Results-oriented
Change Management Consulting

CONTACT US TODAY 530.321.5309

08 21 2013

Types of Conflict Resolution & How you can Benefit

Conflict Resolution

August 2013

This is where you are, but… THIS is where you WANT to be…
  • Job stress and burnout are on the rise; absenteeism and turnover are increasing.
  1. Talent retention is on the rise.
  2. Higher and more consistent morale exists.
  3. Stress is reduced and communication is more open among people at all levels.
  • Distrust and suspicion are commonplace.
  1. Free-flowing information and cooperation improve productivity, because people are connected to the company objectives and to one another.
  2. Camaraderie is emphasized.
  • A pervasive “US vs. THEM” culture exists at almost every level of the organization.
  1. Creativity and teamwork are creating excellent cross-functional work teams.
  2. Individuals and departments stop turf battles.
  • Job satisfaction and job performance are declining.
  1. Current conflicts are resolved and productivity and profits are maximized.
  2. Individual and group performance improve, because people learn how to effectively and creatively turn conflicts into profitable opportunities.
  • Employee loyalty is failing.
  1. Inspired employees are able and interested in articulating and clarifying their ideas and positions toward the organizational goals.
  • Productivity and profits are at an all-time low.
  1. Organizational objectives are understood by all and, as a result, decision making is improved.
  2. Increased innovation, stimulated creativity, and forward thinking are the norm.

Benefits of Conflict Resolution

Yes, there are many benefits to conflict. It is often necessary to struggle through normal stages of family business, partnership, department or company growth. The value is in understanding conflict and learn how to harness the elusive powers of this sometimes volatile force. As with most challenges, the key is in catching it quickly so you control it before it goes underground (the grapevine) and cause more problems. Or worse, become part of your company culture. Many owners, leaders, managers and employees cant seem to function without drama and conflict and over time; conflict just becomes a way of life. Unless, something significant is done to turn the tide.

I specialize in helping people learn from and move through conflict to create long-lasting, sustained, “win-win” outcomes for you, your family business, partnership, department and company.

Types of Conflict

In over two decades consulting with family businesses and organizations, I have observed three major types of family business or workplace conflict:

Task Conflict Task conflict arises among members of work teams and affects the goals and tasks they are striving to achieve. Differences in vision, intentions, and quality expectations often lead to task conflict. Family or employee relationships may initially appear to survive task conflict, but an important project may not. It is essential to channel task conflict so that these differences become complementary and improve the way the family or team thinks about accomplishing current and future tasks.

Process Conflict This form of conflict centers around the steps or methods used by a family or work-teams to reach a goal. One person might like to plan 100 steps ahead, while another might like to dive in head first. Process differences can lead to communication breakdown and ultimately result in conflict. Like task conflict, process conflict can be useful if managed correctly. Healthy differences in process often lead to an improved way to achieve goals.

Relationship Conflict Often misunderstood, relationship conflict undermines and tears at the fabric of an organization, department or team’s ability to achieve its goals. Relationship conflict penetrates all aspects of an organization. When people in a workplace environment fail to communicate effectively, teams, departments or even an entire organization will suffer. Relationship conflict will quickly consume all the attention and energy of an organization, leaving little time to accomplish profitable tasks.

Resolution

What can we do to bring conflict to a reasonable resolution? How might our resolution be beneficial to everyone involved? The ultimate goal of conflict resolution is to increase one’s understanding of what happened, why it happened, and how we can learn from it so we don’t become victims to it in the future. Conflict isn’t bad. In fact, it is a vital part of a successful family business or organization. Knowing when to encourage conflict – in a manageable and productive way; knowing how to spot it early and slow it down if need be; and knowing the natural stages of conflict’s life cycle can all lead to highly productive outcomes. Both this knowledge about conflict and the skills needed to manage it successfully are needed to get the best out of your people.

The benefits of professional conflict resolution are great:

  • Resolves current conflicts and maximizes innovation, productivity and profits
  • Teaches independence and ownership of the skills to effectively and creatively turn future conflicts into profitable opportunities for improved communication and learning
  • Improves organizational decision making
  • Inspires family members and employees who are able and interested in articulating and clarifying their ideas and positions toward the organizational goals
  • Increases innovation, creativity, and forward thinking
  • Improves individual, family business and company performance

 

Kelly Graves, CEO
The Corporate Therapist
Email: Kelly@ProfitWithIBS.com
Cell: 1.530.321.5309
Toll-Free: 1.800.704.3785
Office: 1.530.321.5309
Internal Business Solutions, Inc.™

Add Comment

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by at 5:26 PM

08 21 2013

Mergers & Family Business Succession Plans: How to Coach and Manage People Through Change

Corporate Therapy, Mergers: How to Manage & Coach People Through Change, Mergers: How to Manage Organizational Change

August 2013

 

