Organizational Culture – Innovative Management Tools

DIAGNOSE Flash Report Special Offer

Patrick — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 15:05:44 +0000

Thank you for clicking here to learn about the Special Pricing for January and February of 2024 for a DIAGNOSE Flash Report.

Here are the details of the offer:

The 12-page report is US$1,999. (See link below for an example Flash Report)

From January 1-10, 2024, the special price is $1,399 when you copy this link in your browser (https://courses.newgenerationselling.com/courses/e187034b-bae4-4a4d-a14c-0724b382e997/checkout/price-2fq73yOzSR3RVrHRbmrD_g) and use the promo code LIPROMO600.

From January 11-31, 2024, the special price is $1,599 when you copy this link in your browser (https://courses.newgenerationselling.com/courses/e187034b-bae4-4a4d-a14c-0724b382e997/checkout/price-2fq73yOzSR3RVrHRbmrD_g) and use the promo code LIPROMO400.

From February 1-29, 2024, the special price is $1,799 when you copy this link in your browser (https://courses.newgenerationselling.com/courses/e187034b-bae4-4a4d-a14c-0724b382e997/checkout/price-2fq73yOzSR3RVrHRbmrD_g) and use the promo code LIPROMO200.

The purchase link will bring you to a site where you will be asked to provide some basic information about the company and the names of the 10 people who will be included in the survey results.

Once the Flash Report purchase is completed, the Primary Contact person will be sent a special link for your company with which the survey respondents should take the survey.

Once all 10 respondents have completed the survey, the results will be consolidated and the Flash Report will be written in next 72 hours. Here is an example DIAGNOSE Flash Report: DIAGNOSE Example Flash Report – Innovative Management Tools

As a Bonus to this offer, a 30-minute call is available to go over any questions you may have about the results.

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PERCEPTIONS – Details Analysis Activity

Patrick — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 15:08:55 +0000

A 2005 book titled, “Broken Windows, Broken Business: How the Smallest Remedies Reap the Biggest Rewards” by Michael Levine showcased the power of perceptions and the human brain’s ability to come to false conclusions.

In an online introduction and description of the book, some very valuable insights are shared:

1) In the world of business, the perception of the average consumer is a vital part of every business.

It starts, clearly, with something as seemingly insignificant as an inadequate supply of toys to go with Happy Meals, the prepackaged product aimed at young children. Because McDonald’s does a great deal of advertising and promotion to children, and emphasizes the Happy Meal toy in all of it, children will often ask to be taken to the restaurant specifically to get that particular toy. When the franchise owner or manager has not ordered an adequate number of toys, or the company itself has failed to produce enough and supply its restaurants, the child is disappointed, the parent frustrated, and the cycle of dissatisfaction set in motion.

2) Service is the absolute center of broken windows for business.

Call [a large corporation] sometime and have a stopwatch handy. See how long it takes for you to speak to a living, breathing human being after you’re done with all the automated phone system prompts.

3) Can little things turn a consumer against an entire brand? … The ‘weakest link’ theory is at work here, and it is very strong.

To create a personality for a business, and to have that personality permeate every aspect of the business, to have it become the business in the minds of customers, is the goal of branding… But all these things are tied to a larger concept: the idea of trust. For customers to accept a brand, to have an opinion—preferably a favorable one—about the brand, and to embrace it to the point that the mention of the brand name is enough to evoke a positive image in the mind, it must never disappoint. When the bad impression is made on the first experience with the company, however, it’s extremely unlikely the consumer will become a regular customer. In fact, it’s better than even money that you’ll never see this particular customer again. Ever.

4) Employees who go above and beyond the call of duty are the ones who will spot and repair broken windows. Motivating employees to do so is one of the most important jobs a manager has.

The saying that a chain is as strong as its weakest link has great resonance in the world of the broken windows for business theory. An employee—especially one who has direct contact with customers—is the most visible type of broken window imaginable. Nothing will drive customers away faster than an employee who isn’t with the program.

In all these cases, when there is a negative perception, the brain can begin to think that the entire company is broken or on the verge of collapsing.

The Customer Journey, Voice of the Customer (VoC), and other tools and frameworks help identify “broken windows” inside a company.

The Conversation Framework PERCEPTIONS – Details Analysis Activity is a collaboration tool that allows people from all over the company to come together to identify what “broken windows” they are seeing or hearing about when interfacing with customers – the “what”. It also moves into the “how” to fix the “broken windows”. Identify and set a plan for repair – two crucial pieces to the equation.

