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Digg it UP - Nine Vital Lessons For Avoiding Training Fads That Waste Time, Money and Enthusiasm
A merger or acquisition is a corporate intervention, sometimes with a cataclysmic force, that if left unchecked may destroy the acquirer as well as the acquired. Defecting key personnel, competitor reactions, poor customer service and supplier unrest can upset the best deals. Ideally the big fish in the deal will lead all the little fish through these decisions and actions but few companies make enough acquisitions to develop a tested methodology. As a result most organizations treat post-acquisition integrations not as repeatable processes but as hurdles to overcome, so everyone can get back to business as usual. Quick up front planning, post closing action and strong gate keeping are necessary to ensure the desired results are achieved.Combining multiple organizations creates the need for a multitude of decisions such as reporting relationships, strategic and operational controls, budgeting and performance requirements, organizational structures and staffing, policy integration, performance measurements, and reward systems. Combini
The solutions to improving people’s performance are usually straightforward. Some are so straightforward that people don’t believe it and they look for something more “thorough”! “There must be something else!” That’s why consultants and management gurus feel they have to keep coming up with new fads in which to package age-old principles.
Take leadership for example. The twelve or so basic principles of being an effective leader require neither great intellectual understanding nor large sums of money to apply. However, for whatever reason, some managers find it difficult to, praise genuinely, ensure people h
Do you ever notice the unfortunate lack of hard work ethic? Do you see this problem at your own job? You are a hard worker and you know it, but those around you are not. It is good to see your hard work ethic, now can you honestly say that you are the norm?You see throughout my career as a human worker I have worked around the mining industry, oil industry, auto industry, trucking industry, rail industry and manufacturing industry and I have not seen what I believe to be the hard work ethic to the level I find appropriate for being in it to win it for the team or company. Oh I see people showing up on time, doing their work and making the motions. Yet I also see them often doing it at slow pace and even coaxing new workers and low-men on the totem pole to “slow down you are making us look bad” or “why are you in such a hurry, if we finish early, they’ll just give us more work to do!”And by my name I guess you can see where I am coming from if you do a search on the father of modern management and figured out that “Friedrich ‘Wi
This is such as shame isn’t it? Waste of money is bad enough but even more serious is the waste of human energy and enthusiasm. I’ve witnessed organisations and their people suffer for weeks and months under the latest management fad only to find they’re no further forward – or worse off.
Here are nine vital lessons from hard experience that will help senior managers plan and buy better training interventions.
1. Start at the “coal-face”.
Ask people in specific departments, projects and teams what they need to help them do even better. This “bottom-up” approach encourages people to offer their own suggestions for better training, better systems and better communication. Allowing people to express what they see as the solution is motivating because it is “not management dictating” and because they see a chance of some action! This bottom-up approach often reveals problems and bottlenecks that have been around a long time – hindrances people have got used to. Remember, most organisations don’t have a mechanism for everyday problems to filter up to top management.
2 Work on may fronts simultaneously.
Real sustained improvement comes from the cumulative effect of lots of 5% improvements. For example, a project might be to improve the safety record of an organisation. One way to achieve this objective is to attempt attitude change through technical and behavioural workshops. However, this will not be enough. One has to simultaneously work on the leadership ability of supervisors, improving the quality of safety meetings, improving procedures and making safety literature have more impact.
3 Look for cures – don’t just treat the symptoms
Many training courses only treat the symptoms. We send people on courses because we see something not being done as well as it could be. But what is causing the difficulty in the first place? Yes, tips on time management, team building and brilliant customer care, for example, are useful, but they won’t work if the organisation, albeit unintentionally, puts barriers in people’s way. Production and operations people often have to struggle because sales and contracts people don’t consult them at an early stage about the capacity to fulfil the contract.
4 Accept that some solutions to the problem may be boring and uncomfortable to carry out.
The solutions to improving people’s performance are usually straightforward. Some are so straightforward that people don’t believe it and they look for something more “thorough”! “There must be something else!” That’s why consultants and management gurus feel they have to keep coming up with new fads in which to package age-old principles.
