Michael Stanleigh's Insights

Innovation Trend 7 - Organizations will recognize the impact of generational differences in the creation of innovations

2011-05-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

Part of creating a culture which supports innovation is to understand the generational differences so apparent in our organizations today. At no time in our history have we seen so many different generations working alongside each other. It affects our culture, our work environment, our work relationships and consequently, the innovation process. Why? Because each generation has different approaches to working individually vs. collaboratively, how they generate ideas and so on. Not to suggest that there is only one way or preferred way; rather, to be aware of how to use an understanding of these generational differences to build the innovation culture.

The development of a culture of innovation in our organizations now considers not only the existing organizational culture but the generational differences as well. Recognizing these factors will ensure organizations create the right environment that fits into the uniqueness of their organization.

Read the full article at:
http://www.bia.ca/articles/7KeyTrendsinInnovation.htm

Innovation Trend 6 - Organizations will create clear processes for innovation

2011-05-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

Innovation doesn’t just happen. It must be everyone’s responsibility. There has to be no constraints. There are so many models of great organizations that reached this level and continue to evolve. Think of W.L. Gore, Google, Honda, and Apple to name a few.
Many of the world’s most successful innovators, from Thomas Edison to choreographer Twyla Tharp, concede that innovation cannot be forced, but it can be developed. That is, we can enhance our capacity to generate ideas, innovations, and adopt what Tharp calls the “creative habit.” Developing the understanding and practice of these creative habits is the foundation for a contemporary process that fosters innovation in the workplace.

Organizations are beginning to recognize the innovation is a collaborative process where people from various disciplines within the organizations come together to generate innovations and to take these from vision to reality. The innovation process will be taught and incorporated into everything that everyone does. Many organizations will begin to set aside time for their staff to innovation. Google and Microsoft do this. It is part of their culture. It is expected that everyone spends time not only on their job, but that they devote time to innovate.

The process that organizations will be implementing ensure that everyone knows how to work in a diverse team, accept conflicts as mere differences of opinion, understand how to capture innovations, generate alternatives, research possibilities and create the actions needed to bring them these to reality. It doesn’t just happen. It is a process.

Read the full article at:
http://www.bia.ca/articles/7KeyTrendsinInnovation.htm

Innovation Trend 5 - Organizations will re-shape their values and principles to ensure they support a culture of innovation

2011-05-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Many organizations have clearly articulated values and principles. They sit on posters and on employee’s desks. But these organizations don’t really know whether or not these are the “right” values and principles. Nor are they certain whether or not their leaders and staff act and behave in a manner which embodies these values and principles.

As organizations re-shape their cultures to support innovation they will also re-examine their values and principles to ensure these are the “right” values and principles that correctly reflect the ‘new” culture. They will take these off the walls. They add to each value and principles clear behavioural descriptions. These will identify the actions and disciplines everyone will demonstrate to show their on-going understanding and embodiment of these values and principles. Then everyone will know whether or not their communications, reactions, actions, etc. are in keeping with or contrary to the values and principles.

Organizations in the future will alter their hiring practices to ensure that they hire the type of staff who can live these values and principles because they align with their own principles. Through these efforts they will know their values and principles are contributing to the fostering of a culture of innovation.

Read the full article at:
http://www.bia.ca/articles/7KeyTrendsinInnovation.htm

Innovation Trend 4 - Organizations will focus on longer-term strategies required to support a culture of innovation

2011-05-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

Organizations often struggle with the on-going trade-off debate between growth and earnings, short and long-term goals, etc. They spend too much time discussing how to cut costs in order to meet monthly revenue targets and too little time talking about the longer-term opportunities and how the short-term decisions are likely to impact these.

Organizations that are focused on the strategy of innovation are starting to realize that their growth will be better met if they focus on the longer term objectives of innovation and customer focus.

Read the full article at:
http://www.bia.ca/articles/7KeyTrendsinInnovation.htm

Innovation Trend 3 - Organizations will create the culture for consistent innovations to reduce the ad hoc approach to innovations

2011-04-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

Organizations will engage everyone at all levels in the process of identifying their definition of a culture of innovation, what makes it an innovation culture, what is needed to create it and what risks must be understood and managed in order to create the engine to drive innovations. One of the initiatives organizations are beginning to undertake is to create teams to delve deeply into these questions. They are recognizing that this is not merely a management imperative, rather, it is a cultural change that requires the on-going input at all levels within their organization.

Organizations that begin re-shaping their cultures around innovation will become focused on both theirs and their customer’s needs and opportunities. They will achieve and maintain profitable operations. These organizations will be constantly looking for ways to reinvent themselves and constantly introducing new varieties and generations of products and services. They will constantly be working on the environment which encourages the development of innovations.

Read the full article at:
http://www.bia.ca/articles/7KeyTrendsinInnovation.htm

Innovation Trend 2 - Organizations will create a Strategic Innovation Plan to ensure Innovation becomes a strategic imperative

2011-04-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

If you get the environment right, a culture of innovation will easily fall into place and the business side of your operations will be that much easier. Many organizations spend time on strategic planning and business planning but rarely spend time on building their culture, the development of values and principles and the type of reporting relationships that will support the new culture.

Organizations will now start to create strategic plans that include Innovation as one of their key strategic imperatives. This is the requirement to get the innovation engine started. They will develop the actions required to successfully implement the strategic imperative and they will gain organization support through their communications of this important initiative.

Read the full article at:
http://www.bia.ca/articles/7KeyTrendsinInnovation.htm

Innovation Trend 1 - Organizations will define what Innovation means in their environment

2011-04-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

Most individuals have read about innovation, heard about innovation and maybe even tried to be innovative. But few understand what exactly innovation is. Organizations are beginning to recognize that Innovation is not the result of a lone genius; rather it is a collaborative process where people from many different parts of the organization contribute to the creation and implementation of new ideas.

The first trend for organizations is that they will define what Innovation means in their own environment. Is it about products or services or processes or customers or all of these things? Once they are clear on what is Innovation they will be ready to implement the second trend, building the strategy for innovation.

Read the full article at:
http://www.bia.ca/articles/7KeyTrendsinInnovation.htm

Quality Trend 8 - Quality Departments will undertake Strategic Quality Planning

2011-04-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Quality departments and quality professionals will demonstrate how, through their quality initiatives (i.e.; Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, ISO registration, etc.) they are positively impacting the organization’s bottom-line. By being forced to become more accountable for results they will spend more time ensuring that they are doing the right quality initiatives at the right time and that each one is clearly linked to one of the key strategic imperatives developed by the management team.

Every quality initiative can, and must be tied to key business process performance indicators in order to have any real impact on productivity and the bottom-line. Undertaking Strategic Quality Planning will ensure quality departments are able to identify what they should be doing, how they should be doing it, why they are doing it and the relationships of these endeavours to the organization’s strategic plans. When quality strategies are clearly outlined and measured, quality departments will be able to ensure overall performance improvement gains.

Read the full article at http://www.bia.ca/articles/FutureTrendsinQualityManagementl.html

Quality Trend 7 - Quality Standards will move beyond the realm of work processes into job functions

2011-03-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

Quality standards have commonly been written for all work processes. They have emerged as a key element to identify the success of a project in that they are written for all project management processes, tools and templates. Now quality standards are being written for all job role functions so that everyone knows not only what is expected of them, but exactly what quality standards they must adhere to. These quality standards will be used in their performance reviews to identify whether or not their performance adhered to the agreed-upon quality standards for work performance.

