Facilitator – Innovative Management Tools

PRIORITIZE – Priority Management Activity

Patrick — Sat, 27 Jan 2024 13:34:02 +0000

Multiple, new projects + Limited talent with special skills + Worker shortage = Priority Management Urgency.

With our ongoing surveying of Organizational Challenges (contact me to participate in the 15-minute survey), Priority Management ranks #2 out of the 28 categories polled with an incredible 94.1% of current respondents siting two scenarios that are creating challenges for them:

1) Project teams that launched into action in the past without an adequate plan on how to prioritize resources have created problems and now the company wants to plan a project in a different way to avoid creating problems. Companies realize that a different approach should be considered because the past way of doing things did not ensure success.

2) The same employees are on multiple projects at the same time and need help in prioritizing how to spread their time and talent.

Looking across the talent pool of people who will be on projects, certain individuals are getting pulled into too many directions and need guidance from “the powers that be” to define priorities. If not, burnout is a very real outcome possibility.

Enter the Conversation Framework PRIORITIZE – Priority Management Activity. Designed to guide a group of people through a process of taking a “laundry list” of things to do and assign the tasks to the available resources, based on skills. Having this view of who does what, visually, and with the perspective how overloaded a person might be or where skills gaps exist, BEFORE launching into the project is priceless information and help create a better roadmap for project success. The same activity could be used to review the myriad of open projects and who is involved in each one to spot overload for individual contributors.

Conversation Frameworks – Guiding the Power and Ideas from Within.

The post PRIORITIZE – Priority Management Activity appeared first on Innovative Management Tools.

IDEAS – Brainstorm Activity

Patrick — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 16:18:54 +0000

Brainstorming as a group is very powerful activity. Unfortunately, too many people consider it a waste of time or unproductive time for lack of structure.

The Conversation Framework IDEAS - Brainstorm Activity can be your solution. Providing structure without squashing creativity is what it offers.

The post IDEAS – Brainstorm Activity appeared first on Innovative Management Tools.

INNOVATE – Product Analysis Activity

Patrick — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 14:59:53 +0000

Companies need to stay current, fresh, and relevant. Most people would agree with that when talking about their products and services. While companies know this, 71.4% of surveyed companies say that this is a challenge for them. To be more precise, this is the scenario that resonates most with them and is most challenging:

“There are complaints about current products or services and a product revisit, review, upgrade, update, or analysis is needed.”

Revising products or services does not mean that the company must throw everything out and create something brand new. There are many different aspects that can be factors in a product/service upgrade project. There are 20 aspects, to be exact. Pricing to Packaging. Policies to After Sales Support. Design to Distribution. Positioning to Quality. These only scratch the service of how a company make internal and external adjustments and tweaks to refresh and renew a product or service. While some are traditional or “obvious”, other factors are less “front-and-center” but can have a significant impact on the market.

This is where the Conversation Framework INNOVATE – Product Analysis Activity comes in. INNOVATE provides prompts and ideas in the 20 different areas to help spark ideas and collaboration around how a product or service could get a makeover. Including people from the various areas of the company enriches the session even more. More diverse perspectives give a broader set of possible ideas. A broader set of ideas opens the door to ideas outside the traditional lower price or significant overhaul.

INNOVATE can help participants to generate enough ideas to build out a multi-phase roadmap for a product or service.

The post INNOVATE – Product Analysis Activity appeared first on Innovative Management Tools.

FRAMING – Project Definition Activity

Patrick — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 13:05:29 +0000

How you frame the problem determines how you frame success.
How you frame success determines how you frame the work.
How you frame the work determines how you frame the agreement on how to proceed.

Projects rarely succeed when they are rushed into without planning and proper definition.

Defining the problem is often rushed over, confusing symptoms as problems.

The urge to start getting something done often results in a lack of alignment with what success looks like for the various stakeholders.

All the stuff in between those two points is often left figuring out the details in the moment, after the project is launched.

