ONE great tip to improve your business quickly!

I learnt some valuable lessons some years back. As a hard working consultant who was at the time part of a large improvement programme for an FTSE100 company, I worked on many work streams aimed at reducing costs across the many geographical sites.
The aim was simple, improve the productivity of the permanent staff members and reduce the dependency (and costs) of the overtime and temporary staff. There were many streams in this programme such as a management training and development initiative, lean process improvement, some pretty sophisticated workflow modelling which sought to identify constraints and spikes and so on.
All these initiatives were useful in their own way, but the SINGLE most effective thing that was done in this initiative was to publish simple productivity metrics on large, highly visible, and easy to read dashboards at every site.
Suddenly, management and front line staff alike were very tuned into their performance in a very real way and performance started to change almost overnight. I would like to share with you some of the special characteristics of this dashboard so that you can get benefit in your business:
FOCUS ON THE FRONT LINE – if you really want to improve performance fast one of the best ways to do it is to give your front line staff access to the information. Use the existing technologies imaginatively so that the information is just ‘present’ and your front line does not have to ‘seek’ the information. One great example is a client who published simple dashboards on plasma screens around the business. START SMALL – managers (particularly middle and senior), analysts and finance specialists can deal with large datasets. However, you should pick only one or two metrics that are important for your front line. Give your staff one or two high priority measures and give them the lists of data that can help improve performance. E.g. If ‘No. of late Orders’ is important, make sure you give your staff the list of late orders IDs so that they can reduce them! FOSTER COMPETITION – most organisations get nervous about publishing individuals’ performance data (though you should strive for this if you can!) but most don’t object to you publishing TEAM performance data. As soon as Team A sees Team B is doing better they’ll start to ask why and you’ll start to see problem solving, sharing of best practice AND IMPROVEMENT. MAKE YOUR DATA EASY TO UNDERSTAND  – If people don’t understand it they won’t improve it. Never underestimate how scared many people are of data. Try and reduce the complexity of your high priority issues. MAKE THE DATA RIGHT – People often fall into two categories: those who believe everything they see in the reports and those who will never believe what they see in the reports. Both categories are dangerous. Make sure that you INVOLVE your staff in the criteria for each of your metrics and reports. WARNING: if you go too far your metrics can become monstrously complicated, as staff look to protect self-interest. Guide them towards simplicity. AIM TOWARDS REAL TIME INFORMATION – daily will do otherwise. Make sure it is frequent.
Of course on top of all of this you MUST tie the metrics into your management processes, bonuses, performance reviews, review meetings and the such like. But one thing is clear… measure and they will improve!
Good luck! I love this stuff, so if you have a problem you’d like to share (anonymity guaranteed) with me then I’d LOVE to hear. Just drop me a line on tim.gray@thefrankboys.com.

Company turnaround in tough times, questions and answers around why leadership has to change

“if you fail are you going to try again”? Nick Vujicic an inspiration to all leaders
As I began to write my blog this morning I thought about three questions How can I help people to understand that in order to turn organisations around the leadership has to be strong and situational? Who can I make reference to in order to help me inspire people and provide them with the courage to carry on in these tough times? How can I help organisations see that they cannot continue to operate as they always have, if they do they will get what they have always got?
As I thought a little more TWOthings came to mind My first day this week on a new assignment. I kicked off a new assignment on Monday within an organisation to help them deliver a project that is expected to improve bottom line profit by a staggering £27 Million pounds. Within that business the CEO is leading the business with such rigor and strength, the impact is infectious. Everyone is talking about the turnaround programme, everyone is engaged, and most importantly everyone wants to make the improvements happen!!! It clearly demonstrates the impact the CEO or business leader has on any turnaround programme As I searched through my business books, and thought about whom I have written about in the past. I looked for someone different to write about and I came across Nick Vujicic! Not a high profile business man BUT someone I think every leader across the world should take inspiration from.
Ok so what is situational leadership and what does strong leadership mean? Situational leadership is all about adapting your management style to effectively handle the situation. It’s about saying things to yourself like. Before, I haven’t known enough of the detail but now I need to or indeed the reverse. It’s all about protecting your core business, taking a good look at the workplace, marketplace and the way you execute and deliver your services or products. Strong leaders adopt this approach regularly; they make it personal and thrive in the face of adversity
When thinking about this week’s inspirational leader I came across Nick Vujicic, this is a man who was born without any limbs who teaches people how to get up! I have included an extract from one of his talks in this blog. If this doesn’t move you then I don’t know what will. Equally if it doesn’t cause you to question your level of determination and inspire you to carry on in the face of adversity then I don’t know what will. One of the great quotes from his material is “if you fail are you going to try again”? If your business is under stress, click on his picture enclosed in this post and watch his “YouTube” it really will inspire you to carry on
Lastly, my advice is don’t continue to operate as you always have, if you do you will get what you have always got. The leadership styles within business need to change and the managers within your organisation need to be supported through the change process.  Sustainable behavioural change is extremely difficult to achieve. Helping the managers and leaders within your business to understand the commercial implications of their behaviours and actions is extremely powerful, especially when turning a company around. I list below some bullet points to help you and your management teams become better leaders
“Be Frank” be open and honest with your teams and clearly communicate the objectives and progress of the turnaround initiative Evolve your thinking in line with situational management and the needs of your business Get “in the moment” help your managers and teams to see the impact of their actions and thrive on successful outcomes and wins Focus on quality and value and identify activities, products and delivery methods that negatively impact them Work smartly and encourage all around you to do the same  Be sensitive when making tough decisions,  but push on and make them in the confidence that ultimately they are what’s right for your business Celebrate successes in abundance and be sure to reward personal contributions
Finally, leadership is an art, develop amazing people that thrive in the face of adversity and you will turn your company into an extraordinary one, now that’s what I call a Turnaround Programme. Good Luck!
Good luck with your turnaround programme. If I can help, call me or write to me at mike.bresnihan@thefrankboys.com