This is where you are, but… THIS is where you WANT to be…
  • People attend meetings, but they clearly aren’t working together nor are they working toward the same goals.
  • Some people are overly cautious and quiet while others are playing a silent game of tug-o-war.
  1. Problems, both spoken and unspoken, are discussed and effectively dealt with so that the team may focus on the tasks at hand.
  2. Additional evidence of improved communication can be seen by alleviating tension, as well as stressing joint camaraderie and vision.
  3. There are measurable reductions in the change timelines and expenses.
  • We have a clear vision of what our end results should look like, but we don’t have a step by step process on how to get there.
  • We don’t have a process to get our people to buy into our vision.
  1. Leaders, managers, and employees possess the skills necessary to navigate the ten stages of change which will help them be more creative and productive sooner.
  2. When people become aligned around and supportive of a common vision, their ability to embrace change increases.
  • This change process is creating challenges between management and employees that I’ve never encountered before.
  1. Leadership knows what employees need based on what they say and on which stage in the change process they are in.
  2. Leaders will know how to motivate or assist employees through all ten stages of the change process.
  3. Alternate solutions to management/employee challenges are found with effective techniques and clear results.
  4. Individual, group and organization performance will be measurably improved.
  • Leadership is making haphazard, uncalculated short-term decisions in order to ‘put out the fires.’
  • Reactive rather than proactive problem solving is not the approach we want to use, but leadership does not yet have the skills or knowledge to effectively implement any other approach.
  1. Management/leadership has a definite grasp of what behaviors to look for and what to say in various situations to elicit desired results.
  2. Communication and effectiveness are improved between management and staff.
  3. Bottom line objectives are met or exceeded.

Leadership Skills Necessary to Support Change

Over and over people bemoan, “Things are changing faster than ever.” Changes in what we do, how we do it, and who we do it with can leave employees out of breath and overwhelmed. Because employees and family members often feel caught in the middle of all of these changes, leadership needs to know what people are experiencing and what to do to assist them. All will benefit when guided respectfully through the predictable reactions to the various stages of change. The reactions may include conditions such as debilitating stress, poor morale, attitudes of non-commitment, and reactionary impulses, just to name a few.

The ineffective “olden days” when top leadership mandated, “Jump!”, and all employees responded with, “How high?” are gone. Companies nowadays have to change their focus quickly to excel through these more complex times. From the mass production models of the industrial revolution to today’s technology-based, high-speed information systems to the rapid-fire future issues of our global economy that are just around the corner, it behooves all of us to find a systematic way to grow ourselves and our people. The secret is to take the time to realign, rebuild, and recharge our departments and divisions, as well as to empower and revitalize those seemingly tired, angry employees to go forward, step up, and successfully meet the challenges that come with any change. Experiencing any major change process, like a merger or family succession plan, for example, is similar to experiencing a surgery. Like with surgery, every decision that is made before, during, or closely after the experience will likely do one of two things: improve your condition or worsen it. The challenge is, you had better be very confident in your objectives and methods before you make that first cut. or things will go down hill very quickly.

Let me show you today how you can improve your family business and increase market share by implementing these three crucial elements:

  1. Leading, managing, and coaching family members and employees through the ten stages of change; understanding the behaviors that individuals, families and organizations go through during a major change process. We will then focus on the management techniques necessary for meeting your objectives.
  2. Leading and managing people through various forms of feedback.
  3. Creating buy-in; giving the various family members and employees a voice so they will develop the intrinsic ownership of the vision which will be necessary for a successful merger or family succession plan.

Careful and considerate Merger Facilitation and family succession plans can give your family business and organization a clear direction — and truly redefine your company’s objectives. Contact me today to see how I can help you profit through improved communication before, during, and after your merger or family succession plan.

Kelly Graves, CEO
The Corporate Therapist
Email: Kelly@ProfitWithIBS.com
Cell: 1.530.321.5309
Toll-Free: 1.800.704.3785
Office: 1.530.321.5309
Internal Business Solutions, Inc.™

Add Comment

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by at 4:38 PM

08 21 2013

Executive Coaching & Leadership Development Methodology

Leadership Development/ Executive Coaching, Mergers: How to Manage & Coach People Through Change, Staff Development for Profit

August 2013

 

This is where you are, but… THIS is where you WANT to be…
  • As hard as you try to get the executive committee and staff to support the same vision, it seems everyone has different goals that don’t directly support the overall business objectives.
  1. The leader leads by example. Period.
  2. The leader aligns the entire organization around crystal clear objectives with succinct responsibilities.
  3. The executive committee or management team honestly discusses and agrees on strategy and tactics needed to achieve individual goals which directly support organizational objectives.
  4. The leader understands people from their perspective and has the ability to motivate each person to buy into the organizational vision.
  • Our organizational structure is in place, we are lean, and people stay busy, and yet timelines are being missed and objectives still aren’t being met.
  • Work doesn’t translate into profit.
  1. Objectives are measurable and focused on the customer, staff, and your product or service.
  2. Internal busywork is filtered through this simple belief: If the customer doesn’t feel it, it doesn’t exist.
  3. Leaders have ensured that organizational structure and philosophy are fully supported; individual goals support the organizational goals.
  • The leaders of the organization have lost touch with the customer.
  • The leaders of the organization have lost touch with the employees who directly serve customers.
  1. Leaders know the secret to success: Only internal and external customer opinions count.
  2. The leader has his/her fingers on the pulse of the customers and the employees who directly serve customers.
  • Our leadership approach seems to be reactive and defensive rather than proactive and offensive.
  • We focus on solving problems instead of preventing them in the first place.
  1. Foresight and innovation are always the first step; “reactionary” problem solving is a second step, and only as needed.
  2. The leader equips her/himself and those within the organization with fundamentally sound planning skills.
  3. People are educated to think for themselves; all have the freedom to fail now and again. i.e., to make the original mistake and learn from it.
  • We lose good people and then scramble to fill positions.
  1. We have deep “bench strength.”
  2. Leadership develops and invests in key people and provides them with mentoring; talented people are ready to step in to fill key positions, as needed.

