The Art of Communication...

There is a lot to be said when it comes to the art of communication and verbal jousting.  Having a background in training and psychotherapy has made the importance of this subject quite clear.  Concise communication is not just putting your point across, but also the art of listening. This is our tool and gateway to many things, from business to healthy and happy relationships.

Proper communication makes arguments and “broken phone” conversations a thing of the past.  The one who uses this tool effectively knows how to use logic and reasoning to calm situations, without having to blame anyone.  Just look around you. How many of us today are into the blame game to clear our own name, and blame it on someone else? What causes this, is the lack of knowledge in how to properly communicate without accusing. 

Even though one of the most popular and talked-about subjects, few of us know how to really communicate. I have seen people who are unable to speak, but they are wonderful communicators.

Amongst all curriculum at school, and understanding that communication is of utmost importance and vital to our future lives, the topic is not properly discussed or taught during the school years.

Communication involves a transmitter – this is the person sending the message; and a receiver – this is the person receiving the message. There is of course the “message” element – this is information of some form; and noise, which is anything that interferes with the information being transmitted to the mind of the receiver.

Other components include: feedback, which happens consistently in a verbal and non-verbal fashion during a conversation; replication – duplication of the same image in the receiver’s mind -  which is hoped for but perhaps is more of ideal than achievement; and last but not least, understanding – a guesstimate of what the message means.

Excellent communication is the ability of the sender to replicate the message in the receiver’s mind without clouding the matter with irrelevant chatter. Also it is the responsibility of the receiver to clarify any communication that in his/her mind is not properly communicated.  The transmitter, however, accepts the responsibility for the end results of the communication.  This means the transmitter needs to make sure to speak in terms that the receiver comprehends.

All of this is of course of no significance if a person is uncomfortable in the communication process to begin with. This can happen at times of low self-confidence or in occasions where the transmitter is trying to put the blame on someone for misunderstanding, or they might have a stage fright of whom they are transmitting the message to and their perception of the power or hierarchy.

So to summarize the whole thing, the most effective communicators:

·         Bond and relate – meaning they do not just relay the message they came to relay or prove; they are dynamic and know what this particular audience is looking for and when they will be losing them intellectually and emotionally. They make you feel like you are the only person in the world.

·         Involve – not only they initiate the conversation, but they drive it, give it direction, and encourage others to take part.

·         Neutralize – they are able to lower the defenses of the receiver. This does not make them manipulative, but genuine, self-confident, humble and authentic.

·         Focus – they organize their communication; carefully structure the stories to be delivered to hold the receiver’s interest and drive their point home.

·         Clarify – they simplify complex subjects without being patronizing.

·         Emphasize – they understand the span of attention and they artfully reinforce the key points at certain intervals. This needs to happen without coming off as redundant.

Good luck in all your communications.

SIP and Service Management

Proper Service Level Management is a continual process that needs being reviewed and the quality of the services offered, measured.  The review is usually based on impartial and quantifiable constraints drawn from past experience, SLAs in place and the drawing up of the Service Catalogue.

The review process should not be limited to those breached SLAs, although clearly, in such cases it is essential, its aim should be to improve the quality of service and make it more uniform.

The review outcome should be a Service Improvement Process (SIP), taking into account factors like:

 

·         IT problems and their root cause;

·         New customer/client requirements;

·         Technology advancements;

·         Service Level fulfilment;

·         Real cost of service evaluation;

·         Consequences of possible service quality degradation on client organizational structure;

·         Personnel’s performance and skill evaluation;

·         Possible reallocation of resources;

·         Operational Level Agreements and Underpinning contract compliance;

·         Client perception management;

·         Additional user training sessions.

 

The SIP is pretty much the baseline document used in negotiation and the renewal of the SLA with the customer and it should be established as the reference document for the management of other IT processes such as Change Management, Problem Management, etc.

 

Hope this has been helpful.

Are you a good people-Manager?

In all the years of experience behind me, I have had managers that I have looked up to and the ones that came across weak and I felt as if they could not do a thing for their employees.  The managers I looked up to, all seemed to share traits that the others did not have.  Here is a list I have compiled of their personas:

·         They leave their mood swings back in their private lives the minute they step into work environment.

·         They take criticism and constructive feedback in a professional manner, even if it involves a close family member or a friend that reports to them.

·         They show genuine sincerity in wanting the best for you.  They are not biased and give you the proper advice for career advancement, even if they know they might lose you to someone else.

·         They trust the employees and judge them on the deliverables as opposed to where they were when they achieved it (home, office….).

·         They understand that an employee can be quite productive anywhere and not just within the confines of a cubicle.

·         They defend your rights, if you are ever wrongfully accused.

·         You see them take pleasure in helping others to do their best work and they measure their own success according to that.

·         They manage everyone as individuals and not all the same.