Read the full article at http://www.bia.ca/articles/FutureTrendsinQualityManagementl.html

Quality Trend 6 - Organizations will focus more on where to spend their supplier quality management resources

2011-03-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Organizations can no longer sustain the cost of problems identified through their supplier evaluations. In order to reduce the risk of unsecure supply chain organizations will focus more effort and money on creating strict quality standards that all of their suppliers will be required to meet. These standards go beyond the traditional ISO certifications in that they will be very specific to the requirements of the organization engaging the supplier. Although this will take more effort in the beginning, the long-term impact will be reduced risk for the organization that might otherwise be realized by poor supplier quality standards. These quality standards will be regularly audited to ensure compliance.

Read the full article at http://www.bia.ca/articles/FutureTrendsinQualityManagementl.html

Quality Trend 5 - Lean Management will become more important to organizations seeking continuous improvement than Six Sigma

2011-03-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Six Sigma has been the dominant force for organizations seeking improvement in the management of their key business processes. Most have already reaped the benefits of Six Sigma. Continuous improvement of key business processes will be more easily realized through the principles of Lean.

Organizations will identify that the time and cost required to continue to support Six Sigma will be more than the value produced. Lean is less expensive, easier to implement and delivers immediate, measurable improvement.

Quality Trend 4 - Organizations will undertake Change Management initiatives focused on ensuring consistency in the management of all work processes

2011-03-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

Organizations are undertaking the changes required to transition themselves from ad hoc and inconsistent work practices to one where knowledge is incorporated into everyone’s job. This helps to ensure that the knowledge of one resource working on their quality measurable work is easily transferred to other employees or new employees expected to take-over or continue work within this role. Organizations will see increased customer satisfaction rates as a result.

Successful quality management systems do have a direct bottom-line impact on an organization but will require that the organization undertake a significant cultural change because quality management systems have a profound effect on the structures, systems and resources. These cannot be changed only in the short term. To have a lasting effect, employees need to be prepared for the changes that will be necessary and understand the benefits of the change.

The process for creating the cultural change is easy but one must recognize that it is journey. It is exciting but you must stay focussed throughout. Like all journeys, it takes time. There really is no end. If quality management is built into the corporate culture than everyone in the organization will not only know what it is they have to do but how that work will be measured and how that knowledge can be transferred.

Aligning Your Mission with Customer Value

2011-03-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

There is so much choice today for the consumer. Whether it’s buying a new car, new clothes, new appliances, new mattresses, new shoes, food, etc. How do we decide where to shop? For retailers and other organizations, we must capture and retain customers. The loss of just one customer can have a dramatic impact on future sales. Why? Because unhappy customers relate their story of bad customer service over and over again to everyone who will listen. As well, through social networking, they spread the word rapidly.

Where to start
The creation of a powerful and meaningful mission statement [http://www.bia.ca/vision.htm] is important to all organizations. Here is a great example from Sleep Country:
“To earn customers trust and exceed their expectations when they purchase a new sleep system. We care as much about the service you receive as the bed you purchase.”

This particular mission continues to say: “If you have any questions or comments regarding either your product or our service, please don't hesitate to contact us.”

Mission statements help to attract customers. These are often used in marketing campaigns and posted where every customer can see the promise of service delivery. However, like Pandora’s Box, any level of service that is contrary to this promise is often met with the wrath of an unhappy customer. The consequences can be severe in the loss of reputation, lost sales and lost future customers.

How to quickly lose a customer
The best way to understand this is through a story.

We purchased a mattress from Sleep Country 10 months ago. The customer service representative was knowledge and very helpful. It was an easy decision to buy from her. The promise of a warranty and other on-going service put us at ease. Not that we’ve ever had a problem with a mattress before but it is always reassuring to hear the words.

After 6 months or so we noticed that the mattress was starting to sag. After another couple of months we found that the sagging was continuing to get worse and was affecting the quality of our sleep. We are neither tall nor heavy so this was a surprise. We’d been given a promise of service so we immediately contacted them.

An inspector arrived at our doorstep. He measured the sag and declared that it was only 1-¼ inches deep. While the inspector admitted that it was probably uncomfortable to sleep on, after measuring it, he told us that it did not qualify for a return to the manufacturer because it needed to be 1-½ inches. Sleep Country would not replace the mattress until the sagging got worse. As well, he advised that we do not qualify for another home inspection for at least 3 months.

So we contacted Christine Magee. After considerable research we realized that she is now only a marketing celebrity and the “voice” for the organization. However, our attempts to contact her successfully brought a response from Sleep Country Canada’s Customer Service Manager. The Customer Service Manager sent me an email that was quite extraordinary. It included statements such as:

“A call in to the customer service department may have assisted in trouble shooting the issue. (Our email had already informed her that we did this to no avail so it is a mystery why she would even mention this) Based on the information you have provided, it seems that the issue was a non warrantable concern, and may fall into the category of a body impression. (We had never heard of body impressions on mattresses before.) I would like to ensure you that Sleep Country Canada is dedicated to providing exceptional customer service by processing warranty claims that would normally be handled by the manufacturer at the customer’s expense.” (We have never had to go directly to a manufacturer for any product under warranty and pay for a claim. We’re still wondering who she might be referring to?)

She invited us to contact her directly. Our phone call gave her the opportunity of talking about how most customers are happy and that there is nothing wrong with their mattresses. The idea of a faulty mattress to her was unimaginable. We brought up the fact that we have purchased many mattresses over the years (although none through Sleep Country) and never had any sagging occur, not even after 10 years of ownership. This was of little importance to her. She continued, throughout the conversation, to insist we must be at fault, not the mattress. She repeated how they have so many happy customers and there was really nothing that she is willing to do, except set up another inspection appointment at least one month later.

Clearly, this experience did not reflect the organization’s stated mission statement: “To earn customers trust and exceed their expectations when they purchase a new sleep system. We care as much about the service you receive as the bed you purchase.”

How to ensure your customers continue to come back
Go back to your mission statement. Does your service delivery [http://www.bia.ca/courses-leadership/service-quality-for-managers.htm] promise align with the delivery of service to your customers? Do you find yourself trying to defend your products? If so, why do you believe you have to defend your products? If they are of the level of quality that you promise in your mission, this shouldn’t be necessary. When managing customer expectations are you aware of the consequences of an unhappy customer?

Mission statements are powerful. They are positive statements about what you stand for, what your organization believes in and what the customer means to you.

Sleep Country did everything within their power to lose our trust and not meet (let alone exceed) our expectations. They clearly demonstrated that they neither care about service delivery nor the bed their customers sleep in. So why do they bother with a mission statement of service promises?

Conclusion
Establish a clear and meaningful mission. Market it to your customers. But, most importantly, do what you say you will do – to ensure your customer’s satisfaction is your most important act. The outcome will be beneficial for the continued sustainability of your organization and its bottom-line.

Quality Trend 3 - Six Sigma initiatives will be successful when they are managed as a Project

2011-03-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

A great challenge in Six Sigma initiatives is that although they follow a clear process and quality standards they may fail because they are not well managed as a project. This has led to problems for Six Sigma initiatives becoming over time, over budget and not meeting their customer expectations. Individuals apply the Six Sigma methodology but fail in their execution. Success on Six Sigma will continue for those organizations that apply a project management approach to how Six Sigma initiatives are structured, managed and processed.

Quality Trend 2 - There will be a trend towards Profound Knowledge.

