Organisational effectiveness is important to the success of any business, whether it is product or service oriented. The key to organizational effectiveness, however, is something we refer to as self awareness.

This self awareness needs to come from the top of the organisation and flow down. If the top executives and CEO’s aren’t aware of how things are run they won’t be able to made educated decisions. Each and every decision those key executives make will have an impact on whether or not productivity increases or decreases, how quickly other members of the organisation are able to make decisions within their own departments, and the amount of conflict there is within the organisation itself.

Organisational effectiveness also refers to how successful a company is at serving the needs of its clients. A company that can’t effectively keep up with changing market trends obviously won’t be as effective as their fiercer competitors. Organisations must be able to not only spot upcoming trends, but also identify how long those trends are going to last so that they can make changes before experiencing losses. A great example of this is the dot-com boom in the early 1990′s, after which hundreds of people lost millions of dollars because they weren’t prepared for the change.

In order to remain effective an organisation must have a clear sense of direction as well as remain open to new ideas. Being able to look at today’s trends and foresee how they will impact the future will enable you to create a plan for a successful future.

How does organizational effectiveness impact your job today? Are the CEO’s above you in touch with the rest of the business? Are you effectively communicating with your clients in order to understand their needs? Sounds off in the comments!

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

While the performance appraisal process isn’t exactly a favourite amongst managers, it is helpful to know that there are several different types of performance appraisal strategies to choose from. Knowing there are options available should give you the flexibility to find the right type of appraisal method for each department or even specific employee within your organisation. Here are a few different types of appraisal methods:

• The 360-Degree Appraisal - This method of appraisal involves allowing other employees to fill out a questionnaire detailing their experiences with a specific employee. The feedback of peers can be reviewed by the manager and considered during the appraisal.

• General Performance Appraisal - This appraisal method involves ongoing communication between the manager and employee throughout the entire year. At the end of the year you’ll determine whether the pre-set goals and objectives were met, provide feedback, and set new goals.

• Technological/Administrative Performance Appraisal – The technological or administrative performance appraisal focuses more on technical skill than anything else because these employees have specialized tasks. They’re judged on specific skills, the amount of work they produce/complete, and a variety of other tasks.

• Manager Performance Appraisal - Managers must go through the appraisal process as well. This type of appraisal usually covers both job skill as well as human resource skill, as most managers usually have clients to keep happy as well as a team to keep organised. Most often a manager appraisal will include feedback from team members, usually obtained anonymously.

• Employee Self-Assessment - This type of appraisal is one of the most dreaded by employees as no one seems to enjoy rating themselves. Most often the self-assessment is compared to an assessment completed by the manager and then discussion regarding the differences follows.

• Project Evaluation Review – A project evaluation review is a great project management tool. Instead of waiting until the end of the year an employee or team is reviewed at the end of each project. This gives them the tools necessary to make adjustments for the next project.

• Sales Performance Appraisal – Sales performance appraisals are often the easiest to conduct but the most painful. A salesperson is simply judged on his results versus his set goals and salesmen are often held to their financial goals more than any other section of the organisation. A manager and salesperson must discuss ways to achieve their goals or changes that need to be made to make them reachable yet still realistic.

There are a myriad of different appraisal types and we’ll go over each in more detail in the future. Simply walk away today with the understanding that there is no “out of the box” appraisal process you can apply to every member of your organisation. They’re all individuals and have to be appraised as such as well!

Thanks again,

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

Risk assessment guides are tools used by organisations to measure the amount of risk involved in any sort of project or activity. You may already be familiar with risk assessment guides as they apply to education, health, or a myriad of other subjects in your everyday life.

A risk assessment guide gives business owners the tools necessary to ask a series of questions that will determine whether or not the plans or strategies they are formulating will result in a positive or negative outcome.

There are four main steps in the risk assessment process:

1. Start by identifying the risk and the threat it is perceived to present;
2. Evaluate the likelihood that the risk will result in a loss (physical loss, reduced sales, etc);
3. Determine the best-case and worst-case scenarios; and
4. Use the information you’ve gathered to estimate the actual risk or damage you can expect.

Let’s say, for example, you run a large automobile insurance company. You want to set a minimum and maximum age limit for the drivers you’ll list on your policies. You will need to use a risk assessment guide to determine the minimum age that a driver must be to obtain insurance with your company. You’ll find that the likelihood of a driver having an accident (the risk) will be much different with a 17 year old driver than with a 40 year old driver. The same applies to the maximum driver age. Perhaps a 40 year old driver will have less accidents than an older 80 year old driver. You’ll have to gather reports and make assessments to determine the best and worst case scenarios for each risk group.

Risk assessment is critical to risk management. Risk management may apply to workplace safety, sales, and even customer service. Do you have risk assessment and management tools in place within your organisation?

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

Now that we’ve established how important it is to recognize organizational control, let’s take a closer look at the types of control that occur within the workplace.

To start, there are four main categories that control falls into:

• Physical control – the amount of inventory you have on hand, your quality control guidelines, and how well your equipment and facilities are maintained;
• Human control – including human resource functions such as placement, training, benefits, and appraisals;
• Information control – considers how well you can analyze sales trends, your ability to track the economy, and public relations; and
• Financial resource control – which involves avoiding debt, managing cash reserves, and paying bills,

These categories aren’t presented in any specific order, but perhaps it’s important to note that without proper financial control you won’t be able to organise any of the other areas on the list. Financial control is the foundation for any successful business.

Some organisations break their levels of control down a little bit differently, but they still cover the main categories. In some cases you may see them listed as operations control, financial control, structural control, and strategic control. In short, we’re attempting to achieve the same high level of functionality.

As a manager you will have responsibilities that reach into each category, but you likely won’t be responsible for any in their entirety. For example, as a team leader you’ll have to hire and manage your employees (human control); balance your department’s individual budget (financial control); make sure your equipment is in working order and that projects are completed on time (physical control); and communicate your results to other people within the organisation, your clients, or to the public (information control).

Juggling these responsibilities will take advanced communication skills on your part, but I think that once you understand how your tasks fit into the overall picture you’ll have an easier time accepting how important your role is to your organisation!

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

While at times it may seem like allowing employees free reign over their tasks is best, it’s important to remember that organisations have established methods of control for a variety of reasons. Control methods are often put in place to make sure deadlines are met, to control the number of errors that are made, and to ensure overall success.

There are four main things control does for an organisation:

• It helps everyone within the group adapt to environmental changes;
• Reduce the instance of error;
• Manage complexity within the organisation; and
• Minimize operating costs.

Each of these factors is incredibly important, especially in today’s turbulent economy. No one can afford to make mistakes that cause us to lose clients or waste money on unnecessary expenses.

For example, a few years ago the beautiful fountain in front of the Travelers Insurance corporate headquarters in the US broke down. It would have cost $60,000 to repair the fountain. Would you spend $60,000 on something like that today? Of course, it would look terribly unprofessional to have a broken fountain outside the building, so the CEO instead authorized the company spend only $20,000. They used that money to fill the fountain with dirt and plant a tree. In the end, they’ll save thousands of dollars because the tree will require very little maintenance.

In this New Year we’re going to take a close look at how well you control your organisation. You’ll soon see how your communication, influential, management, and leadership skills must all come together in order for you to keep a tight grip on the reigns!

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”