Have you ever wondered if anything can get your employees to care about the work they're doing?

Managers who are self-starters, who enjoy and are motivated by the work they do and the organization they work for, are sometimes puzzled by the perceived lack of motivation of their subordinates. The operative word here is "perceived", because they may, in fact, be motivated --- just not in the same way as you.

If you think about it realistically, you don't necessarily want them to love the work, do you? What you expect is that they perform well on the job and contribute to the success of your department. They can do that without being cheerleaders, because everyone is motivated by something. It's a matter of finding out what it is.

Here are a few of the causes that might make your people tick:

• Career ambition

These people want to move up in the world, either in your organization or another. If they can clearly see the relationship between their performance in their current positions and the chance of promotion, that will do it for them. Your job is to help them see the possibilities.

• Approval and validation

In his groundbreaking 1982 fable, "The One Minute Manager", Ken Blanchard urged managers to "catch them doing something right." The idea was to give immediate positive feedback to people, which immediately makes them feel valued. Many people long for approval and validation, and will work hard to achieve a goal that will provide it for them. Your job is to provide positive strokes whenever possible.

• Competition

The sales environment is the obvious place to see competition among colleagues and peers. Often it's their competitive nature that makes great salespeople. But this personality trait is not confined to one discipline, and some people will perform well on the job in order to be seen as the best. This can be tricky to manage, and your job is to enable an outlet for this need in one employee without creating enmity in the others.

• Money

Let's face it, financial compensation is an important reason to work in the first place, and there's nothing wrong with that. For some employees, it's a powerful incentive and motivation. Your job is to demonstrate the connection between on-the-job achievement and compensation. Of course, if you can't legitimately show that connection because it's not there, you may have an employee who will never be motivated in that position.

As a manager, you need to find out what motivates the individuals that make up your team, and then do what you can to help them make performance on the job the factor that satisfies their particular needs.

Remember, what is rewarded is repeated. It's a matter of discovering and offering the right rewards.

Helen Wilkie is a professional keynote speaker, workshop leader and author specializing in applied workplace communication. Read more articles on her website at http://www.mhwcom.com Subscribe to Helen’s free e-zine, "Communi-keys", and get your free 40-page e-book, 23 Ideas You Can Use RIGHT NOW to Communicate and Succeed in Your Business Career!

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There was once a time in business when organizations were recognized by origin of country. The list of major organizations that were distinctly American was in the hundreds, perhaps thousands. Every home had Sears appliances, RCA televisions, GE light bulbs, and clothing for the family from JC Penney. The management style was written and practiced by Americans, and proved to be very successful.

Today, many writers on management believe that the American culture and values which have influenced our style in management, have caused harm in other cultures that differ from the United States. In the 1950s and 60s, the prevailing belief in Europe and the United States was that management was universal and could be easily replicated across cultures. Many of the principles of management and leadership came primarily out of the United States, where executives expected these principles to easily fit in any culture, anywhere in the world. Different cultures that exercised this universal style of management were thought to lead to societies becoming more alike.

The reality that the "convergence theory" could not erase the regional and cultural differences in organizations became evident in the 1970s. Organizations like the European Common Market, which used the model of the convergence theory, recognized that national differences were unique and permanent. By this time it was obvious that national and regional cultures were a part of an individual's makeup and would present challenges for management, especially for managerial and leaders of multinational and multicultural organizations.

What Hofstede calls "collective mental programming" and Brake and Walker call "thinking patterns," become ingrained and common ways of thinking. Our thinking is heavily influenced by government, education, work relations, family, religion, sports, literature, architecture, and scientific theories. These influences affect leadership strategies no less than they influence other aspects of a culture.

Carmelo Di Salvo was born and raised in Buffalo, New York and received his B.A in economics from the State University of New York in Buffalo. He graduated from Regent University in 1995 with his M.B.A. In the years following, he spent time working for businesses like Liberty Tax Service and RBC Centura, as well as several years in the hospitality industry. He returned to Regent in 2003 to pursue a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership. His current focus is on teaching and consulting in the areas of strategic leadership, foresight analysis and creativity in the workplace.

Check out more on this topic at http://www.northstarconsultingllc.com

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Many of us remember the time when you showed up at the doctor’s office and he took care of you right away and told you to just pay when you are ready or that he would settle up with you at some later time. Those days ended when medical cost rose to the unbelievably high level they are now. It is for this reason many of us have taken to using insurance and doctors have been forced to fight for their hard earned dollar from the insurance companies. To the majority of the public the use and for that matter the need for medical practice software and medical billing software is invisible. TO the doctors that use them they are an invaluable resource which not only allows them to organize their practice from top to bottom, but allows them to keep their billing paid in a timely fashion which keeps their business afloat.

Medical software is a daunting topic to medical personnel the world over but it is one that must be recognized, discussed and implemented. It is this necessity that leads me to put this article together for those of you in the market for medical billing or practice management software.

When looking to buy medical practice management software there are a few really important details to consider. THe first is to make sure that the software going to be secure? Be certain that the individuals using the software are aware of the security measures that are in place and that they understand how to use them effectively. An added tip is that when dealing with passwords they should be memorized or kept under lock and key and not simply placed on a post-it note to the front of their computer.

The second is to make sure the software allows you to manipulate information. Learn if you are you going to be able to move the data in the software around? Find out how easy it will be to export or import information once the system is on line.

When going over a number of software choices it is easiest to evaluate them with a simple test that you can make up so that you get a real and fair comparison. Mock up a scenario that covers all of your basic office tasks and execute it on each piece of billing software.

The more you test the practice software in real life scenarios the better of an idea you will have of how it will work once you spend a lot of money and get it implemented in your practice. Medical billing and practice management software can be a complex area so stay organized and take it slow to be sure you are doing the right thing to ensure the success of your practice be it medical or otherwise.

Jason Montag
http://www.medbillingsoftware.info

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Crash!

Aaarrrgh!

The scream of a manager scurrying to cope with yet another organizational, technological, competitive, market, industry, socio-political or other kind of momentous change.

Yep. Managing in today's world is a bit like walking through a field of land-mines -- any moment now another big change is going to erupt and irrevocably alter the landscape.

And you never quite know when or where it's going to explode... or what it's going to do to the environment.

Let's face it...

Whatever tools you're using today... next year they'll be different.

Whatever your customers want today... next year they'll want something different.

Whoever your major competitors are today... next year they'll be different.

Okay, maybe the year after next year.

Or maybe before the year is out!

Whether you like it or not, you will confront change.

But since history shows that those who resist change get left behind, I suggest you start liking it!

You see, although I've painted a negative picture of change -- as a field of land mines -- I really shouldn't have.

Change is good. It's great! If it wasn't for change, we wouldn't enjoy the high living standards we have today, would we?

So why do we sometimes tremble at the thought of change? Fear? Inertia?

It's probably a natural human instinct. But if you do find yourself resisting an impending change -- whether it's a technological advance, new market trend, a corporate restructure, new people to manage, or anything else -- I suggest you identify what's driving your resistance and make an effort to overcome it as soon as possible.

In fact, I urge you to seek out change before it really begins to affect you, your team or your company. That way, you won't be caught off guard... and, in fact, you'll be ahead of the game.

Now, you'll need to use your judgment about which change is worth preparing for -- which technologies are likely to impact on you, which market forces are for real (rather than temporary fads), and which corporate maneuverings will likely affect you and your team.

And you'll need to think carefully about how to respond -- should you rush to seize an opportunity... or move more slowly, to see what unfolds. (It may pay to move slowly. For example, in the mid to late 1990s, many companies, large and small, lost a lot of money in the rush to reinvent themselves for the Internet.)