·         They do understand the fact that even if their title gives them the upper-hand and a bit of a power, their intelligence and integrity is what will provide them with the influence, which is priceless.

·         Their feedback is sincere, constructive, and precise; so that everyone knows where they stand and they are not in for a surprise.  In the meantime the feedback is 360 degrees. Meaning they take feedback from employees in their strengths and weaknesses constructively and try to improve themselves.  They understand that being a manager does not place them at the very top of the food chain and there is always room for improvement.

·         They praise the employees, formally and informally on a regular basis to let them know they are doing a good work and they count and have an impact.

·         The way they respond to mistakes and issues, makes the employee feel safe to be able to bring bad news to them when necessary.

·         They communicate their goals and plans of action clearly, in a way that every member of the team is quite clear on how they are involved and what they need to do to achieve the goal.

·         They hire people who are smarter than they are, and in the meantime are confident enough not to be intimidated by their level expertise.

·         They allow their staff to own an idea and an initiative without being micro managed.

·         They are continuously learning and always improving their knowledge and skill levels.

·         They are involved in what you do and they show compassion.

·         They are good listeners.

·         They are open-minded and hold an open door policy.

·         They know how to delegate and trust and be hands-off.

If you have the points I have described here, you can be certain that there are many out there that after years of working with you, anytime the word “Great Boss” is heard, you are the first on their mind.  I know I have certainly a few.

 

Strategic Planning

It is not enough to simply have a great idea, product or service and then keep our fingers crossed that success will find its way to us. Success is built around a vision and a mission.

Most people dread the thought of strategic planning and the minute they hear it, nausea sets in. They need to know that this can be easy and fun.  As much as Strategic planning is disliked, everyone knows its critical nature in planning long term success.  

First we need to grasp our company’s big picture.  Come in terms with how we would like to be viewed in the future by the world around us. Our vision does not even have to be achievable.  It is an ideal. A bar set so high that motivates every member of the company to act in that direction. Our vision then will determine our mission.  Our mission statement describes the reason our company exists. It also connects us from where we are to where we want to be in the future. Our mission statement will need to be clear, direct and simple. Something that all our employees can recite any time they are asked.

Next we will be setting our goals.  When we set a goal, we are taking a step in turning what is invisible to visible.  This should be something that is quantifiable and attainable.  At this time we will be scanning our environment by doing a SWOT analysis and summarizing the results of finding.

Now that we have our goal set, our mission statement ready and understand the environment better, we need to figure out “how” we are going to go about this. The key to develop a successful strategic plan is to be realistic and honest.

 

This is when we find out, what avenues are open to us, in achieving our goals.  What are the next steps? What resources we need? The RACI and the timeline.

Sometimes, we are overwhelmed by the apparently complex nature of the strategic planning process. The bottom line is to keep it as simple as possible.

Good luck to you all.

Business Process Improvement

If you are part of an organization, you must follow dozens of processes on a daily basis.  You take the same steps to generate a report, deal with a complaint, place a service request, take care of an incident, etc.

I am sure that there have been times that you have come across an inefficient process by running into a wrong report, unhappy clients, stressed out colleagues, increased costs, missed deadlines, and these are only few of the problems that a dysfunctional process can bring about.

That's exactly why it's so vital to improve processes when they are not working optimally. A process can be formal or informal. A formal process is also known as a procedure and is documented with detailed steps.  These kinds of processes are predominantly important when there are safety-related, legal or financial reasons for following specific steps.

Informal processes are a lot likely to be the ones you have created, or have been verbally handed down, and it may not have been written down.  Both processes have one thing in common: they're designed to structure the way that you and your team work.  When they are followed properly, there are fewer delays and errors, there is less duplication of efforts and there are more happy clients and stakeholders.

One method that has worked throughout my years of experience is the incremental process change that is aimed to improve what is already in place. Here are the steps that are taken through this method:

1.     Take a look at where you are in a process and where you like to be.  What is it that needs to improve before you get there?  Document, diagram, use any tools available to see the process visually. Explore each step and phase you are mapping in detail and specify the sub-levels and steps that need to be taken.  Consult the people in the organization that use the process regularly, to avoid overlooking anything important.

2.     Analyze your document and diagrams to investigate the problems within the process.  Things like: where are the bottlenecks? What made the costs go up? Which processes are least efficient? Where do clients or employees are most frustrated? Etc… Do a Root Cause Analysis, Cause and Effect Analysis or the 5 whys to find the origins of the issue.  Talk to those who are affected by this.  What do they think is wrong? How would they improve it? This will all give you the entire informational arsenal you need to tackle the issue in a more informed and efficient way.

