Archive for the ‘Developing Plans’ Category

People claim to hate change, but if that’s true, why do they enjoy going on vacation, finding a new favorite restaurant, or getting a tax rebate check in the mail?
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Change Through WSPs

If your staffers don’t like change, then you’re doing something wrong. People resist workplace changes, because these changes tend to be perceived as unexpected, disruptive, and negative. But you can do something to improve all that…

The Power of Wildly Successful Projects™ (WSPs)

Leaders who build a track record of Wildly Successful Projects reach organizational goals that earn them the trust of their staffers and make gaining buy in and cooperation on future projects a breeze.  Here’s what every leader and manager needs to know.

First, whenever you introduce a change such as an initiative or project, a software program, a standard procedure, etc. take proper action to avoid making two common mistakes:

1. Think through the new change completely, from strategy to tactics and execution, before you introduce it. Too often, leaders introduce ideas that lack substance or a plan for their completion, and as a result, those ideas fade into the ether. People waste time trying to figure out what to do with your ideas, and when enough of those unfulfilled ideas go unrealized, staffers lose confidence in what you have to say.
2. Finish one initiative before beginning another. Studies show that the number of projects that people can work on successfully at any given time is two projects; more than that overwhelms labor and maxes-out resources. Don’t confuse a task with a project. Striking a balance for you and your employees ensures that projects are completed and that your crew enjoys success on the job.

Contrast these two types of managers. Manager 1, Kate, attends a conference, returns to the office excited to share a list of new initiatives with her staff, but the staff already have several unfinished projects on their plates. She drops the ideas on employees’ laps and leaves it up to others to figure out the details.

Manager 2, Kyle, returns from the same conference, but instead of rushing to share all his ideas immediately, he does some research over the course of the next week to be sure that he introduces a single best idea that will positively impact his staff. He explains that the ROI on the project will earn the firm $200,000 over the next year, and that end-of-year bonuses will come from this initiative. Already, even before he has laid out the tactical plan, you can already surmise that this idea has greater potential than Kate’s idea to become a WSP.

Mimic Kyle’s approach to change and watch how workplace resistance to change is replaced with an eagerness for future changes. When you develop a reputation for introducing WSPs, people will love change.

“Companies in the rich world are confronted with a rapidly aging workforce. Nearly one in three American workers will be over 50 by 2012, and America is a young country compared with Japan and Germany. China is also aging rapidly, thanks to its one-child policy. This means that companies will have to learn how to manage older workers better. It also means that they will be confronted with a wave of retirements as the baby-boomers leave work in droves.” (Source The Economist)

So what does this mean for decision makers like you? Two issues. First, in terms of rising up the management ladder, great opportunities are available for innovative thinkers who continually self-educate and build upon their leadership strengths. Are you armed with the right and best mental tools, processes, education, skills, etc. to be able to go beyond the basics of leading and managing others? The winners of tomorrow are building their management ‘tools kits’ today, because they know that in tomorrow’s world even more so than in today’s, they’ll be forced to CREATE opportunities, not just capitalize on existing ones.

Second, in terms of succession planning and building current leadership teams within today’s organizations, the aging workforce means that you’ll have fewer qualified candidates from which to fill open leadership positions, so you need to start  building the leaders of tomorrow now rather than expect to pull these candidates from the currently fast-evaporating pool.  What systems and processes do you have in place to hire the highest-potential candidates, empower others to work independently, achieve results through others, and most importantly, to attract prospective leaders who THINK in ways that capitalize on and create new opportunities?

This issue of the aging workforce–and specifically, the aging leadership force–doesn’t have to be a negative challenge. In fact, taking steps now can give you great advantages over two kinds of competitors: individuals who are vying for the same job positions as you are, and organizations that your organization competes with in the marketplace. In a nutshell, begin with acquiring mental management tools for yourself and then teaching them to others. Here are three examples to get you started:

1. CPM and Ghantt charts that help leaders organize projects, inform and direct the activities within projects on a time line and according to budget, and keep projects on target for completion as planned.

2. New product and service development tools which help you in the selection of best product/service ideas and pull together cross-functional groups to provide input and support throughout the development of the product and service to outpace competitors.

3. Strategic planning processes that structure the ways in which you and your leadership team(s) strategize to move your organization forward not only today, but into the future.

Of course, you probably already have some ideas floating around in your head about other options, too. The key is to formulate a plan and act on it now. Don’t wait, the opportunities arising from the aging-workforce issue are here for the taking.

No one wants to be in a situation where they have to raise revenue quickly, but sometimes  that’s just a reality that decision makers have to deal with.  When a past client who does business in a service industry was facing a cash crunch due to price increases from two major vendors, the only solution he could come up with in two month’s time was to push his sales people to sell more contracts. After we spoke a bit longer, he admitted that he’d done the math and that in the back of his mind, he had serious doubts about the sales team’s ability to bring in the targeted funds in the time frame that he needed.

