Business Management Skills

SAFE is not a model on how to build a strategy, but rather a model on the minimum requirements about implementing your actual objectives. I constructed the SAFE model after a practical study on what is preventing organisations in achieving their goals.

When a strategy does not produce results, many use to say that the strategy is good but people don’t apply it. I heard millions of excuses like that. My assumption is that a strategy that doesn’t work is a bad strategy. So, let’s see the characteristics of a bad strategy and then define the SAFE strategy.

There are four main reasons strategies don’t work:

1. The employees know nothing about the existence of a strategy. If they know there is a strategy, they don’t know what it is about. That is a common problem in large organisations. When they know what the strategy is about, sure enough they don’t care.

2. Very often strategies are ambiguous. They lack precision and consistency. Sometimes strategies focus more on what to avoid rather than what to achieve.

3. A strategic document is many times understood as a set of rules or regulations. People feel obliged to stick with it regardless of the bad outcomes.

4. When people know about the strategy, understand it and care about it, most of the times they don’t know what to do about it.

Now, let’s go with the SAFE Strategy model! By the way, I share this model for free, without a trademark, so you can use it as you like, but if incidentally you are a strategic consultant, my dear reader, just be fair and put me in your will.

So, a strategy is SAFE when it is Shared, Accurate, Flexible and Executable.

S- Any strategic documents must reach all the people from all the levels of the organisation. The best way to share a strategy is in a large meeting or more smaller meetings to involve everyone. E-mailing the document is not a good idea unless a feed-back is required.

A- Every single objective must be accompanied by its specific indicators. The SMART model is a simple and good way for achieving accuracy. Don’t forget nevertheless that SMART does not work on negative goals. Always formulate positive objectives.

F- Strategies are meant to encourage change, not to stop it. You can recognize at a glance a bad strategy when it does not contain alternatives or, in other words, the means of its own improvement and adaptation.

E- A strategy that is not split in concrete tasks at all levels of the organisation is a waste of good paper. A strategic document cannot contain specific actions for everyone, but everyone have to develop specific actions from it. Filling in the execution gap is maybe the most difficult and challenging step, but who said strategic management is easy?

Good luck and stay SAFE!

By Mihai D Cuza

Mihai D CuzaLevel: PlatinumMihai Cuza got his MBA from the University of Birmingham and previously he graduated Philosophy and Journalism in Bucharest, Romania. By the age of 28 …

mihaidcuza@yahoo.com

What’s Performance Punishing?

Performance Punishing occurs when the employee who performs very well is rewarded with more demanding work.

Because they do such a good job, you load them with more and more work. Because they set high standards for themselves at work, you trust them to always produce exceptional work.

They often work out of hours without extra pay to get the job done. You always rely on them in a crisis. And they never complain or say “no”.

Why Managers Punish Performance

Conscientious, trustworthy, reliable and competent employees are hard to find. When we discover them we rejoice.

To satisfy ourselves that they’re as good as they seem, we give them more responsibility. They seem to thrive. We can’t believe our good fortune. So we ask them to look after some tedious work that everyone else avoids. They do it brilliantly.

We tell ourselves that we’re giving the employee an opportunity to “develop their skills” and “expand their experience”.

Downside for the Valuable Employee

We can “burn out” our most valuable employees this way. In extreme cases, they leave. If they stay, the quality of some of their work deteriorates.

Instead of recognizing that they’re overloaded, we tell ourselves that they’re “not quite up to it”. We blame them instead of ourselves.

We cease to encourage them. Over time the once outstanding employee become just another worker.

Other Employees

When we give all or most of our most demanding work to one or two people, other employees can’t develop. We’ll never know how good they could be.

We accept average performance from them and they expect it of themselves. If we make demands on them in a crisis they won’t respond. They see unusual work as someone else’s work. We don’t expect much from them nor do they from themselves: a self fulfilling prophecy. Everyone loses.

Our overloaded and overworked people see their colleagues getting an easy ride. We’ve sown the seeds of discontent in the minds of our most valuable people.

We don’t notice any of this. We’re simply delighted with the efforts of our best people. And we feel they’ll thank us for the opportunity we’re giving them.