As a manager, you'll also need to guide your team to accept and embrace change. Whether it's getting them to use a new software program, to brainstorm solutions to new problems, or to work with new people.

At the end of the day, coping with change is really about how you think about change.

If you focus on what you can gain from the change, rather than what you may lose, you'll see it in a far more positive light and be better able to deal with it.

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

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Remember your first job?

Mine was in a Pizza restaurant. One of my tasks was to wipe down the stainless steel oven doors and keep them gleaming because they were in customer view. The manager told me how he wanted it done, how to mix the cleaning solution and how to clean the doors. After a few days of doing this, I found that I could cut down on the amount of cleaning liquid with an increase of elbow grease and still accomplish the results he wanted: gleaming oven doors with no visible streaks – and I could save the store some money as well. I was excited! The next day he saw me doing it my way, came up to me and said, “I thought I told you how I wanted you to clean these doors.” I replied, “Yes, but I thought . . .” he cut me off and said, “I’m not paying you to think, I’m paying you to do what I tell you to do!”

Many times our jobs don’t require us to think in order to do them. Sometimes, our jobs require us NOT to think in order to do them.

It is my experience that people know more about their jobs than their jobs require of them. They know more than what they do. In getting people to do more of what they know, leaders need to recognize that the people in their organizations are more than what their jobs have permitted them to become.

You’ve no doubt heard that “people know what to do but they don’t always do what they know.” The primary reason why they don’t always do what they know is because they don’t always know that they know. People tend to devalue their knowledge and think that they either don’t know enough to do well or that what they do know isn’t good enough to do well.

Michelangelo was once asked how he was able to transform a cold, inanimate block of stone into a beautiful angel with the appearance of warmth and life. He replied, “I don’t see the block of stone; I see the angel inside and keep chipping away until it is released.”

When you look at others, what do you see? When you look at yourself, what do you see? For what you see in yourself will determine what you’ll look for in others. It’s true that we see the world not as it is, but as we are. Do you see what’s on the outside only – or do you look for what’s on the inside, too? Do you see someone who is more than what they have become – or someone who has become all that they will ever be? Do you see a “captive angel” inside waiting to be released by a simple kindness? Or do you see a person so cold and hard that it’s difficult to imagine any warmth or life within?

A third grade teacher wanted to impress upon her class that each student could become anything they wanted to be. She had the janitor take a picture of her and the entire class. She gathered her pupils around the photograph and said, “imagine that you’re looking at this picture twenty years from now.” She pointed to a boy in the picture and said, “there’s Jimmy – he’s a doctor now; and there’s Suzy – she’s a judge; and, look over here, it’s Johnny – he’s a celebrated association executive.” Johnny piped up and said, “and look, there’s teacher – she’s dead.” Perhaps the lesson was lost on little Johnny that day.

There are several tools you can use to release the angel within, to get people to do what they know: two of them are thinking and language.

Meander, a 4th century BC Greek philosopher, said that the basis of civilization was, “Know Thyself,” and that this meant “. . . to get acquainted with what you know and what you can do.” When you spend time thinking, you afford yourself the opportunity to get acquainted with what you know and what you can do.

To spend time thinking seems like a luxury most of us can’t afford. The emphasis at work is on action and how to do more with less. Getting people to do what they know involves creating an environment that emphasizes not just action, but thought. Andrew Holmes, brother to Oliver Wendell Holmes, said: “Speech is conveniently located midway between thought and action, where it often substitutes for both.” You can’t just talk about it, but must actively encourage a thinking environment that leads to meaningful and thoughtful action.

How can you do that? You can do this by paying people to think about their jobs, not just to do their jobs. I call it T2 = “Think Time.” Each employee spends a block of twenty to thirty minutes every week or month alone in a room “just” thinking. This session can be either guided or unguided. A guided session is one where the topic is assigned, like a particular problem the organization or department is dealing with at the time; an unguided session is one where individuals think about whatever they want regarding their future contribution to the organization. In both instances, there is a capture sheet that each person is required to complete and turn in to a Continuous Improvement Team for review.

When people think, great things happen: they begin to realize the depth and breadth of their knowledge and start making connections between what they know and better ways of performing their jobs and living their lives. They begin to see more clearly the angels within themselves and others. This kind of thinking creates a synergy that is uncommon in most organizations.

A well-known definition of “Synergy” is “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts;” and this definition is often illustrated by the equation, “1 + 1 = 3.” Synergy, from this understanding, can only happen as an outcome of the interaction between two or more people. This is true, but not the whole truth about synergy. I’ve found that there’s tremendous power in what I call, “the synergy of the solitary soul:” a single soul getting in touch with more of itself in thought.

When you adopt this approach you’ll find the truth of Emerson’s statement that "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

Another tool you have available is language. Words have power to create a reality in the heads and hearts of those to whom we speak.

Have you ever had a child ask you to do something for them? And when they ask you to do something for them, when do they want it done? Right now. And how many of you have put them off with words like, “not now,” “I’m too busy,” “later,” “in a while.” I have to raise my hand the highest because when my children were little, I’d put them off with a single word, “tomorrow.”

I didn’t realize how frequently I was saying this to them until one day when we were standing in a checkout lane in a grocery store. Let me ask you, what’s there in every checkout lane in every grocery store in this country? Candy. And where is it located? That’s right! Down there – where they can see it, grab it, unwrap it and consume it even before they’ve asked for it!

Standing in front of us that day was a woman with her young son sitting in the cart and he was making a scene, demanding some chewing gum. Finally, to quiet the youngster down, the clerk produced a stick of gum and handed it to the child. His mother said, “And what do you say?” The boy turned to the clerk and said, “charge it!”

Now it was our turn. I usually didn’t get my children anything from the checkout lane but on that day, for some reason, I consented to do so. I can’t remember what I got my son, Jeremiah, but I do remember what I got for my daughter, Rachel: a package of my favorite candy – lifesavers. In the car on the way home, Rachel was unwrapping the lifesavers when the air inside the car filled with the sweet aroma of my childhood. I began to salivate. I couldn’t help myself. I also couldn’t help the next words that drooled out of my mouth. I said, “Rachel, may I have a lifesaver?” And she said: “tomorrow.”

It was at that moment I realized that with a single word, spoken over time, I had created a reality in the heads and hearts of my children that said this to them: “daddy will be our daddy and do daddy things with us – tomorrow.” I also realized that if I was ever going to be a father to my children in the ways they needed, I needed to be one today, for tomorrow never comes.

The words you use create a reality in the heads and hearts of those to whom you speak. What reality are you creating in your workplace? In your home? Is it the reality you want to create? It is possible to release the angels with your words, if that’s what you want to do.

Now that you know better what to do to get people to do what they know, what are you going to do now? In times past, I found “tomorrow” a convenient excuse for not doing what I knew I needed to do today.

“He’d be all a human could be – tomorrow No one would be fairer or kinder than she – tomorrow Each day he’s stack up the letters he was going to write – tomorrow Each day she’d think of the friends she’d fill with delight – tomorrow But the fact is they died and faded from view And all that was left when living was through Was the mountain of things they intended to do – tomorrow.”

Get people to do what they know today and tomorrow you can take a day off!

Ken Wallace, M. Div., CSL has been in the organizational development field since 1973. He is a seasoned consultant, speaker and executive coach with extensive business experience in multiple industries who provides practical organizational direction and support for business leaders. A professional member of the National Speakers Association since 1989, he is also a member of the International Federation for Professional Speaking and holds the Certified Seminar Leader (CSL) professional designation awarded by the American Seminar Leaders Association.

