Aug 23 2013

Strategic Planning is Still A Good Idea!

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“In the fast paced world we’re in today, strategic planning just isn’t a good idea.”Process I’ve been hearing more and more of those kinds of comments. Many of them come from successful young start-up companies that seem to be proof of the theory. But, I don’t believe they are being honest with themselves. The CEOs of these companies demonstrate that they have all the components of a good strategic plan, even if they don’t call it that.

They have a vision for their company. They have a mission and have established at least some goals. They’ve considered the problems they might encounter and they have a definite value set. These leaders just haven’t put it all into one place where everyone can see it. They seem to think that taking that step is too complex and will bog down their progress.

If they use normal strategic planning models, I’d have to agree. These models make the process way too complex and are not compatible with the any kind of business that wants to move forward quickly.

In my many years of study and application of strategic planning I found that the process has to be accomplished quickly and efficiently or the results will be unsatisfactory. That means the process, and the product must be simple and straightforward.

If I may stretch a metaphor, don’t throw the baby (the necessity and benefits of a strategic plan) Planning to Excel: Strategic Planning That Worksout with the bathwater (the current murky planning processes).

 

 

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Aug 21 2013

Leading Meetings – The Minutes

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Leading Meetings – The Minutes

We talked about the importance of time management when leading meetings and now we’re going to discuss the minutes. But, in this case, minutes doesn’t refer to time but the notes that are distributed after the meeting.

Minutes comes from the word minute (my-newt) as in small. They’re called minutes not because of time, but because they are supposed to be a short synopsis of what was covered. They are the final step in leading effective meetings.

As meeting chair, you’re responsible for the minutes. You can write them yourself or assign someone else, but they are still your responsibility.

In addition to the short overview of what transpired in the meeting, the minutes should also record who was assigned to do what, and when that assignment should be completed.

Minutes should be written as soon as possible after the meeting. The longer you wait, the more you’ll forget. The same is true for the other participants. Timely minutes will help make the meeting more effective.

Minutes are not about time, but take the time to do the minutes.

Aug 19 2013

Do Companies Need Managers?

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It’s a question that few would have even thought to ask 20 years ago. The short answer is yes. To really understand though let’s dive a little deeper into the question.

There are a few companies that have successfully experimented with the idea of eliminating any management or leadership positions. However, they’ve established a rather unusual culture and they still have people who perform management functions, they just don’t call them managers.

There are other companies that rotate the management functions between the workers in a group. I’ll withhold judgment on that concept as I haven’t seen much long-term evidence as to its effectiveness.

So why do I say companies need managers? Simply because the management function must be accomplished by someone. When a company is very small, only a few people, it’s easy to say that separate managers aren’t really necessary as everyone does everything. But as the organization grows, that doesn’t work. Someone has to determine work schedules, ensure necessary training is available, make production decisions, solve problems, and handle the many issues that arise daily.

The more appropriate question is, how many managers does the company need? Like everything else, the ranks of the manager level tended to swell during the last few decades and all of them probably weren’t necessary.

With the big increase in numbers the quality and managerial ability tended to decrease. There are several surveys showing that the vast majority of people who quit their jobs weren’t really quitting the company; they were quitting their leadership.

Some managers are necessary. But they need to be good managers with a definite responsibility. Most importantly, they must be trained in good management, including the skills necessary to effectively lead people.

 

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Aug 16 2013

Leaders: Have You Ever Said “That’s An Order?”

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Leaders: Have You Ever Said “That’s An Order?”

“I never said that.”

In a recent interview with General Colin Powell, that was his answer to the traditional belief that a military leader had only to say, “That’s an order.” The interviewer seemed a little surprised. After all, wasn’t that how military leaders made things happen?

Sometimes leaders I talk to tell me that the military command and control type leadership doesn’t work in the corporate world and that leadership outside the military is, by necessity, different.

I don’t agree.

It is true that military leaders have a force of law behind them that does not exist outside the military. In spite of that, every bit of my leadership training and experience emphasized a collaborative style and no good military leader I know resorted to a strict “That’s an order” type of leadership.

Why?

There are two reasons. First, our military is extremely well trained. Each individual is trained to know his or her job and just as importantly, to work as a team. In fact, the military has only two modes of operation. They are either performing their mission, or they are training to perform their mission. Such an active approach ensures that each member of the organization knows what they are supposed to do and are constantly becoming better at doing it.

The second reason is just as important. The military takes leadership development very seriously. In fact, leadership development starts from the first days a recruit puts on the uniform and continues throughout their time in the service. Such constant training and development creates a leader who understands how to get the best out of their people without having to resort to a coercive leadership style.