Above and Beyond Performance Management, It isn’t as simple as One, Two, and Three. Powerful Management Behaviours are the KEY!!

“Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I don’t think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without the talking about the other! Bill Gates
And there you have it straight from the chairman of Microsoft, one of the world’s wealthiest people. You cannot separate technology and business just like you cannot separate performance management and people. So why is it, that so many organisations’ performance management processes are so ineffective? Let’s start by defining performance management
Performance management (PM) includes the activities that ensure that goals and targets within a business are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner. Performance management can focus on the performance of an organization, a department, employee, or even the processes to build a product or service. When most organisations refer to performance management they are generally trying to do the following three things
1. Impact their financial performance Grow sales and top line Reduce the operating costs of your business Reduce back logs and hit deadlines Improve the time it takes to achieve strategic and operational change
2. Positively motivate the workforce Maximize plans for specific goals for over achievement Improve communication Achieve clarity in terms of the achievement of goals and targets Increase confidence associated with package and remuneration rewards Manage the organisation and promote team and staff development
3. Improve management control Increase flexibility and responsiveness to the organisation’s needs Assist in quality control and legislative requirements Support the communication of strategic goals, targets and processes Provide well documented policies and processes
Given the challenges that exist within business most CEO’s, Directors and Leaders are very focused on items one and three. Organisations don’t survive without a strong financial performance, we are all cutting costs and trying to maximise profitability where ever we can. Leaders love to be in control, data and technologies are great ways to demonstrate we are in control and have all of the right systems and tools to run our business. But when you think about it, and look at performance management the way Gates looks at technology. You cannot execute performance management effectively within your organisation without positively motivating your workforce and motivating your workforce is not as easy as it sounds. Dictating, managing by fear and “sweating the assets” are long gone approaches. Approaches I am sure many of us have all been victims of
When I refer to Powerful Management Behaviours, I mean exactly that!!!  The influence and the power management teams have within a business today is unbelievable. This only comes though when the organisation STOPS thinking about how they can drive the employees to deliver what they need them to, in isolation!!!! WHAT?? I hear you say. Yes this is when the leaders within business actively demonstrate to the employees that they are interested in them, shifting the focus from being completely about the orgnaisational need to the needs of the employee and the organisation. Putting the employee first, seeing it from the other person’s viewpoint!
This shift has a remarkable impact on the way your managers and employees behave within your business and in turn has an incredible impact on it’s financial and overall performance. Ok so this doesn’t mean you have now become a complete push over and your staff can go and come as they please and we all live happily ever after. It means that you ensure that your management teams have similar values and beliefs, and that they align with the goals and targets of the business. Surround yourself with capable people who have integrity and get to know and understand them. Continue to remain focused on points one and three but enhance and evolve the way you deal with point two, your people. This is when performance management is delivered in earnest, this is when performance management becomes effective, this is how you go above and beyond, and this is how you unlock the key to your success and develop a business like Bill Gates. Maximise the potential of your organisation’s most expensive but important asset today. Implement Powerful Management Behaviours!
Performance Management through Powerful Management Behaviours is incredibly powerful and can fundamentally change your organisation for the better. If I can help, call me or write to me at mike.bresnihan@thefrankboys.com