2011-02-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

Ultimately, organizations led by people who are guided by the System of Profound Knowledge are likely to be much more efficient and successful than organizations which continue with the prevailing style of management. Profound Knowledge systems integrate increasing knowledge as part of the system. To this end, no longer is quality management relegated to production and no longer is project management only an IT initiative. Quality and project management are infused into everyone position within every department within every organization. This is equally true for both public sector and private sector organizations. We are seeing training and development initiatives as well as consulting assignments focusing on how to develop quality measures to all work, projects and learning. This includes details on how to transfer this knowledge to others so that it stays resident in the organization when staff leaves. This is becoming critical as more and more long-term staff retires.

Quallity Trend 1 - Quality Management is not dead – it continues to evolve

2011-02-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

Quality Management never really died. It evolved. Rather than being relegated as a position title or a department, it has been infused into the way everyone works in every single position within their organizations. Quality is about products and services. It is about people and processes.

Quality management has become a critical element contributing to the successful development of innovations. It is now integrated into project management. Successful projects have clear quality processes, tools and templates. Quality management is well, alive and living in organizations today and in the future.

The Future of Project Management - Trend 8

2010-10-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

Risk management will become standard practice for all projects

Project teams will conduct regular risk assessments at the beginning, mid-way and at the end of a project to proactively identify what might prevent success in the management of a project as well as to have contingencies in place to manage a risk, should it occur.

Proper risk management implies control of possible future events, and is proactive rather than reactive. It will reduce not only the likelihood of an event occurring, but also the magnitude of its impact. Organizations that consistently follow a risk management process on all of their projects will see a reduction in their management by crisis. There will always be some things that will occur but most of these, through sound risk management, can be managed, rather than reacted to.

Concluding Remarks
Many of you will read these trends and believe that you are not “senior” enough in your respective organizations to ensure these trends are effectively implemented in your organizations. This is not at all true. One of the great strengths of leaders is their ability to use influence and critical thinking skills to bring about positive change. Each of us can choose to be either a leader or a follower. We must decide. Our organization’s future may depend upon the right decisions being made today. Hopefully, knowledge of these trends will help you stay ahead of your competitors and help you contribute to your organization’s future success.

I look forward to hearing your comments,
Michael

The Future of Project Management - Trend 7

2010-10-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

Organizations will increase the use of Project Health Checks and Project Audits

There will be more project health checks to quickly identify the interim issues, concerns and challenges being experienced by projects. This will reduce fire-fighting and management by crisis by quickly identifying the root causes of the problems. This forensic view will identify the actions required to realize the project’s opportunities and provide assurance to the organization that the project will meet the required schedule, budget and customer requirements.

There will be more project audits completed at the end of projects in order to identify the lessons learned that will help future projects gain knowledge from the project’s successes and challenges. This knowledge will be incorporated into project data repositories to ensure the lessons learned can easily be accessed by project managers.

The Future of Project Management - Trend 6

2010-09-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

Organizations will use Best Practices and Knowledge Transfer to successfully launch projects

Organizations that follow best practices will be at a competitive advantage to those who do not apply a structured process to each project. Project management best practices include a disciplined approach to planning, executing and learning from projects.

As part of the move towards greater use of best practices we will also see:
•Use of competency assessments to select the best project resources for any given project.
•Incorporation of project management best practices into all aspects of project management infrastructure including tools, templates and techniques.
•Incorporation of portfolio project management to make sure that projects are prioritized and resourced to align with corporate strategies.
•Increased training for project sponsors to improve their understanding of their roles in helping projects succeed.

Organizations will find value in recording and documenting “Lessons Learned” on projects as a means of passing along the things that worked or did not work on a project. This kknowledge retention and transfer will be a major benefit to organizations because it will contribute to continuous learning and avoidance of repeated mistakes.

The Future of Project Management - Trend 5

2010-09-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Project management and quality management will unite as critical job skill requirements

Project and quality principles will be infused into everyone’s roles within an organization. As the principles of project management fuse with quality management requirements, organizations will expect a quality-based approach to the management of projects. This will help them to successfully execute projects time after time.

To achieve this, organizations will need to apply quality management processes to all aspects of the project management infrastructure including: project management tools, project management templates, project management methods or techniques as well as project management competencies. These project quality management systems will improve project management by providing quality standards for project processes, tools and templates. As well, it will cause a shift in the competency requirements for project management roles.

All this will have enormous implications for project management training as organizations begin to search for curriculums that combine both quality management and project management knowledge bases.

The Future of Project Management - Trend 4

2010-09-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Traditional performance management systems will be overhauled to better reflect work performance on projects

Generally speaking, most performance management systems are out of touch with how work is performed today. They undermine project delivery success because they fail to measure employee performance on special projects that are outside the realm of day-to-day job responsibilities.

This problem with performance management systems can greatly hinder an organization’s ability to successfully deliver projects because employees are less likely to consider their work on projects of equal importance to their measured job performance. Furthermore, functional managers may add fuel to the fire if they disapprove of an employee’s project work or are inflexible about work deadlines.

Because of this, we will see organizations starting to overhaul their performance management systems to make sure it measures employees’ total work performance. These new breed performance systems or “Total Performance Management” systems will be designed to capture feedback from functional managers as well as project managers and will measure total work performance.

Future of Project Management - Trend 3

2010-09-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

The role of “Project Manager” as a unique role will go the way of the dinosaur

The role of the Quality Manager is no longer today what is was 20 years ago. In fact, this title is not commonly found in most organizations. We can expect to also see this happen in project management where the role of the Project Manager will evolve to such a degree that it will become a work skill that is part of every employee’s job responsibility. This will require a cultural shift so that it becomes a part of every employee’s responsibility to know and understand how to manage that part of their work which is a project.

Future of Project Management - Trend 2

2010-08-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

There will be an increase in the number of centralized project management structures or Enterprise Project Management Offices

Organization’s project management functions will be centralized through the creation of an “Enterprise Project Management Office” or EPMO. This will help them to ensure that the projects that get initiated and implemented are supportive of their organizational strategies.

While many organizations have introduced the “Project Management Office” (“PMO”) to be an agent of change and created a project management infrastructure for the organization or department, the trend will be a more strategically focused project management function focused on ensuring that the portfolio of projects are prioritized, resourced and strategically aligned.

Global organizations will continue to have local PMOs but all will report into a single EPMO – using similar project management processes, tools and templates.

The Future of Project Management

2010-08-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

The first 10 years of this 21st century are almost over. Where is project management going in the next decade? Being able to look at current trends and see where they will take us is an interesting and thought provoking exercise. It can give us a much needed competitive edge to move ahead of the pack.

Through our continuous, extensive global research studies we have identified a number of key trends that will have a positive impact on organizations and how they manage projects over the next decade. Here are 8 trends you can expect to see happen that will help you gain organizational momentum. I'll present one trend in each Blog over the coming weeks.

As always, contact me with your questions, comments and own observations in regard to these.

Trend 1:
Organizations will undertake Project Culture Change Initiatives to ensure consistency in the management of projects.

Organizations that undertake the changes required to transition themselves from ad hoc and inconsistent project management practices to one where project management knowledge is incorporated into everyone’s job as a required skill set will see reduced costs and increased customer satisfaction rates. More organizations will implement a “Project Culture Initiative™” strategy to undertake this project cultural change to ensure the success in the management of all projects.