Now I know there may be a few who say they experienced military leaders who did rely on legal authority and who were not very collaborative. Unfortunately, that’s true. But in my experience, the vast majority, and more importantly the most successful leaders are those who develop leadership skills that don’t require them to say, “That’s an order.”

Aug 14 2013

Leading Meetings – Time is Slippin

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Leading Meetings – Time is Slippin

Time keeps on slippin, slippin, slippin, into the future. OK Steve Miller was not talking about meetings. But he makes a good point that is certainly relevant to good meetings.

Too often, leaders chairing meetings don’t take other’s time into account. They start late, run over, or generally waste attendee’s time. Here are a couple of thoughts about time management for meetings.

Next time you’re in a meeting look around the room. Estimate the average salary and benefits cost of everyone in the room. Multiply that number by the number of people at the meeting. That gives you a rough idea of what the meeting costs. Are you getting a good return on that cost?

How long do your meetings last? I have a general rule that anything over an hour is a seminar and you need to provide refreshments. The hour limit is because most people can’t concentrate any longer than that without a break. Generally, you should be able to accomplish what you need to in an hour so keep you meetings to that limit.

Indeed, time is slippin away. Don’t waste it.

Aug 12 2013

10 Steps to Increase Employee Turnover

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10 Steps to Increase Employee Turnover

Does your company suffer from low employee turnover? Are you frustrated because you’re HR department doesn’t spend enough time collecting exit surveys and hiring new employees. If your employee turnover rate is less than 100%, here are some suggestions to help you boost that rate.

1. Make sure your employees know that you can live without them. Don’t buy into that silly notion that people want to feel they are an important part of a team.

2. Don’t worry about paying your employees enough to live on. You’ve probably heard the leadership experts say that money isn’t a motivator.

3. Spend as little as possible on training but accept no excuse for employees not to be fully trained and proficient in all aspects of their, and everyone else’s job. Sure, you have to meet the minimum standards those pesky government agencies set but you can do that with a few computer based training courses. Unsupervised and poorly designed computer training will encourage them to cheat anyway which will get them back on the floor faster.

4. When accidents happen, don’t waste time with a careful investigation. Instead simply fire everyone within 20 feet of the incident.

5. Create as many supervisor and manager positions as possible but don’t give them any real authority. Of course you can hold them accountable for everything that happens. See number 4.

6. Don’t give anyone any leadership training. This is important as several studies have shown that most people quit a job because of the actions of their bosses.

7. Find two or three people whom you really like and give them special consideration. This can be an exception to number 4. But, in order to reach that coveted 100% or higher turnover rate, change these people from time to time. Pick one of your favorites to blame for the next incident.

8. When a really good position opens up, hire someone from outside the company. This will require a little skill as you have to keep the new victim, I mean employee, away from the current staff until the contract is signed. You get extra points here if you promise a current employee the position and then change your mind.

9. Make employee scheduling resemble impressionist art. A scheduling process that makes sense will make employees more comfortable so keep them guessing. Don’t let them understand how the process works. It’s actually best if you don’t have a process. Under no circumstances should you allow an employee to stay on a particular shift more than a week or two. You get bonus points here if you can keep them moving from a late shift to an early shift on an irregular basis. Hey, life’s short; they can sleep when they’re dead.

10. Remember that change is good, so keep changing things with no apparent reason or logic. For bonus points if someone asks about the change, publically ridicule them as just not smart enough to “get it.”

Are you still shy of that 100% turnover goal? Make sure you aren’t listening to your employees and inadvertently encouraging them. Remember, the only thing they should hear from you is negative reinforcement.

Good luck. If you follow these rules you should have lots more exit surveys to review. Don’t bother though – it doesn’t matter what they think anyway.

Aug 09 2013

Leadership and Risk: Four Questions to Help You Decide

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Leadership and Risk: Four Questions to Help You Decide

Are you risk averse? Are you hesitant to step off the smooth, comfortable path of other’s success or do you seek opportunities to blaze a new trail? Are you willing to take a chance on someone else?

Leadership is risk and taking risks can lead to great success or great failure. But, unwillingness to take at least some risk is more likely to lead to failure in the long run.

So, leaders might as well embrace risk.

That doesn’t mean live your life on the edge, going as far out on a limb as possible and taking stupid chances. It does mean a willingness to try new things and accept new challenges. It also means encouraging others to do the same thing and supporting them when it doesn’t work out the way they planned.

How do you know if a risk is a good idea? Contemplate these four questions to start evaluating the action you or one of your people are considering.