Take leadership for example. The twelve or so basic principles of being an effective leader require neither great intellectual understanding nor large sums of money to apply. However, for whatever reason, some managers find it difficult to, praise genuinely, ensure people ha
Millions of people log on to forums everyday to post and read messages. After seeing numbers like these, it's not hard to realize the potential of Forum Advertising. It can potentially be a big weapon in the battlefield of internet marketing. This kind of advertising can be leveraged with no time and little investment. If you want to do it yourself it will take some time but will be free.What kind of benefits does Forum Signature Advertising offer me?Targeted Advertising - You choose what forums you want to advertise on/participate in and what kind of visitors you want to appeal to. Pick a forum that is similar to the website/link you are trying to promote. Think about demographics - you want the most clicks and referrals possible.Instant Credibility - If you are renting someone elses signature you have access to instant credibility, if you choose wisely. Make sure the poster is knowledgeable and generally well liked. Just because a poster has a high post count doesn't mean they are worth renting their signature from - a
2 Work on may fronts simultaneously.
Real sustained improvement comes from the cumulative effect of lots of 5% improvements. For example, a project might be to improve the safety record of an organisation. One way to achieve this objective is to attempt attitude change through technical and behavioural workshops. However, this will not be enough. One has to simultaneously work on the leadership ability of supervisors, improving the quality of safety meetings, improving procedures and making safety literature have more impact.
3 Look for cures – don’t just treat the symptoms
Many training courses only treat the symptoms. We send people on courses because we see something not being done as well as it could be. But what is causing the difficulty in the first place? Yes, tips on time management, team building and brilliant customer care, for example, are useful, but they won’t work if the organisation, albeit unintentionally, puts barriers in people’s way. Production and operations people often have to struggle because sales and contracts people don’t consult them at an early stage about the capacity to fulfil the contract.
4 Accept that some solutions to the problem may be boring and uncomfortable to carry out.
The solutions to improving people’s performance are usually straightforward. Some are so straightforward that people don’t believe it and they look for something more “thorough”! “There must be something else!” That’s why consultants and management gurus feel they have to keep coming up with new fads in which to package age-old principles.
Take leadership for example. The twelve or so basic principles of being an effective leader require neither great intellectual understanding nor large sums of money to apply. However, for whatever reason, some managers find it difficult to, praise genuinely, ensure people h
One of the best places to start in creating a quality management system, is at the bottom. Don’t start writing mission statements and policies and all that high level fluff that nobody ever reads. Everybody believes in mom, baseball and apple pie, until you throw a dollar at them. Don’t start with procedures that tell who is responsible for this, and what they are authorized to do about that. I like written procedures, but they still don’t get to the heart of day to day operations. No, I believe you need to start creating your quality management system with good old fashioned, written work instructions.Work instructions read like cookie recipes. They usually include a list of supplies (ingredients) for a particular job, plus detailed guidance on how to do the work (oven temperature and baking time). Work instructions are needed for all those mundane, daily jobs that must be done correctly, in a certain order, without mistakes or else! There are no specific requirements for written work instructions in most quality management systems l
Real sustained improvement comes from the cumulative effect of lots of 5% improvements. For example, a project might be to improve the safety record of an organisation. One way to achieve this objective is to attempt attitude change through technical and behavioural workshops. However, this will not be enough. One has to simultaneously work on the leadership ability of supervisors, improving the quality of safety meetings, improving procedures and making safety literature have more impact.
3 Look for cures – don’t just treat the symptoms
Many training courses only treat the symptoms. We send people on courses because we see something not being done as well as it could be. But what is causing the difficulty in the first place? Yes, tips on time management, team building and brilliant customer care, for example, are useful, but they won’t work if the organisation, albeit unintentionally, puts barriers in people’s way. Production and operations people often have to struggle because sales and contracts people don’t consult them at an early stage about the capacity to fulfil the contract.
4 Accept that some solutions to the problem may be boring and uncomfortable to carry out.
The solutions to improving people’s performance are usually straightforward. Some are so straightforward that people don’t believe it and they look for something more “thorough”! “There must be something else!” That’s why consultants and management gurus feel they have to keep coming up with new fads in which to package age-old principles.