61% of companies surveyed in our on-going organizational challenges survey, DIAGNOSE, indicate that they have challenges with gathering project information and detailing the project up front. Their most common scenario is the following:

“There is a time-sensitive project coming up that will require a tight control and transparency of the tasks and accomplishments and leaves no room for a “Regroup” after starting the project.”

This scenario is closely followed by another common challenge:

“An important project is on the horizon that needs to go as smoothly as possible and as formal/structured as possible.”

Companies know that the infamous “regrouping” does not benefit them. Companies also have important, strategic projects that require more than a “we hope this project goes off without a hitch”.

While these are not wild ideas, and there is likely a never-ending list of projects from the past that could have gone better from the start, companies find themselves in the same situation over and over.

Enter FRAMING – Project Definition Activity, an collaborative activity that allows the project stakeholders to “frame” the project starting with the problem, then defining what success looks like, then filling in the middle section. It’s kind of like filling up a bookshelf. The problem and success definitions are the bookends. The other topics, Approach, Deliverables, Investment, etc… are the middle books that complete the frame.

If you want to take a different approach to defining projects, consider the Conversation Framework FRAMING – Project Definition Activity.

For a short overview of this framework, please watch the video.

The post FRAMING – Project Definition Activity appeared first on Innovative Management Tools.

Getting Ready for 2024 – The SWOT Way

Patrick — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 15:36:10 +0000

As we approach the end of the year, it is a perfect time to reflect on the current year; the accomplishments of your company and your employees; and contemplate your 2024 path to greater success.

One very effective way to take stock of past successes and challenges as well as begin to plan your company’s 2024 initiatives is to do a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis of your company and its functional areas.

While a traditional SWOT analysis activity suggests capturing a long list of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, I suggest that you go against traditional thinking to create a more productive session and output. I typically limit the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to no more than four each per small group of people (2-3 max). While there are certainly more items that could go on the list, the reality is that when you begin to act on the information gathered, four action items or initiatives in each area are just about all that a company can handle and act on effectively.

So what will limiting your ideas to four per section do to improve the outcome? It forces the group to pick the most important topics. Conversely, when the people are allowed to make an endless inventory of weaknesses, for example, the session can quickly turn into a depressing, nitpicking, morale-lowering experience. By keeping the list short, people can’t lament or rehash topics over and over.

I also find that limiting captured items to five keeps people on task. The session is shorter, more focused, more productive, and more engaging.

Once each group has captured the top four items for S, W, O, and T, it is recommended that they define the benefits or impacts the items have (or could have) on the company or department.

Having the most important items captured (in a workable quantity) and understanding the benefits and impacts on the business will open the door to some exciting dialogue, goal setting, and strategic planning for 2024.

If time allows, a creative way to spark even more dialogue is to have your management team generate a SWOT analysis of the company and then have a group of employees go through the same activity without knowledge of the management’s results. With these two perspectives to compare, discussions get very interesting.

While gathering perspectives/information is valuable, it is only one half of the equation. How you turn your ideas, direction, and strategic initiatives into goals, action items, metrics, and priorities take a planning activity from a one-time event to a strategic guiding tool for the year to come.

Benefits of doing a hyper-focused SWOT Analysis

1. Lower costs by aligning perspectives, priorities, and initiatives for the coming year

2. Increase productivity by making sure people are focused on the priorities and not wasting time on non-priority tasks

3. Improve morale by making telling your employees that you want to learn what they think about the company

4. Develop management by giving them a vehicle for creating a SWOT analysis over and over, as needed

Best Practices for doing your SWOT Analysis

1. Conduct a SWOT Analysis on the company at year-end to effectively position people’s mindsets for the coming year

2. Have different groups submit their own perspectives/versions for comparison and work to close the gaps

3. Use a facilitator from outside the department (or organization) to guide the discussions and help consolidate versions

Use the Conversation Framework OVERVIEW- High-Level SWOT Analysis Activity if you do not have a structured framework at your disposal. Watch the linked video for an explanation of OVERVIEW.

