What does teamwork really mean? Would the U.S. economy be where it is today if we really had this? Ok, the U.S. economy is for another post. This post is about us, and how in bad times we are becoming a better and more focused team.
This Wow! was hard to write. It was also exciting to write. It exposes leadership weaknesses (clarity, verification). It also cheers leadership strengths (vision, empathy, persistence) that compel people to do the right thing right…to keep the business – our ship- clipping along in or toward a blue ocean (niche success!), even in the midst of chaos…
Here’s our “wow” for this week: This Wow! goes to my team. This month every single person on the team deferred their pay until the work they have in progress is completed. The only exceptions made were for part-time team members who completed short projects.
Why is this “wow!”? I look around and see that we are not the only team not completely in check with our strategy day to day. There’s a better way and we are moving to it…and ready to help others do the same.
If people stop doing the right things right, the ship stops, or at least stalls and goes off course.
We didn’t stop…thanks to the team. The communication is becoming clearer every day. And we are making the small yet continuous adjustments needed to keep on course. Read the rest of this entry »
Have you ever leaned toward avoidance when you haven’t delivered because you “know” the person you must speak to is going to be disappointed? Getting past this block can be difficult.
Here’s our “wow” for this week: This Wow! goes to two team members who tend to be troubleshooters and do-it-yourselfers. You did it! No, not what you expected. You crossed a barrier for you – and got in touch with me even though you did not have the news/deliveries you wanted to give. Now we are moving forward again. Read the rest of this entry »
It is not often easy for a new employee to show value…and then often they don’t feel valued. This is an important time for communication. It’s even tougher when the boss doesn’t really understand the role well…
Here’s our “wow” for this week: This Wow! goes out to — who knew he had value to add and needed to remain persistent in showing this.
Why is this “wow!”? Have you ever had a job in which your boss was not an expert in your role… and it seemed that your expertise was not valued, perhaps because of this? We certainly strive to listen and understand, and be patient with new employees as they find how to best show their strengths. Read the rest of this entry »
Getting the right things done, with less… When we make steps toward this goal, even small ones, then I just have to say…Wow!
Here’s our “wow” for this week: This Wow! goes out to —- for continuously seeking ways to meet our design needs – which are defined by our market’s needs - at a lower cost, but still keeping our highly professional look and feel. Read the rest of this entry »
A goal of the Collaborative-Action blog is to bring practical, do-able steps that will lead to performance management that works. Following is the first in a series of interviews to meet that goal.
Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing Professor Andy Neely, of University of Cambridge, Cranfield School of Management. You will find us both quite excited about the opportunity to add value, as we focus on translating data into information and information into knowledge. Or as Professor Neely shows in the diagram below, “From Hindsight to Insight.”
Click to play
This brief interview was entirely unscripted; it is a conversation chock full of immediate take-aways for CEOs, and all executive, division and department heads including Human Resources and Organizational Development. I look forward to your comments about this interview and any questions you may have that can be answered in future posts, interviews or ASK Lori!
People matter most to the performance - and risk - of your business or organization. Their actions, and their in-actions, can make a good strategy, or a bad one, and can ensure that a good strategy is realized, or not. A great way to manage risk, then, is through keeping a pulse of what your people think and do. And the best and most practical way I’ve found for doing this is through gathering feedback through surveys, assessments, evaluations and reviews.
Whether for internal control, governance, security, privacy, other compliance or due diligence (to name a few), setting a positive environment for feedback, asking questions, and showing that you are ready to take action on the input can help leaders keep their organizations on track and out of trouble.
In future posts I will link you to samples of how to gather and manage information for risk mitigation and performance improvement!
In my last post I told you a bit about a group that I am so proud to be part of: Count Me In’s Make Mine a Million Dollar business. Some of us are still striving for that $1M mark and others have made it and have moved well past it. All of us benefit from the collaboration from a group of resilient, persistent, innovative and action-taking women.
Join a million - Make a $million - Create millions of jobs.
JOIN US NOW IN A RACE!
To run with me, do this:
• Step 1 - Sign up at http://www.makemineamillion.org/race and use the code LEVA
(Note that my goal is to make more per month in 2009 than was made in all of twelve prior months. This is also called a “phenomenon.” If you are serious about building your business - join me and join this race!) Read the rest of this entry »
Is there a Wow! to be raised when the team is rejuvenating for the holidays? Yes
Here’s our “wow” for this week: This Wow! goes out to —- who was out of touch but not out of mind during the break. I could tell this by our productive conversation today.
Why is this “wow!”? —- faced holidays, a root canal and poor Internet all at the same time. We’ve all had those kind of days and weeks. And it’s so easy to just, well, let stuff go. The best course, however, is to log pending actions, if it cannot be delegated, so that the work can be picked up easily again…and share that log so that others relying on that work can also gain some peace. That’s what he did. Read the rest of this entry »
Are you, or do you know, a woman-owned business or female entrepreneur?
>> STEP 1: CONSIDER THE “M3″ RACE
Want to know what real Collaboration + Action (spiced with competition) is about? Put together hundreds, soon thousands and then millions of like-minded entrepreneurial woman in a race toward higher financial returns - and you’ll find out! Read the rest of this entry »
Until recently, employee benefits costs – healthcare, in particular – have been considered a necessary cost of doing business, external to a company’s core products or services. An emerging school of thought, however, suggests that employee wellness affects much more than a company’s bottom line as a human resource expense. Wellness also affects absenteeism, productivity and efficiency. In other words, healthy employees are more likely to successfully contribute to a company’s core business than sick or injured employees who are unable to perform at optimal levels.
In this way, wellness does, indeed, contribute to every company’s bottom line and, as a result, needs to be stated as a measurable goal of every company. But how can wellness be quantified? Read the rest of this entry »
