Tag: change management

Is Your Forest Too Dense? Part 4

Mike 0 Comment Communication, Expert Advice , , , , ,

Depositphotos_33835739_xs

Effective Communication

If you haven’t had a chance to read the first three entries of this series, click here for Part 1, here for Part 2, and here for Part 3.

Your ability to communicate is an important tool in your pursuit of your goals, whether it is with your family, your co-workers or your clients and customers. – Les Brown

One thing that will help an organization as they navigate through a dense forest, aka the busy organization, is communication. Leadership must communicate effectively with everyone in the group to keep the team on the right path.

Leadership has many responsibilities that normally include generating reports and performing analysis showing their team’s progress toward meeting organizational goals. Unfortunately, these responsibilities leave little time to communicate with co-workers.

Here are 3 suggestions for enhancing communication that will improve the overall effectiveness and focus of the team.

  1. Conduct meaningful and effective meetings

If a meeting must be held, then the meetings should be considered by all in attendance to be productive and worthwhile before and after the meeting. As the meeting leader, conducting efficient and meaningful meetings boils down to a few principles:

  • Always have a clearly defined, well communicated reason for each meeting.
  • Set up an agenda that spells out who is responsible for providing information at the meeting.
  • Send out the meeting invitation as far in advance as possible so everyone can plan for it.
  • Be respectful of participants’ time by staying within the time set for the meeting.
  • At the end of the meeting, summarize the action steps and write down who is responsible for the action as well as when it is expected to be completed. Use this as the guide to check the progress of each action.

2. Set up a weekly check-in with each employee

Scheduling time every week for a quick discussion between the manager and each team member will be beneficial to both parties. There should be a simple agenda that includes the status of each project or work-stream and any potential issues. It is also a time to discuss any changes from the management perspective that will possibly impact the team member’s activities.

Once these weekly meetings are established, they become very efficient, and they can reduce the number of surprises on both sides of the relationship.

  3. Publish organizational performance results periodically

Placing a team member (preferably not Management) in charge of communicating the team’s results versus targets and metrics on a periodic basis. Knowing how well the team is performing against established goals and targets will provide motivation. Assigning a non-management team member to track and post the results in a graphical form, e.g., charts or graphs, sends a signal to the team that there is no ‘spin’ to the information being presented.

In today’s world, there are many distractions as well as a multitude of internal activities everyone on the team is expected to manage day in and day out. Hopefully the tips and recommendations in this blog series will help thin out your forest and make it a little easier to see where you and your team are going.

Photo credit: Depositphotos #33835739 by Londondeposit

Is Your Forest Too Dense? Part 3

Mike 1 Comment Expert Advice, Management Skills, Metrics , , , , , ,

Meteorological red white windsock in Himalaya airport,Nepal

Meaningful Metrics

Part Three

If you haven’t had a chance to read the first two parts of this series, please click here for Part One and here for Part Two.

As we continue on our path through the metaphorical forest of a busy supply chain organization, let’s look at how meaningful metrics can be an effective way to improve your company’s visibility. Most of us prefer to avoid unpleasant information. However, well-thought-out metrics will provide useful insights that can help teams improve performance, whether the news is good or bad.

To generate an accurate view of performance, there are a few basic metrics that every supply chain organization will need. The first group of metrics should be associated with Customer Service. The second set will show Inventory position and a third set will focus on Production reporting. A final consideration is for Management to openly share the metric results with the entire organization.

Customer Service –

Most manufacturing organizations make products and sell them to customers, who in turn sell them to their customers. A useful customer service metric is a measurement called ‘case fill’. This is the simple percentage of how much product was delivered divided by the quantity ordered. It is also important to know if the order was fulfilled by the promised delivery date.

Although this may seem like an obvious choice for a metric, attention must be paid to the details. This metric requires clear guidelines on what is considered successful order fulfillment to allow for useful insights into issues as they arise.

Inventory –

Having a visual representation of predicted inventory levels is extremely helpful. It should be based on production plans and forecasted shipments (to customers) for the length of the forecasting cycle. A ‘snapshot’ of the inventory level of multiple items can be achieved by using a spreadsheet with conditional formatting as shown below:

Mock DOH Chart 121514

Production –

Being able to obtain accurate information regarding production output is a key metric. There are a few aspects of this measurement that may not be apparent: It is important to know how much was produced and the quantity scheduled to be produced. Dividing the quality made by the quantity scheduled is called schedule accuracy and most companies would consider 90% to 110% of the plan to be acceptable.

Schedule accuracy is a metric that can provide valuable insights. For example, if the quantity produced is substantially lower than planned, understanding the root cause of this will help find gaps in other systems, such as inadequate maintenance. On the other hand, if more product was made than scheduled, then resources (with time being the most valuable resource) are being spent on items not needed at that time.

It is best to focus on a small number of meaningful and accurate metrics. Having too many disparate metrics will dilute the team’s focus. Team members may spend time generating reports instead of performing root cause analysis to determine why targets are not being achieved.

One last consideration is to publically post the key metric information in a common area and on-line where all employees can see how well the organization is performing. Even if the news is not always good, it’s best to communicate the information and create a sense of transparency. Discussing what the metrics indicate can open up a healthy dialogue amongst the workforce that can lead to improved problem-solving activities.