Ken is one of only eight certified Business Systems Coaches worldwide for General Motors.

His topics include ethics, leadership, change, communication & his unique Optimal Process Design® program.

Tel:(800)235-5690 Claim your free eBook, "How to Do Better Than Your Best in Anything You Do" by visiting the Better Than Your Best website.

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When we lead and manage a team, whether we are business owners, run a department or just supervise a group of people in our business, we are on show.

Part of our make up ensures that we 'lead from the front' and take all that the world throws at us - after all, that's what we are paid for - isn't it?

This is where many managers struggle, with the pride factor. And pride can cause many pitfalls because we might feel obliged to battle on fending off every issue that comes our way, day after day.

Or, we could ask for help sometimes.

You see asking for help makes a difference to your people in a number of wonderful ways, makes your life a whole lot easier and sets the scene for a lot less fire-fighting to go on.

Asking for help literally by saying, 'Julie, I need your help' is a strong request. It tugs at the emotions and whatever relationship you have had in the past with the person in question, you now have their buy in. Because someone asking for 'help' is a strong appeal they will find had to resist.

This works in all sorts of directions. You can use this up the 'line' too. Asking your own boss for 'help' is not usually heard as a desperate cry from someone incapable.

You may well be pleasantly surprised at the buzz your boss gets from it as well as you will when people ask it of you.

The appeal for help comes with some caution. You have to behave yourself if you are appealing to this level of emotion. It is vital that you show trust and respect as a whole to all in your team (and beyond). You can't play the 'I need your help' card without ties yourself. And you can't play it too often.

You can even use this appeal with groups. Imagine a CEO asking, even via an e-mail newsletter that 'I need your help' to thousands of his people. It still has a ties in (as long as the conditions in the previous paragraph are met).

That CEO really does have to mean it, and show that he means it, especially from a distance. So all interactions one-to-one he has with his people must demonstrate the qualities so vital to maintain the relationship the appeal starts to create.

Why does this work? Here are a few of the reasons:-

1. It appeals to the emotional side of anyone who hears it.

2. It builds a belief that the manager is a real, breathing human being and therefore feels the same sort of thing that mere mortals do.

3. It builds the confidence of those being asked that they are capable of helping at their boss's level.

4. Being asked to 'help' expands capabilities too, as it often works best where those asked have a strength that the manager might not have.

5. Being asked to 'help' raises awareness of contributions that might be made alongside the 'day job' and that awareness helps things get fixed before the boss becomes aware of it.

6. The manager has more time for the constructive things in their work as the help given takes them away from the minutiae of their work.

7. The occasional use, spread across a team, helps generate team spirit. When asked to 'help', people are more likely to:-

a. Ask people themselves as well b. Recognise that help may be needed before being asked - and not just by the boss

8. The manager asking becomes more capable of seeing themselves honestly and builds their awareness of their weaknesses and the strengths around them.

9. The manager/employee dialogue opens up - the heart of all business relationship building. Conversations spring up where in the past there may have been none.

10. Culture shifts from an isolating 'I'm all right, Jack' to a supportive team-based success culture - one which is more sustainable at a core level.

Saying those words, 'I need your help' is a constructive, honest and developmental way for organisations to evolve. The place to start is a manager asking those words, just once, to set that ball rolling.

You will be surprised at the benefits you will see.

© 2005-6 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.

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The concept of Six Sigma was first developed by Motorola Corporation as an approach to address the high defect rates within the company’s manufacturing processes. With the success of Six Sigma, Motorola has registered the Six Sigma brand name to the corporation. The concept of Six Sigma advocates that data be collected from processes to measure performance and determine the extent of variation from target performance measurements.

This approach had been truly effective in ensuring quality in a manufacturing environment and was later adopted by the services industry during the 90s. However, as the Six Sigma framework relied heavily on the collection and analysis of data of individual processes, synchronizing processes between departments was ignored. This resulted in improvement benefits being limited to specific functions only, without taking into consideration the integration with other processes. Another weakness of the Six Sigma methodology is the lack of control used to sustain improvements achieved. This stems from the fact Six Sigma utilizes manual processes to do this, an approach that lacks effectiveness.

In this sense, Business Process Management (BPM) initiatives address areas that Six Sigma falls short of, in line with the purpose of achieving excellence in organizations. These two methodologies complement each other to compensate for areas of weaknesses. Although BPM addresses process enhancements and monitoring from a holistic viewpoint, it fails to address the analytical requirements required to solve complex issues.

Therefore, BPM approaches are used to define current processes and their role across multiple functions, identify areas within the process that affect critical success factors and develop process improvements for these areas of weaknesses. The identification of gaps between existing processes and ideal processes are addressed with Six Sigma initiatives. Finally, process monitoring, evaluation and continuous improvement measures are implemented with BPM techniques. These are carried out for inter-related processes across the organization.

A step-by-step insight into how a BPM – Six Sigma initiative is implemented

Define

The first step for such an initiative is to define the current processes of a function, with outputs clearly determined. Data is collected to determine the health of the performance of the particular process as compared to predefined targets. If there is a deviation in the performance measured from the particular process, the effect of the deviation may be translated into monetary terms.

Measure

BPM process maps are developed which incorporate various critical elements of the process. These would include business systems, people and resources that are involved in the entire process. The functions performed by each of these elements are defined and utilized in the analysis stage.

Analyze

With all data and information at hand, an analysis is conducted on the business process to determine areas of weaknesses. What are the key courses for the deviation? How does this deviation affect other processes? Which steps of the processes are too slow? Where is the backlog?

The key approach when analyzing existing processes is to identify parts of the processes which were irrelevant or which does not add value to the process. Most of the time, these areas of redundancy are the causes of delay within entire processes. Apart from that, dependency on a cross-functional process may also cause the current process to be inefficient.

Improve

Once weaknesses are discovered, areas for improvement to address these weaknesses will be identified. This would incorporate the use of “what if” hypothetical solutions in order to shortlist several possible scenarios that would work to improve the current process.

Many times, process improvements will include the utilization of automated processes through the use of technology. Human intervention will still be required, but a form of integration between automated and human run processes will be developed.

At this juncture, the utilization of machines or applications for greater efficiency will be customized towards the particular business process. Data flow between automated processes and human operated processes will need to be smooth. Therefore, all variables involved in a process will be taken into consideration during the design stage.

Control

A new process will have limited effectiveness to an organization if it is not constantly monitored for sustainability. This is why a monitoring and tracking system needs to be put in place, most probably in the form of a BPM monitoring system where performance indicators are constantly measured. This way, the management team will be able to react to deviations quickly, and make any amendments whenever necessary. Automated reports will be triggered to managers whenever a specific deviation and review meetings are held to address any process issues.

In conclusion, Six Sigma and BPM when implemented together will produce outstanding results for the purpose of organizational excellence. This is possible through the synergy achieved from these two remarkable methodologies that help to improve organizational performance the world over.

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

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Lean Works! For some…

Lean Manufacturing as a management tool has taken the manufacturing industry by storm, and companies around the globe have adopted Lean methods in many forms and by many names. Large enterprise companies like Toyota, Dell Computer, and Pratt & Whitney have achieved dramatic reductions in delivery time and lowered inventory levels, while increasing responsiveness to customer demand and improving cash flow.

