Why Do Performance Measurement Tools Work?

As a business owner, manager, quality professional or entrepreneur, performance measurement must be part of your basic business plan for improvement and continued success. A performance measurement tool allows you to establish minimum and great expectation levels against the goals set for individuals and organizations. A good set measurement tools provides a visual representation of current performance levels against a specific set of goals. There are a number of good tools you can select from, investigate what fits into your business or individual preference, and then get started. What you will find very positive after tool deployment and implementation, is the ability to communicate your priorities clearly. Additionally, visually represented data in a chart or graph is easy to explain, easy to understand, and it keeps people focused. Display the charts or graphs in a place that prompts people to stop and look and can even fosters discussion. Allow enough room around the display for group discussions and review.

A few examples of performance measurement tools are: Pareto Chart, Run Chart, and Histogram, Cause and Effect Diagram, Cycle Time studies or packaged SPC programs. The point is there are a number of tools available for your situation and implementation. If you have questions about application or usage of these tools, seek out quality professionals in your organization or go on-line and search for training and or product demonstrations. There are quit a few good reference web sites providing free information as well as links to professional quality organizations such as the American Society for Quality.

After you get your goals understood, measurement tools up and running, take the next step towards organizational communication and performance improvement by utilizing a scorecard or summary performance matrix. The scorecard is a simple summary matrix identifying the overall key business goals and their respective performance indices. A lot of people refer to these performance matrixes as stop light charts, because of the incorporation of the colors red, green and yellow. If you incorporate red (poor), green (good) and yellow (marginal) highlights, the focus of resources can be deployed to understand and correct the poorer performing indices.

The flexibility of the scorecard matrix allows alignment and deployment down through as many levels an organization as you see fit. The scorecard matrix allows integration of many indices vertically to the top company priorities. Normally, companies look at three general categories; financial, quality and customer satisfaction. Pick what your key business performance goals, identify how to measure, understand the data and reward the successes.

My check and balance before starting a performance measurement activity is simply asking: Am I sure this activity is meaningful and measurable? Good luck in reaching your goals and in continuously trying to find ways to continuously improve.

Ten Tips on Surviving Reorganization

How do we survive the ever-changing dynamics of the workplace related to frequent leadership changes and personnel moves? Here are my basic tips for survival. There was a time in the not so distant past, that staying with an organization too long was a negative mark on your resume. I honestly do not believe you need to be concerned about this today. Have you noticed personnel and leadership changes are occurring on 18 to 24 month cycles. Look at what has happened recently in Washington D.C..
Ok, what should you do to prepare yourself?
1.Understand a change in leadership is out of your control, accept it.
2.Keep an open mind to this change and be flexible.
3.Establish a clear and concise understanding of your job that you can articulate to someone by identifying critical tasks in a clear manner.
4.Be able to relate your job and associated activities the overall business. If you can not articulate and relate the critical points of your job to the business, stop and complete this review now. Seek out assistance if this becomes challenging.
5.Get your goals and performance measurement statistics up to date. Look back at your most recent personnel performance review document. Having this baseline of previously approved goals can benefit you when and if questioned on why you are currently involved in something the new manager does not understand or think is important.
6.Figure out a way to associate your job function and tasks performance to the overall organizational goals and promote the benefits you provide.
7.You may want have available to list tactical (daily or repetitive) activities and also strategic (long term) activities.
8.Do not be afraid to discuss issues or problems you are currently addressing id called upon. This is not about whining, but showing you have the ability to be a problem solver.
9.If you don't like the job or direction of the company after the change, seek out alternatives internally or outside the company.
10.Maintain your network of professional contacts, even if you have not spoken to some of them recently, do so soon.

I have experienced 2 new company presidents, 3 new direct managers and multiple peer level personnel re-shuffling within the last 14 months myself. Prepare yourself for change, do not let change overwhelm or stress you out. Above all, take control of the aspects of your job that are with in your span of control. Adopt the "it's about personal survival" attitude.

Does Your Judgement Process Involve Intuition?

This may sound like an odd topic to discuss, but I believe a large part of your decision making process is intuitive (feeling). Let me try to explain this relationship by defining two words; Intuitive and Feeling.

