The title of a best selling business book 'Death by Meetings' says it all. No one likes meetings, however, they are a crucial part of a well functioning communication process in an organization. The point of the book was actually that it need not be death by meetings, if only they were conducted efficiently. Meetings are not held just for the sake of holding a meeting they need to have a purpose, to have an agenda to be addressed, for those in attendance coming prepared and for the meeting...
Blogs
2 years 5 weeks ago
By: Denis Leonard
Whatever the issue. Whatever the idea. The first response was, no. Not an adamant no, not an angry no, not even a thoughtful considered no. But a calm, clear, instant ‘no’.
This response obviously kills 100% of all forward motion, innovation, creativity and expansion of ideas. The NO response is similar to the, ‘I cant see that working’ response. Working with such individuals’ results in people giving up in trying to share ideas, enthusiasm disappears and so...
2 years 5 weeks ago
By: Jonathan Sweet
I recently got to spend some time in Madison, Wis., for one of our PR Night educational and networking events.
Madison is one of those markets that has been relatively healthy throughout the downturn, with a strong white collar economy, led by state government and the University of Wisconsin. Even now the unemployment rate is below 6 percent.
That said, most of the remodelers I talked to there are seeing fewer jobs and those that they’re getting are much smaller, just like...
2 years 6 weeks ago
By: Denis Leonard
While running a Kaizen Blitz (a short term improvement effort focused on a specific issue) or having a systematic Six Sigma project can have dramatic impacts on improving performance, don’t forget about getting small ideas everyday. For example in 2008 Coca-Cola Stockholm saved 1.5 million Kronor by using Six Sigma but at the same time saved 9 million Kronor from using simple front line improvement ideas!
Research shows that successful lean programs have improvement that is front line...
2 years 6 weeks ago
By: Denis Leonard
Mission, Vision and Values are commonly used together, but what do they mean?
Mission is why you exist
Vision is what your striving to do
Values are how you do your work
In this blog we will focus on Mission. A mission statement, describes the PURPOSE of an organization!
A mission driven organization is focused. It is steered and driven by its mission statement, it is from here that the goals...
2 years 6 weeks ago
By: David Barista
Last month, I had the pleasure of spending a day in Seattle speaking to local home builders and remodelers about the growing importance of social media in their overall marketing efforts.
Of the 30 or so people in the room, about 60 percent said they currently use one of the “big four” social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube) on a regular basis for personal use, business, or both. We had a lively discussion on which tools are being used, shared success...
2 years 6 weeks ago
By: Denis Leonard
You may feel that by talking with customers on a regular basis and reviewing surveys, that you have you finger on the pulse of your customers thoughts and attitudes. But the key to Focus Groups is to that you get a specific group of people together to discuss indepth a specific issue. This gives you detail that you otherwise would not get.
You can ask general questions that are open ended i.e. not giving a yes or no answer. Also do not over react to the answers (poker face) in...
2 years 6 weeks ago
By: Denis Leonard
For a real relationship with trade PARTNERS we need to practice what we preach. First of all do you have a good partnership and relationship between the departments in YOUR homebuilding organization to start with. If your departments work in an integrated way, understand that you are each your INTERNAL CUSTOMERS and work as true partners then you will be able to translate that to the relationship with your trade partners. If not well …………… This partnership will involve not only working...
2 years 6 weeks ago
By: Denis Leonard
This is where so much time, effort and money is lost. Doing it right the first time, not having rework, call backs, defects and warranty issues, is obviously a huge cost saving!
It takes a range of tools to make this happen. A detailed scope of work connected to your contract is key. The scopes should be trade and builder supervisor friendly, which is easy to read, using diagrams, details, photos to explain the situation. The trades should be an integral part of the team writing the...
2 years 7 weeks ago
By: Jonathan Sweet
Jersey City, NJ -- Writing from the NARI Spring Business Meeting here, and the news seems to be mostly positive.
Most remodelers I've talked to are seeing business pick up, with much better first quarters than a year ago. It seems to be the case pretty much nationally, as I'm hearing it from remodelers from Washington, D.C., to Indianapolis to Dallas to Seattle and points between.
I'll be shooting some videos with some of those remodelers later this week, so keep an...