As evidenced in thousands of organizations, in many different industries, “Lean Enterprise” is one of the most promoted and competitive business models in use today. Published case studies provide one example after another of companies that have substantially reduced waste and associated costs. There are countless testimonials describing how companies rose to leaders in their respective industries by becoming “world class” in Lean. There are documented results of compressing order lead-times by more than 80%, reducing work-in-process inventories by 90%, improving quality to a Six Sigma level, and freeing up 60% of resources. And, the successes aren’t limited to only large and well-known organizations—there are also many small-company examples.

The good news is that these Lean concepts and tools are not highly complex, and can be easily learned by people of all levels of education and job responsibility. Lean “tools” include 5S, Value Stream Mapping, and concepts/terms like kaizens and kanbans. A search on the Internet or in the advertising section of almost any business magazine will identify hundreds of individuals and consulting firms who tout successful Lean facilitations or who offer education courses to help companies successfully implement Lean.

The bad news is that even as the trend of Lean adoption continues, the success rate is low—less than 20% of companies are successful with Lean.

Why do so many companies fail in their Lean initiatives? If the results are so obvious, and best practices available in the form of published success stories, what’s the problem? With thousands of consulting experts and just as many training courses available, why aren’t the majority of companies successful with Lean, and why isn’t everyone using this incredibly profitable management strategy?

Good questions.

The typical approaches used by most companies today do not provide an optimal return on investment to companies. The “missing link” between Lean goals and successful projects that produce the intended result is a strategy for Lean. For companies to reach their desired destination of success with Lean, they must first plan the journey—but many start off with the wrong perspective of success.

Starting Incorrectly—Lack of Strategic Approach

The fact is that people often struggle with the most basic of problems when implementing Lean—where to begin. Where and how people start a Lean initiative is critical to the success of the first Lean project. If the first project isn’t successful, there is a good chance that there won’t even be a second effort, and the first project won’t be successful if there is no measurable impact to the bottom line or to strategic objectives.

Unfortunately, most Lean efforts begin with a tactical approach, rather than a strategic one. This is a key factor in the high percentage of failed Lean programs. Ironically, a tactical approach is advised by most Lean consultants. This is because Lean has evolved from operational improvements outward, and that Lean consultants are either not familiar with strategy creation or are not ready to apply Lean beyond manufacturing. Also, a tactical approach quickly uncovers “low-hanging fruit,” and consultants are striving for quick wins and immediate credibility. They’re not in it for the long haul with a particular client, and more often than not they’re content with a hit-and-run effort.

Many organizations begin with “how”, and applying a specific technique (e.g., 5S) or perhaps with “what” to start first (identifying “kaizens”). Others may focus on “who” and provide training for selected individuals or teams, while some begin with “where” and begin building Value Stream Maps.

Let’s explore these further.

5S

Many companies begin Lean by employing a technique called 5S, or Workplace Organization. The “5” and “S” come from the five Japanese words; seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu, and shitsuke. The English equivalents (keeping the “5S” theme in mind) are: sort, set, shine, standardize, and sustain. Essentially, this is a method for organizing a work area, focused on improving efficiency, safety, layout, and flow.

5S efforts produce some immediate and visible results. Workplaces are indeed better organized. Tools and materials are now maintained in well defined locations, making them easier to find and more quickly accessible for use. Operators notice that their jobs require less effort than before. Supervisors find that it’s simpler to identify problems such as inefficiencies, excess inventory, and misplaced equipment. There may be a marginal increase in productivity, even if 5S is used in isolation from other Lean strategies or tools.

But the direct bottom line benefits of a stand-alone 5S program are difficult to measure, and even so, the improvements tend to be isolated. Improved value in the overall system and the impact on throughput is difficult to quantify.

Kanbans

The word kanban means visible record in Japanese. In Lean lexicon, it is essentially a signal to produce or move product. A kanban may be an electronic signal, an empty bin, a card, a pallet, or a defined area to hold inventory. Kanbans are used to manage inventory—quantity and flow.

In the ideal Lean world, product is “pulled” towards the customer, through the factory, from the supplier in quantities of one—hence the term one-piece-flow. However, in many circumstances, it’s impractical to produce and move product one piece at a time. So kanbans serve as the “acceptable” compromise; allowing the company to move small, controlled batches of material in a “pull” environment.

The use of kanbans can dramatically reduce total inventory. Since lead-time is almost directly proportional to work-in-process inventory (WIP), kanbans can provide a significant improvement in production lead-time.

But, there can be problems. Using kanbans without other coordinated improvements (such as reducing equipment changeover times) can backfire, resulting in degradation in equipment utilization and even increases in the number of late shipments. Also, note that since kanbans are a compromise to true one-piece-flow, companies that have implemented effective kanban systems sometimes become complacent and do not address the root causes that created the various needs to maintain inventory, such as long changeover times, imbalanced processes, long distances between work centers, quality problems, and lack of operator cross-training.

Kaizens

Also, known as kaizen blitz. This may be the most common starting point for a Lean initiative in US manufacturing companies. Kaizen is the Japanese word for continuous improvement. This approach involves empowering work teams to rapidly (hence, the word blitz) improve specific problems within their areas of responsibility.

On the surface, this seems like a very good idea, and it can generate immediate and measurable benefits. The use of kaizens, especially if championed by management, finally proves to the workforce that the company is interested in listening to and supporting their improvement suggestions. Some of the more common targets for kaizens include; solving an equipment downtime problem, combining two or more machines into a work cell, setting up a kanban, reducing equipment changeover time, and implementing point-of-use storage for supplies (maintaining storage where the supplies are actually used).

But, this program can fall prey to a phenomenon known as “drive-by kaizens”—improvements are implemented stand-alone, without prioritization, and without understanding how changes in one part of the facility might negatively impact other business functions, resources, suppliers, or customers. Other critical problems with this approach are that it tends to overlook consensus, and there is little time taken to actually identify and eliminate root causes—there is more focus on speed of execution than there is on planning or results.

Value-Stream Mapping (VSM)

It’s important to note that value stream mapping is a relatively recent addition to the slate of Lean tools. A value stream is defined as all activities and events (both value-added and non-value-added) that a product or service passes through on its way from supplier to customer. In a manufacturing facility these activities include shipping, waiting (in inventory, in a queue to be processed, or even in an oven waiting for adhesives to cure), packaging, inspection, rework, and both manual and automated processing. A VSM includes both the flow of product and information.

The primary purpose of a VSM, specifically a “current state map,” is to highlight areas where one-piece-flow breaks down—these points suggest opportunities for improvement (i.e., kaizens). Other purposes of mapping include; measuring the total cycle time, identifying inventory locations and balances, and determining points in the process where signals to produce arise.

Once a current state map is created, one or more “future state maps” are developed from it, showing where various kaizen events might eliminate root causes for stoppages in flow. The two reasons for creating multiple future state maps are; (1) certain improvements might be logistically-, technologically-, or cost-prohibitive, and (2) there is no single correct future state. The VSM approach is significantly more effective than the other approaches because it prioritizes the improvement efforts.

This technique, like the others, has its drawbacks. One issue is that it involves those individuals who will be impacted by the change much later in the improvement cycle than the 5S and Kaizen techniques—this late involvement of stakeholders tends to create resistance to change.

Value Stream Maps also have an inherent weakness in their inability to capture the dynamic nature of a process, since the measures are often only a snapshot in time. Seasonality, variability in demand and fluctuations in supply and associated lead times are not easily captured or measured in a VSM.

