Month: April 2010

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10 Myths of Management and Organizational Consulting – Part 2

A manager talking to an employee

In Part 1, we reviewed myths 1-5. In this Part 2, we review myths 6-10.

6. Myth That All Consultants See the Same Problem the Same Way

Each consultant brings his or her own particular view, or “lens,” through which they view organizations. Also each has his or her particular biases and assumptions about how organizations should operate. The unique nature of each consultant often results in a unique perspective on problems and the approaches to solving those problems, as well.

7. Myth That There Is One Way to Solve Each Problem

Organizational change is a complex and dynamic process. Each organization is highly unique, depending on the nature of its environment, products and services, leadership, age and size. That is why there are no “cookie cutter” or one-size-fits-all solutions that work for every problem in all organizations. Similarly, experts in organizational and management development have realized that there is no one perfect way to lead, manage or change organizations.

8. Myth of Best Practices

Best practices are activities associated with organizations that are recognized as high-performing. Performance is the achievement of results and best practices are activities that indicate a high likelihood of achieving those results. The practices often become standards by which we measure if an organization is effective or not. Many of the standard management practices that we mention as capacity building activities are forms of best practices. For example, to discern if an organization is high-performing, we investigate whether and how the organization is conducting Board development, strategic planning, financial management or marketing. However, research suggests that the presence of best practices alone is insufficient to guarantee organizational effectiveness. Of more importance is how those practices are applied. The application should be in accordance with the unique nature and needs of the organization and should maintain continued focus on successfully serving specific needs in the community.

9. Myth of the “Isolated Solution”

Many consulting projects focus on one aspect of an organization, for example, financial management, team building or marketing. It is not uncommon that shortly after a project is completed, the client realizes that another major and related problem has arisen in the organization. Your client might contact you to report that your first “solution” did not take care of all related problems in the organization. In this case, your client is displeased.

A familiar example of this problem occurs when an organization hires a financial analyst to somehow generate more revenue for the organization. However, if the organization does not have a strong Strategic Plan, the analysis might not be successful. The organization might end up hiring a strategic planning facilitator. However, if the Board of Directors and top leadership is not ready for strategic planning, the Strategic Plan might not be strategic or get implemented at all.

10. Myth of the “Final” Project Plan

Usually, after your first meeting with your client, you develop a written proposal that includes a project plan that specifies the goals of the project and the activities that must be conducted to achieve those goals. Often, you are hired based on your client’s perception of the quality of your project plan. However, in the vast majority of successful projects, the initial project plan is changed as you and your client work together to address the issues in your client’s organization. An experienced consultant learns to present the project plan as preliminary in nature and open to change. The consultant helps the client to realize that plans often change and that change is natural.

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For more resources, see the Library topics Consulting and Organizational Development.

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Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD – Authenticity Consulting, LLC – 800-971-2250
Read my weekly blogs: Boards, Consulting and OD, Nonprofits and Strategic Planning.

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Welcome to the Customer Service blog!

A young customer service worker

I’m Barb Lyon and I’m the host of this blog. You can read more about me next to my picture in the sidebar. This blog will be about various aspects of customer service, will focus especially on practical tips and tools, and will include posts from guest writers. You can learn more about this blog by clicking on the About link just under the header.

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Evaluation: Running Training Like a Business

Persons-going-through-charts-in-calculating-ROI

Evaluation – not everyone’s favorite topic but it is a necessary “evil” especially if we as trainers are running our programs like a business. What do I mean by this? Well with this lovely economic environment we are currently in, we all know that soft-skills training departments are the first to make cuts or lay offs (IT trainers not so much, they have the “techies” and updates to help)…I regress… Managers and CEO’s as we all know look at the bottom-line and if training departments do not produce results then bye bye training department.

We all know about Kirkpatrick’s 4 levels of evaluation right! Well let’s add one more level RETURN ON INVESTMENT or ROI this part of an evaluation program is often left out, not thought of as important or just not done because training departments don’t know how or it’s time consuming – but for what ever reason training departments often leave this critical piece of evaluation out. We should always do an ROI – then when the big guys come and look at our evaluation of training then we can show them that the rate of return was high enough to justify our program. CEO’s and managers understand ROI and can easily see how effective the program is or isn’t and if the ROI is high enough then it the TD is usually safe. Doing the 5 levels rather than 4 levels shows that we as trainers are accountable for a profit or at least a high rate of return on the companies investment. It shows we care to run our departments like a business. We are setting a good example of being responsible for our programs.

Friday I will give some tips on calculating ROI and show how simple it can be…

Remember comments, concerns and questions are always welcome.

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For more resources about training, see the Training library.