A 7 Step Alternative Approach

It’s a bleak picture. But it does happen. If you want to avoid the effects of Performance Punishing
- distribute work evenly among employees
- have clear performance standards for each employee
- give all employees the opportunity to do more demanding work
- if possible, structure jobs so that employees must work together to complete them
- have a job rotation plan using more experienced employees to teach less experienced
- spread “crisis” or tedious work across groups of employees
- always seek employee input on improving systems for better performance.

Conclusion Performance Punishing is not uncommon. And its easy to understand how busy managers fall into it. The worst effects result in loss of your best people. It’s disruptive and risky at the very least.

The alternatives ensure development options for all employees, more management confidence in all employees and smoother, more productive workflow.

By Leon Noone
Leon NooneLevel: BasicLeon Noone’s worked in personnel and training since 1963. He’s held specialist positions in mining, university administration, data processing, chemical engineering, marketing, retailing and manufacturing. …

Leon Noone invites you to contact him on http://www.leonnoone.com where you can collect your free copy of his 42 page Special Report: “5 Proven Methods For Improving Employee Performance On The Job”. He’s published books on staff selection and team development as well as various video, text/audio and self instruction programs on staff selection, staff training and staff motivation.

Do you have a “problem group” of employees? A department, a team, a division that just doesn’t conform to the cultural values you’re promoting? At a recent Chief Executive Boards International meeting, a member described a small group of employees that had a history of discontent, attitude issues and a general lack of teamwork.

This situation reminded me of the parable of the monkeys — told first to me by a member of the Chicago CEBI Board. It happened that there were three monkeys in a cage. Suspended at the top if the cage was a bunch of bananas. There was a ladder from the floor of the cage up to the bananas. One of the monkeys who was both clever and agile and also liked bananas, decided to head up the ladder to grab a banana.

Imagine his surprise (not to mention that of the other two monkeys) when suddenly a fire hose washed down the cage, blasting all three monkeys over to one side. Cold and shivering, the 3 monkeys regrouped and thought about what had happened.

Monkeys don’t have a real long memory, and after awhile a second monkey thought again about the bananas and headed up the ladder. Same thing — a fire hose washed all three monkeys over to the side of the cage. They picked themselves up, shook themselves off, and hoped the sun would come out to warm them up.

After another couple of hours, the third monkey couldn’t resist, and he went for it. Sure enough, same result — fire hose, wet monkeys, and another miserable afternoon of drying out.

Finally, all three monkeys became convinced that going for the bananas was a bad idea, and went on with the rest of their lives.

Then the zookeeper drafted one of the monkeys for another exhibit and replaced him with a new monkey. The new monkey arrived, looked up at the bananas, looked over at the ladder and couldn’t figure out why the other monkeys hadn’t gone for the bananas. He headed for the ladder and got about 1 rung up when the remaining “experienced” monkeys tackled him, dragged him to the floor and pummeled him into submission. He quickly concluded that climbing the ladder wasn’t a good idea.

A week later, the zookeeper replaced the second monkey. Monkeys are somewhat single-minded. The new monkey spied the bananas, headed for the ladder, and the remaining two monkeys tackled him and pummeled him into submission.

Finally the third monkey was replaced and, you guessed it, the same thing happened. So life went on among the monkeys and after some time the first of the “new” monkeys was replaced with yet another monkey. Sure enough, the new guy saw the bananas, went for the ladder, and his two peers tackled him and beat him into submission.

Why was that? None of these monkeys knew anything about the fire hose. None of them had ever gotten wet for having climbed the ladder in the quest for bananas. Yet the monkeys had been fully culturalized to know that it was a bad idea. And you could likely go on individually replacing monkeys one at a time forever, and expect the same result.

The only solution to this problem, if it is one, is to replace all the monkeys with those who don’t know the existing culture.

Think about it — isn’t organizational culture really a hand-me-down process? New employees come in and are quickly assimilated into the dominant system of beliefs, values and ideals. If those match yours, it’s great. If they don’t, it’s tough to change, and your wishes or hopes won’t get you there.