I suggested that he try instituting a nominal price increase to all his clients. He was concerned, stating that he had a client base of 4000 contract holders, and to make such a move would mean that he would have to have reps visit each client to rewrite their contracts, plus, he feared their negative reaction. But that was his assumption, not his challenge or solution.

We took a closer look at the client base and came up with a solution that would assuage his concerns, bring in the revenue quickly, and address any clients who might call to complain. He sent via regular mail and email a notice to clients that they would see a slight price increase on their next billing cycle. For clients who had small contracts of say $40, the price would move to $42. For clients of $400, the price would increase to $420 and so on.

Still worried that he’d have an onslaught of calls, he manned up anyway and braced for the worst. And then….nothing happened. A few dozen customers called and they made what ever arrangements necessary for the new amounts to be remitted. In the end. the client pulled in tens of thousands of dollars of additional revenue per month without much work.

I credit the success of this business owner’s across-the-board price increases to the tactics which included: a pricing model that would cause the customer to say to themselves “who cares,” a well written letter and email campaign, staffing for the ‘just-in-case complaints,’ the right name for the increase, and an accounting system that had no flaws in posting the increase.

There’s always a solution to every challenge. You just have to be willing to open your mind to new ideas and to swirl those ideas around ‘cyclonically’ until you find the best solutions to your challenges.

Have you considered what your organization’s order qualifiers and order winners are? Nearly 3 decades ago, London Business School professor Terry Hill introduced the concept to manufacturers, describing qualifiers as basic characteristics that an organization, product or service needs just to be able to compete and function in the marketplace. They do not cause you to stand out, but they’re essential. Then there are winners. Winners, as their name suggests, are those unique, distinguishing stand-out characteristics that give organizations, products, services, etc. the edge over competitors. For example, they prompt consumers or distributors to buy from one company over another.

Did you know that Jones International was the first full online accredited university? Do you care? Probably not. But their situation is worth noting for the lesson that it teaches. In the 1990′s when online was new and exciting, being the first meant something. Today, being online and first might be a winner only if the organization is developing new and different strategies and tactics to keep them as an industry/sector leader for other winning reasons.   When organization such as Phoenix University and other schools became online resources for education, the public began to see online education as a qualifier. For Jones to retain its winner status, it would have to develop new and innovative winners.

The Madonna Inn, located in San Louis Obispo in CA is a fascinating hotel whose leadership apparently (fortunately) didn’t get the memo on the concept of standardization.   The hotel houses 110 creatively decorated rooms, and each room is different.  My favorite is The Madonna Inn’s Caveman Room; if you’re looking to get away Fred-Flintstone style, this room may be for you.

Caveman Room

Just think of the thought processes planners who developed this project as a fun way to differentiate their product from competitors’ offerings.  If this group’s members were working with an idea bank–electronic or manual collection of ideas–I can’t imagine how creative the ideas were and how much fun they must have had determining the criteria for building their hotel’s rooms. Fun and creativity aside, they still needed a solid process to bring their ideas through the project’s stages and to completion. Just in the early stages, they must have been thinking for a long time about what should they build.  Then they had to ideate about the theme of each room.  What would the theme look like, the selection of the wallpaper or bed style, and more.

This is a perfect example of how often sub ideation occurs within the bigger idea’s ideation.  The broadest ideation includes the type of hotel.  Then sub-ideation occurs where planners are asking about what types of rooms to include, and then even further ideation includes the details for each room. Finally, planners must coordinate the tactics (plans) and the execution of those tactics. Wild!

Madonna Inn Website

While I personally don’t agree with many of the tactics used by credit card companies, I do give the leadership credit for being creative in finding new opportunities to make money.

Their new tactic, used to combat The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009  (see below), is to bring back annual fees that may be as much as $100 per year depending on the individuals previous payment record.

And the current administration thought they had the bankers beat at their own game.

The bankers approach is to targeting all customers.  Those with high risk, low risk or carry no balances. The rational is that a bank makes no money on customers that don’t carry a balance or pay in full.

Brilliant thinking.

The bankers know pay-in-full consumers won’t cancel their accounts because they fear being labeled a possible credit risk .  They understand that during the recession over 90% of small businesses use their credit cards to finance their business operations to purchase inventory, travel, and to pay bills.  They too won’t cancel. High risk candidates need the card or risk losing credit all together.

Ironically, terminating a card for generating fees might also negatively impact your credit score.

If you want to read more on the story, check out. Newtelegram.com This is not the complete story.  I could not find any site carrying the entire story I read in my local paper.

