| On a regular basis, you should plan to have project/program meetings with team leaders who are responsible for specific tasks and deliverables. This way, you can ensure that progress is happening according to plan and that risks are proactively managed.
Additionally, you should have a standing meeting with your main sponsor and input/decision-making meetings with your other sponsors, as needed. Again, this will help you manage expectations and remove obstacles from your path. |
 |
What if we were to apply the practice of corporate succession planning to our political leadership system? Every Fortune 500 company in the U.S. has a documented succession plan that frequently covers everyone from the CEO down to Director-level positions. So, why would we leave what are some of the potentially most powerful jobs on the planet to chance?
If we applied succession planning to our political electoral system in the same manner as companies apply it to their leadership positions, then we would look for our next generation of President / Vice President candidates to come from Governor positions in the 5 – 10 states with the biggest economies or populations. The reason is that Governor positions are the jobs that most closely match the responsibilities of the President and VP. From there, we could make a logical chain of other job experiences that would prepare someone for higher positions. Each political party would look to "groom" an identified line of successors to take on the next level position, helping the potential successor gain the experiences needed to be successful at the next higher level.
While we're at it, I would also suggest that the "debates" not only cover the hypothetical "what would you do" questions to ascertain the candidate's position on a topic, but also ask them for examples of when they have had to deal with similar problems in their past. This would apply the concepts of behavioral interviewing to candidate vetting.
Of course, I'm not suggesting that our system be altered legally to prevent anyone from running for any position; that's the beauty of our democracy. However, I am advocating that our major political parties think about how they can best prepare their top candidates for the top jobs in our country. So, how about it Tim Kaine and Michael Steele? Call us when you're ready; we're happy to help!
Do you ever feel like you need an interpreter to keep up with the lingo in your office? Have you ever been in a conversation, pretending to understand what was just discussed, only to rush back to Google after the meeting to find out what the heck was going on?
If so, you’re not alone. Over the past 10 years, Webster’s has recognized thousands of new words, many having to do with technology or corporate-related trends. As long as no one calls me ’404′ I’ll be fine!
.
So here’s a few phrases that I’ve heard recently:
.
What corporate speak have you heard?
|
|
|
|
Twitter is incredibly popular, but is it incredibly valuable?
I recently read that, like so many other eCommerce start-ups, Twitter is struggling to determine how it will turn a profit. Yet, Twitter’s popularity has taken off over the past year. The number of unique visitors to Twitter has increased a whopping 1448% in the past 12 months!
To put Twitter’s growth in perspective, the most popular social networking site, Facebook, has increased unique visitors by 190% over the last year.
Not bad, but Twitter has a lot to tweet about, and I suspect it owes a lot of its new found popularity to Barack Obama. The Obama campaign really showed the internet world how to capture value from Twitter. They kept loyal followers (and the other team) informed of their every move. The campaign worked to create an army of followers- feeling like they were "in the know," and thus, inspired them to become an army of volunteers and campaign contributors.
However, it seems that now everyone is tweeting about everything…what they had for breakfast that day or what show they just finished watching on TV. These tweeters may be missing out on the real potential of Twitter. What people have failed to grasp is that the power of this tool is in creating a sense of "I’m in the know on something really cool."
Companies like Dell will set the tone for how savvy Tweeters will win the day, while others like Oprah (who I usually love) are missing the boat.
Why? Because DellOutlet uses Twitter for things like letting its followers in on special deals designed just for them, while Oprah is just Tweeting things like the latest celebrity she hung out with.
To the Dells of the world, I say, Tweet on. To everyone else: please spare me the details of your last visit to the loo… that’s really not something I want to be "in the know" on! |
|
| It is very important to track and manage risks associated with your project/program. By keeping a risk log that all project members can access, assigning ownership over risk mitigations and reviewing the risk log regularly, you can minimize the risks to your success. Additionally, alerting key sponsors early to high risk factors will enable them to work with you to deal with them.
|
 |
How Much Detail Do I Need In Order To Effectively Manage My Project/Program?
 |
The amount of detail you need to effectively manage your project/program depends on the nature and complexity of your project/program. For larger, complex change efforts, you’ll likely need more detail in terms of time tracking and budget forecasts because several small variances in time or dollars can add up to very large amounts quickly. Therefore, you should set up a weekly time tracking capability that allows team members to enter and forecast their actual hours by task. Additionally, have each team complete a status report and enter their risks into a risk log so that they can be reviewed weekly. |
 |
A very efficient approach to organization design is the workshop approach. Here, a small core team develops a series of workshops around every step in the organization design process. They then invite key stakeholders to actively participate in the sessions. The meetings are highly interactive because they are intended to draw out detailed data required to make good decisions. At certain points, the team might take the outputs of those sessions and return with recommendations for the larger group to modify. Clearly, the team will have to work with some management directives where they have no design authority. However, if these are clearly communicated upfront, the organization design output can be accomplished quickly and effectively. |
| The word wiki is a shorter form of “wiki wiki” which is from the native language of Hawaii (Hawaiian), where it is commonly used as an adjective to denote something “quick” or “fast.”We use our wiki to easily add, remove, or otherwise edit all content. What content? Our project management methodology, our change management methodology, and our internal processes. Take a look at this brief video for a great introduction. |
|
| Thanks to Lee LeFever at CommonCraft.com for a great Video | |
|
|
The ultimate test of effective communications is observable, measurable results. For example, if you sent out a communication asking employees to register for an upcoming training event, you can judge its effectiveness by the response rate. Or, if you’re posting information on your company’s intranet, you can count the number of times it’s been accessed and you can collect real-time feedback from employees on the site regarding its usefulness. Another way to gauge effectiveness is to conduct a focus group, where you can quiz the participants on their knowledge of the change program and get their feedback to specific communication messages and vehicles. |
 |
Always make sure you:
|
0
.jpg)
Back to top