Strong leaders understand the critical role they play in creating and communicating strategy. They know how to drive transformation to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

Successful leaders use a positive yet realistic approach to overcome the economic and psychological uncertainty of today’s business environment.

Above all, great leaders know how to achieve results.

I strive to awaken the hidden leadership genius within you and your people. Let me help you create a cohesive, common-goal work team that transcends your current abilities. I help you achieve cutting edge transformation, not rely on cookie cutter one-size-fits all coaching and leadership programs.

Through leadership training, you and your executives will see tremendous results and improvements in the following:

  • Your team’s ability to work together more efficiently. Cultivate confidence in each other through honest conversations that develop trust and group commitment.
  • Learn to work through and remove the “unspoken” but volatile topics that everyone knows about but are unable to overcome. You know what I’m talking about….the “taboo” topics, the “Emperor has no clothes” topics that keep you and your team from moving forward.
  • Enhanced employee buy-in and commitment that lead to job satisfaction
  • Better communication, innovation, creativity, and production
  • Improved problem-solving and decision-making capabilities
  • Better foresight and project planning abilities
  • Significantly improved execution and implementation of strategic plans and projects

Programs

You and your organization are unique, so I design a customized leadership development training program that makes sense for you.

I learn the language and culture of your organization so the program I design is a perfect fit for the needs of your people and organization. Through my leadership development training, you and your executives will gain the specific skills needed to evolve and succeed.

My Leadership Training has four straightforward goals:

  1. Help leaders, executives and managers identify their own talents and strengths so these are leveraged and developed into high-performance leadership capabilities
  2. Develop intrinsic and unique attitudes and skills necessary to sustain long-term change
  3. Help each individual executive grow and then weave these individual leaders into a unified team capable of extraordinary results.
  4. And last, help refine micro and macro goals into prioritized objectives so results can be achieved in profitable time units.

Process

I start from the “inside” of your executives personalities and organizational structure and work out to the pre-determined organizational objectives; the end-result which can be measured in any number of ways. I work with client organizations in “real-time” to observe and evaluate the hierarchy that is present in your corporate environment. My goals include tailoring your leadership development program to each specific executive or manager’s personality and that of the executive team and organizational culture.

For organizations striving to open up their full potential, leaders hold the key. Leaders bring the short- and long-term goals of an organization to fruition by inspiring each and every individual to work to his or her personal best. The program I design will support leaders as they strive to meet individual needs, respect personality types and learning styles, and guide the organization to achieve its goals and objectives.

Leadership development is a deliberate process that includes focused conversations and assessments. Through the process, I will guide your team to create environments that support individual growth, purposeful action, and sustained improvement. My program will produce leaders who:

  • Remove barriers that hinder individuals from realizing their full potential
  • Provide skills for gaining valuable insight into crucial situations
  • Identify obstacles that impede an individual’s progress

Contact me today to discuss where you would like your organization to be in 12-24 months. By developing your executive and management teams we can partner on acieveing organizational objectives.

Kelly Graves, CEO
The Corporate Therapist
Email: Kelly@ProfitWithIBS.com
Cell: 1.530.321.5309
Toll-Free: 1.800.704.3785
Office: 1.530.321.5309
Internal Business Solutions, Inc.™

Add Comment

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by at 2:26 PM

08 21 2013

How to Lead Profitable Productive & Efficient Meetings: A Quick Guide

Business Success, Communication Issues, How to Lead Profitable Meetings

August 2013

How to Lead Profitable Meetings

This is where you are, but… THIS is where you WANT to be…
  • Meetings end with unspecific goals.
  • Vague timelines make people wonder who is going to do what and by when.
  1. Meetings are planned more effectively for better results.
  2. Achievable and measurable goals are clearly defined.
  3. Effective meeting facilitation skills are the norm.
  4. Specific timelines with clear responsibilities are the norm.
  • Employees dread attending meetings.
  1. Break-out sessions are used effectively to reduce meeting time and maximize results.
  2. All participants are encouraged to contribute and provide value.
  • Meeting participants don’t feel heard or valued.
  1. A safe environment is created.
  2. Norms and rules for resolving disagreements are established and followed by all participants.
  • Participants rarely contribute their honest ideas and feelings.
  1. The value of pre-meeting assignments is clear.
  2. Roles for participation are defined for all.
  • Participants have different interpretations of what was said and agreed to.
  1. Flip charting and note taking techniques to summarize and get consensus are the norm in all settings.

 

Unsuccessful and unproductive meetings are a waste of your organization’s valuable time and resources. Creating a productive and goal-oriented environment for your business or executive meetings is singularly one of the most valuable tools you can implement for your organization.

Successful leaders, executives and managers stay focused on how they can stay on course and continue to execute on the strategic & business Plan. Therefore, roughly 10-20% of time spent in meetings should be dedicated to looking at your strategic plan, business plan, vision, mission statement, or core values and discussing with participants how you and they intend to apply these principles so they positively impact everyone’s decisions, actions, statements and behaviors. At first this WILL seem cumbersome. But it is the only way to stay “on-course.” most executives and managers are ACTION oriented and believe the fire directly in front of them is of most importance. (If this belief is plaguing you and/or your executive or management team, you are fighting a losing battle and you know it). Get ahead of the curve and you will be able to lead proactively rather than reactively. A great fist step in this process is to make the most of everyone’s time and improving meeting productivity is usually where you will find the lowest hanging and sweetest fruit.