Successful project management systems do have a direct bottom-line impact on an organization as well as a profound effect on their structures, systems and resources. The process for creating the cultural change is easy but recognize it is journey. It is exciting but organizations will have to stay focussed throughout. Like all journeys, it takes time. When project management is built into the corporate culture than everyone who works on a project will immediately know what they have to do. They won’t have to locate a PMO or anyone else to tell them how to manage a project, what tools to use, what templates to use, etc.

Accelerate the Innovation Engine in Your Organization but Watch for the Potholes

2010-05-19T08:04:00.000-07:00

With promising economic statistics in the US, some organizations are hiring again and manufacturing and retail sales are starting to turn around. Yet management remains cautious about spending and more and more are thinking about how to innovate in order to provide customers with products and services that are recession-proof.

They are asking:
--How do we innovate?
--How much should we spend on innovation?
--How much time should we devote to innovation?

But these are not the right questions. Rather, management should be asking, "How do we re-shape the culture in our organization so that innovation is just part of what we do?"

If you get the environment right, a culture of innovation will easily fall into place and the business side of your operations will be that much easier. Many organizations spend time on strategic planning and business planning but rarely spend time on building their culture, the development of values and principles and the type of reporting relationships that will support the new culture. These are requirements to get the innovation engine started.

Organizations often struggle with the on-going trade-off debate between growth and earnings, short and long-term goals, etc. They spend too much time discussing how to cut costs in order to meet monthly revenue targets and too little time talking about the longer-term opportunities and how the short-term decisions are likely to impact these. By the time leaders start to realize that their growth has been stifled by their need to meet these short-term objectives, innovation will have already been killed. Short-term thinking is perhaps one of the biggest pot holes to fill.

There is no doubt that being privately held certainly makes it easier. You'll be less prone to short-term thinking and profits, etc. demanded by shareholders and Boards that impede innovation and stifle the culture needed to foster it. However, innovation is not about private or public, retail or manufacturing, technology or science. It is about all of these and not specific to any type of industry.

Read the full article at http://www.bia.ca/articles/AcceleratetheInnovationEngine.htm

I look forward to your comments and insights.

Increase Productivity

2010-01-28T11:30:00.000-08:00

The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business recently stated that “Canada is about to pay the price for its failure to address a productivity rate that is universally described as woeful”.

Wow – that’s huge!!!

They went on to say that the economy is expanding but is producing less than it did before the financial crisis. Today there are fewer jobs and people buying goods and services. The only way to generate more wealth for companies is to increase their productivity levels. But this isn’t just a Canadian issue. It is a reality facing most of the world’s advanced economies.

More importantly – what do we do? So many organizations have already implemented Lean and Six Sigma approaches to save money. But these have not always increased the levels of productivity expected. However, there is an opportunity to increase productivity that is fast, effective and will deliver bottom-line improvements.

There is no doubt that as organizations seek ways in which to increase productivity and save money they will reach the conclusion that they will continue to have to work with fewer resources. These organizations must use Business Process Management (BPM) to examine their key processes. BPM will also ensure that employee performance and morale are maintained. Otherwise, productivity will negatively be affected, staff motivation levels will decrease and the customers will feel the impact of these decisions.

Streamlining key business processes will increase productivity, reduce costs and optimize customer service levels. Our current situation may seem challenging but through these efforts you can identify new opportunities for managing these.

If your organization is facing any of these challenges below you can benefit from BPM:
•There is increased global competition.
•Constant price reduction demands from customers.
•Increased requirements for quality.
•Must remain competitive, innovative and profitable.
•Need to implement enhanced cost and cycle-time reduction.
•Customer satisfaction and loyalty levels need to be increased.
•Requirement to minimize all forms of waste and maximize value for the customer.
•Resources are stretched and not sure where to spend their time.
•Many key business processes are in crisis and there is lots of fire-fighting rather than looking into the root causes of the problems.
•There is blame and excuses for poor individual and group work practices.

Improving productivity growth will become an even more important component of economic growth in the future as labour forces continue to remain stagnant.

If you need advise on how to get started or want help to increase your operational effectiveness, let me know - mstanleigh@bia.ca

How to Make Your PMO Improve Organizational Success so You Can Look Good to Management

2010-01-11T08:23:00.000-08:00

Is it possible for a Project Management Office (PMO) to actually improve organizational success? The answer to this question is quite simply, "Yes."

Here’s why.
A recent research study of PMOs around the world reveals some very interesting findings about how some PMOs have actually improved their organization’s results despite a slower economic climate. You can learn the secrets of their success by reading the full 2010 Research Report, "How Project Management Offices Can Improve Organizational Effectiveness." The report includes helpful advice to get your PMO or EPMO to contribute positive results for your organization:
•How to apply project management to increase organizational success.
•How to create supportive structures necessary for project management to thrive.
•How to gain sponsor and management support for your projects.
•How to communicate and market the PMO/EPMO to the department and/or entire organization so they understand why it’s important to them.
•How to manage the challenges of managing multiple projects (portfolio management) successfully.
•How to deliver consistent project processes, tools and templates that will improve project success rate.
•How to document and retain knowledge from projects for future benefit.

Order Now and Save
You can order the report to receive generous savings before January 25, 2010. For more information about this useful new project management research study go to www.bia.ca or download a free executive summary at http://www.bia.ca/products.htm#2010grr.

How to Save Time on Your Project and Win Sponsor Approval

2010-01-05T08:22:00.000-08:00

Did you know that the major reasons projects fail is due to a breakdown of communication, lack of planning and poor quality control during the life cycle of a project? Just think about it... those challenges cost you and your company money, delays and frustration. We can help you solve those problems... After years of research and working with thousands of people just like you who want to improve their project management, we developed the Project Success Templates™. These templates will help you to: communicate better, develop a detailed plan for your project and improve the quality of your project delivery so that your project is successful.

These Templates are Superior to All Others
Although there are various project management templates on the market, I’m confident that you’ll find Project Success Templates™ superior to any other template product. Our templates are not just word processed forms. They are unique because they are interactive. They’re far superior to other project management templates.

Learn more
For more information about this great new product you can go to http://www.bia.ca/products or http://www.bia.ca/products.htm#all-in-one.

How to Select a Great Project Team and Increase Project Success

2009-12-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

The wrong team can create havoc on getting your project completed successfully, causing delays, missed milestones and budget problems. Just think about it…without knowing that your team members have the right competency requirements for the project role that they assigned to, how can you guarantee success?

We can help you solve this problem.
After years of research and working with thousands of project teams, we’ve developed Project Management Competencies Assessments. These Assessments will help you to select people with the right competencies for both their project role and the project’s requirements…so you’ll be able to select a project team with the right skills to manage your project successfully.

Learn more
Go to http://www.bia.ca/products.htm#pmca for more information about this innovative new assessment tool that’s available from Business Improvement Architects.

Operational Effectiveness Leaders

2009-08-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

We all work to live. We don't live to work.

All the choices we make in our life are just that - our choices. no one makes these for us. We search for the guilty, blame the innocent and execute others for our own bad decisions.

Leadership is about leading - not doing.

Vision and strategies are not dictated. They are developed collaboratively. How else is it possible to create an operationally effective team that has a shared, common understanding and commitment to the future. One that has a clear direction on how to get there. That is what Operational Effective Leadership is all about.

Do you create your department's/branch's/group's/organization's vision and strategies? Or - do you engage the entire group to do this collaboratively. Though in the first instance, as leaders, we always insist that the final result was because of input from our team - this is not at all the same. The final will still be yours - not everyones. You have a choice. Make the choice of working collaboratively with your group. It will be more engaging, energizing and the result will be more powerful than anything you could have ever imagined before.