Perhaps the most significant shortcoming with the way VSM is done today is that it tends to ignore the impacts on or impacts from “competing value streams” and support functions. In most organizations there exists more than one value stream—more than one product line, or one product line that produces two or more different items. These different value streams frequently compete for resources; equipment, people, materials, suppliers, etc. Additionally, all organizations have departments that support the operations or production department—accounting, purchasing, quality, maintenance, engineering, etc. If the value stream changes without understanding how it impacts a competing value stream or a support function, this may negatively impact the overall organization.

Training

Many companies start with large-scale Lean training before selecting any specific approach or defining a specific project. The training curriculum for Lean can include not only the previously-mentioned topics of 5S, Kaizens, Kanbans and Value Stream Mapping but also topics like Workcell Design, Conflict Management, Project Management, Metrics/Measurements and Teamwork.

Training is a favorite strategy for consultants—it provides high daily revenues, is risk-free and there’s no pressure to deliver any result other than a trained audience. The value of training is that it’s broad-based, provides value to the individuals involved and sends a message that management is serious about implementing Lean. The techniques themselves are relatively easy to learn, and training is primarily techniques-based. Training supports the afore-mentioned strategies of starting at a tactical level, which is where most organizations start Lean.

However, unless the training is carefully coordinated, there is a risk of the learned skills not being applied on a project quickly, resulting in wasted training time and investments. Unless the training is provided to teams that have a clear mandate to provide a solution in a specific area, the training will not produce measurable business results. Training alone does not provide measurable benefits to the bottom line, and is therefore a weak starting point.

Lean Failure Factors

To summarize the challenges, there are many approaches to Lean, some more successful than others.

• Organizations may choose to begin with a tool/technique approach to Lean, applying 5S to a broad cross-section of the business, or identifying a specific problem area for a “kaizen” event as an attempt in “do it yourself” Lean.

• Organizations and instructional companies who offer Lean training and certification programs insist (no surprise) that organizations must learn all about Lean before starting, and that training is the way to best leverage Lean.

• Consultants with specific subject-matter expertise or experience in other similar industries advise that companies begin with the creation of a “current state” Value Stream Map on a selected product line or business area, circling back to apply specific techniques in areas of weakness. This usually results in incremental improvements, visible within that specific area.

• Other consultants advise that a “clean slate” approach be used to envision the future “perfect world” and ideal business model without being encumbered by analysis of the existing value streams.

Each of the above approaches is effective to some extent. Unfortunately, there are even more stories about how Lean doesn’t work—according to most studies, less than 20% of Lean initiatives accomplish the desired goal or result in a Lean-centric organization.

This seems to be a paradox, in that while Lean is an effective management tool and there are many Lean “experts” and books available to help guide the journey, most companies fail in the effort.

The pragmatic and honest articles and books on Lean talk about project pitfalls, resistance to change, and the lack of return on the investment. Many Lean consultants begin their sales presentations with warnings about how complex Lean is. Managers who resist adoption talk about how Lean doesn’t fit their business model or apply to their industry.

Specifically, the following are some of the more common reasons cited for Lean failures:

• Lack of management support

• Resistance to change (lack of buy-in) from supervision and workforce

• Poor metrics

• Not enough training

• Little or no impact on profitability

• Ineffective communications

• Not able to sustain initial efforts

• Not expanding improvement from the initial efforts to other departments

• Improvements in one area seemed to have negative impacts in others

How do business leaders resolve this contradictory information and multitude of approaches? Do the companies and individuals who have been successful know something others don’t know? Is there a skill set that’s only available to a select few? Does Lean really only apply to certain types of industries, organizations, or even more narrowly to very specific process or product families within manufacturing facilities? And, even if a manager has evidence (or faith) that Lean is worth trying, how can he or she avoid being one of the many failed case studies?

Key Observations

Over the past several years, we’ve personally witnessed many effective and ineffective Lean initiatives. In the book, “The Machine that Changed the World,” Womack, et. al., made the case for a Lean enterprise—employing the principles identified and developed by Toyota. And, US companies, primarily the manufacturing sector, accepted the challenge. However, organizations weren’t prepared for the aforementioned obstacles and set-backs, especially since their Lean projects were most often started at an operational level with little or no consideration of strategic objectives.

In order to address the paradox that Lean works, but not for most businesses, we decided to focus the research and thinking not on Lean failures, and not even solely on Lean successes. Instead, we chose to study best practices in strategic initiatives and try to identify the common threads among the various Lean successes and failures.

The first observation is that the issues noted as “failure factors” appear to be pervasive conditions and not explicit reasons or root causes. Rather than explaining why the Lean enterprise effort failed, these tend to simply be part of the existing company culture. In other words, these circumstances are not specific to Lean, but would be stumbling blocks to any strategic implementation that the company might undertake. Conversely, those organizations that have overcome these issues during other major initiatives have a much higher probability of being successful with Lean.

The second observation is rather obvious—there’s nothing unusual about why companies choose the typical approaches to Lean as defined earlier. The marketing hype around Lean, from articles, books and consulting organizations focuses on a tactical beginning. Also, the tools and techniques are relatively easy to learn and apply in specific areas or to specific problems. Companies are under enormous pressure to increase their efficiencies and reduce costs, and there is a sense of urgency to get started with Lean. Since the tactical or operational approaches are the ones commonly recommended, readily available, and easily understood, it’s the logical (not necessarily correct) starting point for Lean.

Finally, the third key observation, perhaps the most important, is that the typical approaches to Lean are for the most part too narrow in their focus and all too often used as stand-alone tactics. The results are sub-optimal improvements that either have too small of an impact on throughput, no measurable bottom line value, or take much longer than they should to achieve the original purpose of adopting Lean.

What’s Necessary to Succeed

The conclusion is that Lean initiatives that are successful on a large scale have something in place that failed efforts do not—a Lean strategy, a different way of thinking and a unique strategic focus. Organizations that are dramatically successful with Lean take a much broader view of processes, stakeholders, and business objectives.

A strategic foundation has many components, including principles of development and rules of communication. Development of this roadmap is a dynamic and iterative process, since a business strategy must adapt to changing external pressures, and a framework for Lean must be as agile as a company’s customers, suppliers, and outside influences demand.

Seldom, if ever, are "big" problems (such as the ones being tackled by Lean) limited to only one business area, department, or product line—multiple departments and dozens or even hundreds of business processes are linked together in value streams, and there are a myriad of interdependencies and interactions across and between all of these. If these are not understood, the impacts are discovered too late, and proposed or implemented changes suffer, as do the people involved.

Every combination of people, processes, culture, industry, and drive is unique, and some organizations and leaders simply seem to understand how to define and execute a strategy, while others do not. Executing a Lean strategy is similar in many respects to implementing a total quality management (TQM) strategy or a Six Sigma program across the enterprise. These programs have been implemented successfully in many organizations. The difference seems to be that Lean is more likely than TQM or Six Sigma to be initiated without a “top-down” approach or clear business objectives.

The key tool that is missing in the strategic arsenal for Lean is a method for strategic planning and tactical selection of business processes for the application of Lean.

Evaluating the Lean Strategy (or lack thereof)

If companies are starting or have already started Lean and don’t have a strategy in place, they’re at risk of failure at worst, and of delaying/reducing benefits at best.

If there is a Lean strategy, but it is focused on operational improvements rather than on higher profits and an increased ability to compete, it is an ineffective strategy. Starting at a tactical level, as most organizations do with Lean, results in only limited and short-term improvements and a cost-cutting mentality that ensures long-term loss of market share—Ford, General Motors, Delphi and Iomega come to mind. Companies should consider that cost-cutting the way to prosperity isn’t a high probability success strategy. Growth is the key, and revising the Lean strategy as stated in the previous paragraph is advised.