What ideas, assumptions and values are inadvertently communicated to people new to your organization that you’d prefer weren’t? What would you have to do to intervene? Replace all the monkeys? Or something equally aggressive to disrupt the status quo?

By Terry Weaver

Terry WeaverLevel: BasicTerry Weaver has led and managed successful businesses throughout his career. His experience as a Fortune 100 Vice President, mid-cap NASDAQ company President/COO and round-trip …

Are you a successful business owner or CEO who wants more income, more fulfillment and more freedom? If so, Chief Executive Boards International is the right place for you. CEBI is an exclusive group of entrepreneurs, business owners, presidents and CEOs helping each other become more focused, effective and strategic. http://www.chiefexecutiveboards.com

As I work with managers who want to develop a workplace environment that fosters loyalty in the staff and great service for the customer, I usually start by visiting with various members of the team. When I ask each person how they like working there, one of the top answers is usually along the lines of: “Its okay” or “I don’t mind it much”. As I begin to dig deeper I usually find that most people are in their jobs to simply avoid pain. They chose their job because of the benefits package, retirement plan, etc. So, they view their job as something they “have to do” to get the paycheck and associated benefits. They are working because they have to and not because they want to. They do not understand their importance in the overall scheme of things and they’re unable to reconcile their true value with the larger picture.

Your attitude towards your work is tied largely to how you perceive the importance of what you do. If you are not looking past the immediate tasks at hand, you will never (and I do mean never) find true purpose in your work. If, however, you allow yourself to gain perspective on how you fit into the big picture, you will begin to add value to yourself and your company as well.

I once had an employee (I’ll call her Susan) who had moved to our city, stayed in our hotel and eventually came to work for us. Our brand was known as a preferred option for folks who needed a place to stay for more than a few days, so we naturally attracted people who were relocating. Having spent several weeks as a customer, Susan had a very unique perspective on our operation. One day she approached me with the idea of allowing employees to “adopt” a relocating guest and become a personalized source of information and assistance. We implemented the program immediately and it was a roaring success! But here’s the bonus: this program not only provided great service to the customer; it also added a feeling of importance and esteem for the employees. The staff members who participated in this program improved their performance, attitude and general sense of accomplishment because they were able to recognize the importance of their position in the overall scheme of things. Susan revolutionized the way we approached our business by operating in her natural strengths: a fresh perspective that the rest of us were blind to and her sensitivity to the needs of families moving to the area.

There are talented people with unique perspectives in every business. Unfortunately, these valuable resources often go untapped. The best managers are those who hire the right people for the right job, based on their individual strengths, and then allow them to exercise those strengths for the good of the organization. The true test of a secure, well grounded manager is when they can hire someone who is stronger than they are in a certain area, and feel confident in their ability to let that person shine.

By Craig Kitch

Craig KitchLevel: BasicCraig began his professional life as a broadcaster, where he learned the power of the spoken word. He took those skills with him into the …

Craig Kitch works with managers to reduce conflict and improve communication so that everyone can stay focused on their jobs. He began his professional life as a broadcaster, where he learned the power of the spoken word. He took those skills with him into the hospitality industry where he had a very successful career for over 20 years. Working in management, Craig developed the skills necessary to pull teams of people together and lead them to accomplish ambitious goals. He eventually became a “turn around specialist”, using those skills to remedy problematic properties.

Today Craig runs his own business, Kitch and Associates, and is dedicated to improving the lives of managers. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Greater Nashville Hotel and Lodging Association and he is President of the National Speakers Association for the State of Tennessee.

For more information go to http://www.CraigKitch.com or call 615-378-0120.

Its VITAL for an Organization to strengthen the very root or rather the foundation on which its is laid on its work force. An organization can be successful only when its identifies the potentials of its employees, enlighten them to realize it and use it to achieve the very goal for which an organization exists. Here it becomes essential to mention there should be an bondage between the organization & employee which helps him / her to understand that the growth of the organization means his / her own growth where by he / she becomes more attached emotionally to the organization.

Project Management bifurcates itself into Project planning and carrying out the Project as planned. While training the employees on Project Management the straining should be focused on …….