Let me know if you are unclear on how to proceed and I'd be happy to guide you through the process. You won't regret it.

I'm Tired of the Recession - Are You?

2009-08-05T08:10:00.000-07:00

We've been in recessions before. Do you know which one is the worst? Well of course it is this one. But why is this one the worst? Because it's the only one where the future is uncertain.

You see, all of the other recessions that we have experienced in our lifetimes don't look bad now. However, think back to how you felt in the middle of them. With rising interest rates or oil prices or inflation or any combination of these. When asked the same question, during these "other" recessions, everyone said that the worst one they'd ever experienced was the one they were in at the moment. But when we reflect back, they don't seem so bad.

20% of economics are driven by reality. The other 80% is driven by perception. So, when we're asked to cut our salaries, our benefits, take time off without pay, etc., it is only based on the perception of these organizations of what will be - not what will actually occur. They don't know. The future is unknown.

It is our attitude that will bring us the quickest change - to help us to move on. I'm tired of this recession - aren't you?

2009-07-23T14:34:00.001-07:00

Returned from National Speakers Association. Received Global Speaking Network Certified Speaking Professional designation. Only 600 worldwide been awarded

Use Innovation to Move Forward

2009-07-14T05:08:00.000-07:00

Our future depends on nurturing creativity and intelligence rather than protecting the past. In these times of transition, there are opportunities for each of us to use our full creative talents to expand our businesses and industries for the future. In crises like these, nations, regions, cities and states can rapidly change ground; they can improve or lose position, depending on the actions they take.

This should be a time for renewed optimism as we move forward. New periods in our history always bring us new challenges. But they can also bring us new opportunities. Use innovation to move forward. Pessimism is a great killer. Optimism is the only attitude that can bring you through.

At Business Improvement Architects, we have found that this economy has spurned us on to become even more innovative. We are working hard to launch some exciting new products that will make a difference for our customers and for us. Rather than dwell on lost business or decreased sales, we are using this time to be productive, creative and innovative. Watch for one new product launch this coming Fall!

What are you doing to survive?
Michael

2009-06-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

I have just returned from Croatia. I was a keynote speaker at the European Organization for Quality's conference. My topic was "Innovation in a Time of Transition".

My two weeks in Croatia were incredible. What a beautiful country and great people. Everything was perfect. It is interesting how much they have been able to accomplish in re-building their country after the recent wars.

When I think about Innovation today, in this most interesting of times I come to this conclusion. This is based on substantial research and practical experience in this arena.

Helping your organization to achieve more innovations, to create the culture to support innovative thinking and to adopt a process for innovations is a major undertaking. It can seem daunting to know where to begin. However, the most important first step is just that – to take that first step. It is a large and exciting change process. Even a small initiative can help to demonstrate the possibilities of a more robust effort.

Our future depends on nurturing creativity and intelligence rather than protecting the past by bailing out struggling manufacturers. In our time of Transition, there are opportunities for each of us to use our full creative talents to expand our businesses and industries for the future. In crises like these, nations, regions, cities and states can rapidly change ground; they can improve or lose position, depending on the actions they take.

This should be a time for renewed optimism as we move forward. It is a new period in our history and that always bring with it challenges. But it also brings with it new opportunities. Use innovation to move forward. Pessimism is a great killer. Optimism is the only attitude that can bring you through. I know in our firm, Business Improvement Architects, we have been affected by the economy so rather than hide away we are using our resources and money to develop new products and services. This economy has spurned us on to become more innovative. I am hopeful that this will make a difference. I know it will for you to.

The Certified Speaking Professional Designation

2009-05-29T06:47:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

I have just completed the last stage in the long certification process towards acquiring my CSP. Notification just came that I am sucessful in earning the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation. Established in 1980, the CSP is the speaking profession’s international measure of speaking experience and skill. Fewer than 10 percent of the speakers who belong to the International Federation for Professional Speakers hold this professional designation.

The CSP designation is conferred by the National Speakers Association (NSA) and the International Federation of Professional Speakers (IFPS) only on accomplished professional speakers who have earned it by meeting strict criteria. CSPs must document a proven track record of continuing speaking experience and expertise as well as a commitment to ongoing education, outstanding client service and ethical behaviour. I am one of 30 professionals to earn the CSP in the class of 2009 and will be honoured during a ceremony on July 19th at the 2009 NSA Convention in Phoenix, Arizona.

I am grateful to all of you have continued to support and encourage me through the process and I look forward to continuing our connections.

All the best,
Michael

Stop Wasting Money on Bad Project Management

2009-05-06T08:01:00.000-07:00

In these times of transition we are astounded at how many organizations continue to waste money on badly managed projects. In the past several months we have been asked to do some preliminary investigation on multi-million dollar projects. In each case they are considerably over-budget (in one case it is now $40 million USD). Our recommended action is to undergo an in-depth project health check/audit. Usually completed in several weeks, they deliver powerful recommendations based on the root causes of the problems. They include an implementation plan on how to immediately the recommendations to get the project back on track. In our experience, within a couple of months, the losses will stop and the projects will be moving in the right direction.

Here's the dilemma. The project leaders, directors and even some CEOs are concerned that this project health check/audit will be;
•A witch hunt
•Looking for blame and excuses
•Looking for scapegoats or victims
•An intrusion by the Project Management Office
•A mechanism for punishing the project manager and other resources for not following quality project management processes
•A way to strike fear into the heart of the project manager

So they often choose to hire a technical expert. For example, an engineer or network specialist, etc. in the hopes that throwing more money at the projects will turn them around. Then we do another quick analysis and the project's are usually worse than before. Our recommendation remains the same as before. We don't know what to do unless we can conduct a health check/audit in order to identify the problems.

On one recent project I asked the CEO: "If the project is over-budget by about 40 million, are you willing to invest less than 0.25% of this to do a health check that will probably save you millions?"

The response was depressing. They agreed but have still deferred their decision. In conversations with other members of the executive it became clear that there was concern on the part of the CEO that we might find something that will lead directly to him. Although we can never be certain whether or not this will be true, the intent of an audit is not to look for blame or excuses. Rather, it is designed to identify the root causes of the problems which have led to the current situation and to provide recommendations on how to get the project moving back in the right direction.

Don't make the same mistakes. Project health checks/audits will provide you with great benefits. Get rid of the fear and move toward the opportunities.

All the best,
Michael

Refocus Your PMO - Part V

2009-04-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

3.Manage the resourcing across all projects

The resourcing of projects continues to be a top priority of management and a significant barrier for PMOs in achieving their mandate. Management are not “on board” because they are uncertain what the resources are doing and why. They often perceive that work on projects is an intrusion to their employee’s daily work requirements.

An important role of the PMO is to ensure that all project managers know how to develop a detailed project plan which clearly identifies all of the tasks to be done and the name(s) of the resources that will be responsible for doing them. These project plans should be input into project management software and reports generated regularly.

If this is completed consistently across all projects the PMO then works with management to analyze the consolidated resource reports and help them deal with over-allocation issues including some guidance on help them find solutions. These might include assigning a different resource to complete a specific series of project tasks, identifying that some tasks may be delayed or that the resource assigned is not actually completing the task and rather, they are responsible to oversee its completion and therefore are not as time constrained as the report indicates.