– Looking for an expert in training and development or human performance technology?
– Contact me: Leigh Dudley – Linkedin – 248-349-2881
– Read my blog: Training and Development

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Leadership Defined

The word "Leadership" written on a blackboard

Greetings

The plan is to dialogue this week about how leadership is, or might be defined. There are hundreds of definitions of leadership and this is not an attempt to come to a consensus on a definition. The hope is to get readers to reflect on what they believe about leadership. It is also an attempt to give blog participants a general sense of how certain “experts” are describing leadership, in the hope that you may come to your own definition, which can then be used to guide your work. What is leadership? Some view leadership as a series of specific traits or characteristics. Others see it as comprised of certain skills and knowledge. And some, me included, think of leadership as a process. This view of leadership, as a process, places an emphasis on social interaction and relationship. This is the idea that leadership is a type of relationship, one that typically includes influencing others in a certain direction. This leads to my current working definition of leadership: Leadership is a relationship that involves the mobilizing, influencing, and guiding of others toward desired goals. This definition does not assume that the goals are shared or even explicit. The word desire simply means that someone in the relationship, perhaps just the person in a leadership role, wants a particular outcome. The following are some definitions that have a bias toward leadership as a process:

  • “Leadership is a process of giving purpose (meaningful direction) to collective effort, and causing willing effort to be expended to achieve purpose.” (Jacobs & Jaques)
  • “Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an individual or a group in efforts toward goal achievement in a given situation.” (Hersey & Blanchard)
  • “Leadership is an attempt at influencing the activities of followers through the communication process and toward the attainment of some goal or goals.” (Donelly)
  • “Leadership is defined as the process of influencing the activities of an organized group toward goal achievement.” (Rauch & Behling)
  • “Leadership is interpersonal influence, exercised in a situation, and directed, through the communication process, toward the attainment of a specified goal or goals.” (Tannenbaum, et al)

It has been my experience that many organizational leaders, knowingly or unknowingly, view leadership as a set of specific traits or skills. Below are a few definitions that are grounded in skills and, to a lesser extent, traits.

  • “Leadership is a function of knowing yourself, having a vision that is well communicated, building trust among colleagues, and taking effective action to realize your own leadership potential”. (Bennis)
  • “Leadership is about articulating visions, embodying values, and creating the environment within which things can be accomplished.” (Richards and Engle)
  • “Leadership is the creation of a vision about a desired future state which seeks to enmesh all members of an organization in its net.” (Bryman)
  • “It is a complex moral relationship between people, based on trust, obligation, commitment, emotion, and a shared vision of the good.” (Ciulla)

These definitions are entirely valid perspectives — they are simply different from a leadership as process perspective. Having said that, it is my impression that, overall, definitions of leadership are becoming more process and relationship oriented. How important is it to have a definition of leadership? In my role as a leadership consultant it is not necessary for me to share my clients definition of leadership – but it is important to know whether they have a definition and, if they do, what is included in that definition. If there isn’t an understanding of what leadership entails it diminishes the likelihood that the client will get what they want from our relationship. It is similar to a client looking to hire a consultant to increase employee engagement and, after digging a bit deeper with the client, discovering that what they are actually looking for is a way to improve the efficiency of work processes. What do you think?

Do you agree that defining relationship is a worthy effort…or is this much ado about nothing? What is your definition of leadership? If you don’t have one, and this is an important topic for you, I suggest that you take some time and create a working definition. It would be great if you would share your definition with the rest of us — but coming up with a definition is an exercise that is ultimately meant for your benefit.

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Is the 10th Circle of Hell Reserved for Bad Flacks? Or, The Vatican’s Irreversible Public Relations Blunders

Disappointed young lady palms forehead in regrets

Does the Pope have an in-house public relations team, or is the Vatican getting expensive, or pro bono, outside counsel to handle the latest, growing scandal over the actions — and alleged cover up by pre-pope Ratzinger, then a Cardinal, and others — of one particularly notorious pedophile priest who was accused of molesting more than 200 deaf children in Wisconsin? Whatever the answer, those inflicting their advice on the Holy See, need to be shown the door. Yesterday. They have mismanaged this crisis by magnitudes of 10 or more.

This pathetic news story unfortunately provides a teaching moment or three about what not to do in a crisis situation that not only affects the now-grown victims of the child abuse and their surviving family members, but the millions of Catholic believers still taking direction from an authority claiming to be the intercessor between humankind on Earth and God in heaven.

Rich in the irony that only real but unseemly events can produce (the Vatican’s “PR problems” exploded during the Catholic Church’s most sacred week of the Christian year, Easter), the sheer incompetence of the fiasco is staggering! You can read the entire unraveling of papal credibility and its anointed message masters at this Washington Post account here:

www.startribune.com The money quote, as they say in the profane world, is here:

“In a Good Friday sermon in St. Peter’s Basilica attended by the pope, the Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa said a Jewish friend had written to him, saying the recent accusations about the church reminded him of the ‘more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism.’”