By looking at the business as a “value system” for customers, companies can shift their Lean strategic priorities to growth-oriented targets, not cost-cutting ones. Instead of trying to squeeze additional margins to boost the bottom line (and share price), Lean can and SHOULD help increase sales and response to demand while maintaining and lowering cost-per-unit, therefore enabling us to lower prices, undercut the competition, and win more business.

The R(E)volution in Lean isn’t complex. But in order for companies to succeed with Lean, they must shift their perspective to one of growth and recognize that cost-cutting is a by-product rather than the key strategy for Lean. A key part of the Lean strategy must be the expansion of projects to encompass the entire value stream, rather than limiting efforts to tactical efforts. And finally, strategic actions that merge customer and business value, focusing on customers, value, responsiveness and quality.

Businesses that thrive in today’s changing environment will capitalize on the R(E)volution, and leverage Lean to do what Toyota and Dell have done—dominate their markets.

For a pdf version of the White Paper that outlines a Lean Strategic Planning Framework, contact the authors.

Robert Osborne has worked in the business process and IT industries for over thirty years. He has held VP positions in sales and professional services for enterprise software vendors and integrators, provided consultative services for dozens of US and international clients and trained over 500 professionals in project management, systems development and business process methodologies and techniques. Robert is the founder of Business Breakthroughs and the developer of the Business Value System Framework™. He can be reached at [email protected].

Jerry D. Kilpatrick has worked for three Fortune 500 manufacturing organizations and has more than 25 years of experience in Lean Manufacturing. Jerry is a former Manufacturing Extension Partnership executive, and has been a consultant in the manufacturing sector since 1997, specializing in business process improvement, executive coaching, business assessments, strategic planning, and project management. Jerry holds a Masters of Administration in Industrial Management. He can be reached at [email protected].

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“I love Toby. He’s my oldest son, he’s Vice President of Sales but he just doesn’t get it. My daughter should be running this business as I transition into retirement, she’s brilliant but she’s married to a surgeon and doesn’t want anything to do with wholesale distribution. She’s quite happy with all the charity work she is involved in. My youngest son has potential but he’s only twenty two and just isn’t ready to take over a $200 million dollar distribution business. Two events have occurred recently that are wearing on me a little. First, I transferred 75% of my stock equally to my three kids, 25% each. All three receive a salary although my daughter rarely appears at the office due to her charity work. The second event occurred after I hired a succession consultant to help me transition into retirement. He told me that Toby was incompetent, destructive to the business and I should fire him.” Excerpts form a real world conversation disguised to protect confidentiality.

Does this conversation sound familiar? Maybe it’s not about your son or your daughter. Maybe it’s about Aunt Lilly or Uncle Chester. The point is if you own a family run business with multiple family members working in the business, chances are you have or will face the dilemma of what to do when a family member just does meet satisfactory performance standards.

The key word here is family and the closer the family member is to you the owner, the more difficult the decision and action becomes. If the non performing party happens to be your son or daughter it is even more difficult, after all you have your home life to consider and that son or daughter has a relationship with their mother who happens to be your wife. Don’t kid yourself about your level of control at home being equal to your level of control at the office.

You Will Ride the Roller Coaster

Terminating a family member will likely be the most difficult decision you will ever have to make as a CEO. There will be ups and downs in the process. However, before you come to the conclusion that you are actually going to hand Aunt Lilly or your son a pink slip, you must be sure that you have exhausted every possible option and scenario imaginable to solve the problem short of termination. Your closeness to the family member is the major determinant to the amount of patience and effort you put into the process. And of course, the amount and type of destructive behavior is also paramount to the decision you make. It is possible that this family member can be placed in a position that is not detrimental to the company and does provide value. This can be a drawn out process that starts with frank, open & honest communication with the family member. It will most likely require some form of counseling to be effective and may require a separate family discussion dependent upon circumstances.

If you enlisted the aid of a consultant, remember that as an outsider it is very easy for them to see a clear picture of the business side of the situation due to not being involved in the actual culture of the business. However, it is likely that they can’t come close to feeling or understanding the emotions that you will experience during this process unless they themselves have gone through it in a family business they owned. I say that because having fired my own wife, brother-in-law and nephew from my own family business exposed me to the turmoil, the pain, the frustration, the guilt and the personal second guessing that you too may experience as you go through the process.

Accept Your Circumstance

If you have exhausted every effort to salvage the situation and feel you have no other alternative, understand going in that it is going to be extremely difficult to terminate a family employee in the same effective manner that you would terminate a non family regular employee. Complications are even greater if that family member is a stockholder regardless of the type of legal agreements your lawyer may have drawn up. The first thing a family member will do when facing termination is to seek the support of other family members. If it is your son or daughter this could actually create a serious challenge at home. It is no secret that one of the primary reasons an entrepreneur starts a business in the first place is to provide income and security for his family. “Blood Is Thicker Than Water”.

Personally, I believe the last thing you should want to do is sacrifice family for the business. If you actually get to that point in the process ----- Don’t sacrifice your family life, your relationship with your children or the relationship between brothers and sisters. Sell the business. I repeat --- If it comes to that – Sell the Business.

Put Business Needs Ahead of Personal Needs

This sounds contradictory to my previous statements doesn’t it? Well, I am not recanting. I am assuming that the situation has not deteriorated to the point of family destruction. Often times there are situations where a family member is relieved to not have to work in the family business. Johnny is there because he doesn’t want to disappoint Dad. Johnny feels he is supposed to act like an incumbent president because the family expects it but he would rather be a missionary in Africa or build his own auto parts dealership or pursue some other passion they have.

Remember, firing a family member doesn’t necessarily mean cutting them off financially without some form of remuneration. Every thing is negotiable. This is especially true if they own stock even if there is no legal buy out obligation. The last thing you want is an angry ex-employee that is a family member and a stockholder. They most likely will know about all the skeletons in the closet, the aggressive tax position the company has taken and many other issues that the company may not want to go public. So, although the family member may not have a legal position to force a minority stock buy-out, it may be in your best interest to negotiate some form of buy-out that is fair to the family member. Consult your attorney, but remember, this is still a family issue.

Don’t Apologize

If you can turn this family/business problem in to a win-win situation, there is no need to apologize. Don’t backpedal and don’t be afraid to confront other family members that may not be supportive of the process.

This is a business and once you have determined that this situation will not destroy the family you must treat it in a professional business manner. Remember, if it is going to destroy the family --- Sell the Business.

All This Can Be Avoided ---- Right!!!

As a family business consultant in wholesale distribution, it would be easy to preach to you about how to avoid this situation in the first place. You can read all the articles, the advice, research on the internet and the books that give advice on family management offering solutions like the following;

• Establish specific job descriptions for family members

• Establish expectations up front

• Create advancement criteria up front

• Establish official family compensation programs paying family members based on the position

• Establish accountability and structure up front

• Create a Board of directors that is not family dominated

• Define a philosophy and stick to it

• Make no exceptions for family regarding performance

• Set specific education requirements

• Annual training, coaching and mentoring requirements

And Wolves still Roam the Streets of Chicago. Yes, these are all good ideas but give me a break. This is not reality when we are talking about your sons and your daughters, your wife’s brother or sister, your brother’s son or daughter or even Uncle Joe.