It is beneficial to discuss resource over-allocation issues with the functional managers of the project resources. Discussing the issue with functional managers will help to identify opportunities for alternative resources or changing functional work priorities. As well, calling this issue to the attention of senior management will identify if projects can be re-prioritized. The prioritization of projects may be changed owing to a lack of resources to complete one or more of the projects or the senior management may provide larger budgets to some of the projects so that external resources can be hired.

The PMO needs to develop a plan to oversee the management of all resources across all projects on a continuous (at least monthly) basis. The resource plan will link all projects to organizational commitments for resources on a continuous basis and will anticipate potential resource issues.

Refocus Your PMO - Part IV

2009-04-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

2.Ensure only strategically aligned projects are managed – all others should be dropped

Developing a systematic approach to prioritizing all projects in the organization makes sense but how many PMOs don’t do it or do it consistently. Too often, projects will get initiated without much consideration other than, “it seems like a great idea.” This lack of strategic alignment is a major reason for project failure. Project prioritization includes identifying how each project within each department is aligned with corporate strategy.

One way to establish a systematic approach to prioritizing projects is to develop an inventory of all projects, regardless of size or scope, that are currently being implemented by all departments and within the whole organization. This research phase is interesting. You will find many projects that staff are working on but that management is unaware. During this research many organizations will identify, for example, that they thought they had about 50 projects of various sizes being managed but when the inventory is completed they find out that there are over 100. It is no wonder resources are over-allocated and feeling stressed.

The next step in the prioritization process is to identify the overall goal, strategic alignment and key deliverables for each project. Then list these projects on a spreadsheet, referred to as a Project Prioritization Worksheet.

Refocus your PMO - part III

2009-03-24T08:24:00.000-07:00

1. Critical Importance of Project Health Checks and Audits
The recession has increased the need for project audits more than ever. As organizations continue to look for immediate ways in which to save money and time, a project audit becomes a significant strategy for a PMO to quickly get to the source of project delays and other problems. Project audits always creates future opportunities and savings by helping to identify the root cause of problems and getting badly projects back on track. They have a direct, bottom-line impact for both public and private organizations.

Organizations that are considering employee lay-offs need to make sure that the projects in their pipeline are implemented on time and on budget despite staff reductions. A Project Health Check or Project Audit ensures that these projects are kept on track because any potential problems are quickly identified. Organizations that are scrambling to get new products to market want to accelerate their new product development life cycle and here too, project audits can be their saviour because they can quickly identify ways to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of projects.

If your organization is facing any of these challenges below, Project Audits are required• Projects are not aligned with the strategic imperatives and are therefore wasting resources, time and budget.
•Organizations are not seeing a positive impact on their bottom-line and/or customers from projects.
•Projects are over-time, over-schedule and/or under-resourced.
•Innovations are failing owing to the poor management of projects.
•There are many projects of various sizes within the organization and each department but it is unclear how each one aligns with overall corporate strategy. This leads to resource over-allocation on non-priority projects.
•Resources are stretched and not sure where to spend their time.
•The organization is clear on the expected outcomes from Strategic Initiatives but aren’t sure which ones will help them reach these.
•There is no strategic vision for the management of projects, though the organization may have an overall corporate strategic vision.
•There is no culture which supports the consistent management of all projects.
•Projects are in crisis and there is lots of fire-fighting.
•There is blame and excuses for poor project management.

Refocus your PMO - part II

2009-03-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

Here are the three most important things you can do to ensure your survival;

1.Understand the Critical Importance of Project Health Checks and Audits
2.Ensure only strategically aligned projects are managed – all others should be dropped
3.Manage the resourcing across all projects

In our research of Project Management Offices we have found that the most focus on the technical and tactical side of their responsibility. This includes the development of project management processes, tools and templates. They collect data and present reports. These PMOs are doomed if they don’t refocus their efforts, park all of this job responsibility and think more strategically. The imperative today is to quickly demonstrate how the PMO can have an immediate impact on the continued success of their organization.

My next Blogs will detail how to do each of these things you need to do in order to survive.

Refocus your Project Management Office to Ensure it Positively Impacts Your Organization

2009-02-26T08:15:00.000-08:00

Refocusing your Project Management Office or Enterprise Project Management Office is critical to ensure it continues to meet the strategic imperatives of your organization in today’s economic climate. There is a huge opportunity to ensure it not only survives any budget cuts but is seen as a source of opportunity for renewed organizational success.

PMOs can provide significant cost savings and other benefits when they align with the delivery of the organization’s strategic plan and are well-managed. Those that fail to do so do not survive. As organizations continue their search for non-revenue generating departments to eliminate, the PMO is starting to see their continued survival at risk.

I will use my upcoming blogs to provide you with some insights into creating and/or sustaining a PMO or ePMO that the organization will want to survive. Why? Because it will make a huge, measurable, impact on the organization.

Thanks for listening,
Michael

Organizational Change That Sticks

2009-02-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

I am finalizing a keynote presentation for an upcoming conference hosted by the American Society for Quality. There is so much doom and gloom research and studies out there that it is really difficult to find something intriguing to tell them and get them motivated to use the chagne process. However, I did find something.

This has only just been released and is very positive. The Ontario Government in Canada commissioned a report to identify the future of the province. Where should it be spending its money? The report was radical – but I think very positive. It really is a vision for North America – not just Ontario. It was researched and written by Richard Florida and Roger Martin, who is the dean of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

They say that the future depends on nurturing creativity and intelligence rather than protecting the past by bailing out struggling manufacturers. They call for a sweeping transformation of the manufacturing sector. (talk about change) “Our time is seeing the rise of a whole new economic system that is based more on brain than brawn, more on ideas than capital, more on human creativity than natural resources and brute strength”. They acknowledge that the transformation will be painful. But they say those regions that can extend the creative economy to the production of goods, services and resources will gain significant advantage. The current economic crisis opens opportunities for the province to use its full creative talents to expand the businesses and industries of the future. “In crises like these; nations, regions, provinces and states can rapidly change ground; they can improve or lose position, depending on the actions they take.”

I will give my keynote in 2 weeks. I hope this helps enlighten them to the possibilities that they can realize through a Strategic Change Process. I know that I have seen it in organizations with whom we work and I'm certain they will too.

Let me know how your own change efforts are progressing. All the best,
Michael

Why Project Management Training and Coaching is More Important Now than Ever!

2009-01-21T07:52:00.000-08:00

Here is the last Blog in the series on managing in these difficult times with less resources, time and money by increasing their skill level in the managing of projects.

Project Managers and Team members experience much improved productivity of work by applying sound project planning processes. This is a result of clearer understanding of their roles and responsibilities, better definition of their work requirements and less rework. Team work also provides each individual the freedom to focus on the activities most aligned with their talents and passion. They’ll experience a reduction in stress and increase in a sense of control over what has to be done, why it has to be done and by when.

Our project management toolbox consists of powerful and effective tools and techniques that significantly improve productivity when applied properly. Is it time that you considered adding it to your strategy for survival and growth?

Why Project Management Training and Coaching is More Important Now than Ever!

2009-01-14T07:47:00.000-08:00

This is the third in my series on the benefits of providing project management training, coaching and auditing to help your organization's bottom-line and to help them to survive.

Stakeholders receive earlier notice to “red flags” or project problems that may be indicators of more trouble to come as well as better quality planning, quality assurance processes and quality acceptance steps, which are critical in today’s competitive and transparent vigilante consumer environment. Additionally stakeholders are able to better contain costs, scheduling and budgeting with professional project management. Risk assessments on projects helps to identify the early warning signs of potential problems which might affect stakeholders, ensuring they put in place contingencies to better manage these risks, reducing any negative impact on their key customers.