Will the Sun on Sunday survive? Seven Steps to ensure your staff don’t ruin your business

Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. Dwight D. Eisenhower
The demise of the News of the World and the launch of the Sun on Sunday reaffirmed to me the importance of the employee within an organisation. Rupert Murdoch needs to ensure that the teams and people within his organisation act with integrity and professionalism at all times. We should all learn a valuable lesson from the chain of events that led to the demise of the News of the World and ensure that we support and manage our people to protect and grow our businesses
Teams and people within an organisation are a significant factor in determining its success or failure; it is of great importance that they are effectively managed. If the teams within the News of the World had been effectively managed it would still be in circulation today. We have all seen how ineffective management can lead to failure, financial disaster and business ruination. It is fool hardy to leave it up to your people and then blame them after the event.  Below are the seven steps of effective staff management to help Rupert Murdoch and indeed all business owners secure the future of their business.
Step One: Communicate – Clear, effective, open and honest communication is key in order to ensure teams are on board and are kept fully informed. Engaging with staff ensures that they feel part of the team. It helps to demonstrate the importance of their contribution – this should never be underestimated!! If a role exists within your business that isn’t important then the role and cost shouldn’t be there. In your personal life you would never pay for something you don’t need, so it shouldn’t happen at work.
Step Two: Set SMART Targets. Most people go to work to do a good job. The work needs to be clearly defined, but of equal importance, the tasks and activities required of the teams and people need to be achievable. Use the SMART model to ensure this is the case. Set, Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Relevant, Time Bound targets for your teams to work to. The key here is realistic, putting teams and people under too much pressure to deliver results leads to negative unprofessional behaviour like phone tapping!
Step Three: Mindset, Values and Beliefs the mindset, values and beliefs of your people need to be aligned to the organisational values and beliefs. Understanding the values and beliefs of the people that work for/ with us is extremely important. Helping individuals to meet their individual values and beliefs is extremely positive. Gaining personal fulfilment at work is a very powerful way of developing individuals within your business. Encourage them to act with honesty and integrity and ensure these values are reinforced though your communication and target setting. The Sun on Sunday will flourish and grow to an unthinkable size if the readers/ customers truly believe this is the way it operates
Step Four: Support and Empower teams need to feel supported and empowered. Don’t control and dictate, encourage, measure and manage. Allow your people to think and contribute, share their experiences and encourage them to be engaged. Sharing best practice and implementing solutions that are driven by key members of your team is highly motivational and encouraging for everyone. Provoke healthy competition and reward suggestions accordingly. Promote integrity and professionalism and encourage the people within your business to talk about how they achieve it
Step Five: 1-1s, Team Briefs and Meetings – sounds very straight forward doesn’t it? However, you wouldn’t believe how many organisations I have worked in that don’t apply these simple performance management techniques. High quality, regular monthly or bi monthly 1-1s are critical to monitoring and managing the performance of your team members. Ensuring that the teams are fully briefed on company performance and activities is critical, along with holding regular team performance and quality focussed meetings. Be sure to encourage the sharing of best practice in these sessions and be receptive to new ideas and innovative ways of working.Step Six: Work Quality Management / Governance – This step is all too often over looked in business. Had the quality of the work been managed when the News of the World was alive it would still be in circulation today. Mr Murdoch I strongly recommend you implement rigorous work quality monitoring processes and some governance around the gathering and publishing of your material. There is not an organisation in the world that doesn’t need work quality management.  Work quality management ensures your customers get what they are paying for at the highest quality standard possible. What business shouldn’t be striving to deliver this in any climate but especially today’s   Step Seven: Celebrate and Reward Success – Finally, through the six steps above you will begin to see operational and profitable improvements, Guaranteed! Celebrate and reward these, use the lessons learned through the above steps to improve performance further. Share and communicate the high quality standards delivered by individuals, allow them to have an overall impact on the way your organisation works. Develop and grow the individuals within the business to help them exceed in their roles and encourage them to get to the highest level within your business. When they reach this point encourage them to leave and go to a competitor!! Replace them with fresh, new innovative idea makers / thinkers. Don’t allow your organisation to get blocked or stuck. Steer and grow it to achieve unimaginable results and celebrate and reward all who help you get there.
Of course there is a great deal more to the seven steps above and to achieve this effective management approach within your organisation is not as easy as it sounds. However the results and benefits from implementing steps like this within your business are significant and can be a massive amount of fun and enjoyment. Imagine the impact this effective management style has on organisations; if you can’t perhaps you should think about the impact not having it had on the News of the World. I hope Rupert Murdoch is reading!!
Have fun leading and managing your people and reaping the rewards. If I can help write to me at mike.bresnihan@thefrankboys.com