If you have tried these or similar (conferences, books, coaching, etc) steps before with limited results, you don’t have a meeting process problem you have a people, conflict or cultural issue. In that case, please contact me so we can dig a little deeper into the real problems and partner on finding solutions to these and not get sidetracked with superficial symptoms. Kelly@InternalBusinessSolutions.com

For a more exhaustive list regarding meetings, please go to http://www.internalbusinesssolutions.com/advanced-productive-business-meetings-protocol/?preview=true&preview_id=1318&preview_nonce=1fd9c6970a

Purpose of the meeting?

  1. What is purpose or outcome you intend this meeting to produce; the end-result? The purpose should state why the meeting is needed.
  2. Discuss clear objectives/challenges. Come prepared with all relevant information or better yet, email it prior to the meeting so people can have time to prepare (discussed at the bottom of this paper titled Pre-meeting assignments).
  3. Discuss possible options
  4. The group or leader (depending on your executive culture) decide on the best option given time and resources
  5. One person is given the task to carry out the functions and is 100% accountable for its completion in the given time frame provided. Special note: all executives are responsible for its success, but this one person is 100% accountable.
  6. A clear date and time will be given as to its final completion. If multiple stages are required, then milestone dates and times will be provided and met.
  7. Desired outcomes?
    1. Outcomes focus the meeting by indicating what information is to be shared and what decisions or actions need to occur.
    2. A clear and concise agenda preferably sent at least 24 hours prior to meeting.

Active Facilitation Strategies

Set ground rules so people know how to behave. It keeps the meeting focused. Example:

  1. Start & stop on time
  2. All participate. The facilitator should invite the quieter members to participate
  3. Challenge ideas instead of people
  4. One conversation at a time. Don’t speak over people
  5. We finish with a recap of who will complete what by when.

Pre-Meeting Assignments

Meetings are the biggest wasters of time in all organizations. Therefore, having participants prepared ahead of time and ready to discuss topics will ensure efficiency and productive decision making. Pre-meeting assignments are tasks done by participants in advance of the meeting. If you assign them abide by these rules:

  1. Explain why it is important
  2. Give adequate lead time
  3. Provide clear instructions (i.e., read and be ready to discuss, analyze, or provide us with a synopsis of this topic etc)
  4. Assign only if you intend to use it and then fully leverage the time and material

 

 

Kelly Graves, CEO
The Corporate Therapist
Email: Kelly@ProfitWithIBS.com
Cell: 1.530.321.5309
Toll-Free: 1.800.704.3785
Office: 1.530.321.5309
Internal Business Solutions, Inc.™

Add Comment

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by at 12:43 PM

08 21 2013

Strategic Plan & Project Implementation How to Create Ownership

Business Strategy and Implementation, Project Implementation: How to Create Ownership

August 2013

Project Implementation: How to Create Ownership

This is where you are, but… THIS is where you WANT to be…
  • An “us versus them” culture has been created and will not relent.
  1. People grasp the issues.
  2. Individuals and departments are aligned around a common purpose.
  3. People understand both the difficulties and the opportunities inherent in change.
  4. Goal-oriented, positive atmosphere and attitudes are measurably increased.
  • Communication and conflict resolution are poor and steadily getting worse.
  • Vital information is being withheld or hidden as a means of control.
  1. Capacity for future change increases.
  2. People develop the skills and processes to meet not just the current challenges, but the future challenges, as well.
  • The strategic plan, project plan or merger outline is clear, but implementing it is proving more difficult than expected
  1. Involving stakeholders ensures their input and buy-in early in the process.
  • Production schedules and timelines are being missed.
  1. Enhanced stakeholder involvement translates into diversity of ideas.
  2. Bottom line results are measurably improved.
  3. People articulate personal and departmental buy-in to organizational goals, objectives, and specific timelines.
  • People are nodding in agreement, but silently fighting the changes and direction.
  1. Collaboration with internal and external stakeholders builds cohesive and profitable partnerships.
  • Frustration and stress are increasing.
  1. Improved communication translates to less frustration.

Participative Management

My experience with successful organizations has led me to focus on the dynamic tension between leaders’ ownership of the strategies for change and their key stakeholders’ acceptance and buy-in of the plan. (Key stakeholders here are those who are crucial to the successful implementation of the desired change.) Often, there is a dynamic gap between these two entities that must be bridged successfully if the desired change is to proceed effectively.

The process I recommend can be used with internal and/or external stakeholders, as well as for regular feedback on many topics from strategic planning to mergers and change management.

In reality there are eight parallel process steps necessary to bridge the gap between those who lead change and those who implement it. Any mis-step or short cut will inevitably lead to breakdowns later in the process and require extensive duplication of work and a slowing of the project. Briefly, I will describe how vitally important real-time meetings held with leadership and key stakeholders prove to be an integral step in this process. For a more in-depth explanation on this process and how we may partner on your implementation project, please contact Kelly@InternalBusinessSolutions.com

The purpose of real-time meetings is twofold:

  1. to share information and provide feedback to the core leadership team in order to troubleshoot and improve the plans, and
  2. to gain understanding, acceptance (i.e., buy-in), and commitment to the overall direction and implementation of the plan.

