W. Edwards Deming is famous for developing a continuous quality improvement model. It’s a sequence of four steps that can take you through any project successfully and creates a benchmark for you to follow.

It’s known as the PDCA model or cycle, the letters standing for Plan, Do, Check, Act

Of the many management models available, Deming’s is one of the most straightforward. Its analysis of how change can be managed has helped various businesses drive towards improved productivity and profits. The essential elements are:

PLAN: plan ahead for change. Analyse and predict the results.

DO: execute the plan, taking small steps in controlled circumstances.

CHECK, study the results.

ACT: take action to standardise or improve the process.

Each of these stages can be monitored for any project you’re working on, and create a great framework for you to assess your results.

Which stage is the most important?

They all link together, but if the plan isn’t laid on solid foundations for improvement, the results won’t drive the business forward. Executing a plan is important, but if the results aren’t measured and monitored, you are simply taking action for the sake of it, and can’t make contingency arrangements.

Results will occur whatever action you take, but if you want to get the same results again, you need to identify the recipe and standardise the actions you take, so you can get the same results again.

Deming’s model has been used effectively all over the world, and offers a sound basis for changing your approach to work.

Thanks again
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

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

There are many motivational models that appeal because of their applicability to the real world. None more so than Victor Vroom’s Expectancy Theory

His theory assumes that all our behaviour comes from choices among alternatives whose purpose it is to maximise pleasure and minimise pain. He suggested that the relationship between people’s behavior at work and their goals was not as clear cut as others had imagined. He realised that an employee’s performance is based on individuals factors such as personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities.

The theory states that people have different sets of goals and can be motivated if they believe that:

– There is a positive correlation between efforts and performance,
– Favorable performance will result in a desirable reward,
– The reward will satisfy an important need,
– The desire to satisfy the need is strong enough to make the effort worthwhile.

This will only occur, Vroom states, if the following belief systems operate:

1. People actually want the reward, so managers must identify the value structures of their employees

2. People expect that they can attain the reward

3. The reality of the reward. Managers must ensure the promised rewards are carried through

Vroom suggested that an employee’s beliefs about these things interact psychologically to create a motivational force such that the employee acts in ways that bring about the conditions for the reward to actual come about. He stated that people will be driven and motivated by how much they want the reward on offer, the chances of them actually achieving the reward and whether the expectation of them receiving is is high.

This formula can be used to predict whether someone will actually be motivated to achieve goals set by management. And it answers the question why some people are more motivated than others; they simply want the rewards more than others.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

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

The Balanced Scorecard method of Kaplan and Norton is a strategic approach and performance management system that enables organisations to translate a company’s vision and strategy into implementation, working from 4 perspectives:

1. financial perspective,

2. customer perspective,

3. business process perspective,

4. learning and growth perspective.

1. The Financial perspective:

Often, there is more than enough handling and processing of financial data. With the implementation of a corporate database, it is hoped that more of the processing can be centralised and automated. But the point is that the current emphasis on financial data leads to the “unbalanced” situation with regard to other perspectives. There is perhaps a need to include additional financial-related data, such as risk assessment and cost-benefit data, in this category.

2. Customer perspective:

Recent management philosophy has shown an increasing realisation of the importance of customer focus and customer satisfaction in any business. These are leading indicators: if customers are not satisfied, they will eventually find other suppliers that will meet their needs. Poor performance from this perspective is thus a leading indicator of future decline, even though the current financial picture may look good. In developing metrics for satisfaction, customers should be analysed in terms of kinds of customers and the kinds of processes for which we are providing a product or service to those customer groups.

3. Business Process perspective:

This refers to internal business processes. Metrics based on this perspective allow the managers to know how well their business is running, and whether its products and services conform to customer requirements (the mission). These metrics have to be carefully designed by those who know these processes well. In addition to the strategic management process, two kinds of business processes may be identified: a) mission-oriented processes, and b) support processes. Mission-oriented processes are the special functions of directors and senior managers, and many unique problems are encountered in these processes. The support processes are more repetitive in nature, and hence easier to measure and benchmark using generic metrics.