“Jews know ‘from experience what it means to be victims of collective violence,’ the priest said, and ‘because of this, they are quick to recognize the recurring symptoms.’”

Mistake One

In a crisis, do not look for an out where none exists. The church needs to admit this priest perpetrator — and the hundreds of other abusers whose priestly vocations were corrupted by their own actions against the innocent — should never have been allowed to continue as an ordained priest. The now-Pope Benedict and his Cardinal colleagues were egregiously in error then for ignoring the case for 12 years.

Mistake Two

In a controversy this extreme and incendiary, never send a messenger who lacks a clear message and genuine authority. The Vatican needed to find a credible spokesperson within or outside of its ranks to go on point and take the heat if the top guy isn’t going to do it.

Mistake Three

In a roiling crisis with growing controversy, widening worldwide anger and enduring media coverage, don’t drag in another historical controversy to deflate or deflect the main accusations. That the Reverend Catalamessa would bring the Jewish “experience” into the fray — after centuries of distrust between the two faiths and questionable insensitivity (if not disturbing inaction) on the part of Catholic Rome during the persecution of Jews in Europe during WWII — is simply one hell of a way to dump more fuel on a raging inferno.

As the above newspaper story of Good Friday concludes: “’If they hired someone to draw up the worst possible PR plan for the church, they could not do any worse than these guys are doing right now,’” said the Rev. Thomas Reese, senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University in Washington.

“’It’s disastrous,’ he said. ‘They really need to get someone from the U.S. bishops conference who has been through this before to get over there and help guide the coverage. I mean, to invoke the persecution of the Jews? They are making every mistake in the book.’”

Amen, brother. Amen.

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Getting The Donor To Want To Give

A fundraiser-meeting-with-a-donor-in-other-to-know-their-interests

“The Hokey-Pokey of Fundraising”

Whether it’s a Corporation, a Foundation, a prospective Major Donor or the recipient of a mass solicitation, they’re not going to write you a check if the process doesn’t satisfy their needs.

Getting a Corporation to want to give to a non-profit organization (NPO) is a simple matter of learning, understanding and acting on the needs of the corporation and those of its decision makers. Will giving to your NPO help the corporation’s marketing efforts and increase its revenue? Will supporting your NPO and espousing your cause make the corporate leaders look good?

Foundations give based on their mission and the needs of the foundation leadership. Do you solicit foundations whose leaders feel strongly about your programs/activities and about the people you serve? Do you know who those leaders are and what is important to them?

To get an individual (potential) major donor to want to give, you have to know that person well enough to know what is important to him. You have to know/understand her priorities.

Why would someone put a coin or bill in the can-on-the-counter if doing so didn’t satisfy their need?

Just because a NPO does wonderful things in a cost-effective manner doesn’t mean that potential donors will want to give to it.

Getting people to want to give, and corporations and foundations are run by people, is about learning, understanding and appealing to their various needs.

“That’s What It’s All About.”

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Have a question about starting or expanding your fundraising? Email me at AskDCA@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll work to answer your question.

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Seven Ways to Build Credibility

Credibility: Trust written on wooden blocks.

Current competency models in the field of Human Resources (HR) share common themes. Among them is the necessity of the HR professional to serve as a credible activist. This becomes even more important to the HR professional who is in an organization that still sees HR as the party planner or the corporate police. Below are some tips on building credibility in the workplace.

1. Learn the Business. As mentioned in my previous post, learning the business of business is essential in gaining credibility. Understanding how the activities of the HR department impact the goals of the organization will help you speak the language of the organization. If you are in a high sales culture, learn what HR activities impact sales revenue and create measures to prove it.

2. Keep Commitments and Meet Deadlines. Doing what you say you are going to do and meeting deadlines builds reliability. If something prevents you from doing so, be sure to keep others informed with updates.

3. Own Your Mistakes. If you make a mistake, don’t try to hide it or place blame on others. Admit when you are wrong. If necessary, ask for feedback on how you can improve or share what you have learned from the mistake. If an apology is in order, apologize.

4. Learn to Ask and Listen. Listening is often one of the most difficult of the communication skills. However, failing to ask the right questions and then listening to understand could result in the wrong message being communicated out.

5. Explain the Reasons and Help Find Alternatives. There are going to be times that the HR professional in the building has to say no. Being charged with the responsibility of mitigating risk is essential to the role. Keep in mind that managers sometimes have the perceptions that HR is there to be the police and find ways to say no. Instead, find ways to say yes by helping managers find alternative solutions. This is where the ask and listen skill becomes critical.