One important factor to remember is: people support what they help create. Thus, it is crucial to involve key stakeholders early on in the planning and change process. If this crucial step is omitted or briefly touched on, long term organizational outcomes will pay the price. Poor stakeholder motivation or ambivalence later on is an expensive problem to fix. It is much more effective to alter a plan before it is put into place, rather than try to turn back time and re-work a process mid-stream.

Successful leaders plan ahead for their organizations strategic and human change needs. Even though change is inevitable, in order to be efficient and effective, managing successful change takes preparation and planning. Simply put: investing in and creating buy-in and ownership at all levels pays off.

 

Kelly Graves, CEO
The Corporate Therapist
Email: Kelly@ProfitWithIBS.com
Cell: 1.530.321.5309
Toll-Free: 1.800.704.3785
Office: 1.530.321.5309
Internal Business Solutions, Inc.™

Add Comment

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by at 11:31 AM

08 19 2013

Customized Executive Assessment Coaching & Pre-Hire Selection Package

Business Management Consulting, Communication Issues, Corporate Therapy, Effective Performance Evaluations, Leadership Development/ Executive Coaching, Rapid Customized Executive Assessment Package, Staff Development for Profit

August 2013

 

This is where you are, but… THIS is where you WANT to be…
  • Assessment tools are so generic they produce non-specific and unreliable results.
  • No implementation piece results in rapidly fading benefits.
  1. Customized assessment tools produce results that are highly reliable and customized to your firm.
  2. Results will include specific feedback on individual strengths in key leadership competencies, as well as recommended areas for professional development.
  3. Long-term usability permits cost-effective repeat implementation.
  • There is no connection between assessments and ongoing training or staff development.
  1. A customized assessment tool and process for coaching and developing your executives are solidly in place.
  2. Return on investment can be clearly measured.
  • Assessment results are fun, cute, or random, rather than based on specific competency criteria.
  1. Your organization has clearly defined competency criteria.
  2. Your customized assessment process will assist the organization’s decision makers with predicting and selecting future executives who will be the best match for your departments or divisions.
  • Assessment data do not inform decision makers in ways that support the organizational goals.
  1. Your assessment process creates a road map of information. When used by your organization’s training department or Board of Directors, it will accurately inform decisions about diagnosing, planning, and delivering highly specific and relevant training opportunities needed by your entire executive team.

 

Our customized approach to assessing the developmental needs of your management team is designed to provide you the essential tools for choosing new executives and defining the strengths of your current executives.

Our approach is unique in that we assess executives not just by looking at isolated traits, skills, and interests from a battery of generic assessments, but by analyzing actual behaviors, thoughts and patterns such as the dynamic interplay between the executives he or she will be working with, the culture he or she will be required to become a part of and the organizational setting including behavioral expectations, pace and stress factors. Research has shown that this approach is much more cost effective than having to “terminate” or “live-with-it” later. This has proven to be a vital step in assisting an organization to build its successful executive community.

Benefits to Executives

Our package includes an assessment of your current executive team, your culture and spoken and unspoken values; (on rare occasions depending on the type of organization and people within it; personality tests), face-to-face interviews, observations, and group as well as one-on-one feedback sessions. The specific recommendations that emerge from my assessment reports benefit both the individual being considered, the current executive team and the organization:

  1. Leadership chooses the correct personality for their specific type of executive team, culture and organizational objectives.
  2. The leadership team looks at skills and work history. I observe behaviors and look past the conscious verbal answers into the deeper and more elusive yet honest subconscious. It is here where we will significantly improve our odds of understanding how they work, make decisions, lead and manage people, deal with stress and communicate.
  3. Candidates as well as current executives make immediate positive adjustments to their leadership and management skills and style.
  4. Team leaders use results to achieve their objectives and create a clear, long-term road map to improve overall management skills, collaborative methods, and leadership qualities.

Contact me now so we can discuss your challenges, refine your objectives, and zero-in on your options: Kelly@InternalBusinessSolutions.com

Kelly Graves, CEO
The Corporate Therapist
Email: Kelly@ProfitWithIBS.com
Cell: 1.530.321.5309
Toll-Free: 1.800.704.3785
Office: 1.530.321.5309
Internal Business Solutions, Inc.™

Add Comment

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by at 7:07 PM

08 19 2013

Profitable & Improved Staff Development

Business Success, Communication Issues, Conflict Resolution, Corporate Therapy, Improvement, Leadership Development/ Executive Coaching, Staff Development for Profit

August 2013

This is where you are, but… THIS is where you WANT to be…
  • No buy-in and no follow through from participants once they return from a workshop or training.
  • Trainings are ineffective or off-target and result in poor recall on Monday morning when trying to implement the new skills.
  1. People deeply understand and buy into the training because they were involved from the beginning. They support that which they helped create.
  2. Follow through over time is more consistent.
  3. Better information retention; a “learning environment” is created by staff where all continue to train and teach each other.
  • Workshop training manuals get shelved, forgotten, and collect dust.
  1. Participants refer to training manuals and rely on them as valuable resources.
  • Training or team building is like a doughnut (enjoyable, but with no lasting nutritional value).
  1. Consistent innovation moves people to take action and create new habits.
  2. A greater return is received on every training investment dollar.
  • The training is “off the shelf,” one-size-fits-all, or so generic it doesn’t translate well to our particular people and their specific challenges.
  1. Trainings are specifically designed for our objectives, our culture, and our people so that individual and organizational growth can be measured and maintained.
  2. Participants are taught how to overcome daily challenges and integrate information.
  • We want to utilize the information, but work and pressing issues dictate our priorities.
  • We just don’t have time right now.
  1. Trainers don’t leave after one day. They partner with the organization to ensure long-term learning and return on investment is received.
  2. Morale is higher and more consistent.
  3. Prioritization is improved.
  • We don’t know how or don’t take the time to implement staff development because our culture/industry/business is unique.
  1. Training is designed specifically for us from A to Z. Implementing the information is part of the training process and our people grow consistently over time as a result.