The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 which is intended to halt abusive practices by credit-card issuers that keep consumers mired in debt. When it goes into effect in February, it will:
restrict interest-rate increases during the first year;
restrict rate increases on existing balances;
increase notice for rate increases on future purchases;
preserve the ability to pay off on the old terms;
place limits on fees and penalty interest;
require fair application of payments;
provide sensible due dates and time to pay;
protect young consumers;
restrict issuance fees on fee harvester cards
require enhanced disclosures.
SOURCE: Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports

Strategy means different things to different people, which becomes a problem when we try to communicate with each other about what we’re trying to do as leaders, managers, and decision makers.  The lack of a standard definition creates a gap that divides us and leaves room open for errors that are all too preventable.  The original Greek translation comes from two words:

stratos: army
ago: to lead, to guide to move

A more modern translation would be for leadership to guide or move an “army” of employees, volunteers, soldiers, or any other group of people in a systematic and conscious direction.  Knowing that you’re most likely not going to remember a Greek definition, think of strategy as where you are going.

Oftentimes people attach different meanings to the term, strategy, (such as the steps you take to get from Point A to Point B) but if we agree on one simple definition that gives us some flexibility, at least we’re all talking a similar language and understanding what others mean.  Strategy is the objective or outcome or destination you desire whether you’re talking about a strategic plan, a project’s conclusion, the location of your next vacation getaway, or any other such outcome.

When I hear managers say that the new vision of their firm is to get customers to like them better or that the new vision is to create better relationships, I’m always concerned for them.  While I understand what they’re trying to do, I also see how they’re headed in the wrong direction.  You can’t substitute your role of managing well with the position of wanting to be liked.  Business relationships don’t give back the returns you think they will, and if you don’t adjust your focus, you’re going to be disappointed at best and even suffer worse consequences.

Earning new customers involves much more than building relationships and getting people to like your firm. Widen your focus to how the firm deals with your customers from start to finish, well before your employees even enter the picture.  Customers may hear through the grapevine that your company doesn’t deliver on time or that orders are always screwed up.  How well will your “relationship” vision work now?

On the flip side if you throw out the “management guru” philosophies of getting in touch with your customers and first work on the processes that make the customer feel welcome from the get go, the relationship builds automatically.  For example, your firm supplies industrial washers and dryers for hotels and institutions or you create video production tapes for corporate distribution.  One sale is $75,000 a pop and the other is $5000-$10,000, yet they are very much the same.  All day long 365 days a year you ship washer and dryers or create Quicklime, Real Windows, CD and VCR production. You’ve heard some news that some customers may be unhappy with the products you’ve been delivering and that the opinion in the market is that you don’t deliver as promised.

Would your first reaction be to start implementing a customer-relations-building initiative?  Maybe you would even start to make phone calls to clients and ask them why they have been disappointed with the product.  Both might be good ideas, but you’re already barking up the wrong tree.  Customers don’t always know how your company works, so they can’t give valuable feedback on how to solve a problem. Also, just because you’ve made contact with a customer doesn’t mean that they will like you, it could mean that they now have an employee’s name to attach to their problem…that’s all.

A better approach is to build quality into your product/s.  Customers walk away happy when everything happens correctly.

A customer’s individual experience with your firm means more to them than how much business you process in a year.  Just because you ship 500 washers a year or 300 presentation tapes a year does not mean anything to the one person that is laying down the money to improve their business.  The higher the ticket item, the more you have to remind yourself of this point. Perhaps many of your customers think for months, should they or shouldn’t they buy.  The discussion is typically sealed when the buyer feels that parting with the money will give them a return of something more than what they spent.  The washer may make them $37,000 net per year and the tape may bring them $100,000 worth of new business if all goes well.  They want to feel as secure upon purchasing as they do on the day that their purchase arrives and for months after.

To do this start at the beginning.  The sales people or the materials of the firm should show them the process.  You sign and we start.  Delivery is in 4 weeks. With everything in between defined.  The check arrives and you send them an even more complete package to get them involved to the extent they want to be.  For the washer, you help confirm they know layout and the tools needed for on-site delivery.  For the tape firm you schedule a meeting with all the proper people and have an outline of how you can build a winning product.

Don’t ask the customer what they want!! Have a formula of questions that draws out what you need.

Make sure everyone is present and consider recording the sales call for future reference.

Throw in additional value.  That could be a booklet about tools to increase productivity or to improve marketing.

Even to the very end you keep the process going as it is designed. Don’t deviate or cut corners if the process works. You may have given your pitch  2000 times, but the customer has only heard it once.

Get the entire company behind you. If you’re dealing with items that have options or customization, a production expert might walk the buyer through a few paces so that the customer feels that your team understands them.  You want the process to win over the customer.

