RED E SPEAK

CVA- Customer Value Analysis is the art and science of measuring customers needs and wants and finding ways to serve those expectations better than the competition.

Flight Risk- used to describe employees who are suspected of planning to leave the company or department soon.

EVA- Economic Value Added is the financial performance measure that captures economic profit of an enterprise by looking at shareholder wealth over time. (Taking it Further: www.sternstewart.com/index2.shtml)

Uninstalled- Euphemism for being fired.

PIMS- Profit Impact of Market Strategy identifies and tracks key determinants of business profitability and has been around for twenty years and most recently has been expanded on by the Strategic Planning Institute (www.thespinet.org/)

Dilberted- To be exploited and oppressed by a boss.

The Constituent Scorecard- identifies major constituents or stakeholders of the organization and appropriate measures and targets. A compelling places to shop 2 a compelling place to work 3. A compelling places to invest.

KIP- The Key Performance Indicator Scorecard was used as early the 1960’s to track critical success factors and is most often-used in manufacturing and health care organizations. It looks at financial, community, internal process, and learning indicators that when tracked, define cause and effect sequences that ultimately drive high-level strategic outcomes.

Application Service Providers- outsourced management of hardware, networking equipment and software in off-site data centers and store changes to the data, which can reduce paperwork and help eliminate many administrative headaches.

CLAM- Career limiting move used to describe an ill-advised activity that offends a boss or executive in the organization.

Urban Mindsets- First identified by Yankelovich Partners, this group of cutting edge African —American consumers between the ages of 16 and who are irreverent, self-reliant and cutting edge in style will define the future of what’s hip in music, entertainment and fashion.

Integrated Learning Systems- training systems which help users import and assemble course elements, present them, test and record progress as well as administer the overall program.

The Ethereal Realm- an organization’s vision, values, ethics and culture which are the heart and soul of the organization.]

Information Appliances- relatively simple gadgets (e.g. WebTV, the I-Opener, AOL5.0) that perform valuable functions like getting online without hassles that mar the PC experience today which will reduce the use and importance of PCs in the future.

Information Coordinators- new title for expanded role of administrative assistants in the emerging workplace of the 21^st century, which is dominated by teams, and telecommuting¹.

The Strategy Scorecard- establishes as its goal to focus the organization on its strategy and maps the strategy through a measurement framework

Decoupling- instituting goals, policies and programs aimed at increasing rural and urban economic competitiveness and job creation while simultaneously reducing environment impacts to levels determined to maintain a health economy. Instituted by the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark and currently under consideration by the State of Oregon.

External Commitment- motivation that is imposed by upper management on employees in response to the latest advice on how to build employee commitment.

Internal Commitment- comes from employees themselves who have a say in the measures that they will be judged on by credible supervisors who communicate honestly.

Frequency Marketing- encouraging customers to identify themselves in return for points, mileage, cash prizes or other incentives.

Work Based Learning- developmental activities and educational efforts within an organization that help to establish a culture of continued learning².

¹Taking it Further: Office of the Future:2005, www.officeteam.com.

TAPE TALK

Strategic Thinking 2000

Gone are the days when a manager’s job depended upon getting the right answers or competing in the marketplace based on price. Today, strategic thinking does not mean accurate forecasting as much as it does asking the right questions. Neither does it mean having an annual retreat to review and rewrite goals and objectives. Knowing where the competition and the sector will be in 10 years and who is best positioned to dominate the marketplace is critical. Every management team has a set of assumptions, biases and prejudices about how things work, what customers want, what channels to use, what value-added means. Every organization over time brings three things perfectly into alignment: 1) the belief structure people have about what drives success. 2) The administrative system that rewards measures and gathers information. 3) Competencies and skills that are necessary to add value. When an organization finds that it is no longer working effectively, it has no time to change those three things. That is why strategic thinking today in public, non-profit and for-profit organizations is more about taking apart and rebuilding people’s mental models… understanding not how to compete within a sector for a piece of the pie but to compete across sectors for a share of influence on the pathways of development as new providers emerge. Managers are unable to think strategically unless they are able to deconstruct their most treasured assumptions and biases. They are incapable of viewing the future clearly or inventing one that takes them and their organization into it unless they challenge their existing paradigm. How and when can the management team unlearn what it believes to be successful in time to strategically position themselves and the organization for the future? Boundaries blur between sectors, jobs, research, practice…concepts, methodologies, competencies and tools. Increasingly, the most valuable manager will be one that manages across boundaries in a relevant way - using the tension between getting the job done and learning about the process to redefine reality.