Meaningful metrics will display both positive and negative results regarding the performance of an organization. Facing facts and addressing issues identified as a result of using a robust set of metrics will make it simpler to guide teams through the thick forest of intense pressure experienced in today’s supply chain organizations.

Photo credit: Depositphotos.com #27194263 by kaetana

Is Your Forest Too Dense?

Mike 1 Comment Expert Advice, Management Skills , , , , , , , ,

nature. pathway in the forest with sunlight

Part One

I’ve always appreciated the adage about not being able to ‘see the forest for all the trees.’ I have experienced this phenomenon from within the forest and from the outside. At times I find myself getting bogged down in the specifics, unable to see what is going on around me. At other times I feel it’s my colleagues who are lost in the forest.

In business, as in life, there has to be a balance between having a handle on the details and seeing the big picture.

“Having the big picture in mind enables us to overcome the day to day routines that attempt to distract us from pursuing our dream.” ― Assegid Habtewold

From my perspective seeing the big picture is the ability to consider the connections between actions and the consequences, intended or otherwise. When considering actions to take and various alternatives, decisions need to take into account both short-term and long-term ramifications.

Leadership must keep the team focused on the activities contributing to the goals of the organization. Leaders need to see and understand the forest around them to help guide the team forward. The success of the plan executed today will impact the organization’s success tomorrow and well beyond.

The next three blog entries will explore specific areas where leaders can keep their teams focused and productive while keeping the big picture in view. Here are the areas we will explore:

Establish Meaningful Goals

Look for the second entry titled, ‘Goal Management for Success’.

To paraphrase the poet Robert Burns, ‘The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”

Setting meaningful and tangible goals is essential to the success of all business. It is also very important to recognize that changes taking place within the business climate will drive the need to adjust the goals from time to time. I will describe a simple process for setting goals and adjusting them to drive the business forward.

Select Essential Metrics

I will address the why and how of establishing metrics in the third blog entry, ‘Meaningful Metrics’.

“What’s measured improves.” Peter Drucker.

Once the goals are set, it is important for leaders to choose the metrics that can be used as markers for the progress of the business toward achieving the goals, and that can accurately measure the health of the organization.

Effective Communication

Finally I will discuss the team’s ability to communicate successfully. Check out the fourth entry, ‘Effect Communication’ for more tips on improving communication.

“Good leadership starts with good communication.” Unknown

Communication amongst the team and across the organization is a key to success. Providing frequent, succinct, and useful information to the team will keep everyone engaged in the business. The manner in which meetings are conducted can have a huge impact on the effectiveness of the team. One on one communication is also very important between the leader and each team member. Lastly, communication associated with business performance results can motivate the team.

So look for the next three blogs as I provide advice on how to ‘thin out’ the forest and make a positive impact on your organization.

Photo credit: Depositphotos.com 7985468  by vovan13

That Hammer is Around Here Somewhere…

mcalisterts 0 Comment Expert Advice, Management Skills, Project Management , , , , ,

What's In Your Toolbox Red Metal Tool Box Skills Experience

“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” – Abraham Maslow.

Sometimes an organization can get stuck in a bad situation and since they only have access to a limited number of tools, they are often frustrated when they are faced with a new challenge. I’m sure this story is not unique:

An organization is faced with an increasing workload and limited resources. This ‘good problem’ is due to new opportunities for additional sales, but the Operations team is overwhelmed with the increasing number of requests. Subsequently, the Sales team is frustrated because new opportunities are not being addressed on a timely basis and there is the loss of potential revenue. Faced with these challenges, the Operations team is frustrated because the methodology and tools at their disposal for managing new product requests require the process to take a 2 to 4 months (or longer) to go from concept to the marketplace, regardless of the urgency.

In essence, the tools currently available to manage the new product process and drive the projects are limited in flexibility and functionality. The Operations team is only able to approach project management the same way they did when the workload was smaller; their toolbox is sparsely populated.

It’s best to think out of the box if the current systems are not meeting the expectations of the business. In this particular situation, there are limited resources and a need to improve project management capabilities.  A possible solution to their problem is to look for new tools to help with project management. From my experience, the world of integrated project management tools is quite extensive. There are many aspects of a project to manage and various solutions offer ways to focus on what is important to each company.

Here are a few factors to consider when investigating potential solutions:

  • There are many creative solutions in the marketplace.
  • Make the time to investigate the possible ways to improve your situation.
  • There are firms in the marketplace who specialize in helping you find a solution. These firms use an approach similar to real estate agents working to find a residence that meets your needs. They represent many companies and after learning your requirements, they can recommend a variety of solutions to review.
  • Take the time to review the potential solutions and determine the best fit. Get a free trial version and experiment with ‘real life’ information to see if it works in a way that will help your company improve the situation and help you reach your business goals.
  • If you are too busy to investigate a new system, consider hiring a consultant for a brief period of time that can perform this evaluation relatively quickly and efficiently. Spending a nominal amount of money for a good consultant to provide guidance on possible solutions will pay off rapidly when the right system is implemented and projects are being completed effectively and efficiently.

I recommend TechnologyAdvice.com as a possible resource for gathering information on possible software/system solutions. I found them to be efficient and their recommendations very helpful.

If you have several tools in your toolbox, all problems won’t look like a nail. Using readily available resources to help you locate and evaluate the best tool for your situation is the key to making real progress.

Photo credit: Depositphotos.com #31285409 by iqoncept