Why Project Management Training and Coaching is More Important Now than Ever!

2009-01-07T07:35:00.000-08:00

My last couple of Blogs talked about the need for Project Management training and coaching. In addition to the contacts we are receiving for training, we are beginning to receive a number for project health checks and audits. This is great because it is telling us that organizations are finally recongizing the value that early project problem detection can provide. It will save them hugely in dollars and time.

Here are some of the benefits of professional project management for senior managers, functional managers, stakeholders, project managers and teams:

Functional Managers can benefit from the improvements in processes realized through project management and better allocation of resources—both people and monetary—as well as expansion of the organizational retained best practices. Better utilization of resources and improved systems of tracking the allocation of their resources across a number of projects helps improve staff efficiency and effectiveness.

I'll add more information on the others in subsequent Blogs.

Airline Choices

2009-01-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

I travel extensively around the Globe. I enjoy working with the different cultures and visiting the different places. The most difficult part of travel is the overseas flight in economy. North American travel is at best “low class”. No amenities. You have to buy food and drinks, even on 6 hour flights. In Australia you can fly shorter distances and always get a meal land drinks. Most airlines in North America don’t offer any movies or entertainment of any sort. The exception is Air Canada which at least has individual movies for each passenger. However, no food or drinks (unless you pay for them).

When travelling internationally I usually fly Dubai, Singapore, Thai, Malaysian or Cathay. They are all amazing airlines. They have in-flight entertainment for each economy passenger and provide food and drinks at no cost. I have just returned from Australia. Since I was flying there from the United States instead of Canada and owing to my time constraints I ended up flying United Airlines. What an experience.

I always take an aisle seat so that I can easily get up and stretch whenever I want without disturbing anyone. I booked an aisle seat and confirmed it upon check-in. Yet when I got onto the plane I realized that I had a centre seat. I am a Star Alliance gold member/Air Canada Elite status. Regardless, the staff were unaccommodating. They really didn’t care. Not their problem. The plane was old. No in-flight entertainment, just one big screen for everyone to watch with old, bad movies. They provided food (that’s subject to opinion regarding what classifies as being food) and charged for drinks. I was astounded. Again, they were sorry but this is their policy.

The flight on United was no less expensive than flying on any other airline. They just give you less for your money. A warning to all – check what the flight offers, not just the price. I will never fly United again when going overseas and I will ensure I let others know that United is truly at the bottom of the barrel regarding service, friendliness and accommodation of their customers. No wonder they’re having financial challenges.

How to Save Time on Your Project and Win Sponsor Approval

2009-01-05T08:20:00.000-08:00

Why Project Management Training and Coaching is More Important Now than Ever!

2008-12-17T07:22:00.000-08:00

My last Blog talked about the need for Project Management training and coaching. We are surprised by the number of companies that have just contacted us because they may be laying off employees. Their current challenge - how to get their projects completed within budget and time. They no longer have any time or money left to allow these constraints not to be prudently managed.

Here are some of the benefits of professional project management for senior managers, functional managers, stakeholders, project managers and teams:

Senior Managers can benefit from better use of company resources, more attention to risk management, better project cost and schedule estimating and better project monitoring and control. Conducting Project Audits and Health Checks help senior managers pin-point the core reasons for lack of project success, enabling them to immediately put in place actions which will improve project performance.

I'll add more information on the others in subsequent Blogs.

Why Project Management Training and Coaching is More Important Than Ever

2008-12-10T14:06:00.000-08:00

With economic pressures looming over the world, most executives are probably seriously pondering how to manage the impact of outside forces on their business results. Just as with individual consumers, who are “tightening their belts” right now, it isn’t surprising that many organizations, even those that may be economically healthy, are seriously considering whether or not to cut fixed spending with layoffs.

While the dictate from the top may be to reduce the workforce numbers, once the shake-out occurs, organizations will be facing a tough challenge to preserve output, deliver their strategic and operational plans and stay poised to meet increasing consumer demand once the economy turns up. That is why some of our clients are counting on Project Management to get them through this period of uncertainty and making an extra effort to invest in Project Management coaching, training and auditing to prepare for the future.

In my next blog I'll outline some of the benefits of professional project management for senior managers, functional managers, stakeholders, project managers and teams.

Gambling on the Economy

2008-11-13T17:41:00.000-08:00

We have all been reading about the economic crisis. Governments trying to prop up failed financial institutions and auto manufacturing. I am dismayed to hear of organizations that receive our taxpayer dollars to keep them afloat. If my firm was on the verge of bankruptcy, would the government come to my aid? We all know the answer to that question. Yet I employ individuals who would lose their jobs. (fortunately we are doing quite well)

The organizations vying for our tax dollars haven't been innovative. Nor have they kept up with market trends. They have gambled their earnings, even though gambling for individuals is illegal. Some organizations who are not doing as well as they should gamble in hedging fuel prices. For example, Air Canada is locked into higher oil prices owing to their hedging (gambling) on what future oil prices will be. Others are hedging on how low the price will go. Again, gambling.

These organizations should be allowed to declare bankruptcy and seek protection accordingly. This will force them to re-invent themselves, to become more innovative and to identify market trends. If they cannot - then they should go under. In our history, large organizations have gone under and others have risen in their ashes, highering their employees, taking over their market share and bringing greater prosperity.

I am concerned that somehow this has changed and we will pay dearly for the mistakes of those with whom we have never had control and even now, giving them our tax dollars, will still have no control.

I have written about innovation. This is the new trend. Either become innovative or be replaced. It is that simple. Developing a culture of innovation is a journey. I'm surprised at how few organizations are embarking on it.

Improve Your Organizations Bottom-Line

2008-10-26T07:46:00.000-07:00

We have been swamped with many requests over the past few weeks to help organizations get their projects on track. In these economic times they can no longer respond to requests for more money, more time and/or more resources. However, they do need these projects to be completed quickly. Most of them have a direct impact on the organization's bottom-line because they are introducing a new product or service that is desperately needed by their customers. If these are not quickly released, they will lose these customers to their competitors. This will have a devastating impact on their bottom-line (which is already hurting). Does this sound familiar?

We have begun working on a number of these projects. It is a dynamic process to undertake. We start by researching the project team structure, scope, plan, risk assessment, customer and business requirements, etc. We are finding that 60% of these projects are overdue by at least a year and are considerably over budget. The rest are not even close to meeting the customer and business requirements. (they're still arguing over the technology, the science, etc.) They need fast action. So we arrange to lock them into a room for an entire week (the project manager and all key resources on the project). During the week we re-examine the project's customer and business requirements, scope, team structure and project plan. We finish with a risk assessment. In all cases they have told us that they never thought we needed a week (and many fought not to spend this much time) but in the end couldn't believe the relief and clarity of direction they now have.

The greatest reward for us is to see the light bulbs in their heads go off (the room gets awfully bright by the time the week is finished). They always realize they never really understood the project, it's mandate, etc. Nor did they realize what a detailed project plan really meant (not 250 line items). The risk assessments helped identify what might prevent success and provided them the opportunity to put in contingencies to manage these.

You can improve your organization's financial situation by getting your projects on-track. They are a major source of revenue drain.

Changing Organizational Culture

2008-10-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

I recently read an article that suggested organizational culture cannot be changed. I would rather not mention the author but did want to respond to this comment. It has been our experience that organizational culture can be changed. It is not quick and easy. However, it is a journey worth pursuing. There are many organizations that have a negative, even abusive culture. To suggest that this cannot be changed, rather, it can only be managed, as the author suggests, is a very sad comment. These cultures experience high employee turnover, top-down decision making and poor customer relationsh.