²Taking it Further: Work-Based Learning: the New Frontier of Management Development by Joseph Raelin (1999)

Managing Across Generations³

Never before has there been a workplace so challenging in part due to the range of ages and differences in values working side by side. Today’s generational diversity frustrates managers and challenges workers. The four groups that occupy the American workplace span for the first time a remarkable slice of time 80 years and includes:

The Veterans- born between 1922 and 1943 respect authority, see work as a way of surviving, take charge, delegate and make decisions on their own and are fundamentally uncomfortable with computers.

The Boomers- born between 1946 and 1960 - question authority, see work as fulfillment and are more concerned with raising fortunes that raising consciousness and have pushed change, individualism and teamwork.

GenerationXers- born between 1960-1980 - reject authority unless there is a clear linkage to what they want to accomplish and see work as no guarantee of surviving. Flexible work environments, appropriate technology, multitasking, frequent feedback and equal recognition motivate them.

Nexters- born between 1980 and 2000 they build authority through inclusiveness and see work as a necessity to be balanced with family and personal interests. While they are new to the workplace, initial indications are that they are comfortable with new technologies and are motivated by thorough orientation to their role and by knowing clearly how what they are doing leads them in a specific direction.

In order to successfully an intergenerational pool of employees, it seems to be important to:

Communicate, communicate, and communicate allowing opportunities for workers

To discuss they're points of view and their opinions as well as to have a say in how the job gets done

Create choices in how, when and where work is done without strict dress codes or one-size-fits-all work environments

Be flexible in your leadership and management style relying more on developing consensus than on control and more on personal credibility than power

Respect and reward competence and initiative assuming the best and valuing employees as individuals who have personal lives and need personal space

Make retention of employees more important than finding new employees encouraging professional development and growth as well as broadened assignments, cross-training and lateral promotions.

³Taking it Further: Generations at Work by Ron Zemke, Claire Raines and Bob Filipczak (2000).

CUTTING IT

Priming the Workforce Pump

In a period when unemployment is down and the workforce shrinking, two important pieces of federal legislation both taking effect earlier this year could expand the workforce by as much as 25 million as early as next year.

Tapping the Older Workforce

By 2020, almost 20 percent of the U.S. population will be 65 or older with 51 million people between the ages of 50 and 70. When the Senior Citizens Freedom to Work Act of 2000 was signed late last year it removed the retirement test from social security recipients who work. Beginning in May 2000, individuals entitled to retirement benefits who are working will begin to receive those payments. The law also provides that beginning with the month in which the beneficiary reaches full retirement age and ending with the month prior to attainment of age 70, the retired work is able to earn or delay retirement earnings. The amount of credit earned varies according to the year of birth. As an example, individuals born in 1934 who retire in 2006 at 70 would be 27.5 percent higher by delaying the receipt of benefits.

Enabling the Disabled Worker

It is estimated that 76 percent of disabled people want to work yet nearly 75 percent do not hold jobs. Roughly 9 million working-age adults currently receive disability benefits. Up to 100,000 new workers may be assisted into the workforce by 2001 through the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act signed into law late last year. While requiring state legislation and intergovernmental coordination, it seeks to break down barriers faced by the disabled who want to work but who fear losing much-needed Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security Benefits. New incentives include expanding funding for state Medicaid buy-in option and permitting states to raise Medicaid income limits; extending premium-free Medicare coverage for those who take a job; eliminating an automatic disability review for recipients of SSDI and SSI who take jobs; and directing SSA to start self-sufficiency programs that would give those receiving disability benefits a ticket to obtain employment services.

What Does This Mean to Managers and Employers? Some of the consequences of having new and older workers include the need to restructure and rethink succession strategies and career ladders, retirement schedules and benefit packages as well as healthcare. The continued presence of top-level older employees may cause frustration among younger workers. The introduction of disabled workers will increase workplace diversity and reshape work environments, job descriptions and scheduling.

Five KEYS to Creative Confrontation

Conflict and confrontation are part of everyone's workday. Goals vary with the nature of confrontation. Someone in sales wants to walk away with a customer. Someone working with a team member from another department with a different agenda just may want to resolve the situation to his or her satisfaction so movement on a project will happen. We have found that there are five keys to making conflict work positively.

1. Have a Creative Confrontation with Yourself so that you are clear about your motives and clear about who is responsible for the outcome — you.
2. Keep the Right Stance — if you feel less than equal to the other party you will be outmaneuvered.
3. Keep Your Cool — stay relaxed and don’t get personal. Move ahead regardless of negative messages until you are convinced that you are not registering and that No does in fact mean No.
4. Be Prepared — know what you have to offer and what the history is and what is possible given a mutually agreeable solution.
5. Use Common Sense — don’t do something that you that you know won’t work, don’t let your enthusiasm get in the way of achieving your objective and don’t tell stories out of school. Instead of talking, listen.

Maintain Dignity for you and for the Other Person so that regardless of the outcome, there will be no regrets.