1. Availability of resources.

2. Analysis of the various risks in the manipulation of the Project & lateral plans to solve the same.

3. Based on the availability of resources prudence in its usage.

4. Blue print of the Projects step by step proceedings and a review etc.,

There should exist and equality scale of measure between the management and its planning.

An organization can plan on Training its work force through various methods. One such method involves initially developing external trainers who in turn can train the others. The advantage include , monetary savings & also the scheme of training can be altered or tailored to suit the Organizations needs. Though it appears to be feasible , it can be possible in an established Organization and not in a new born one.

Another way or alternative to train the employees it to hire training institutions which exist only to train an Organization…This methodology can be time & energy saving and since they may train more than one Organization the employees are thrown open to new ideas as on how other Organizations are working, planning & so on… But here again the problem arises on choosing the apt training institution which should not only be capable of esstial training but does not pinch the finance of the Organization.

The various alternatives available does not end here. Yet another method is to maintain a sufficient collection of Management Oriented books in house . These books should be targeted on Various branches of Management Training like Training the employees for the success and profit of the Organization, it can also highlight the essentials of Compact Training which assists in the success of an Organization. Such books enlightens an employees on the benefits of Management Trainings, the financial benefits which can acquire as a result of better performance due to the training and how it shoulders an Organization for its success.

In case an Organization chooses introducing training method such books could be an wealth of knowledge to the trainers to make them the fittest, well equipped trainers.

An Organization can march towards success depending upon the Strength, Vigour etc., of the Project Management teams they form. A successful team should not only possess expertise knowledge about its Project, should possess certain subtle qualities too. To name a few a Project Management Team should have…..

1. Excellent communication cablibre.

2. Incase the Projects deals with Overseas then they should be capable & competent to handle cultural variation.

3. Another important aspect is inter personal skills.

4. A team can access more clients only when they are capable to convince the clients , so the team should also possess negotiating talents and secondly effective customer interaction – to keep on in touch with the client, to serve and satisfy their expectations by acquiring the knowledge of their exact needs, ready to bring in changes if needed by the Customer – being flexible etc,.

Therefore, a PMT should and can be considered to be wholesome only when it includes all the aspects in its programme.

No Organization can sustain and continue without well trained employees. So it directs the need for a PMT as a crucial deciding factor of success of an Organization. So PMT is VITAL. But the methodology an Organization chooses is its own discretion. It can be an in-house training or hired training. Depending upon the pros and cons of each methodology an Organization can decide on its PMT programme.

There can be no second opinion as far as Software Project Management Training for professionals is concerned. If they are not trained in an apt way the result is very clear it would be a total collapse, an absolute end of the Project itself.

Hence you should acquire an in-depth knowledge of SPMT for professionals. In case if you are a member of a SPMT which is responsible for Project Management tasks then its is a must that you pay heed to this important point.

The first step as far as any project is concerned is Planning. Planning is the basis of any Project. Unplanned but processed projects would end up in failure. So any Software Professional should understand this and start a Project by Planning. Even in Planning it is necessary to weigh the various plans as to which would be the ideal one. A clear Planning means hinderless proceeding. So Software Professionals should indulge not only in an extensive but also intensive planning. Most of the pressure faced by Software Professionals is to develop a plan as quick as possible. But they fail to realize that spending a few more minutes or hours in a proper planning would drive them towards success without much difficulty.

Such is the importance of the role played by Planning in the success of any project.

Once a proper planning charted out the second step to successful SPMT for professionals would be to gain knowledge of the courses that help to define a Project Management Task. This particular portion of SPMT is no ordinary task as it involves the synchronization of the various steps involved in the project as such. Hence this portion involves a careful invigilation of the entire blue print of the project and if any defect is identified it should be rectified immediately so that it does not hurdle the processing of the Project. Along with the inspection of a Project and its plans the Software Professionals should also take into account external factors which may affect the Project.

To list a few they may involve business motivators, the clients requirement which may either be the existing version or updated version of the project that is available.

By Chandru C

PMP Association
Project Management Training

Poor staff performance and ‘problem workers’ are some of the trickiest things to be dealt with in the office. It’s difficult to balance morale and productivity in the optimum way for office success, and as a result I often hear of managers turning a blind eye to poor staff performance, fearing that drawing attention to it will cause problems in the atmosphere and work environment.