On the positive side, we know that these cultures can be changed and improved. We have taken organizations through this journey and seen their productivity and employee satisfaction increase. I agree that this is a difficult change to undertake but the rewards are clear. Engagement of all employees is crucial. We find that the change is achievable when the desire is there. It is often driven by a need for improved bottom-line results and/or customer relations and/or staff retention. As well, it sometimes advisable to start at a department level. This is often an easier place to start before moving into full-scale organizational implementation.

I'm interested in other's experiences. Let me know what yours have been.
Thanks,
Michael

Innovation - Creating the Strategic Opportunities

2008-09-30T08:53:00.000-07:00

The teams had worked hard. They brainstormed the innovations, grouped them, formed their teams, identified the benefits and overcome the obstacles. Now they were ready for the last stage of the innovation process. This stage is where some understanding of project management helps. The teams prepared themselves to present their ideas and the process to successfully implement them, to the association's management. However, without some detail regarding how they should be implemented, by whom, with what resources, what budget requirements and within what time frame; it is unlikely the association will be able to take these innovations and move them into reality. This last stage is crucial and often overlooked. Great ideas but they don't go anywhere. Just like many strategic plans, they sit on someone's shelves - rarely to implemented. Some associations with whom I have worked successfully implemented many of the innovations. They have seen positive impacts on attendance, content, etc. Others are still sitting with them, wondering how to increase attendance at their conferences and other events. Not realizing they have the answers. Their members already provided it to them. Please don't let this happen to you. If you're going to use this process, let me know. I'd love to help ensure it has a tremendous, positive impact on you.

Innovation - Overcoming the Obstacles

2008-09-19T08:53:00.001-07:00

The teams identified the benefits of moving forward with their innovations. Realistically, there are barriers or obstacles to implementing these, despite their benefits. These can be as fundamental as budget, history, culture, time, resources, etc. They may be more advanced such as technology, organizational structure, departmental layouts, etc. Regardless, the team brainstormed all of the obstacles and discussed how to overcome most of them. This did take some time. Research was required for some of them. Benchmarking against other organizations was also necessary. This helped to uncover what other organizations had done in similar situations. Once all obstacles were identified the teams discussed and recorded the strategies needed to overcome these barreirs. Now we were ready for the last stage of the innovation process.

Innovation - Beginning the Process

2008-09-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

I've been on the road for awhile but it's time for me to continue my story. As you may recall, the teams labelled each group of ideas, for example, “registration process”, “speakers”, “social”, “receptions”, etc. Then they went to each group and began exploring them in more depth. It is critically important they no process of elimination of any ideas is permitted. Only exact duplicates can be removed.

The teams began to identify and list out the benefits of moving forward with each group of ideas. "What will be the benefit of using the ideas in under the registration process group?" What will be the benefits of the ideas, if implemented, under the speaker group?" etc. If you think for a moment of the greatest inventions of all time you'll probably think of the light bulb, electricity, the phone, the car, etc. Before moving forward with all of the ideas which led to these "group of thoughts", the inventors spent time thinking about the benefits before moving into the next stages of their innovation process.

My next blog will give you the next steps in the innovation process.

Innovation - The Next Steps to Improve Your Conferences

2008-09-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

My last Blog introduced you to the concept of holding an Innovation session for conference attendees focussed on creating the “ideal” conference format. I started the session by asking everyone to brainstorm everything that would happen, that they would be engaged in, that they would experience, etc. that would make it an amazing conference. Each idea was written on post-it notes. One idea per post-it note. No discussion, this is done individually. Then I had them break into teams of 8. Each team posted their notes onto flip chart paper and began the process of combining similar ideas into groups. This process, known as the development of an Affinity Diagram, generated many different groups of ideas in each team. They labelled each group. For example, “registration process”, “speakers”, “social”, “receptions”, etc. My next Blog will discuss the next steps.

Innovation - How to Get it Going at Your Conference

2008-08-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

My last Blog spoke about the need to be more innovative in how conferences are managed. It is very difficult for staff and volunteers to break the mould. It is always easier to introduce small, incremental change. The best place to start on the Innovation Journey is to engage the conference participants. At the American Society for Quality’s World Conference I held two back-to-back concurrent sessions focussed on how to create an “ideal” conference for them. I needed a full morning to do this, hence the need for back-to-back sessions. When published in the conference brochure, it was certainly a different type of session from all of the others. Nevertheless, 150 people showed up. Wow!!! My next Blog will explain how I managed the session.

Innovation at Conferences

2008-08-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

I have spoken at many conferences this year across Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia. The one thing I have found in common in all of them is the “same as last year” formula. Every conference is structured the same. An opening reception, a morning keynote speaker (this is where I am usually positioned), concurrent sessions, lunch, banquet dinner, etc. It is boring. Not the content, the format. It is time for these organizations to think more innovatively about their conferences. I will explain how to do this in subsequent Blogs so stay tuned.

Travelling and Auditing Projects

2008-07-29T13:02:00.000-07:00

I know that this may seem a little unusual a combination for a blog title. I have been auditing projects for sometime now. I am always fascinated to identify the root causes of projects in crisis and then to provide the project manager and team with clear strategies on how to turn their projects around. Having created tremendous, measurable success on many construction, heavy industry and IT projects I was asked to develop a workshop on How to Audit Projects and Provide Risk Assurance. I hadn't really thought about educating others on my process but decided to take up this challenge and develop a workshop.

That was a couple of years ago and since then I have delivered it successfully in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. I'll be leaving in a few weeks to give this workshop in Jakarta on August 25 to 26, 2008. It is very practical. Participants keep telling me how much of an impact it has had on their projects. If you're interested in more information, drop me a line at mstanleigh@bia.ca It'd be great to meet you and see you there. I'd be happy to send you outlines and/or any other information you need.

All the best,

Michael

Providing Project Risk Assurance

2008-07-01T12:12:00.000-07:00

My customers have told me and given us testimonials about how our coaching and training has improved their operational effectiveness. They love our articles and have learned a great deal when hearing my keynote presentations at various industry conferences. They have also suggested that it is time I got going on a Blog so that they could hear, more often, about my insights into what helps organizations to improve their profits, customer experience and staff engagement. So I have listened and here is my first one.

One of our core practice areas at bia™ includes the coaching and training of project managers and their teams. Often, several months later, they bring us back to help manage a project in crisis and/or one that is in a constant state of fire-fighting. After all of the training and coaching, why are they caught in these costly and stressful situations? There are of course many factors but ultimately we find that two major reasons: not using a continuous risk management process and not conducting regular project health checks and audits.

The risk management process ensures that they proactively identify what might go wrong on their project and what they can do to reduce its likelihood or manage it, should it occur. On-going health checks and project audits (often by a 3rd party such as Business Improvement Architects) ensures that they understand the factors which might be preventing success and identifying the root causes so that the project can be brought back on track. It provides the project manager and team with a list of lessons learned to date.

Your call to action is simple: Understand and use a Risk Management Process and Conduct regular (every 6 months) project health checks. I have free, in-depth articles on these subjects at http://www.bia.ca/articles/UndertakingaSuccessfulProjectAudit.htm and http://www.bia.ca/articles/rm-risk-management.htm

Thanks,

Michael

mstanleigh@bia.ca