when it came to his life. His wife, his children, his interests, his habits, his health were all the center of the organization’s universe. All activities and plans had to work around his schedule and his life because they were IMPORTANT because he was IMPORTANT.

The height of this attitude was demonstrated when he chose to fire another individual and myself to save some money in the budget for the Fiscal Quarter. But he happened to be on vacation when it needed to be done. Did he come into the office while on vacation to fire us? Did he pick up his cell phone while on vacation to fire us? No! He delegated it to his second in command so he could pleasantly go on with his vacation with his wife and children without any of the nastiness that goes along with firing of two senior directors. The trait desired here is to treat your people – at all levels, roles and titles – as you would want to be treated. Always. That does not mean people do not work hard or that people do not get fired. They do and will. But how you handle these things and how you demonstrate leadership by example as a boss makes all the difference.

There are good bosses or coaches. And there are terrible bosses or coaches. The five bosses that I have described demonstrate some of the five worst traits in a leader. By understanding what each of these bosses did wrong and what traits they should have been demonstrating through their actions, day-in and day-out, every boss and boss-to-be in business, non-profit or other organization can meet and exceed their objectives while inspiring those who work with them at all levels.

George F. Franks, III is the founder and CEO of Franks Consulting Group, a Bethesda, Maryland based management consulting and leadership coaching practice. Franks Consulting Group specializes in start-ups, turnarounds, post-merger integration, performance metrics, individual and team coaching, meeting facilitation and leadership seminars. George is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants (USA) and the International Coach Federation.

Franks Consulting Group is on the web at: http://franksconsultinggroup.com And George's weblog is: http://consultingandcoaching.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=George_F_Franks_III
70  THE TECHNO CLUB [ TECHNOWORLDINC.COM ] / Management / What Are The Business Rules Of Your Organization? on: November 08, 2007, 02:47:25 PM
The theory of Behavior finance shows us the influence of emotions in the decision-taking-process. Because of various reasons, we use rules that are not always rationally sound.

Myers and Briggs have elaborated the psychology of Jung into a psychological model that describe different personality types. These types give insight in which different people have different preferences. For example, the differences in the way they consume information (through concrete observation or through intuition).

"Everybody has thoughts and feelings but some pay more attention to their thoughts than to their feelings…Those who attend mainly to their thoughts are said to govern themselves with their head, their concepts and percepts being their guides to action." David Keirsey

This is only for individual level. For you and me. The important question is how does your organization deals with topics like rationality and emotion? Does your organization always take rational decision? Are there checks and balances that will verify so?

The problem of this topic –- whether or not to take rational decisions -- is not so much that all decisions need to be taken rationally. That would make both investment and management very boring. The passion that hides behind an organization will drive this organization but will also cater for imperfect and irrational decisions.

Some parts of your organization are more exposed to emotions than others. One such an area is the “front” of your organization – in the middle of the market, filled with misleading desires and emotions of all kind. Sales and marketing know all about it. But this same market is often biased, because of the same and dominating emotions.

And it’s the art of management to know the difference, to beat these market rules with your own knowledge. Knowledge of the organization.

© 2006 Hans Bool

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days. You can apply for a free demo account

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hans_Bool What Are The Business Rules Of Your Organization?
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