4. Learning and Growth perspective:

This includes employee training and corporate cultural attitudes related to both individual and corporate self-improvement. In a knowledge-worker organisation, people are the main resource.

In the current climate of rapid technological change, it is becoming necessary for knowledge workers to be in a continuous learning mode. Many companies find themselves unable to hire new employees and at the same time is showing a decline in training of existing employees. Kaplan and Norton emphasise that ‘learning’ is more than ‘training’; it also includes things like mentors and coaches within the company, as well as that ease of communication among workers that allows them to readily get help on a problem when it is needed. It also includes tools such as the Intranet.

The integration of these four perspectives into a graphical appealing picture have made the Balanced Scorecard method a very successful methodology within the Value-Based Management philosophy.
Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

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

Tony Robbins has identified six basic human needs and believes everyone is—or can be—motivated by their desire to fulfill these needs.

You may want to consider these needs when thinking about developing your team members The question to ask is, “What need or needs do my team have that will enable them to fulfill their job roles effectively?”

1. Certainty/Comfort. We all want comfort. And much of this comfort comes from certainty. Of course there is no ABSOLUTE certainty, but we want certainty our computer will start up, the canteen will be open when we want it to be and our job will still be there when we wake up tomorrow morning .

2. Variety. At the same time as we want certainty, we also crave variety. Paradoxically, there needs to be enough UNcertainty to provide spice and adventure in our lives.

3. Significance. Deep down, we all want to be important. We want our life to have meaning and significance. Can you imagine looking back on your life and wondering whether you made a difference and coming to the conclusion that you didn’t? There’s not many things worse than that.

4. Connection/Love. It would be hard to argue against the need for connection with other people. We want to feel part of a community. We want to be cared for and cared about. Abraham Maslow called it our need to ‘belong’. It’s the essence of teamwork. It’s what we crave for when we work with others.

5. Growth. There could be some people who say they don’t want to grow, but that’s probably because they have goals that don’t inspire them (or no goals at all). To become better, to improve our skills, to stretch and excel may be more evident in some than others, but it’s there. Try creating goals for the team that will provide rewards other than money, and see which team members go for it. Those who don’t may have died mentally, but not told you!

6. Contribution. The desire to contribute something of value—to help others, to make the world a better place than we found it is in all of us. Take that need away, and you lose all motivation.

Action Point
Evaluate this list to better understand your personal motivations and examine which ones seem the most significant to you. Then, look at what you do to fulfill the needs of other team members. It will likely make a difference in what and how you do what you do. It also should make a difference in the way you describe and explain what you and your products can do.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Manager Training

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

Appreciative Inquiry is a newer term not many of you may be familiar with. It is, in short, the act of learning about and appreciating the values that those around us have to offer.

You’ve heard the phrase “find the best in others.” That’s exactly what appreciateive inquiry is about. In business, and as a manager, it’s your responsibility to work with people until you uncover their positive traits – the traits you and your team can use and appreciate.

According to Carol Wilson, there are four main stages when it comes to appreciative inquiry. They are:

1. Discovery
2. Dream
3. Design
4. Destiny

You start by discovering what you have – learning about what is working for your team right now and what could potentially change based on the traits and skills you have uncovered. You then take the time to think about (or dream up) the best possible outcome possible. After you have an idea, you have to design a plan that will bring those dreams to fruition. You then determine the destiny by figuring out exactly how your design can most naturally exist, combining both new and existing resources without upsetting the old systems.

You must evolve and emerge.

Appreciative inquiry isn’t about forcing change. It’s about learning about the traits, skills, and characteristics of your team members you didn’t realize existed and allowing them to evolve naturally into your processes – with a little encouragement, of course!

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Courses

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