1. Why are you considering this course of action? Is there a need to take some sort of action or is it an opportunity you see? Does the reward justify the risk?

2. What will happen if you don’t take the risk? Everything has a consequence, even not taking action. What’s the cost of inaction?

3. Are there ways to mitigate the risk? This doesn’t mean make the risk go away, but rather reduce and manage it as much as possible. When Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic he took every precaution he could, but the crossing was still a huge risk.

4. If the risk involves allowing someone else to take risky action do you trust them? How much will the proposed action stretch their skills? You have to determine how much of a stretch you’re willing to support. Remember, their success is good for you too, but as the leader, you also own their failure.

Not every risk is a good idea, but failing to take any risk is a sure way to be left in the dust of those that aren’t quite as cautious.

 

Aug 07 2013

Leading Meetings – The Agenda

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Leading Meetings – The Agenda

How many times have you sat down in the meeting room wondering what the meeting would be about and if you were going to be expected to contribute? How did you feel? Probably unprepared and a little apprehensive.

Are you doing that to people who attend your meetings?

The best tool for effective meetings is an agenda. Write and distribute the agenda ahead of time so everyone will know what they need to do to be prepared. If you expect someone to provide information, tell them ahead of time.

During the meeting, stick to the agenda. If something comes up that’s important but takes you away from the agenda either deal with it quickly or table it for another time.

Your meeting agenda is the most important part of meeting preparation. A good agenda can make the difference between a long boring meeting and a shorter, effective meeting.

 

Aug 05 2013

Goals and Measurement: Is This Metric Necessary?

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Goals and Measurement: Is This Metric Necessary?

In the kitchen, my mother and grandmothers would often carefully measure ingredients, but sometimes they would not measure at all. They understood what seems to escape some business leaders –measurement doesn’t always have to be complex.

Many years ago when I was introduced to goal setting, I learned goals must be measurable and   became a lover of control charts and disciple of Joseph Juran. I sought computer programs that crafted beautiful, bright charts and graphs. I also eventually learned that they were often not very useful, because I had not learned two basic rules of measurement.

1. Measurement serves three purposes: track effectiveness of a process, confirm there is or is not a problem, and track progress in solving that problem. It’s that first one that’s tricky. Of course it’s a good idea to monitor sales, or track production, but the measurement must be meaningful. At one stage of my aircraft maintenance career I was the operations manager for a large maintenance division. We measured everything and even had a chart to track number of work orders. We had no control of that. Airplanes broke, we fixed them. What was important was what broke and how often. We eventually stopped tracking work orders and paid more attention to drilling down to the root causes of high failures; a much more effective metric.

2. Measurement doesn’t have to be complicated. All those control charts and Pareto graphs are pretty hanging in frames on the wall but often aren’t necessary. Measurement should be as simple as possible. Remember that “yes” and “no” are metrics. A stoplight is a beautiful thing. You’re on track, green; there are problems and you’re behind, yellow; or there are serious problems and the train’s off the track, red.

Some charts and graphs are necessary, but when measurement becomes an end to itself, it isn’t helpful. What are you measuring and why?

Aug 02 2013

Leadership Development: What’s the Return on That Investment?

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Leadership Development: What’s the Return on That Investment?

What’s the return on that investment? It’s a good question and one that any smart business leader will ask anytime resources are going to be expended. Unfortunately, too many senior leaders think of leadership development as an expense instead of an investment because it’s difficult to determine a return.

While some effects of leadership development are fairly easy to measure, some are not. Instruments are available, but they usually don’t produce hard numbers that are easy to compare. Some examples are,

1. Better worker morale. Good leaders simply have happier workers.

2. Improved company loyalty. Workers who have a good leader will exhibit much greater loyalty which often manifests as new ideas and improved processes. In short, employee engagement.

3. Better leader selection and development. Good leaders produce more good leaders.

The good news is these difficult to measure results of a good leadership development program lead to some much easier to measure results.

1. Reduced expense of employee turnover. Employees often quit because of the boss, not the job. People in leadership positions, who don’t know how to lead, can create a toxic environment that entices their workers to look for other opportunities. Turnover is expensive. Here’s a simple calculator to help you find your actual cost of employee turnover.

2. Reduction in equal opportunity and other complaints from discontented employee. Good leaders will have fewer of these complaints because their workers are happier with their work situation.

3. Increased production. A work unit with a good leader will produce more so the value of each worker increases.

When leaders receive the training necessary to develop critical leadership skills the result is a measurable improvement in the organization. In fact, it will probably bring the highest return of any investment you’ll make!

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