It’s like when you return to your hotel room after dinner and find a chocolate on your pillow.  How happy do you feel just before you bit down on your treat?  Hate to break it to you, but patrons in 1200 other rooms had a chocolate on their pillows, also.  The staff didn’t select only you to get a special piece.

Again, this is not to downplay the relationship-building process, but to put it in perspective.  You do a bad job, customers don’t return.  If you build a process that builds relationships, customers feel excited to work with a firm that’s responsive and delivers products or services as ordered.

Why is it that when people hear about a corporate bankruptcy, they become authorities on how it could have been avoided? It’s always easy to say you know better than someone else. Especially when you’re parked safely on the sidelines or looking at the situation in hindsight. But do you really know what you would do if put in the same position?

There are a lot of reasons why companies get in financial trouble. Some firms die because they deserve it. They’re mismanaged or they have products that stink. Others are good companies that make one mistake and pay a hefty price. Perhaps they don’t adapt to a market change quickly enough. Or maybe they tried to grow too quickly and ran out of cash. With so many elements to juggle, pinning down the “why” is not always easy for the outsider to determine.

Spiegel filed Chapter 11 in 2003. Spiegel was started in 1865. It’s parent to Lifestyle, Eddie Bauer, and Newport News. Its first catalog was produced in 1905. In nearly 140 years, Spiegel managed to do a lot of things right. When it hit a rocky patch, Joe Blow from down the street knew he could have done better. Really?

Look at the photo-film industry. Kodak offers good quality products. It was kicked in the face with the K-Mart bankruptcy, but managed to sustain the blow. Over the past 5 years, Kodak has made major adjustments to its product line to insure future success. Fuji Photo Film was a heavy competitor on price. The growing use of digital cameras threatened all film companies. Yet Kodak and Fuji were operating while Polaroid filed for bankruptcy.

On the surface, it was easy to see that Polaroid wasn’t adapting to the changing market fast enough. It didn’t offer competitive products. It didn’t market as well as other leaders. But WHY did executives at Polaroid make the decisions that they did? WHY would they “white-knuckle” their niche of instant imaging when one-hour photo processing and digital cameras were eroding their market share? What was going on behind the scenes that ultimately forced Polaroid to file Chapter 11?

Enough about everyone else. Your time is better spent focusing on how you can avoid damaging mistakes. Here are some tips:
1. Be an information gatherer. Start internally and look outward. What are your key deliverables? Are you defining what you really do? For example, are you a trucking firm or in the business of logistics? Canon says they’re in optics. Kodak says they’re in “memories.” That’s a selling proposition, but what do they do? Learn markets, talk to experts, and then make up your own mind.
2. Improve your management skills. Quality. Think BASF: “We don’t make the products you use, we make the products you use better.” Improve yourself to keep pace. Take courses to learn new tools. Read books in addition to magazines and papers. Look at trends and where you’re weak. Focus on one or two areas and not 50. You’ll be stronger for it.
3. Envision a realistic destiny. Make sure the picture you paint is one you can truly believe in. Most executives, owners, and managers can’t do this. If you’re one of them, watch out. This is an area where you can’t be wishy washy. Know where you’re going before you set out on the trip.
4. Be the driver. You can collect data and insight from others, but the direction comes from you. Your role as a leader is to lead, not get “group think” to the point that your company is crippled. As you move forward, you’ll gain new knowledge that might steer you in slightly different directions. Flexibility and adaptability are good. But make sure that you’re leading, not reacting.

You can’t fix a firm from the sidelines no more than you can play a game from the bleachers. When you see what’s happening in the world around you, don’t waste your time on second-guessing. Take what you can as a lesson and focus on your own firm. What you learn will bring solutions and strategies. You and your firm will be stronger for it.

When thinking about disaster recovery, you want to develop a plan so that in the event that everything goes haywire, your organization can be back up and running as soon as possible…that is, if there are no more disasters.

The management team of a company executed a practice run of disaster recovery plan.  But the process ran into a couple of snags. First, the assistant to the man who was supposed to execute the practice run was informed on his way to the office that his brother-in-law died. Then the two back-up personnel, leaving from two different airports, each ran into 3-hour delays.

In essence, the key people running the disaster-recovery plan ran into disasters of their own.

Consider how during the last big disasters, 9-11 and New Orleans, transportation and telecommunications shut down. Those obstacles were tough enough to work around. Now add in the human element including that some team members will not wait around to save your company’s neck. They might want to be home taking care of family or heading for the hills.

This means that you want to automate the process as much as possible and not leave the success of the program in human hands; human interaction should be reduced, even eliminated  so that what needs to be done can be done with the greatest probability of success.

It’s not nice to think of disasters occuring on such grand scale, but during the execution of most true disaster plans, the ripple effect of a flaw in the design can prove to be more challenging to deal with than those designing the backups are capable of solving.