Moving into 2024, I look forward to sharing more information, strategies, and practical tools with you – providing you with innovative management solutions. I would love to hear from you if you have specific topics that you would like to have covered in future posts.

In a future post I will kick off the year with a topic that has started to surface more and more in the media over the last year or so and will continue to pose challenges over the next 5 to 10 years. I call it “The Perfect Storm.”

The post Getting Ready for 2024 – The SWOT Way appeared first on Innovative Management Tools.

HOSPITALITY – Customer Service Analysis Activity

Patrick — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 15:26:12 +0000

Without customers, there is no company. Customer service should always be top-of-mind. The Customer Experience is much more than just the product or service when being used. It is everything from the first to the last touch point in the process, spanning many departments from sales, implementation, delivery, customer service, finance, and a myriad of other departments. Let’s throw on top of that the website experience, the automatic messages and billing, and other ways to make OUR life easier.

But what’s the customer’s perspective? Do you have high customer churn or cancellation? Do you have more complaints than you want? Have some areas been targeted and criticized for having a poor service level?

83% of the companies that we have surveyed find that they are facing Customer Service Challenges. The most recurring challenge is the following:

“There is an inconsistent customer journey experience during the customer journey that management wants to make more consistent.”

Followed closely by: “The company has received poor customer satisfaction survey results and/or customer complaints.”

This is where the Conversation Framework, HOSPITALITY – Customer Service Analysis Activity comes in. This facilitated, small group activity focuses on the customer journey across the various touchpoints with the company to better understand the experience from the customer’s perspective. Is the experience consistent? Are there more positive or negative moments? How can you turn negatives into positives?

This video walks you through the high-level steps of HOSPITALITY. If your company is facing these challenges, reach out to me and let’s talk.

Additionally, if you are interested in assessing your company at various levels to know what your most frequent challenges are, contact me to discuss. Within two weeks your organization could have insights into the challenges that are impacting performance, morale, and productivity.

The post HOSPITALITY – Customer Service Analysis Activity appeared first on Innovative Management Tools.

HURDLES – Barrier Analysis Activity

Patrick — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 18:23:42 +0000

87% of survey respondents to the common and recurring organizational challenges survey, called DIAGNOSE - Organizational Challenges Survey, say that "there are complaints from employees that they can't get the work done because there are roadblocks, speed bumps, or obstacles in their way."

Does your org or do your clients fall into the 87% or the lucky 13%?

The Conversation Framework HURDLES - Barrier Elimination Activity is designed to help you overcome the barriers and get from Point A to Point B with structure and organization.

Overcome obstacles and barriers proactively without waiting for them to become problems.

Conversation Frameworks - Guiding the Power and Ideas from Within.

The post HURDLES – Barrier Analysis Activity appeared first on Innovative Management Tools.

HAND-OFF – Delegation Enabler Activity

Patrick — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 00:32:20 +0000

In recent surveys from organizations of all sizes, delegation has shown up in 100% of the surveys as a challenge they face.

New supervisors and managers need to delegate tasks from their individual contributor days so they can dedicate the necessary time to their new role. They are told to delegate, but very often they don't know how to do it effectively.

For seasoned managers, they may have "delegated" in the past, while the recipient feels like they were "dumped on."

The Conversation Framework HAND-OFF is here to help all supervisors and managers learn the process of effective delegation so that it becomes an intentional, proactive development tool for those being delegated to, not a reactive, quick solution just to clear the supervisor's or manager's plate for more supervisor time.

The post HAND-OFF – Delegation Enabler Activity appeared first on Innovative Management Tools.

NAVIGATE – Planning and Preparation Activity

Patrick — Sun, 10 Sep 2023 17:17:18 +0000

Lack of planning is one of the three root causes of business problems.

How many projects have you been involved in where the group or team rushed into action without upfront planning and with the idea that you would figure out the details along the way? Then, the project hit that infamous moment when things weren't going as well as has been hoped and the team needed to "regroup"?