The truth is that avoiding dealing with problem staff is often the worst thing you can do. If you turn a blind eye, the rot can spread to the other apples. If a member of staff is consistently late, for example, and nothing is seen to be done about it, then why should other staff members keep up high standards of timeliness? Inevitably, a rot sets in around the office and poor staff performance becomes the rule rather than the exception! Even if it is something that others are unaware of, like plummeting productivity, it is still something that should be dealt with as soon as you become aware of the issue – intervening in a timely manner will hit the problem on the head early on, and prevent it from spreading and causing resentment and ill feeling. After all, problem employees may not realise they are doing anything wrong unless you intervene, and doing this early can act as a wake-up call to improve staff performance before it’s too late!

So the first step of dealing with problem staff or poor performance is to inform them of the problem. Naturally this should be done in private to avoid shaming them in front of the others (this will cause major resentment), and the issue should be explained clearly so there is no grounds for misunderstanding. If they have a reasonable excuse for a drop in form (severe illness in the family or problems at home) then you should endeavour to be understanding and come up with a compassionate solution – see how you can help the employee return to standard. If they have no reason, you need to reiterate (or in some cases, iterate) clearly what your expectations are from them – after all, if they don’t know what they are it can be impossible for them to be met! If you have a problem employee, you don’t want to wait until their annual review to tell them what goals they should have met!

The next phase is actually helping them to meet your outlined expectations. In the case of something like consistent lateness this is easy to monitor, but with something more abstract – like quantity and quality of work, it’s harder for both you and the employee to keep an eye on things. For this reason, you may need to consider the following things when managing poor performance in your staff:

Plenty of Feedback

Positive, constructive feedback is a good idea to give your employee an idea of whether they’re heading in the right direction or not. Let them know clearly what’s improved and what still needs to be tightened – it should be specific, detailed and timely.

Possible Supervision

Problem employees often require direction and for employers to work closely with them in order for them to reach their potential. Both parties should understand that this hands on approach to managing poor performance is with the ultimate goal of the employee working competently independently of constant supervision.

Additional Training

In some (but by no means all) situations, the employees underperformance may be through no fault of their own, and they may as a result require extra training in order to reach the standard of skills and competency stipulated in their goals.

Checklists

Depending on the type of problem employee you have, you may find checklists to be of use. These are particularly useful for problem staff who struggle with their timekeeping and priorities, it allows them to stay focused on each task and organize their workload.

Positive Reinforcement

Having already been highlighted for doing something wrong, it is essential you redress the balance when the employee’s performance improves. Positive reinforcement – telling the employee you’re pleased with their work can make someone’s day, improve their happiness at a company and – most importantly – make them more likely to deliver a repeat performance. Let them know that this is the sort of thing you’ve been hoping for.

Set a Period of Evaluation

One of the most important areas of dealing with problem staff is setting a period of evaluation. Put in writing the problem, the improvements you hope to see made, and the timeline for this. Close with the disciplinary actions that will be taken if things are not improved (and maintained) – all the way up to dismissal if there is no improvement.

Whatever you do, don’t just make firing your employees your automatic response to poor staff performance! You need to work with the employees to try and resolve issues, and give them fair warning that their job is in danger, otherwise you are leaving yourself wide open for litigation. It may seem a lot of work, and easier just to let it slide initially, but failure to act early will cause the problem to get worse and worse, and potentially for discontent to spread within the office environment. Follow this procedure when managing poor performance, and there’s no reason why your productivity shouldn’t recover from the slight dip!

By Iain Mackintosh
Iain MackintoshIain Mackintosh is the managing director of Simply-Docs. The firm provides over 1100 legal documents and templates covering all aspects of business from the new …

Iain Mackintosh is the managing director of Simply-Docs. The firm provides over 1100 legal documents and small business templates covering all aspects of business from holiday entitlement to managing poor performance. By providing these legal documents (with content provided by leading commercial lawyers, HR and health & safety consultants) at an affordable price, the company intends to help small businesses avoid costly breaches of regulation and legal action.