Intuitive: 1.spontaneously derived from or prompted by a natural tendency. 2. obtained through intuition rather than from reasoning or observation
Feeling 1.physical sensation derived from one of several physical senses (touch, smell, sight, taste and hearing).
How does this information relate to our judgement process? We like to believe the outcome of our decisions is based on three premises; fact, observation and experience. I think there is a fourth called intuition, or intuitive feeling. Think about your decision process and how you arrive at the decision point. I think you will agree, there is a lot of intuition (gut feeling) we tend categorize as experience. One example everyday situation is related to the hiring decision process occurring everyday. As a hiring manager, you are required to choose future employees based on a 3-5 minute interview process and a data sheet provided to you by the applicant. Tell me they this is not a process of making a decision based on first impressions and intuitive feelings with a little bit of data presented.

My point is this. Do not disregard your intuition, rather use it to your advantage and rely on it. Certainly there will be times when you make a "wrong" decision, but this is still better than no decision at all. Evaluate your decision making process, understand what you require in the way of information and trust your intuition. Ask people you respect about their decision making process. I believe this self evaluation can be one of the most beneficial areas to explore. The result should assist you in confidently making decisions when confronted by complex or difficult situations. Learn from wrong decisions, understand them and accept the consequences. You will make many more correct decisions than poor ones on your journey towards success.

Clothes Make a First Impression

How many times have you been out in the workplace and caught a glimpse of somebody who is completely underdressed for the situation. This not only happens at work, it can also be a major problem in social settings as well. Before you leave your house you need to ask yourself where you are going, who you are going to be seeing, and if what you have on will be comparable to your company. So in other words, if you are going on a job interview you have to be aware that everyone else will have suits on, and that in order to make the best possible impression you will also need to be dressed up to their level. This problem also occurs a lot in everyday social settings. I am sure on more than one occasion you have went out to a fancy restaurant dressed to the nines just to sit down next to somebody who has on a pair of jeans and a sweat shirt.

The best way to combat this problem is by finding out in advance what you should wear in order to make the best possible impression, and to fit in with the rest of the crowd. If you are going on a job interview it is usually a given that you should show up in a suit. The only time that you would not do this is if you were specifically instructed not to; and that happens one time out of a million. On the other hand, if you are going out into a social setting there are many tips that you can take in order to ensure that you are dressed appropriately. First off, if you are going to a restaurant you can call ahead and ask if they have a dress code. If they do you will know exactly what to wear. If they do not it is more than likely a casual setting so you can get away with dressing down from a suit. Also, you may want to ask the people you are going to be going out with what they are wearing. If your company is going to be wearing a suit you will most definitely want to do the same. This will ensure that you do not stick out like a sore thumb. It will also make you feel more comfortable throughout the experience.

Clothes are a very important factor in making a good impression on people. If you meet somebody looking good you will more than likely feel good about yourself as well. This will show through in your conversation that allows you to better connect with your company. Remember to check your clothes every time you leave your house, people do look!

Definition of Leadership

I challenge you to ask five different people what the definition of leadership is and see what they say. Look up the definition in the dictionary. Network with people, you know a leader when you meet them. Start formulating your leadership definition and by default style. All of us have even experienced leadership in different situations, starting when we were very young. Think back on examples of leadership you have experience at various stages of your life and see if there is a common trait that appealed to you. Start your thought process were ever you like in your life, maybe as a kid in school. Think back, there was just something about certain people that made you follow them; want to be part of the group. Maybe a person on an athletic team you were part of, even look your friends and peer group.

As you go forward and grow in experience, take notes on what you like and don't like in certain leadership styles. I'm not about to pick a particular style for you, you need to develop you own. I will tell you what I believe needs to be in a key word in your definition of leadership; Trust. Having people trust in you allows opportunities to come your way and facilitates your continued growth and eventual success. Get started, and best of Luck!

Avoid Constant Complainers

Is there somebody at your place of work, or a friend of yours that does nothing but complain? Does this start to get on your nerves so much that you cannot stand to be around the person? Do you feel like there is no way to fix this person? If you answered yes to this question you do have a way out. Simply avoid the person that is complaining. Even though you do not want to alienate anybody, you have to keep your best interests in mind as well. And by constantly being around somebody who does nothing but complain, you are going to soon find yourself falling into the same trap. People who complain do so for a reason. And most of the times they would love for somebody to tell them that they are right, and then join in on the bashing. But you do not want to bring yourself down to their level.

People that complain constantly are going to eventually bring you down. By avoiding these people you will be able to stay in a positive frame of mind that will help you to lead a meaningful and successful life. More times than not, the people that are complaining are really going on and on about nothing. If they would take the time to stop and listen to themselves they would find out that if they directed their energy towards something worth while that they would be able to achieve a high level of success.

