| Page 2 | People and Process Optimization Resources

The Need to Accurately Understand the PEOPLE in a Process

The Need to Accurately Understand the PEOPLE in a Process

Fri, 04/01/2011 - 13:46

In many, if not most knowledge/office worker processes, the people are analogous to the machines in a manufacturing or physical process.

I've seen a lot of talk recently about the importance of attitude over other factors in employees and of course, this is nothing new. When it comes to performance of people in the different processes that occur in business, a better more accurate and powerful way to look at it is suitability. Suitability, typically encompasses the traits that underlie most of what determines a person's level of performance in a job or task. These include a person's key personality traits and natural tendencies, work and task preferences, motivations, decision styles and attitudes.

In knowledge/office worker processes such as accounting, sales, administrative processes etc., not only are the people often like the machines in manufacturing processes, but they have considerable choice as to when and how they do many of the tasks and often whether they do them at all. This is just one key reason why the underlying suitability traits of the person responsible for steps in a knowledge/office worker process are essential determinants of that process' performance.

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Goal Achievement Critical Success Factors

Sat, 09/18/2010 - 03:50

* Reposted from January 2006

AGILEdge recently sponsored a study looking at goal achievement programs and processes around the world as well as our own to determine the critical successful factors for successfully achieving goals in organizations. The ability to achieve goals is obviously a key success factor for individuals and organizations as well as for individual processes. It's a life skill. It's a business skill. It's a success requirement. It's also a skill that is in short supply.

Many, but not all of these factors are like weak links in the chain - if you have all but that one satisfied, you still will more than likely fall short. These critical success factors are divided between up-front activities and implementation activities as follows:

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Barriers to Effective Goal Achievement

Fri, 07/09/2010 - 06:32

Barriers (and myths) to Effective Focus and Goal Achievement

There are many reasons given for NOT being focused, for not having an understanding of the three dimensional (Looking in, out and all around) environment in which you operate. If you want to hear them with your own ears, go find a group of business owners whose business has recently failed - it certainly is not the only reason but these are very common with them, I can assure you.

• There is not enough time to work through process

• We can't get buy-in from….???

• Belief that informal understandings of values, vision, mission and goals from some "exercise" are enough.

• We have no major conflicts and are surviving so "everyone must be aligned with values, vision, goals… when they are not . This always takes work (effort).

• The belief that a vision and or strategy is not needed after all, things "move too fast"

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Optimizing Processes - Discussions

Sun, 04/18/2010 - 12:49

Our personal lives consist of numerous processes - some of which we are not conscious and some that we are. A number of these are critical to our well being and on the hand, a considerable number are inconsequential. In organizations, especially in managerial or knowledge worker settings, processes are the keys to success. Processes are the sequences of activities and decisions/choices that we participate in to achieve goals which include inputs (often costly) that are transformed into outputs and outcomes. The quality and effectiveness of the key processes within our organizations are directly related to the results we achieve.

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What's the Investment?

Tue, 09/08/2009 - 17:48

Engaging in an effort to improve a key processes or an overall effort is typically a significant undertaking that is long term in nature and often conflicts with the daily "fire fighting" that many organizations are engaged in. When you choose to reduce costs and/or improve capabilities by addressing how you do things (process-focus), what is the investment? Like other business investments, the costs center around the time of your people for which you are paying for, the outside investment and of course the relevant opportunity costs for both. The following is a concise listing of these costs:

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