Posted on Jul, 23rd 2012 By Denis Leonard
Forming, storming, norming and performing are the four key stages in team formation.
Forming: This is a short lived period when the team initially gets together. The members get to know each other and why the team has been formed. The team leader is strongly in control at this point.
Storming
Posted on Jul, 14th 2012 By Denis Leonard
“Management has to give direction to the institution it manages. It has to think through the institution’s mission, has to set its objectives and has to organize resources for the results the institution has to contribute.”
Peter F Drucker, Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practice, 1973
The
Posted on Jul, 12th 2012 By Denis Leonard
One of Demings ‘Seven Deadly Diseases’ is ‘The Emphasis on Short-Term Profits’ and therefore on short term thinking. Despite the lessons of the recession, so much of corporate thinking is still driven by the short term view.
Posted on Jul, 6th 2012 By Denis Leonard
Here is a simple exercise to help you reflect on your leadership.
Make two lists. One is headed, ‘leadership I respected and valued’, the other will have the heading of ‘poor leadership’.
Under ‘leadership I respected and valued’ list examples you have experienced. To do this think
Posted on Jun, 29th 2012 By Denis Leonard
“The overall purpose of a site visit is to reveal the truth about the organization and provide a thorough assessment.” Brown, Baldrige Award Winning Quality, 2005.
You too can have such an impartial evaluation of your business by applying for the National Housing Quality Award. Take a look at the
Posted on Jun, 23rd 2012 By Denis Leonard
The ACORN test is an easy to remember way to evaluate the charter of an improvement project.
A Accomplishment. Does the goal actually focus on results?
C Control. Does the team have control of what is needed to implement and complete the project?
O Objective. Is the
Posted on Jun, 16th 2012 By Denis Leonard
“The stories, apocryphal or not, that circulate in an organization reveal its devotion (or lack of it) to quality, and serve to inspire its people to live (or not live) the quality message.”
What stories are being told in your company?
Tom Peters & Nancy Austin, A Passion for Excellence:
Posted on Jun, 10th 2012 By Denis Leonard
"What we hear too often is, don't confuse me with the facts, I know what I want to do." Bill Denney PhD
Posted on Jun, 4th 2012 By Denis Leonard
Technology has made gathering data so much easier. However, the problem is we can be overwhelmed by it. Surveys, stats, city, state and national data sources can be accessed and reams of paper can be printed to provide us with the information we need. But the key is interpreting that data, knowing
Posted on May, 26th 2012 By Denis Leonard
The focus is the customer, it’s about their needs and wants. Sometimes when we try to improve our customer focus and we try to achieve a ‘wow factor’ we actually just add fluff, which at best is window dressing which doesn’t do any harm, but nor does it have benefit and it still adds cost and time