7 Steps to Brainstorming Blast-Off

After 20 years of brainstorming, some of us have learned how to connect more ideas and test them as part of the process by structuring the flow of ideas so that each segment adds value to the next step.

1. List ideas about what’s causing the problem to be solved with attention to root causes and openness to conventional and unconventional wisdom.
2. List what ideas will generate desired outcomes after the group has exhausted the reasons for the problem.
3. List the places to go to find solutions without allowing the group jump into solutions.
4. Take a break. Let the group process what has happened. Walk them through the ideas generated in Step One then ask them whether or not those identified in Step 2 will deal with the conditions driving the problem. Will the resources be sufficient to resolve the problem?
5. Have the group talk about methods, plans, products and services that meet objectives.
6. Identify ways to communicate ideas to critical decision makers and people who might value them
7. Create as part of each step a Solution Toolkit filled with such things as software packages, policies, resumes, cultural changes, new products and services that customers would value, things to know about customers, perks that product results.

9 Steps to Getting Past the Voice Mail

Advanced communication tools abound — but how to make things like voice mail really work for you? Take it from successful salesmen:

1. Count on making three calls — two to lay the groundwork and the third to deliver the message.
2. Know what you want to accomplish and tailor your voice mail to that.
3. Insert a customer benefit into the message to give them a reason to call back.
4. Differentiate your message from others through the use of humor or urgency.
5. Be brief and positive.
6. Use other communications tools such as faxes, email and letters to compliment what you say on the phone.
7. Find another contact in the organization to help you make contact.
8. Call early or later and vary your calling times.
9. Don’t give up — calendar the call for a later day and try one more time.

10 Steps to Preventing Internet Sabotage

1. Do not put sensitive information on a Windows system that is always directly connected to the internet through a fiber-optic cable or DELL Lines
2. Use a properly configures firewall to separate outsiders from seeing into your office machines when you are not around.
3. Keep your own Web site separate from any sensitive business information.
4. Never download and run a program from the Web or received as an e-mail attachment unless it comes from a reliable source and you have good reasons.
5. Don use Internet file transfer protocols such as "telnet" or "ftp" because they send passwords used to log onto remote servers in clear text over the Internet.
6. Regularly use available virus scanners such as Norton Antivirus to catch bugs that make it into your system.
7. Configure your PC not to book from a floppy disk or CD, which all too often harbor viruses.
8. Get systems pro to verify that your setup is secure.
9. If suppliers are attacked and cut off, be sure you have fallback arrangements so that business isn’t interrupted.

Ten Keys to Successful Turnarounds

It happens. Downturns, change, loss of customers, increased competition. When the organization is struggling, the worst thing to do is hide from the truth. The best thing is to talk to employees, customers, and vendors and to map out a strategy. The organization has a greater chance of turning itself around if:

1. The top executive is strong, decisive and communicative.
2. Business, marketing, sales and operating plans have a specific agreed upon focus.
3. Managers are able to handle adversity and willing to put in extra hours.
4. Employees are willing to put in extra hours.
5. The board or governing entity is strong and experienced.
6. Vendors are flexible
7. Bank officers believe in the organization
8. Quality products and services matter
9. There is a market for the products and services
10. Management hires experienced counsel who understands the business of turnarounds.

Business Plans That Work

Every organization would have a business plan that explains its vision, mission, objectives, values, sales, marketing, hiring strategies, competition and income and expense projects.

State Your Mission and Objectives: (1-2 pages) the mission statement explains what will be accomplished and why employees and volunteers will be contributing through their work.

Describe the Organization’s History: (1-2 pages) summarize the background or achievements of the organization as well as its performance in key activities.

Describe the Organization’s Products/Services (1-2 pages) Describe what make those products or services truly unique.

Profile the Target Market (1-3 pages) Address the size, segment, trends and potential customers or clients using sources like industry publications, trade associations and university research.

Describe the Competition (1-2 pages) Include both primary and secondary competitors and comment on strengths and weaknesses.

Describe Your Marketing Strategies and Funding Opportunities (2-3 pages) Tell about how the product or service will be marketed and how the organization will differentiate itself from the competition.

Describe R&D Efforts, Technology, Benchmarks (1 page) Explain how the organization will measure success, improve or develop services and what resources are needed to do so.

Describe Operational Plans (2-3 pages) Explain how the organization plans to improve quality, distribution service and development of new offerings.

Identify Key Personnel (1-2 pages) Identify the team that will be used highlighting their experience in the sector or their critical skills.

Disclose Funding Needs (1 page) Summarize the organization’s financial needs, identify sources for funding and offer project for returns on investment.

Provide Financial Position and Projections (2-3 pages) Use simple table to present key financial projections, such as profit and loss, cash flow, balance sheets and key ratios making sure that the figures are accurate and believable.