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July 21, 2009

The Secret Sauce For Successful Implementation

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , — Admin @ 8:02 am

We are pleased to have a guest Blog by Miki Saxon, RampUp Solutions while Holly is off on vacation!

How many times during your career have you attended training, or read a book, that offered tools and taught techniques that fired you up only to find yourself unable to implement them?

A frustrating experience and even more so when others seem to apply them effortlessly. That’s especially true when those who do succeed are less experienced or skilled than you.

What’s going on? Most likely the difficulty lies in your MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophyTM) and it is your MAP that needs to change.

People can’t implement any method unless their MAP is synergistic with it.
Unfortunately, most management and leadership training assumes that participants have a certain kind of MAP or they wouldn’t be there.

But that’s not true-MAP is as individualistic as snowflakes-no two are identical.

MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophyTM) is the basis for everything you do-it’s the why of life.

Everything you do and say is a mindset, grounded in your attitude towards others, which, in turn, is based on your personal philosophy.

MAP is learned, not innate, and it changes, either passively, through the influence of those around you, or actively, in ways that you consciously choose.

That’s why learning better management, leadership, parenting, etc., is a far cry from actually accomplishing it. The difference is similar to the difference between stain and paint.

  • Paint learning means coating what you already think with new ideas or approaches. The problems arise when the underlying attitudes and thoughts, i.e., MAP, are inconsistent with the new ideas-the greater the discrepancies between the two the more difficult it is to successfully implement them.
  • Stain learning means that the new ideas sink in and actually become part of your MAP. That also means being willing to modify or change your MAP when the value of the new ideas is greater than the cost of change.

The greatest thing about MAP is that it’s completely within your control.

Changing it requires a strong desire, the right catalyst-awareness-and a journey through each of the four levels of competence:

  1. unconscious incompetence,
  2. conscious incompetence,
  3. conscious competence, and
  4. unconscious competence. (Most people believe they never reach this level since, by definition, when they do reach it they aren’t aware of it.)

Although there are as many types of MAP as there are people, I’m often asked what comprises “good” MAP. Keeping in mind that my answer is totally subjective, I think good MAP is (in no particular order) positive, open, flexible, honest, secure, interested, enthusiastic, patient, sincere, encouraging, caring and loves creativity (its own or others).

Once your MAP is on board and you start implementing, be careful not to confuse process with bureaucracy.

  • Process is like MAP, it gets you where you want to go, whereas bureaucracy stifles whatever it touches;
  • Process, like MAP, is ever-growing/ever-changing, while bureaucracy is carved in stone.

Finally, remember that in the high stakes employee productivity, motivation and retention game MAP is worth more than money.
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About the author: Miki Saxon is founder of RampUp Solutions, Inc.

Miki has been coaching startup executives on their cultures and communication skills for 10 years using a system she developed called MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophyTM) that’s predicated on the belief that every outcome starts with a thought, so “To change what they do, change how you thinkTM“

In 2003, she shifted from consulting to a virtual coaching model to accommodate both her clients’ preferences and a move to southern Washington State.

RampUp Solutions is also developing Option SanityTM, the first program to provide an automated, CEO-defined approach (based on the founder’s philosophy) to awarding stock options for any company instituting a stock plan. Beta testing is set for mid-Q3, with full release in Q4. Interested parties should contact miki@RampUpSolutions.com or call 866.265.7267

Miki writes two blogs, MAPping Company Success and Leadership Turn.

February 8, 2009

Using Performance Management to Create a Culture of Excellence

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , — Admin @ 11:41 am

We are pleased to have another guest blog, this time by Amy Rasdal, founder of Rasdal Associates, Inc. and Billable at the BeachTM.

Have you ever attended a meeting where people promised important deliverables but never followed through? Conversely, have you ever committed to a deadline knowing full well that you couldn’t meet it but that no one would hold you accountable for it?

According to recent research, 78% of all company leaders identify “getting the right things done” as a significant problem in their companies. It’s not surprising, then, that accountability has become a critical competency missing in many companies.

Some of this is due to the fast-paced nature of today’s business environment. With so many demands on our time and attention, we can barely keep up with the never-ending crises of the day; much less accomplish everything we have committed to doing. But a lack of accountability also stems from the absence of a (formal and informal) performance management system. Without such a system in place, clearly connected to strategic goals and objectives, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to engage people in following through on doing the right things in a timely manner.

A structured performance management process can strongly support ongoing efforts to build accountability into the organizational culture. It helps to keep everyone aligned with the strategic goals, and it focuses people’s attention on what needs to get done, by when. Without it, management can easily get off track and forget to measure and reward what we have told everyone is important.

Specifically, an effective performance management system:

  • Communicates how individuals contribute to business success and how they will be evaluated.
  • Aligns individual goals with key business priorities, resulting in greater focus, more efficient use of resources, and less time wasted on non-value added activities.
  • Provides a comprehensive system for recognizing what gets done and reinforcing how it is achieved.
  • Creates a discipline of measuring progress against specific goals and making adjustments as necessary.

In most companies, performance management consists of a once-a-year performance review session that is dreaded by manager and employee alike. To achieve the desired results (i.e., improved accountability), performance management needs to be an ongoing activity, not a one-time event. It requires two-way conversations between manager and employee so that both are working from the same page in terms of what is being managed and how it is being managed.

A good performance management process involves five key steps:

Read the whole post here

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