In the end ---- immediate family does come first. If you find yourself in a difficult situation, take a step back. Evaluate your circumstance form both the business side and the family side. There is no easy answer but nothing is impossible. Keep the faith. E-mail [email protected] for template tools like the family doctrine, the family management partnership agreement or the family code of conduct that may help you resolve some of your internal family issues.

http://www.ceostrategist.com Dr. Rick Johnson ([email protected]) is the founder of CEO Strategist LLC. an experienced based firm specializing in leadership and the creation of competitive advantage in wholesale distribution. CEO Strategist LLC. works in an advisory capacity with distributor executives in board representation, executive coaching, team coaching and education and training to make the changes necessary to create or maintain competitive advantage. You can contact them by calling 352-750-0868, or visit http://www.ceostrategist.com for more information. CEO Strategist – experts in Strategic Leadership in Wholesale Distribution. Sign up for Rick’s monthly news letter – “The Howl” email [email protected]

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Failures in project management systems can be superficially explained by anything from a lack of project detail to managerial conflicts. However, this failure often has deeper roots. Until we begin to recognize this uncontrollable factor it will be difficult to master the implementation of any management system. This factor is known as the “Chaos Theory” or simply “chaos”. Chaos Theory could be considered a core management theory for the 21st century. According to Wheatley (1992) when management tries to control chaos by “shoehorning” it into a specific structure, an organization is bound to fail. Controlling chaos this rigidly is actually limiting information gathering (Stuart, 1995) and creating the illusion of management. According to McNamara (1999), Chaos Theory recognizes that events are rarely controlled. As systems such as those in management grow in complexity, the more they become volatile or susceptible to cataclysmic events.

One way to plan for such chaos is through “contingency management”. Contingency management is having an alternative plan to fall back on when chaos strikes, allowing for critical internal processes to continue and meet the desired outcome. Most managers do not see contingency management as a necessary step, because it takes time. In a world where efficiency and timeliness is key, this step is often the first to be overlooked. Until management recognizes the importance of contingency management and allows it to be fully implemented, chaos will continue to hinder the progress and efficiency of management systems.

DEFINING AND ESTIMATING CHAOS

The more general name for the field is complexity theory, where chaos is a particular mode of behavior (Rosenhead, 1998). Chaos theory explains that the behavior in turbulent systems quickly becomes disordered (Wikipedia, 2005). Chaos theory acknowledges that management systems break down. It recognizes that decisions need to be made even in the absence of all intended information (Herz, 2001). Complete order, while the ideal, will always be the one unaccounted for variable—part of our human nature. Similar to accidents, chaos is like a release of energy in an uncontrolled way (Blockley, 1998).

Project management systems are considered dynamic systems, similar to those in nature, which means they change over time and are hard to predict. Even though they are changing, there is usually an underlying predictability that can be identified. This is where chaotic behavior comes into play. Behavior in systems can be placed into two zones, one, the stable zone, where the system, if disturbed, returns to its initial state and two, the zone of instability where some small activity leads to further divergence (Rosenhead, 1998).

CALCULATING CHAOS

Chaos is immeasurable because of its level of randomness and unpredictability. Gabriel (1996) states that looking for sufficient equations to enable one to ‘manage’ such chaos is part of a futile and wish-fulfilling quest. However there are some researchers that believe calculating chaos is possible. While chaos in the business world mimics that in nature, unlike chaos in nature, there are measurable ways for project managers to try and calculate the degree to which chaos will affect their project. The following formula can help to calculate project constraints:

Dynamics = D + a*P + b*R + c*D*P + d*P*R + e*R*D + f*D*P*R

Where D=directives, P=prerequisites, R=resources and a & f are constraints.

However Bertelsen and Koskela (2003) postulate that aside from estimating the size of the chaos (small to extra large), a system is too complicated to predict its function and response to a given problem.

WHY IS BUSINESS SO CHAOTIC?

The pace of today’s businesses and technological innovations have quickened to an impossible pace. Sometimes project timelines need to be written before all tasks and resources have been completely identified, which puts a project behind schedule before it has begun. This increasingly fast-paced system is “a breeding ground” for a chaotic management system (Yoke, 2003).

This breeding ground is creating a complexity explosion, which is affecting the way project managers need to manage. Undertaking a management system project is more than a weeklong project—many last for years or longer. As conditions are constantly changing, goals and objectives need to also be flexible to change. Goals and objectives are necessary, however, flexibility is key in order to ensure positive long-term results of a project.

HOW TO MANAGE CHAOS

The first line of defense in order to manage chaos is a good management team and an even better project manager. According to Bertelsen & Koskela (2003) an organization can manage its chaos by seeking out the factors that are easiest to change. An organization should then handle a projects dynamics and stress in the face of uncertainties. Finally, a manager should both always have a contingency plan and be able to keep track of critical factors and issue warnings. By turning an organization into a “learning organization” successful management of chaos is more likely (Bertelsen & Koskela, 2003).

Systems are so dynamically complex and highly sensitive to conditions that any link between cause and effect can set off a ripple effect rendering its future deliverable unpredictable. Technologies, timelines, scope, costs, personnel, are constantly changing within an organization and management must be adaptable. The same holds true for project managers. If they are not given the flexibility to adapt to chaos then management systems will fail. Project managers need to be seen as venture capitalists: always searching for new ideas.

Most management systems set forth a detailed plan and than proceed to follow it. According to McNamara the best way to do this is to work backwards through the system of an organization. This will help to show which processes will produce the right output and what inputs are required to conduct those processes (McNamara, 1999). A good project manager is one who realizes that plans often need to change in order to accommodate a changing situation. By following contingency plans, good managers can avoid such mishaps as scope creep and cost overruns. There are different tools that project managers can use to help manage the chaos and successfully manage complicated systems. According to the Numbers Group some such tools are:

1. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) – breaks the product to be developed or produced by hardware, software, support, or service element and relates the scope to each. Example of WBS

2. Program Evaluation and Review (PERT) – a model, which helps the project manager define the critical path using, randomized tasks Example of Pert Chart

3. Implementation Schedule (GANTT) – graphical representation of the duration of tasks against the progression of time.

Example of Gantt Chart

4. Enneagram - originally a tool for personality mapping, can find order in chaos by identifying underlying patterns in an organization. The map allows project managers to predict certain outcomes, which results in more reliable management systems. The Enneagram provides a structured view with which to see the order in between chaos (Fowlke & Fowlke, 1997). Example of an Enneagram

CONCLUSION

A good project manager is one who can adapt to a changing environment as well as allow individuals to manage their own areas of expertise. This business trend is seen in forward thinking companies in the 21st century, and is also known as “managing by objectives” or “empowering knowledge workers”. Unfortunately, in most companies this value paradigm is missed because management is focused on the financials rather than on renewing and developing knowledge (Stuart, 1995).

The project manager’s main function is to recognize employees’ strengths and to empower his group to work individually, both in a team and as individuals. The new project manager needs to be forward thinking and to have the ability to be flexible, creative, and able to respond to events quickly (Yolk 2003). Organizations need to embrace disorder and look to the edge of chaos (Stuart, 1995). Perhaps this empowerment of both individuals and teams as a whole, in conjunction with managements’ ability to stay nimble in the face of a dramatically changing environment, will allow organizations to better manage the challenge of chaos in the 21st century.

REFERENCES

Bertlesen, Sven; Koskela, Lauri. "Avoiding and Managing Chaos in Projects." .

Blockley, David. "Managing Proneness to Failure." Journal of Contingencies & Crisis Management June 1998: 147-176.

Freedman, David. "Chaos Theory." Inc. October 1998: 50-60.

Heidi Mina

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What is the future of hotel industry as it relates to the use of technology?

Do you envision greater use of artificial intelligence in satisfying customer needs?

Will there be fewer public contact careers?