When talking about “broken windows”, two scenarios are frequently selected in an on-going organizational challenges survey conducted by Innovative Management Tools. Those scenarios are the following:

“Customers complain or ask questions about the stability of the company because of certain “details” that seem to go unattended.”

“The office upkeep/improvement budget was cut and it is beginning to show the consequences of that through “small” maintenance and upkeep details around the office.”

While the lack of attention to details might not have an immediate impact on a business, the long-term impact is a risk that few companies want to have dangling in front of them.

Paying attention to these details and issues on a regular basis, perhaps once every six months, is a good practice for companies to adopt. To its contrary, leaving multiple “broken windows” broken and in plain sight of customers will compound the situation and potentially push it to the point of no return or impossible to repair without requiring substantial money and effort.

The moral of the story is this: Take care of the small things before they become big things.

PERCEPTIONS embraces the concept and ideas set forth in Michael Levine’s book from almost 20 years ago. The timeless messages set forward in the book remain challenges to today’s companies. PERCEPTIONS brings those messages into action with this Conversation Framework.

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TEAMS – Workgroup Management Activity

Patrick — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 14:47:38 +0000

Collective knowledge and teamwork are more powerful than individuals trying to do everything alone on a project. Nobody will dispute that.

An inspirational quote from years ago said, “Teamwork make the Dream work.”

Today, teams and workgroups are very commonplace in organizations. However, despite all the greatest intentions of a team, 76.2% of companies surveyed on the topic say that they struggle in two specific areas.

“There are several teams that fail or fall short of their goals and outputs, signaling a need to approach team planning differently.”

“Official teams and workgroups have inconsistent results. An analysis of why this is taking place reveals that they tend to jump into the work without taking the time to create a Team Charter.”

Both scenarios have a common theme – upfront team planning and organization. We tend to bring the brightest and best people resources into a team and launch them into action, urging them for quick results. That urge to produce results prompts the team members to skip over the most crucial step in the team’s journey, the Forming stage (for those who remember the Motorola Team Stages from the 1980s and 1990s). If you start off a team without a solid foundation, it will have consequences later on.

Now, let’s be realistic. Even with a solid Forming foundation for the team, things can still go whacky and fail to produce results later for a variety of reasons. However, the chances of team success greatly increase when the team starts off aligned and on the same page.

This is where the Conversation Framework TEAMS – Workgroup Management Activity can help. TEAMS walks a newly formed team through the team chartering process in a collaborative, focused, and proactive manner. It helps the team consider many aspects of the team’s journey that are typically overlooked or unaddressed until later when things are getting a little derailed. That is not the best moment to talk about these things for the first time. Emotions are high and pressure is creating tension. The “rules of the game” are best addressed at the beginning, when there are no emotions flaring and the pressure to push forward to the deadlines is low.

This team chartering process, using the TEAMS framework, aligns the team members and sponsors, creates a roadmap for the journey ahead, and creates an anchoring communication tool for all stakeholders.

While you can’t ensure team success 100% of the time, you can ensure that teams get off on the right foot every time and increase their chances of success with TEAMS – Workgroup Management Activity, the family of Conversation Frameworks from Innovative Management Tools.

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The Perfect Storm

Patrick — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 17:07:05 +0000

Since we are talking about a storm, I’ll play the role of meteorologist.

Current Conditions:

Some companies are having trouble finding skilled workers to fill their positions

We have become a turnstile society of employees where it is totally acceptable to be at a company for two to three years before moving on – we no longer consider these people as job-hoppers

The generation entering the workforce today needs and expects to feel connected – just look at the number of gadgets and communication tools they have at their disposal

People are moving into supervisory positions with minimal supervisor training – gone are the days of grooming and mentoring an employee to move up the ranks when the “boss” retires

Companies want to constantly grow and “reinvent” themselves in order to remain competitive

Employees want and expect to be part of the decision-making process

Forecast:

For the forecast, over the next 10 years, of the 164 million workers, 30 million people will retire and there will be only 30 million Gen Zers to replace them.

Finding qualified people to fill positions will become increasingly more difficult

The turnstile will only move faster if employees are dissatisfied with their job or employer

Companies will need to maintain high employee satisfaction, if they want to retain their most valuable assets – their employees

Managers will need to become better leaders so that employees don’t use the manager as the reason for leaving the company (Which, by the way, is one of the most common reasons cited in exit interviews as to why an employee is leaving the company.)