You May Want to Ask Yourself These Questions:

  • How do we establish or reestablish trust? Are you ready to improve and add extra strength to the back-bone of your organization?
  • How do our people communicate? How can we really improve communication, goal setting and execution so our people and departments GET RESULTS and we actually utilize all of our resources, people and departments as a UNIFIED whole toward specific objectives.
  • Where are we now and where do we all want to go? How can each member of our organization help to improve our bottom line and why should they?
  • Is any of this even possible?
  • If someone told me it was, would I believe them?
  • If I did believe them would I take the two  minutes out of my busy day and do anything about it? would I call, text or email?

Profit from the inside out. I specialize’s in designing employee development programs tailored specifically for your staff and you. I provide you with the necessary training and tools to ensure that your staff continues to teach itself, monitor itself, and show improved results long after I have left.

Are you getting the best out of your employees? If not, then take steps to improve your organization by investing in an employee development program.

Make no mistake about it: all your closest competitors have good R & D… They have access to financing and resources, and they are training their people. The only resource which separates you from your closest competitors is… YOUR PEOPLE… SO INVEST IN THEM EFFECTIVELY.

All organizational challenges will ultimately be solved by and through your people! Whether your challenges are technical, financial, or in some other domain, these challenges will always hinge on human communications and processes. Understanding and improving communication is hugely important to your organization’s survival and success, because the bottom line is: it’s YOUR people who will ultimately take YOUR organization to the next level.

Important considerations for employee development:

  • Urgency and energy are produced to create a new future.
  • Broad participation quickly identifies performance gaps and their solutions, improving productivity and customer satisfaction.
  • First tackle the larger issues or conflicts that are tying up your organization’s time and effectiveness.
  • Alleviate stress and you emphasize camaraderie.
  • Employee morale will soar higher and stay more consistently positive through employee development; when employee’s morale is high, areas of need will be addressed more quickly and effectively, so problems won’t fester under the surface and get out of control.
  • Encouraging employee feedback on business challenges will help people grasp issues.
  • Employees will become aligned around a common purpose and will create new directions, because they understand both the difficulties and the opportunities of change and growth. In short, employee development creates “ownership.”
  • Lastly, it is virtually impossible to have satisfied customers and dissatisfied employees. Everyone knows when a clown has makeup on and your customers know it when your employees are faking the smiles. So quit insulting them, because in this competitive age they WILL shop you.

In essence, when employees realize that they have some semblance of control and are being heard, the company, the leadership, and the employees all benefit. Thus, it is through this improved communication and shared purpose that the value of employee development truly begins to sink in for all stakeholders. This is when your team will take your organization to the next level. Through employee development, you are guaranteed lasting commitment and support of your strategic plan and your company vision! Kelly@InternalBusinessSolutions.com

 

Kelly Graves, CEO
The Corporate Therapist
Email: Kelly@ProfitWithIBS.com
Cell: 1.530.321.5309
Toll-Free: 1.800.704.3785
Office: 1.530.321.5309
Internal Business Solutions, Inc.™

Add Comment

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by at 6:22 PM

08 19 2013

Organization Business Strategic Plan Implementation Skills Assessment

Business Strategy and Implementation, Business Success, Effective Performance Evaluations, Improvement

August 2013

The Reality of Strategic Plan Execution should be clearly apparent. You must measure your teams understanding and ability to execute or you’re simply lying to yourself and others and wasting time and money under the illusion you’re doing strategic planning.

Whether I call it a strategic plan for larger organizations or a plan of attack for smaller mom and pop businesses, the foundational elements are the same. Having a clear plan on where your business is going and how to successfully and consistently achieve goals, so that all of your employees, managers and leadership fully understand their respective duties on how to get there, is paramount. The most pivotal aspect of this entire process rests on the ability of leadership and every employee under them to implement the strategic plan so that actions, statements, and behaviors result in improved conditions at all levels within your organization. When this takes place, your internal and external customers will benefit greatly and your competitors will try to emulate; resulting in your leading and your competitors following.

In my experience, however, working with National and International companies, approximately 95% of them have strategic plans, but only 3 to 7 % implement them consistently and effectively; most of these beautifully made documents start collecting dust after a mere 4-6 weeks after their launch. For example, and this represents the majority, not the minority; I had one President share with me that his organization had just completed a yearlong, mid-six-figure, strategic plan creation project; and it was a work of art housed in a leather bound embossed casing. However, when I asked him what he intended to do with it, he replied with a deer-in-the-headlights expression, “I don’t know.” Many of the problems surrounding implementation don’t stem from lack of trying, but rather from lack of understanding. Company leadership either believes the creation of the plan is enough and implementation will automatically take care of itself, or they confuse general strategic plan knowledge with the processing of the plan. In other situations, I have found they have gathered inaccurate information or no information at all, which they base their strategic plan on. Successful strategic plan implementation requires that your leadership team have skills, knowledge and experience, which creates competency when faced with follow-through.