The Conversation Framework NAVIGATE is designed to help that project team do a short 4-hour planning session prior to jumping into action. Avoid or minimize regrouping costs, time losses, and frustrations by proactively planning instead of reactively regrouping.

The post NAVIGATE – Planning and Preparation Activity appeared first on Innovative Management Tools.

Prioritize Tasks and Refocus Staff for Project Completion

Patrick — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 22:23:42 +0000

As the summer winds down and we get into the fall, many things take place in many organizations that impact the employee parents: the kids are back in school, employees are taking fewer vacation days, and those end-of-the year project deadlines are closer than it seems.

If you are like many organizations, your employees took advantage of the summer weather and the kids out of school to take time off. Perhaps you felt like you had a skeleton crew at times, and most likely your employees felt the impact of a reduced staff from time to time.

You may have also noticed that some of those projects that had nice momentum going during the spring slowed down a bit in the summer months. Now that things are getting back to a more normal state, do you wonder how to get those projects back on track?

While it may seem like the best thing to do is go forward full speed on the projects with people simply picking up where they left off a few months ago, I’d like to offer you the following suggestion: Step Back and Review the Project.

When people are getting back into the swing of things, and projects are ramping back up, it’s an opportune time to take a few moments of guided reflection with your project team to review the scope of the project, the deadlines, the milestones, the deliverables, and the resources needed for the project.

Scope: Has anything changed since the project was launched that could impact the scope of the project? Have any new project team members been added who may not have a clear understanding of the project scope? Does everybody understand the importance of the project?

Deadlines: Are they realistic? Do they need to change? Do people understand why they need to change?

Milestones: What milestones have been achieved? What milestones are coming up? Is there celebration and recognition planned when milestones are met?

Deliverables: What are the deliverables for the project? Does everybody understand what these deliverables are? Do they understand how their work contributes to the deliverables?

Resources: Consider the skills and interests of the people when looking at the needed resources. How do the project deadlines work with the people’s current workload? Are there conflicts that need to be discussed? Do the team members know the priorities for their tasks? Do the people have goals for the project? Are the needed equipment resources available to the project team? Is there any investment needed to complete the project? Has this investment been approved?

Once you consider these areas, you may need to look at redistributing tasks and responsibilities to ensure a successful completion to the project. If you have had changes on the project team, then you certainly should consider looking at roles and responsibilities for the entire group.

By bringing the project team together, you get everybody on the same page, get any concerns about the project on the table, and build a solid plan for moving forward as your project team works toward project completion.

Benefits of taking the pulse of a project:

1. Lower costs by reviewing projects that are in progress to make sure people aren’t working under old project guidelines when circumstances have changed

2. Increase productivity by making sure people are focused on the priorities and not wasting time on non-priority tasks

3. Improve morale by making sure people’s tasks, deadlines, and responsibilities are properly aligned

4. Develop management by giving them a vehicle for creating a culture where people can voice their concerns in a constructive manner

Best Practices for taking the pulse:

1. Conduct a prioritization activity periodically during projects to make sure people are on the same page

2. Bring out project changes in key areas when they impact the end results

3. Use a facilitator from outside the department (or organization) to bring fresh perspectives and unbiased suggestions to the group

4. Leverage the Conversation Framework PRIORITIZE when starting a project to get an initial distribution of tasks for the project. When mid-project or when project members change, use the Conversation Framework HATS to assess how tasks need to be redistributed across the group.

For more information on Conversation Frameworks and HATS – Workload Distribution Activity, please watch these videos:

Conversation Frameworks: Understanding Conversation Frameworks - Innovative Management Tools

HATS – Workload Distribution Activity: HATS - Task Management Activity - Innovative Management Tools

In my next post we will tackle a topic that touches every organization: Employee Recognition. While we all know it needs to happen, we often neglect doing it and this neglect can have consequences (some hidden) on the business.

Until next time.

The post Prioritize Tasks and Refocus Staff for Project Completion appeared first on Innovative Management Tools.