Predictions:

And if could be so bold as to make some predictions:

Companies will have permanent openings and those on staff will have to carry more weight

People will easily “move on” if they are not satisfied with their situation

“Work smarter, not harder” will challenge us more than ever

Managers will need to become great leaders if they want to keep their followers

The true test will not be how to create change. The true test will be how to weather and manage change. For not learning how to effectively manage change in the near future may place an organization in the heart of the “perfect storm.”

Weathering the Storm

Managing change is not magic, a mystery, or a secret, nor does it need to be overwhelming. It can be boiled down into a simple formula. It is also logical and realistic, but it requires planning and follow-up.

There are six elements to consider when managing a change initiative, namely:

Vision / Direction
Processes / Procedures
People / Resources
Skills / Training
Motivation
Action Plans

Vision / Direction

When establishing vision and direction, make sure that the vision is broad, it is inspiring, it instills a sense of purpose, it is positive, and it provides energy and attitude control.

Processes / Procedures

When considering what processes and procedures need to be created or modified, consider any and all of the following:

Team / Department
- Administrative
- Communication
- Process Analysis
- Process Improvements
- Legal

People / Resources

When evaluating an upcoming change, make sure you have enough people, you define clear roles and responsibilities, you select the best person for the tasks, and that you communicate details to the people.

Equally important is the need to have adequate resources, which can include equipment, proper tools, financial support, knowledge, historical information, and you know if resources are to be in-house or outsourced.

Skills / Training

Skills that should be honed for effective change management are as follows:

Overcoming barriers to change
- Creating and managing effective teams
- Effective leadership
- Communication
- Skills assessment
- Listening
- Being proactive

Motivation

Effective motivation is more than a simple e-mail from time-to-time. Motivation should be an interlocking strategy that uses multiple tools (i.e., reward, recognition, responsibility, delegation, and levels of freedom). You may need to look up, down, and sideways in the organization when designing a recognition and motivation plan. The key word is design. Invest time into developing a plan that fits together with other plans in the organization.

Action Plans

Creating action plans is critical. They are the road maps to success. Your plans should be clear, measurable, realistic, anchored with a timetable, open to the team, and written down.

What if there are missing elements? When pieces of the change formula are missing, the outcomes and emotions are quite predictable. For example, when everything is in place except for the proper skills and training, people start doing things only to find themselves coming to a stopping point where they can’t continue without the proper skills or training. I call this the “False Start.”

Change is Inevitable…Growth is Optional

As Michael Dell stated in his book, Direct from Dell, “Change is opportunity. It is also constant, direct, and temporary, for once things change, you can bet they are going to change again. Learning to thrive on constant change is the next frontier.”

Charles Darwin gave us the following insight: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

So, has the storm already come to your company? Is the “Perfect Storm” coming for you? I don’t know. If it does come your way, you may not be able to control the storm’s direction, strength, or timing. However, you can control your organization’s readiness and ability to weather the storm’s resulting changes.

A couple ways to create a more inviting work culture are the following:

Build or strengthen a proactive, situation handling culture in your organization. Watch this video for information on that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5C5k55gSHA&t=8s
Rethink and reconstruct your onboarding process to be as welcoming as possible for new employees. Watch this video for information on a 9-session course that your organization can go through to reinvent your onboarding process: [link]

How to prepare for the employee shortage storm that has been brewing and will continue for the next decade:

Build leadership skills in your people so employees will want to follow them
Develop top-notch proactive, situation management skills across the organization so you can adapt to the employee shortage, should it hit your organization, moving away from reactive, problem solving management
Focus on the creating efficient processes and continually refine them as the workforce dynamics change
Find ways to break the employee turnstile movement in your company, especially with recent or upcoming hires by using ONBOARDING as a course to get in front of the storm
Involve all levels of employees in the decision-making process as much as possible
Work smarter, not harder at everything you do

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BRIDGES – Communications Analysis Activity

Patrick — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 16:50:41 +0000

Communication, communication, communication. It is at the heart of everything we do. Before the pandemic we thought we had an ample amount of communication tools. That was shadowed by the tools that emerged a couple years ago.

But isn’t it ironic, funny, or maybe even a little sad that despite all of the communication tools we have at our disposal today, 94.44% of our on-going Organizational Challenges Survey respondents cite that they have challenges with “Communication”? It ranks #3 in the challenges list.

Want to know what the most cited challenge is? Something that seems so simple but is impacting employees, our businesses, and their productivity over and over. Ready? Here it is:

“Employees complain that information needed to do work arrives late, or not at all, impacting their performance and productivity.”