Take leadership for example. The twelve or so basic principles of being an effective leader require neither great intellectual understanding nor large sums of money to apply. However, for whatever reason, some managers find it difficult to, praise genuinely, ensure people h
If you are interested in earning income from your website, should you consider using the Google AdSense program to place targeted ads on your web pages? When I first considered this idea, I wasn’t sure if it was right for me. You see, I have a number of websites that promote affiliate links to products and services in my market. I felt that if I put Google ads on my pages they would compete with my affiliate sales. Sure, I knew you got paid when visitors clicked on these ads, but could it be a significant amount? Eventually, I saw that many other top marketers were using these ads on their pages. So I decided to dive in and give it a try, and after a year of using these ads here is what I can tell you.The first thing I noticed was the ease of use in using Google AdSense. Once you have joined the program for free, you can start creating your ad codes. And the neat thing is, you can customize the ads to your web pages. You can choose the color of the ads so that they match the color theme of your pages. You can choose from man
4 Accept that some solutions to the problem may be boring and uncomfortable to carry out.
The solutions to improving people’s performance are usually straightforward. Some are so straightforward that people don’t believe it and they look for something more “thorough”! “There must be something else!” That’s why consultants and management gurus feel they have to keep coming up with new fads in which to package age-old principles.
Take leadership for example. The twelve or so basic principles of being an effective leader require neither great intellectual understanding nor large sums of money to apply. However, for whatever reason, some managers find it difficult to, praise genuinely, ensure people h
There is a strong relationship between textile materials and its quality. Quality of textile materials is manifested in different ways such as aesthetic appeal, feel or hand, etc. It is basically judged by how a textile material feels when touched or handled. It is also judged by the comfort experienced. What does comfort mean? The term comfort is described as "the lack of unpleasantness" according to some experts. Comfort is a condition or feeling of pleasurable ease, well-being, and contentment. There is general acceptance that the transfer of heat and water vapor through a garment are possibly the most significant factors in clothing comfort.According to a recent study, thermal equilibrium is the most significant and the only one standard of comfort. It is clear that the state of comfort can only be attained when the most complicated interactions between a range of physiological, psychological, neurophysiological and physical factors have taken place in a satisfactory manner. Through combination of impulses passed through the nerve
The solutions to improving people’s performance are usually straightforward. Some are so straightforward that people don’t believe it and they look for something more “thorough”! “There must be something else!” That’s why consultants and management gurus feel they have to keep coming up with new fads in which to package age-old principles.
Take leadership for example. The twelve or so basic principles of being an effective leader require neither great intellectual understanding nor large sums of money to apply. However, for whatever reason, some managers find it difficult to, praise genuinely, ensure people have accurate job descriptions, talk to people on a regular basis about their jobs, find ways to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and to communicate regularly on topics such as company progress and strategy.
Many change initiatives fail because some managers are not prepared to do the mundane and boring tasks required. No matter how expensive and grandly named and intellectually exciting a people-development programme is, it will in the end come down to doing certain basics. We have to get managers to accept this reality and to motivate them to follow through.
5 Lasting benefit takes time.
As with all interventions it is possible to get some quick results – and that’s good. However, the real and lasting benefits can only come with time. For example, when an organisation installs a new appraisal system, maximum participation and involvement occurs only when trust is established in the second or third year. This means that there has to be sustained action, follow-up and monitoring. One of the biggest complaints from managers on the Performance Improvement Workshops I run, is that “We’ll do all this talking and deciding and then nothing will happen!” It’s often the many small tasks that seem unimportant that make the difference.
Another example of ignoring the “gestation” element is leadership training. What good does it do to send someone on a crammed 5-day leadership course? What chance do participants get to reflect on and apply what they have learned on day one? People need time to develop because it’s from application that the really important questions and learning come. Rather do one day per month over a few months.
6 Concentrate on HOW not what.
Experience proves that most people know what they should do to be a good leader, to give a good presentation, to manage their time better, to write an effective report and so on. Their real problem is that they don’t know HOW to do what they know they should. This means that lectures and slides and theory about what should be, are a waste of time.
People want practical solutions to help them fix real workplace problems. In any workshop it is the participants who should be doing most of the talking and problem solving. The facilitator is there to guide the discussion and at times add additional advice from hard-earned experience. Lecturing, no matter how entertaining, does not usually change people’s behaviours. People have to come to their own realisation of what is required and t
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