Manage My Employees

Posts Tagged ‘Planning’

Short article #41

In his book, The Future of Management, Gary Hamel contends that the current management model centered on control and efficiency, no longer suffices in a world where adaptability and creativity drive business success.

Hamel’s perspective is credible. As well as being a bestselling author he is ranked the #1 Influential Business Thinker by the Wall Street Journal. Some points from his book:

There will be new challenges to competitive viability and profitability: In a world of immediately accessible information, there is less room for mediocre products or services. 

Modern management needs to change its model for the future. "Modern management has also stymied the opinions and free-spirits of human beings by getting them to conform to rigid rules and procedures, and in so doing squandered creative problem solving or innovation. It has brought discipline to operations, but imperils organizational adaptability."

Management innovation can bring significant advantage. In studying over 100 management breakthroughs across two centuries, Hamel notes that major advances in managerial practices often

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Short Article #38 and 39 (parts one and two)

I like this observation by business authors Fahey and Randall:

“A major limitation of most strategic planning is that the thinking and recognition of opportunity take place within the confines of a mental box – the limits of the historical mindset. Often, signals of change or threat are simply not recognized by the upper leaders involved in the planning. Middle managers often contribute to the problem by focusing on the activities that best fit the mindset. Front-line managers may be subtly discouraged from challenging the status quo. In other words, the mindset exerts a limiting role on the analysis and implementation of the plan.” Liam Fahey, Robert Randall

What thoughts do you have based upon the observation above? Please leave your comments below if you’d like to chime in.

Here are some views I have on the topic of the limiting historical mindset, based on my experience:

• In the pursuit of constancy, consistency and congruency most organizations are unable to get past status quo.
• Management is often instructed by leadership to "adhere to the course we’ve laid out” and “don’t rock the boat.” Employees are often told by management to “just do what we tell you,” and “don’t ask too many questions.”
• Organizations too often say on the one hand that they want change, yet still vehemently resist it.
• As individuals, we may truly want what’s better for ourselves, our careers or our families, and yet we stay stuck in our all too comfortable mental ruts and habits—consequently little change occurs on any front.

I find that good questions often have pertinence when it comes to carefully considering our own possible historical mindsets.

Here are 10 Questions I Often Ask Leaders and Managers to Answer:

-Why do we yearn for change but yearn to resist it?

-Why do we look at the same data, the same markets, the same balance sheets and income statements month after month, and come to the very same historical conclusions?

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Short Article #33

To recap Monday’s Short Article #32 Interruptions Threaten Time Management:

Interruptions can be enormous drains on productive time. The time wasted most commonly affects activities like project management success, hitting deadlines consistently, or maximizing selling time for the sales force. 

There’s no doubt in my mind that wasted time due to unnecessary or ill-timed interruptions add up quickly:

• There’s the amount of time the interruption actually takes and…
• …the time for ‘recovery’ which represents the amount of time required to get our concentration and focus back on to the work we were doing when we were interrupted.

Both factors, can and often do, reduce our personal productivity by thirty minutes, an hour or more.

I advised a large sales force on improving time management and increasing selling time a few years ago. Do you have any idea what the single biggest killer to selling time was in that company?

Answer: salespeople shooting the bull with one another on unnecessary conversation.

Surprisingly, the salespeople admitted that it was not uncommon for HOURS of time to be wasted on unnecessary conversation, every week. Wow!

No wonder the sales manager sensed that his team needed help with time management.

Here’s the good news… after implementing a few of the steps below, the company could ‘free up’ over 1,000 hours annually of additional selling time across its sales force. That translates into more sales and more profits.

Try these steps whether you’re a busy manager, leader, small business owner or salesperson.

5 Steps to manage unnecessary or ill-timed interruptions and increase productive time:

• Hold your calls for a specific amount of time. Read more »

Short article #31

On the heels of making resolutions for 2010, there’s a good chance that better time management is on the list for many professionals.

After our resolutions are cast in plaster, however, the excuses usually start their grand entry as we concave to old ways and habits under increasing pressure to get more done.

So, what’s the worst excuse for poor time management?

Here are a few possibilities, see what you think.

A. I never have enough time.

B. There are too many things I’m trying to juggle all at once.

C. I’m disorganized by nature, but I can find whatever paperwork I need to put my hands on, so what’s the big deal?

D. People are pulling me in so many directions right now.

What’s the right answer? What’s your answer?

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What if you were told “No more budget” or “If you lose an employee you can’t hire a replacement” …or “You can’t buy any new equipment, you must make what you have work!”

As we wrap up 2009 no one knows what 2010 holds in store. But what we can probably be quite certain of a few things:

• Change will be continuous in the future not episodic as in past years.
• Pressure on bottom-line profitability across most industries will likely increase as margins squeeze thin.

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