April 2020

Practicing Teamwork and Continuous Improvement Remotely

Apr 28, 2020 Comments

I am writing this while still in lockdown due to COVID 19 and most people are working from home.

You can still engage people in teamwork using online meeting technologies and drive continuous improvement.

Earlier this week I facilitated a masterclass session with business owners where they were able to work on problems that they are currently facing. There session was done using the Zoom meeting application and the result was finding practical effective solutions for the problems brough forward.

Task Team

The first step is to form a task team comprised of management or a mix of managers and employees. The size would vary depending on the size of your organization and how many departments you have but it could be as small as three but not larger than seven.

There needs to be a champion named to lead this team and report to the business owner or GM. The business owner or GM could also be part of this team.

The purpose of this team is brainstorm problems or continuous improvement opportunities in the organization and prioritize the list down to the top three to five items.

You can use my articles and videos on brainstorming techniques to do this step.

Problem Solving Teams

From the priority list of the task team described above, form one or up to three teams to work on solving the problems and proposing solutions. This could be cross functional team if the problems cross many departments of affect the whole organization. This is a good time to work on problems that may be human resource related like how to increase a

The teams would meet remotely using any online meeting app and work together using effective problem-solving techniques.

A champion for each problem-solving team would need to be named and a facilitator and this can be the same person. Roles should be defined. For example, you might have the project champion, a facilitator, a note taker, and a gatekeeper.

The gatekeeper’s role is to ensure that the rules of working together are followed so they assist the facilitator. So, you need to establish a few rules of guidelines for working together. IF the gatekeeper sees that the rule of respect is being abused, he will intervene to help the facilitator address this.

Action and Feedback

If you embark on this, you need to treat the recommended solutions and decide the action you will take as a business owner or management team.

You will also need to give feedback to the teams on what you plan to do as you do not want them to feel their time and energy spent on this was in vain.

Communicate Communicate this initiative to all employees so they are aware of things and are ready to support any new methods or processes that will need their backing.

Being and Feeling Productive Working from Home

Apr 21, 2020 Comments

I am writing this at the time of the COVID 19 pandemic and like most people I am staying home and limiting my trips to the grocery store. Most businesses are closed for the time being and those who still have jobs are working from home.

For business owners and managers, it’s probably a good time to do some strategic planning as operations may have paused due to the coronavirus situation. Often there seems to lack time to work on the business rather than always in the business.

It’s crucial to stay productive and feel like you are accomplishing important tasks and projects. Of course, this is always true but even more so if you are working from home and can be easily distracted with family life and staying abreast of the news.

I find that when I start the day with a list of tasks that must get done, I feel better organized and focused. And then at the end of the day when I review the list and check off each completed task, I get a clear sense of how productive my day was. Otherwise I sometimes find myself asking, what did I do today?

I have developed the habit of using an app on my phone as a tool to list my daily tasks and check them off when completed. I also use the app to keep track of future long-term projects, personal projects, grocery lists etc.

There are an abundance of apps available that are free and paid to do task and project tracking. I use then free version of Any.do as I find it simple yet comprehensive.

What I find productive is to make a few lists for various aspects of my business in the app. This could be new training program development, and in the category, I list the projects I want to work on. I can arrange the list by priority.

I have a list category called Today. This is where I list the 5 things that I feel I must do that day. It could be 4 things that I need to do for a client project and the other could be what I want to get done for my project in the new training program development category list.

Having this type of list keeps me focused on what I need to do for my commitments and to mange my time well, while also working on strategic initiatives. I also feel great when I can check of each item at the end of the day review and then I know my day was productive. This simple approach works but it could pose challenges for different types of people as it requires developing the habit to work the process. Once you find something simple that works for you commit to it and it will soon become a pattern and an automatic reflex everyday.

What Can We Learn About Employee Training from A Dog?

Apr 14, 2020 Comments

My dog Chief is two and a half years old and he has been in training ever since he was a puppy of two months. This has allowed me to walk with him off leash so he can run and get his exercise and also so we can bring him into all types of environments and feel confident he will behave well with people and other dogs.

When I researched breeds of dogs that would suit my lifestyle and commitment I would be ready to make, training was a question I confronted. I knew at that point that I was ready to commit to ongoing training and it has paid off.

Here are a few points to keep in mind when training employees that also pertain to dogs and that I have seen work.

Know yourself and your natural style of leadership and training.
Understand your employees and what type of training will work best. Do they need gradual learning of new information or can they consume it quickly? Do they need a lot of repetition or do they grasp how to do things quickly?
Reinforce what they are doing well with positive reinforcement but don’t over do it.
Re-direct them to what they need to be doing right rather than focusing too much on the negative.
Follow my Seven Steps to Highly Effective Employee Training to maximize the training delivery and results.
Follow-up depending on how complex the learning is and how new the employee. Newer employees will need closer follow-up.

The next training for Chief will be therapy dog training so we can volunteer him to organizations that have people that need the comfort and love that is special to dogs.

How Being an Optimist or a Pessimist Affects Employee Performance

Apr 08, 2020 Comments

Is the glass half empty or half full? That is a quick way to determine if someone is an Optimist or a Pessimist. It may not be very scientific but it does have some merit.

Optimistic type people tend to see the bright side of things and are more open to others and opportunities that present themselves. They tend to trust others more quickly and believe things will turn out positively.

Pessimistic types are more suspicious of other people’s intentions and tend to see the potential pitfalls in new opportunities. They have a more critical outlook and are more cautious.

Some jobs require a more optimistic outlook while other jobs a pessimistic type thinking. A financial comptroller should in most cases be a critical thinker and so he can spot the potential pitfall of an investment more quickly than a strong optimistic type.

An entrepreneur who wants to build a world class business will be faced with many hurtles and must remain positive in the face of these challenges to keep moving forward.

Ideally we want to have a good balance of optimists and pessimists in a team so that there is the drive to move forward with a good sense of caution and questioning of new opportunities. This will enable better planning and probably avoid costly errors.

The key is to have good collaboration and communication so that dialogue can happen effectively especially on large projects that pose a lot of risk.

So take the test, is the glass half empty or half full?

Monthly Archives: April 2020