In the age of rapid dynamic changes especially since last three decades, when more and more technical innovations began to penetrate in our life and make it more comfortable, it would be incorrect to think that hotel management and other services won’t get any imposing changes.

Not that many people believed not so long ago that they’ll use card looking keys in hotel to open their rooms, or that they’ll be able to book places in the hotel without even using a telephone, but just using internet.

It’s getting obvious now that these changes will penetrate more and more and we’ll meet them in the sphere of hotel management also. The usage of computers and internet will make a great favor to the hotel registration staff in customer’s service so that they’ll be able to access the hotel database and connect with other hotels or services very quickly. It can be later used in gathering the information about future customer and making an analysis of his preferences and finding the way to answer and satisfy all of his demands, without even talking with him about that.

Most of modern math based computer software is able to make such kind of analysis but this technology is still on it’s way to wide usage.

Artificial intelligence systems that manage the individual houses have been already introduced and start being used world wide. The same kind of systems that run and manage all the processes in the clients room can be used as well. Special light and sound sensors can give the information to the hotel staff if the customer can be disturbed (showing if there is light in the room and how quiet is it in the room) without putting a tag on the door, also special sensors can control the temperature, the level of air pollution so that the maid can find out when it’s appropriate to clean the room. It’s also understood that innovations will be used to make the staying more comfortable and they will refer to as many details of life as it’s possible to imagine.

The great advantage of the technology that it gives more opportunity to feel what is called privacy, and less contact with staff; that sometimes in not really wanted by the customer, but has to do. At the same time it will make thee work of the hotel staff much easier as well as it will reduce the range of their responsibilities. The technological control of hotel management will reduce the number of misunderstandings between the clients and staff as well as with people who want to contact the client (in the cases when the staff is not able to figure out if the client is in the hotel or not). In many cases this systems of artificial intelligence control will reduce the amount of expenses that the hotel spend on staff, supplies and simple it will save a lot of time.

But at the same time this innovations may be acceptable not to all of hotels. Upper class hotels, such for aristocracy won’t accept all of this changes so quickly, because of the traditional way of thinking of the customers, of those for whom traditions, and rituals are to be observed.

Before the introduction of all technical innovations the specialists should make a basic research weather the innovations contradict or not the concepts of the clients about management and hotel services.

John Nilson is a senior writer at Custom Essays Writing Service. He is an experienced writer of custom essays and term papers and will be glad to share his experience with you.

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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.

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The precessional effect says that the actions you take will affect other people. Common sense says that the more people you impact on, the more likely it is that your actions will affect people who have some power and influence over your actions. These people could be useful supporters of your projects – alternatively they may block your projects.

We call people who are impacted by our projects/business activities, stakeholders. A key skill in project management is learning to win support from interested parties or stakeholders. Mastering this skill ensures that your projects are more likely to succeed.

Stakeholder Analysis is the methodology we use to identify who are the key people who have to be on our side and supporting us to ensure that our project succeeds.

The benefits of using a “stakeholder-based approach” are:

• Stakeholders tend to have opinions which may be sought earlier in the project cycle than later. Their knowledgeable input early in the project life, can improve the quality of the project, and give them a sense of ownership in ensuring the project actually happens successfully.

• In gaining support from the more powerful stakeholders we can gain access to more resources – financial, time based and people based.

• When we involve the stakeholders on a regular basis, even if is simply reporting on progress to them, we ensure that they understand what we are doing and are kept abreast of the project status and benefits. If and when we need their active support they are already “on side”.

• We can predict what stakeholders’ reactions to our project may be and ensure that we are actively marketing the project in a way that will win their support.

The first step is to identify who the key stakeholders for a particular project are. Brainstorm in a group if possible, who will be impacted upon by the project. Local government, regulators, unions, employees, customers, special interest groups, neighbouring sites, businesses, Trades people, contractors, investors, managers, suppliers, financiers/banks, the press, etc. Stakeholders may be either an organisation e.g. a trade union, or an individual e.g. the trade union delegate.

The next step is to work out their power and influence over and interest in the project. This activity ensures that we know who we should focus and prioritise our attention, marketing and communications. To create a power interest grid, on a page draw an X and Y axis. Label the y axis, “power” and the x axis “interest":

Where the axes meet, mark both “low” and at the extremity of each axis mark “high”

Now from our list of interested parties, we mark on the grid, where each person/organisations level of power vs. interest is.

Those who we identify as having high power and low interest will need nurturing and attention.

However those who we identify as high power and high interest will need to be marketed to early and regularly in a way which allows them to continue to see the advantages of the project to them. To do this, we ensure that we develop a good understanding of the most important stakeholders so that we can predict how they may respond. This allows us to work out how to win their support.

To get an easy to use visual report on stakeholders and their impact on the project, we can colour code the Power interest grid. Potential project blockers or critics can be coded in red; Project supporters can be coded green, those who are perceived to be neutral can be coded orange.

When unsure about the consequences then it may actually be useful to talk to the stakeholders and ask them! Most people are open with opinions and this is a first step in building a successful relationship with them.

Liz Cassidy, founder of Third Sigma International is an author, Speaker, Trainer and Executive Coach and is passionate about facilitating results in the businesses, professional and personal lives of her clients. For more information http://www.thirdsigma.com.au

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What?

The good…the bad…and the ugly! That pretty much sums things up on the topic of meetings. There are good ones, bad ones and ugly ones.

So What?

Stop going to bad or ugly meetings. Stop conducting bad or ugly meetings. Meetings are often necessary, so if you must have one, make it a productive use of everyone’s time.

Now What?

Here are a few quick tips to help get your meetings going in the right direction.

    * Clarify and clearly communicate the purpose of your meeting. The more you clarify, the more you increase your chances of having a successful meeting.

    * After you clarify your purpose, try to find any legitimate reason to avoid having the meeting. Can things be handled in a memo or an e-mail? Would one-on-one conversations be as or more effective?

    * Are the right people invited to your meeting? Are people included that don’t need to be there?

    * Can materials be sent to attendees prior to the meeting to facilitate discussions or decisions?

    * Be ruthless about starting and ending on time.

    * Do not allow off-topic discussions. Use a flipchart or pad of paper to capture these items and handle them later. Get back on the topic of the meeting as soon as you capture these off-topic ideas.

    * Have one person designated as a recorder to take notes for everyone and distribute the notes to all meeting attendees. Everyone except the recorder needs to listen and stay mentally engaged in the meeting.

    * Establish a clear plan for what happens next for any follow-up items. Who will do it? What will they do? When will they do it?

To learn more about conducting effective meetings read Death by Meeting by Patrick M. Lencioni and How to Make Meetings Work by Michael Doyle and David Straus.

Meetings are prime candidates for the list of massive time-wasting activities. Don’t look for ways to justify them, look for ways to justify not having them. If you genuinely can’t figure out a way to avoid a meeting…have a good one.

Chris Crouch, president and founder of DME Training and Consulting, is the developer of the GO System. The GO System is a structured training course designed to improve focus, organization and productivity in the workplace and is taught by corporate trainers and professional organizers all over the country. Chris is also author of Getting Organized: Learning How to Focus, Organize and Prioritize and other books that provide practical and easy-to-learn ideas on personal achievement, success and productivity.

Visit http://www.thegosystem.com to learn more about the GO System, to inquire about having Chris speak to your group or organization, to sign up for Chris' free newsletter providing tips on having a more joyful and productive life, and for additional ideas on improving focus, organization and productive.

To learn about becoming a Certified GO System Trainer, visit http://www.gosystemcertification.com.

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