3.     Now it would become the time to redesign the process and get rid of the problems that you have identified. It is always best to include those who are directly involved or affected with the process.  They would be more likely to buy into new processes if they are in this with you from the early stages. Of course you need to make sure that to begin with, they understand the process and what it meant to do.  Brainstorm, and narrow down the list of your possible solutions. Make sure not to forget impact and risk analysis of the new process you are thinking of implementing, so to understand the full consequence of the proposed idea. Update your process diagrams as things change.

4.     Secure the resources you need to proceed with the implementation of the new process.

5.     It is more than likely that by improving the process, you will be applying some changes to the existing systems.  In this you may need some new-hires or new software, etc.  The rollout of the process improvement, dependent on its size could prove to be a project on its own.   

6.     After the rollout, a close monitoring of the whole thing is needed in the upcoming weeks and probably months to make sure that everything is as per expectation. This also allows for the on-the-fly tweaks that need to happen. Make sure to ask everyone involved their opinion of how this is working.

Best of luck in your endeavours.

Hire or Contract?

Right off the bat, let me tell you that I am not starting off a war on this topic…..LOL…. but just want to point out what are the thoughts and concerns as the best way to choose, if you are in the decision mode.

So in this article I am aiming to have a quick look at hiring an employee vs. a contractor. When you hire an employee, you have control over that hire – in things like: behaviour, workload, tasks, the order in which the tasks take place, etc… You also pay them a salary, so that means creating accounts and withholding taxes, CPP, EI, and filing the taxes along with benefits and the rise in those costs and so on. This actually is a costly business considering it takes time and expertise to accomplish this all, as well as money.

Contractors in general cost less. A contractor does whatever they are assigned to, issues an Invoice, and then that’s it…there are no employer tasks like taxes, benefits, sick-days, vacation, and training costs. No worries about overtime or retirement or pension costs.

So which one to choose? Well it really depends. What is your situation at hand?

• If you have an ongoing project that needs continual work with no conclusive end date then you may need to hire an employee unless the work requires high skills, knowledge and no direction from you.
• If you have a task list that includes what can be done remotely and if so then a contractor is the way to go for sure. This will free up valuable company funds that will not be spent on cubicles and utilities and other operational costs. Mind you, this can also be the way to go with your full-time employees, as more and more of Global Organizations are realizing and adhering to.
• If you’ve ever had to fire or package an employee for any reason, you know how painful that can be for both the employee and the employer. When it comes to contractors you simply need to cease the workflow.
• Although you usually have to pay more per hour, you will most likely save money overall in hiring a contractor, since it is not needed to pay them any benefits and do not need to commit to a salary.
• You have greater tractability with an independent contractor. When you have an employee that doesn’t work out, you may need to fire or package them, which can be a dragging, long and arduous experience.
• You can contract the right person for the task at hand, with a specialized service. They often come with many years of experience, so you don’t need to train them. Also due to the fact that they have dealt with a variety of situations, they have a shorter span of learning curve.
• Employees have a wide array of rights under many laws, and as such, a variety of legal claims they can potentially bring against their employers for violating those rights. Because contractors are independent businesspeople, they are not protected by many of these laws. Employees can and may be able to sue their employers for wrongful termination. Contractors, however, cannot bring this type of lawsuit to the table.

Hope this has been helpful….

Business Process Management

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” - -- Winston Churchill

Business Process Management (BPM) is about managing change to improve business processes, in which it works hand-in-hand with Organizational Change Management (OCM). BPM offers a single standard in taking care of: Process Modeling, Simulation, Workflow, Enterprise Application Integration (EAI), and Business-to-Business (B2B) integration.

Even though the terminology might sound new, all the above-mentioned processes have been around for decades. Business Process Management however, offers a standard for a complete process lifecycle in controlling and guiding the design and execution of business processes. One cannot manage a change process in an ad-hoc manner. Business modelling and execution language standards are much in need, during an organizational change.

In modelling a business process flow, we simply model the events that transpire to start a process, the processes that get executed, and the end results of the process flow. The process flow of course can contain sub-processes.

As you continue down the path of business analysis, you can identify accountabilities and responsibilities, as well as KPIs. For BPM to achieve the set KPIs, the value provided for the client/customer as to be critical and primary. Successfully using BPM usually involves a few steps to be taken:

• Focusing and organizing the process around outcomes not tasks, so not to be derailed from the main objective.
• Being proactive in correcting and improving processes, through deployment of Continual Service/Process Improvement, before theoretically automating them.
• Establishing processes, as well as communication of the processes and assigning ownership to ascertain the quality and integrity of the work.
• Standardization of all processes across the enterprise so they can be more readily understood and managed, errors reduced, and risks alleviated.
• Enabling and encouraging continuous change so the improvements can applied over time.
• Improving existing processes.
• BPM and OCM are not a one-time exercise. Both should be the core of Continual Service Improvement (CSI) initiative, involved in a continuous evaluation of the processes and included in taking actions to improve the total flow and efficiency of processes.