From: John Yost
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2003
11:00 PM
To: Business Leader
Subject: First ProCompass Newsletter
Issue 1 May 1, 2003
Thank you for viewing and subscribing to the CompassPoint
Newsletter. I look forward to
using this newsletter to share information with my friends and business
associates. Each issue of the newsletter
will contain one to three articles regarding Operations Improvement, Leadership
and Management Development and other areas of business interest. I will also use the newsletter to pass
on information regarding upcoming courses and seminars.
If you have questions or inputs regarding this newsletter please contact
us at mailto:Contact@ProCompass-ms.com
In this Issue:
Why do Improvement Projects Fail?
Where do Leaders Learn Leadership?
After receiving various critiques regarding the ProCompass Website I
decided it was time to upgrade the appearance and navigational structure of the
site to better reflect the image of professional services provided by
ProCompass. Although I felt pretty
good about my initial attempt at publishing a website, I had to admit it did
look rather amateurish, and that I would require professional help in this
area. I was very pleased to find
Pam Schams of Capture Design, and
after exploring several sites which she had created I decided that her work
reflected the character and quality I wish to express. I am thoroughly exited about the design
concept she has developed and I believe it truly “Captures” the qualities I
hope to convey.
Visit the Capture Design Website and
view some samples of their work.
Visit the ProCompass
Website Here
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newsletter by clicking the link Here
Why
do improvement projects fail?
Every year hundreds of companies take on projects to make improvements in quality, productivity, development or other areas of business results. Many companies make significant improvements and save thousands and even millions of dollars. Yet, very many companies fail to achieve the results they expected and are often disillusioned with the improvement methodology they attempted.
But, since many companies succeed with the same improvement methodologies, it is likely that the failure to achieve results lies somewhere else. I have found that the failure of improvement project typically results from one or more of the following reasons:
Lack of sponsorship. Improvement projects are undertaken with the very good intention of making significant improvements. The team members are often very enthusiastic about being part of this endeavor. But, without a clear project sponsor, a champion who will promote, protect and defend the project, the team members may soon find themselves feeling adrift with little help or support to achieve their goals.
Poor Planning. Even the most significant and well sponsored project will run into trouble if adequate planning is not performed in the early stages. The project goals, objectives, scope and work requirements must all be clearly defined to assure that proper attention is applied where needed.
Poor communication. No one likes surprised. Especially those who are responsible for providing project support or who are relying on support from project members. Regular communication must be part of the project and must provide the project team, support staff and management with the information necessary to keep the project on track.
Unclear relationship to corporate goals. Improvement projects are typically outside the area of the “Core” business projects that the company normally pursues. This often means that the importance of the improvement project is not clear when compared to the “Core” projects such that the improvement project is viewed as being of less importance. In other words the vision of the improvement project is not shared through the company.
Project vs. operations paradigm. Many times improvement projects are undertaken in a company that lacks a solid project orientation. Such companies are typically geared around their operations and are staffed and organized accordingly. Although a project may be very well planned and have excellent sponsorship, even a skilled and competent project manager may have difficulty in obtaining cooperation and commitment from functional organization who view the project as secondary to their usual functions.
Companies pursuing improvement projects
typically fall into one of two categories “Inspiration” or “Desperation”. Either the company’s management is
inspired to build an environment for continuous improvement, or they are
experiencing severe distress and realize that they most improve or perish. Either precondition can lead to either
success of failure for the improvement project. The critical requirement is that the company recognizes how
the improvement project fits into their Vision and Mission and to then develop
a comprehensive project plan that assures the proper sponsorship, resource
alignment and communications necessary to deliver the expected results.
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Where
do leaders learn leadership
Workers and Managers (or leaders) rely on two basic types
of knowledge to successfully execute their job functions; technical, or job related knowledge,
and people or leadership related knowledge. On the individual contributor level, about 90% of the
required knowledge is going to come from an individuals job or technical
knowledge and only 10% from their people or management knowledge? In other words, they need to get along
with the people that they interface with, but for the most part they really
rely on job knowledge . What
happens if somebody becomes a supervisor?
Now, about half of their job comes from getting work through other
people. Obviously, they still need
their job or technical knowledge, but they're really getting paid for getting
results through other people. And
as they move up the management ladder we find more and more of their job is
happening through people and leadership knowledge and less and less job and
technical knowledge.
How do people become managers or supervisors? Most frequently, this happens as a reward for good job performance. The upper level management identifies an exceptionally good worker and makes them a manager or supervisor. In many organizations, the transition between individual contributor and supervisor consists of being called into the boss’s office on a Thursday afternoon and finding out that next week you're going to take over as Supervisor. Where are you going get all the training and development they need in order to succeed in your new role? In other words, where do you pick up the additional people skills you need to succeed?
It is estimated that fewer than 20% of managers and
supervisors receive any formal training in management and supervision. A recent management study found that
75% of senior managers lack the necessary people skills to be effective in
their jobs. In most cases managers
and supervisors approach leadership by trial and error. While learning from
mistakes can be an effective way to learn it can also be very costly especially
if the mistakes can be avoided by properly developing leadership and management
ability
What is the cost in real dollars of grievances and employee complaints and dissatisfaction because we haven't taken the time to really give managers the kind of training and development they need to succeed in their roles? Consider the costs to an organization due to attrition. Management studies have found that the single highest cause for employee attrition is not compensation, or the lack of challenging job assignments; it is dissatisfaction due to poor management and leadership. Consider also the costs associated with poor communication (delays, customer returns, missed deadlines etc.) which is a primary function of management and leadership.
Fortunately, leadership skills and
abilities can be learned and developed.
Leadership and management development processes can be applied at any or
all levels of an organization to develop and enhance leadership abilities. Such processes are usually found to be
extremely cost effective in that they significantly reduce many of the costs
related to poor leadership and management practices, and produce management
structures aligned with the company’s vision and mission.
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newsletter by clicking the link Here
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Website Here