A plan will not and cannot do anything but suggest a way to go; its a map. It does not promote ACTION. People promote action but usually don’t know what actual steps they need to take next because it requires them to do and be different than who and what they were 5 days before and leadership doesn’t know how to help model new behaviors. There are a lot of steps and stages that must be taken and met for a strageic plan can do you and your organization any good. The first step in this process is to determine if everyone on the leadership team and then within the organization knows about the plan, understands the plan and then knows what steps THEY must take to help implement the plan. This quick and easy assessment will help you determine how well the plan is understood.

Leadership Team Competency

These questions will help you and your team discover if you are ready to implement your strategic plan or if you must slow down and make sure everyone knows what the objectives are and their place in helping the company achieve those objectives. So many times I witness leadership going in one direction only to turn around and watch the rest of the company heading off in an entirely different direction–strange but, unfortunately very true.

Now for the assessment:  For ease of wording I use the term “leaders.” I suggest you mentally use all people of authority in your organization including executives, supervisors, directors, managers, assistant managers and so forth. I suggest you use a 0-5 Lickert Scale, where zero means “none of the leaders” and five means “all the leaders.”

  1. Your leaders understand the strategic plan and are able to successfully set department goals in support of the strategy?
  2. Your leaders lead meetings in which strategic issues are discussed in relation to operations?
  3. Your leaders, if asked, could provide a priority list of issues directly related to strategy implementation for which they are responsible?
  4. Your leaders set their subordinates’ goals and objectives according to the strategic goals that relate to their operations?
  5. Your leaders evaluate, reward, and promote their people with strategic goals in mind?

 

How did you and your Leadership team do? 

If you Scored…

Then…

High: 4′s and 5′s You are probably doing well despite economic or industry conditions.
Midrange: 2′s and 3′s You are doing OK, but now you know who/what needs improvement.
Low: 0′s and 1′s You and your leadership team would be wise to take your noses off the grind stone and put some time and energy into your destination and how you intend to get there.

 

Working Hard vs Working Smart

Working hard is needed, but working smart is required and nothing is more important to business success than working toward a specific destination and making sure you and your team have the fundamental skills, knowledge and competency to create and implement a useful strategic plan. For additional information on any or all of this material, please contact Kelly@InternalBusinessSolutions.com so we can schedule an appointment for you and i to speak about how to improve you and your company.

 

Kelly Graves, CEO
The Corporate Therapist
Email: Kelly@ProfitWithIBS.com
Cell: 1.530.321.5309
Toll-Free: 1.800.704.3785
Office: 1.530.321.5309
Internal Business Solutions, Inc.™

Add Comment

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by at 3:38 PM

08 19 2013

How to Improve Employees’ Functionality by Improving Internal Customer Service

Barriers to Effective Communication, Business Management Consulting, Communication Issues, Conflict Resolution, Corporate Therapy, Improvement, Mergers: How to Manage & Coach People Through Change, Project Implementation: How to Create Ownership, Staff Development for Profit

August 2013

Moving our bodies from point A to point B requires the use of our two legs working together to achieve this simple task. If one or the other of the two legs does not fully support the body, or if one does not make a full and even stride, then the act can be diminished by varying degrees.

The metaphor holds true for your organization and its internal customers as well. Internal customers are those people who make up the other departments that work with you inside your business. For example, accounts-receivable, sales, production, finance and marketing are each other’s customers. For your organization to function smoothly, people among departments must communicate clearly, organize tasks and timelines, and implement or take “action” on these tasks.

The more effective people are at serving each other, the smoother their processes will be, and they will achieve better results (i.e., production, efficiencies, and profits). Likewise, the more efficient a person is with “leg movements,” the better they will be at walking, jogging, and even running. If they take this act seriously and become expert in this area, they may even end up running faster than others, which is, of course the objective in business — outpacing the competition.

Here are suggestions on how to provide stellar internal customer service:

1. Be aware of what you think about yourself and others. Behavior follows thought. Are your thoughts helping you and building you up, or are your thoughts hurting you and making circumstances more difficult? Practice self-respectful thoughts.

2. Communicate clearly and often. Ask for clarification when you are unsure of what is conveyed through verbal and non-verbal means.

3. Talk face-to-face or by phone to others instead of using e-mail. The benefits of this process far outweigh the time saved by using e-mail. Too much e-mail can be a “crutch” and seriously impact the fluidity of a group of people working to achieve common goals.

4. Conduct department-to-department staff meetings so that people can ask each other for information, clarification and process refinement, etc. It’s like “speed dating” for departments. For instance, gather staff from each department and give those people 10-15 minutes to ask people from another department for what they need or could provide to make their processes or organization function more smoothly. In other words, this is what we need from you. What do you need from us to make your jobs easier, more effective and fun?

Prioritize these ideas, assign who will do what by when, and then monitor in thirty days to determine results and make adjustments. In fewer than 60 minutes, the people in both departments will have gathered tons of precise information and a new outlook on their colleagues.