3 steps to being the best company in your market

A quote we believe applies to most management consultants! “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.” Albert Einstein
Businesses pay extortionate amounts of money to companies who call themselves ‘management consultants’ to improve performance. And it’s no wonder that this profession has such a bad reputation. I believe there are three key reasons for this Consultants really do tell organisations what they already know Any initiative that is led by a consultancy will most likely fail in the long run They are so expensive.
But to label management consultants as a worthless profession would be doing you an injustice. And if you want to be the best company in the market then I believe we can all learn from these observations. Read on dear reader:
Consultants really do tell organisations what they already know…. Because your organisation will have many switched on intelligent, dedicated people. The reality is that you/ your company can’t identify them and/ or isn’t listening to them. Well guess what step 1 to becoming the best should be? Any initiative led by a consultancy will almost always fail in the long run to generate benefit… because your organisation probably doesn’t really want to change anyway. As soon as the pressure from one of these projects subsides, organisations take a deep breath and (secretly) resolve never to do it again! Additionally although many people use the term ‘sustainable change’ it is seldom a reality! Internal staff MUST be developed to lead post transformation. The effort required to do this cannot be underestimated! Step 2 to becoming the best is to always focus on sustainable change and to ensure that you truly get buy-in and engagement from your staff. Consultants are expensive… because they are often engaged without any focus on benefit. Also consultants are often engaged on paper exercises (which in themselves deliver little benefit). I believe this is because organisations lose confidence in themselves – they begin to believe that they do not have the talent of the expertise. They most often have all the talent they need. This talent is most often just lost/ undeveloped. Step 3 to becoming the best is to always, firmly, insist every improvement initiative has a targeted benefit.
As transformation specialists we believe that the secret weapon within your organisation is your management community. They are the only ones who can identify and foster talent. They are the only ones who can drive sustainable improvement. They are the only ones who can drive real benefits. The challenge to you is to inspire and development your management community… now!
Good luck! I love this stuff, so if you have a problem you’d like to share (anonymity guaranteed) with me then I’d LOVE to hear. Just drop me a line on tim.gray@thefrankboys.com.

How to measure the impact of your business improvement initiatives? The four critical business indicators

	“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” John F. Kennedy
There is lots of synergy between this quote from JFK and this week’s topic. It is pointless investing massive amounts of time and money in business improvement initiatives without there being a true purpose to their existence. Having no clear direction from the top will mean the initiative will be seen as a distraction, unimportant and will lead to failure or it having limited value.
Business improvement initiatives should always align to the overall strategy and objectives of the organisation. These strategies and objectives should ultimately guide you to monitoring and measuring the following four indicators when running your improvement initiatives
Indicator One: Revenue: Without income you do not have a business, if your improvement initiatives do not impact the, maximising, stabilising or generation of revenue, then I would question whether they are worthwhile. Of course every initiative may not lead to a direct increase in revenue, but there should be a link in some way. E.g. an increase in your profit may enable you to become more competitive, happier more engaged people may enable you to sell more or to offer fantastic customer service. Offering your customers what they want, at a price they can afford will undoubtedly increase your top line.  These things are all interrelated, please read on
Indicator Two: Profit  The profitability of your business is the indicator that is going to provide you with a long term sustainable organisation.  Profit is what will keep your organisation alive. Strengthening the profit of your business should always be in the forefront of your mind. Once the revenue comes in, it needs to be handled carefully and protected. Protecting and growing your profit through business improvement initiatives will safeguard its future. I would recommend that you quantify the impact your initiative will have on profitability at the outset, and then track and report progress. Don’t be afraid to adjust your initiative if profitability is not being positively impacted. Remember profit is the life blood of your business
Indicator Three:  People The people within your business are fundamental to its success. Creating a great place to work for your people and providing your teams with the right tools, support and training to deliver their work, is paramount. Hopefully you will have read my articles on staff motivation and engagement. When delivering business improvement initiatives don’t forget your people whatever kind of initiative it is. Where possible track and measure the impact your initiative has through productivity, effectiveness, or staff engagement / satisfaction results
Indicator Four: Customers  Finally your customers; closely linked with the people indicator. Internal and external customers exist across your business. Customers inevitably supply your revenue; any improvement initiative you engage in should positively impact your customer experience. Business improvement initiatives should help you to stay ahead of your competition and exceeding your customers’ expectations. Measure this through revenue, profitability and customers satisfaction surveys
It’s really important when embarking on business improvement initiatives that you measure the impact they have on your organisation. Initiatives are hard work and costly, try to ensure you get the maximum benefit from your efforts by monitoring the four interrelated critical indicators today. Good Luck!!