Before phasing anybody out of your life for complaining too much, you will want to take the time to try and remedy the problem. Sit down with the person and let them know that they are bothering you with their constant complaints. Many times people do not even realize what they are doing. By bringing the problem to their attention they may be able to cut out the problem without causing a fuss. If the person becomes defensive, and claims that they do not complain too much you will want to site specific examples. Explain to them that you see where they are coming from, but that there are also better ways of handling the situation. Often times if somebody can see another point of view they will be able to better tackle the task at hand. If nothing seems to work simply explain that you have had enough, and would like to take some time off. In many instances a person will see the light after a couple of people begin to avoid them.

You do not need habitual complainers in your life. They will only bring you down to their level, and keep you from achieving the goals that you have set.

Take a Leadership Role

Take a Leadership Role

If you recognize there is a situation at your company that is headed down the wrong path, step up and offer to take the lead to correct it. Somebody needs to right the ship, consider your options and step up and offer to take a leadership role. This is often a tough position for anybody to be in, especially if your company has been struggling with this problem for a while. Nobody wants to be in charge of a situation without any apparent upside or a portion of the company is floundering. You need to get over these fears, and tell yourself that you can step up and makes things right. The situation may be rough at the beginning, but you will be continuously energized when the situation starts to turn around and recognition follows.

There are a few strategic items to keep in mind before you jump in and decide that you want to "run the show". First off, you will probably need to formulate and review your proposed leadership role with your manager to gain his or her buy in. Keep the proposal simple by answering; Why I'm the right person for this position 5 times. Upon completion of the 5 Why technique, you are now prepared for any questions or concerns that might be brought forward. You will want to explain the situation to manager, and let them know that if given the chance, you will be fully committed to being successful and willing to do just about whatever it takes to help out.

At this point the decision is out of your hands. Many times you will be told to brainstorm some ideas, come back and talk them over. Other times, you may not be right for the situation and the offer to help may not be wanted. This is not because you are not appreciated, but the timing may not be right. Remember, if you do not ask or show your willingness, you may be overlooked for the next opportunity, don't give up. It is better to express your interest as taking over as a leader, instead of sitting in the back and waiting until somebody asks. Many times when people wait, somebody else ends up taking over, and you are left in the dust.

Taking a leadership role over any project, group or organization is a great undertaking. You will have a whole new set of responsibilities put on your shoulders, as well as many new problems that you have never seen before. But, if you want to be leader, you must go after it. Be honest, take responsibility for wrong and right decisions, and do not be afraid to ask for assistance from support organizations. Good Luck, you will never know unless you try!

Dream Big!

Everybody, regardless of who you are, has a dream that they want to accomplish in life. No matter what it is you are working towards reaching that final goal, that final dream, that is going to make your life complete. But make sure that before you set out and continue striving to reach your dream that it is something that you really want. Remember, if this is your life long goal you want it to be something huge; not just something that you can reach easily and then say that you have done everything possible in life.

Dreaming big is one of the greatest things you can do in life. If you are an author do not set your biggest goal to simply publish a book. Set your life long dream as reaching the best seller list in the New York Times. If you want to be a great salesman do not simply settle for reaching number one at your branch. Set your sites on the entire country. This way when you finally reach your big dream you will really feel like you accomplished the greatest thing in the world. You want to be able to look back when you are finally done and see how far you have come. Nobody wants to look back and say, "I reached my dream, but I could have done so much better."

So when you are setting your setting goals you will want to look at the big picture. By simply looking at your life as it is you will not be able to see what lies ahead of you. Again, if you are an author you cannot simply look at what this year is going to bring. You need to dig deeper and see where you want your life to go from this point on. This way you will be able to determine where you want to end up when all is said and done.

Dreaming big is something that everybody should do. All too often you come across people who have small goals in life and nothing more. Of course there is nothing wrong with setting smaller goals, but you want to make sure that they will go towards helping you reach your final dream.

If you are having a hard time setting goals try to speak with other people for inspiration. If you want to write a best selling book, talk to people that have done this. They will be able to tell you what it will take to reach your goal, and also what you should avoid along the way. Remember, there is no shame in asking for help. In fact, it often pays off to be able to bounce your ideas off of other people. Dream big, and shoot for the stars!