5. Talk about the white elephant in the corner that everyone knows about and talks about in their “cliques” but doesn’t address directly or in formal meetings.

These “TABOO” topics are the “real problems” that keep departments and companies from running faster than they currently do and could if they learned to overcome them.

Everyone knows about these white elephant topics and the professional “manipulators”, so the quicker these topics are brought to the table the quicker the organization can find solutions to them and move forward. I am not saying this process is going to be fun. All I’m saying is that I’ve done this HUNDREDS of times and in every case 99% of the people are much more productive and happier. and as a result, the organization can dump the anchors and start moving swiftly again. (the one percent that aren’t happy are the manipulators that either have to change their game to get along or are forced out).

This part of the process is often very difficult to decide on and implement. But like surgery, everyone is much healthier after the fact and the business and people within it will fly once this ball and chain topic or person isn’t keeping it grounded.

Kelly Graves, CEO
The Corporate Therapist
Email: Kelly@CorporateTherapist.com
Cell: 1.530.321.5309
Toll-Free: 1.800.704.3785
Office: 1.530.321.5309
Internal Business Solutions, Inc.™

Kelly Graves, CEO
The Corporate Therapist
Email: Kelly@ProfitWithIBS.com
Cell: 1.530.321.5309
Toll-Free: 1.800.704.3785
Office: 1.530.321.5309
Internal Business Solutions, Inc.™

Add Comment

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by at 2:42 PM

08 19 2013

How to Create an Office Environment where Change Initiatives can Flourish

Business Management Consulting, Business Success, Communication Issues, Mergers: How to Manage & Coach People Through Change, Mergers: How to Manage Organizational Change

Aug 2013

How to create an office environment where change initiatives can flourish

This is where you are, but… THIS is where you WANT to be…
We find ourselves re-doing our project plan and spinning our wheels. People are not working as a team. Increased cross-functional collaboration and communication. Higher degrees of participation from all members, at all levels. Less “failure work;” problems solved the first time.
People within and between departments are not communicating well. Creativity and synergy are poor or non-existent. Employee morale is down; absenteeism and attrition are up. Higher and more consistent morale. A high level of creativity and discovery are generated. The benefits of diverse thinking and multiple perspectives are captured in the moment. Valued staff and customers are retained.
Customer retention rates are sliding due to loss of key employees and our directional changes. Improved image of company or division within industry or community. New ideas and solutions to solve difficult problems.
Current systems and processes are generally less than optimal. People seem paralyzed about what steps to take next. People have initiative and take action. A professional, safe and encouraging work environment exists for all. People feel safe to challenge the status quo; existing beliefs about how the organization works and new ideas about how to improve the organization are stimulated. Discussions on positive change and finding creative solutions to new problems occur formally and informally. The focus is on maintaining a learning organization approach.

Achieving a Positive Change Climate

Charles Darwin theorized the fate of a species was determined by how “fit” it was. Interpreting Darwin’s statement, one might think that only the strongest or the fastest species would survive. But, this would not be an accurate interpretation of his theory of the fittest (especially when it comes to the defining the most “fit” in the business world).

Actually, it was neither speed nor strength that Darwin was referring to when he spoke of fitness. Rather, it was the adaptability of a species that would determine its fate. Similarly, evidence indicates that, just like in the animal kingdom, the survival of the fittest in the business world comes first to those who are able to change quickly and effectively in spite of tumultuous times in which cultural, environmental, and interpersonal changes are fast, fierce, and at times furious.

Organizational Change

To successfully navigate through change, it is essential that leaders, managers, and all employees gain an appreciation of one another’s challenges and needs. This vital first step will help to unify them as a team.

Second, the executives and managers need to identify and clarify for themselves and each other how they can help the organization achieve a more open climate; one which encourages an honest assessment of the situation, not one which merely seeks to puff leadership egos. When conversation is facilitated properly, employees will feel safe and be encouraged to share their insight. These are the hall-marks of creating a positive change climate. Are all of your employees confident enough to provide input on delicate issues or do they hold back and smile, or worse, share what they think leadership or management wants to hear? In either case, if people don’t feel safe enough to speak-up and try to help the department or company solve problems then leadership is driving partially blind and undercurrents of fear and chaos are actually controlling and driving your company!

Third, it is necessary to discover specific ideas (and belief systems) held by all your employees regarding change. Leadership and management often fail to recognize that outstanding ideas for improvement already exist in their people. If your employees are frustrated, obstinate, and difficult it may because they care and want to help but leadership doesn’t value their input. As a result, your employees have given up and….you have taught them to give up because of your silence, snide remarks, and interruptions. yes, they will smile and nod because they must keep their jobs but they are not working with or for you.  If any of this sounds familiar or upsets you……Congratulations, awareness is the first step. The second step is to call me or another specialist who can help you re-align your organization into an effective, fun and profitable company.

Kelly Graves, CEO
The Corporate Therapist
Email: Kelly@CorporateTherapist.com
Cell: 1.530.321.5309
Toll-Free: 1.800.704.3785
Office: 1.530.321.5309
Internal Business Solutions, Inc.™

Kelly Graves, CEO
The Corporate Therapist
Email: Kelly@ProfitWithIBS.com
Cell: 1.530.321.5309
Toll-Free: 1.800.704.3785
Office: 1.530.321.5309
Internal Business Solutions, Inc.™

Add Comment

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by at 1:16 PM