Seems so simple to fix, but something is getting in the way. That is where the Conversation Framework BRIDGES – Communications Analysis Activity comes in. BRIDGES tackles the sticky topic of working with those who voice their complaints about lack of communication to get their job done and works with them to resolve the problem. It helps open up the communication BRIDGES (yes, pun intended) to improve things. Sometimes a little communication about the communication problem is the solution.

The second most cited communication challenge is the following:

“There is a general perception or evidence that there is poor or inadequate communication in the company and a task force or team has been assembled to look for ways to improve.”

While task forces or teams can be effective at identifying where some issues lie, the question comes back to HOW to correct the problem. Again, those identified people fit nicely into the BRIDGES activity.

I invite you to watch this short video about BRIDGES – Communication Analysis Activity and reach out if you feel that it could help tackle issues in your organization.

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.

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PRIORITIZE – Priority Management Activity

Patrick — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 23:41:03 +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.

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IMPACT – Decision Analysis Activity

Patrick — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 13:57:45 +0000

We make decisions all the time and sometimes it seems like the decision communication is just a pebble being thrown into the pond. However, some pebbles make ripples that can turn into little waves or a tidal wave down the line. That may be the inevitable case or the intention of the decision. However, preparing for that potential tidal wave (intentional or not) is critical to proactively manage how the decision is both received and perceived.

Company executives almost never make decisions with the intent to have a negative impact on the organization, the staff, or the results. However, many executive decisions are made in a sort of bubble without fully considering the impact as the decision information or message makes its way through the waves of communication or through the levels of the org chart.

In an on-going survey of organizational challenges, conducted by IMT, 81% of survey respondents say that they have some form of challenge revolving around Decisions with the most frequent challenge being the following: Decisions are made without fully considering the impact it will have on the people doing the work.

What this implies is that 1) we make decisions with limited information or perspective, 2) we have a need to rush into a decision for the sake of moving fast, or 3) we don’t really know how we would go about doing a short, but effective deep dive into the impact of the decision.

For any of the reasons listed above, The Conversation Framework IMPACT – Decision Analysis Activity can help. Bring people together, analyze the impact as the messages make their way through the communication channels, and consider how a decision will impact the organization from 10 different perspectives. A structured framework that can be completed in a few hours that helps pool the collaborative insights and ideas of the participants.

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SYNCHRONIZE – Directional Efficiency Activity

Patrick — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:58:05 +0000

Your leadership team knows the value of being aligned and in many areas they might be. However, there may be ways to improve that alignment and get everybody even more synchronized.

The Conversation Framework SYNCHRONIZE helps the leadership team consider areas that might not have been previously considered as important or critical alignment topics. Doing a comprehensive alignment assessment as part of a continuous improvement and leadership development program is easy with SYNCHRONIZE.

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WIRED – Employee Awareness Activity

Patrick — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 13:59:32 +0000

When employees have something in common with coworkers, be it similar hobbies, having visited the same place, a similar values system, or any one of a variety of other topics, bonds are created that bring them together and build a level of respect for the other person.

Every small amount of awareness in another person we can have opens the potential for an improved work environment.

The Conversation Framework WIRED – Employee Awareness Activity is designed to identify a wide variety of commonalities across a diverse group in a non-intrusive way, opening the door to new interactions with new people.

Ideal for off-site events, ice breakers, new team members, or merged departments to get people interacting.

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ONBOARDING – Employee Welcoming Process Development Course

Patrick — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 01:56:13 +0000

Some alarming 2023 statistics.

38% of new employees leave their job in the first year.
40% are likely to leave in the first 90 days.

The recruitment process does everything possible to attract great talent.
HR and Management focus on talent retention.

That squishy space in between those two – the onboarding time – is a crucial time that far too many companies leave to luck and chance for creating an intentional, consistent, and positive experience for the new employees. Poor performance during the onboarding time directly impacts the new employees’ willingness to stay with the company.

Enter ONBOARDING, a course designed for those organizations that are tired of Disenchanted New Employee Syndrome and want to shake it up by guiding their supervisors, managers, and HR staff through the development of a standardized onboarding process that leverages multiple Conversation Frameworks and coaching to remove that squishy space and replace it with a consistent, intentional, and welcoming experience.

A hands-on, 9-course, workshop style course that will be a game changer for those organizations that join the movement to champions and drive their onboarding experience.

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