To learn more about the effective measurement of your business improvement initiatives and the four critical indicators, give me a call or write to me at mike.bresnihan@thefrankboys.com

Do you have a Cold War in your business?

The Cold War was a strange thing. Both sides, Russia and (predominantly) America, were equally convinced of each other’s desire to wipe each other out. Both sides spend billions on the nuclear arms race (and the space race), on secret service activities and on developing their military capabilities. The ‘fighting style’ was very clandestine (directly, neither party killed even a single person) with each party effectively finding proxy wars to fight (such as Vietnam) and driving secret campaigns (such as funding democratic/ communist political parties) in faraway countries that few of us would hear about in day-to-day conversation; The enemy was never clearly visible but always feared.
What a waste of time and effort!  The point of this post is to highlight the good possibility that your business has a cold war. I’ll use a practical example.
Directors in this large £150m+ organisation were all responsible for procuring the goods and services required to run their service. All Directors had a bad view of Procurement (“I don’t know what they do all day”, “I can never get hold of them”, “they give me different advice every time I call them”, “they take too long to get an answer”). The Procurement team resided somewhere off site, somewhere remote, and in the eyes of the directors was just a group of unprofessional people at the end of a phone number they’d really rather not use.
And guess what? They didn’t. Directors basically got used to ad-libbing. Procurement policy was never followed (no one knew what it was) and the organisation entered into contracts with suppliers that basically abused their position… lots of money was wasted.
So what of the ‘evil’ procurement team? They also had a rather poor view of their ‘customers’. The directors were “unruly”, “unable to follow process”, “wasted [organisational] money” and “never followed policy” which meant that the organisation was always compromised.
Whilst both sides had a dim view of each other, over a period of a time the views of each ‘side’ had turned quite bitter. Things even got personal. On one day there was a loud argument in the open plan office, which got personal, which was followed by HR procedures and disciplinaries, meetings, reviews and much more (with no satisfactory conclusion).
This organisational Cold War ultimately cost the organisation millions as a result of poor procurement decisions and suppliers not being governed correctly. Both sides had ultimately demonised each other to such an extent that they were uncooperative. Both sides lost out by investing time, effort and money in tensions that served no real purpose.
So let me cut to the chase. Cold Wars like this are very common to organisations. They also have many common causes, which when worked through, can turn your Cold War into a Warm Friendship. Top causes of a Cold Wars:
Absent/ ineffective management. Managers have a clear responsibility to identify problems, highlight problems to their seniors and to find and implement solutions. Actually with good Performance Management processes in place supported with positive leadership behaviours, issues can be nipped in the bud before becoming the start of a Cold War. Ineffective Processes/ Poor Process Compliance. Processes exist for a reason. When the right process is followed, everyone wins. If a process is not being followed then either revisit the process quickly and evolve it, or train, educate and mentor staff to follow the process. A simple example is the “data quality” process. Sounds boring, and to many agents on the front line recording the latest Patient/ Customer data is tedious. But without data you can’t do business!! Leadership Styles/ Organisational Culture. Never, ever, underestimate the impact you have as a senior manager. People will do what you do, say what you say. If you extoll positive virtues then your teams, in time, will do the same. If you are tempted to have a little ‘gossip’ about other departments/ teams then you will inadvertently foster an unconstructive culture. Deal with problems head on, be objective, keep the big picture in mind, collaborate and support. Insecurity within the workforce. Never underestimate the impact that job insecurity has on your workforce. Insecurity fosters negative attitudes and beliefs. In today’s climate this is easier said than done, but you must, must provide security where you can, support your staff, and seek to make them HAPPY! Ineffective Communication. Make sure both ‘sides’ understand their purpose, role and processes. Promote collaboration. Promote cohesion. Ensure that you have effective and open communication channels in place, such as meetings, articles, emails, newsletters, briefs etc. The less ‘alien’ each party is to each other the less likely you will have a Cold War.
Good luck! I love this stuff, so if you have a problem you’d like to share (anonymity guaranteed) with me then I’d LOVE to hear. Just drop me a line on tim.gray@thefrankboys.com.