6. Use Empathy and Keep Emotions In Check. Showing empathy to others does not mean that you agree, it simply means that you understand the emotion they are feeling. Not acknowledging this emotion sends the message that you are not listening or do not care.

Further, be careful with emotions. While positive emotions can fuel our success, negative emotions can destroy our credibility. Emotions and logic do not always work together well. For example, it is human nature to become defensive when one feels attacked; however, letting emotion take over for logic in this case increases your risk of saying things that you will later regret. Find a tactic that works for you in keeping your emotions in check. One tactic is to count silently for a few seconds before responding. Regardless of the tactic you choose, remember that objective judgment is another essential competency in the HR profession.

7. Give Credit where Credit is Due. Acknowledge the good work of others especially those who work under you. People feel threatened and lack trust for leaders who try to take credit for their ideas and work.

What else can you add to this list? Your thoughts, comments and questions are always encouraged!

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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Four Ways to Lie – Required Reading for Vatican Officials

Speak truth written on wooden cubes

My clients, and my kids, have been told that there are four ways that they can be perceived as lying:

  1. Dishonesty by commission — literally saying black is white.
  2. Dishonesty by omission — leaving important information out of your communications.
  3. Dishonesty by understatement for the purpose of obfuscating the truth.
  4. Dishonesty by overstatement for the purpose of obfuscating the truth.

We have all been witnessing — first in the Church’s initial communication and handling of sexual abuses by priests in the United States, now by the Church’s bungling of what seems to be an even worse situation in Europe — dishonesty in all four categories.

There was a time when, to the vast majority of Christians, not just to Catholics, the word of the Vatican equated to the word of God, and even non-Christians had great respect for most statements coming out of the Vactican. But in the 21st Century, “consumers” are too savvy to believe that God directed his representatives on Earth to lie. The Vatican must put down the proverbial shovel before it digs its way to a place much less inviting than Heaven.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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Ultimate “Marketing” Tactics – How to Turn Online Traffic into Money – #3 of 4

Excited young lady holding dollar bill

Word of Mouth Attracts New Customers

You’ve heard it – Social Media has been called one big cocktail party. Why? Because it’s us having conversation on everything from our little aches and pains to the latest and greatest in our lives, loves and laughs. So brands now understand that this casual word of mouth marketing is powerful – and essential to attract new customers.

How are brand marketers using social media “marketing” to increase revenues? (By the way, ALL companies are brands online – and offline – even small business.) Take a cue from Christine Morrison, TurboTax’s Social Media Marketing Manager, as she describes the fundamentals of applying word of mouth marketing to TurboTax’s social media strategy in this video.

Monetizing Social Media

TurboTax gets it. They monetize social media by carefully selecting and building online customer attraction, engagement and retention tools. BRAVO!

In Christine’s video, you’ll learn how they make user reviews more relevant and how they integrate customer support using Twitter. Learn how they utilize other key tactics:

  • Customers can share their experience with a ‘Publish to Facebook’ option after submitting their e-file
  • Facebook news feeds for 30% higher conversion than advertising
  • Creating community in which customers help each other

For more social media “Marketing” tips and tactics, search these phrases:

  • Monetizing social media
  • Word of Mouth marketing
  • Christine Morrison TurboTax

Happy “Marketing” hunting!

What are your favorite tips for monetizing social media?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman assists clients in establishing and enhancing their online brand, attracting their target market, engaging in meaningful social media conversations, and converting online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

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Mission Impact: The One Bottom Line

A group of business men and women working on mission of the company

For centuries there was only one bottom line: profitability. Then people and companies interested in making the world a better place, not just making money, decided social impact should have equal billing. Fair enough. A bit later, environmental impact demanded a place at the table, so now we have three bottom lines. And from that the vibrant corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement emerged that in many ways has changed the way Wall Street, and even Main Street, does its business, or at least talks about the business it does.

The social enterprise movement has also generally incorporated that three bottom line perspective. Consider the definition we’re using here: “harnessing the power of the marketplace to solve critical social or environment problems.”

But I would argue that there really is only one bottom line that matters for a social enterprise. That’s the social impact as it relates to the mission of that organization. Sure, the venture has to be financially successful, even sustainable to use the current buzzword (for which I’m still searching for a meaningful definition; do you have one?), but without mission impact, there isn’t anything there. Or, to put it differently, as we point out to the nonprofits we work with, only go down this path to expand your organization’s mission impact. For social enterprise, making money is just a means to that higher end.

So while we’ll spend a fair amount of time talking about strategies for generating that revenue, which at times can be all-consuming, we’ll need to keep our eyes on the prize. For social enterprises, mission matters. Ultimately it’s the only thing that does.