Prefer to watch rather than read? Just click here, under 5 mins with captions.
In office work the queue doesn’t snake out the door. Its piles up emotionally in the form of the ever-expanding Inbox, and the increasing rates of friendly-but-scary “where’s my thing?” It feels like there’s no way out….but it turns out just a spoonful of capacity goes a long way.
Read more…This is definitely one that’s better to watch on video. Click here, 5 mins, with captions.
Have you seen the show Ted Lasso? You should. Warms the coldest heart, and it’s funny. And…we can find lessons in there about how we can make our own workplaces better.
Read more…Prefer to watch on video than read? Click here, 6 mins with captions.
If you’ve been with me for a while, chances are I’ve run through this with you. The purpose of this is to put it all in the one spot.
This is about understanding the focussing point required to get any system (any system) to work better. And by ‘better’, I mean better for customers, better for those working in it, and better for the bank balance and purpose of the organisation too.
Read more…Why read when you can watch on video? Click here – 5 mins, with captions.
You can increase the throughput of your show hugely with one simple change.
For real life.
But don’t take my word for it, let’s turn to one of the total gurus – Eli Goldratt.
As part of the brilliant Goldratt Satellite Program, which you can still buy and watch the legend himself (I’m not associated with it BTW), he tells the story about the maintenance area of the Israeli Air Force.
Read more…Prefer to watch on video than read? Click here – 5 mins with captions.
Less cost, happier customers, happier staff, happier you.
There’s something hidden in plain sight which is inhibiting these from happening – John Seddon’s Failure Demand.
It’s not a new concept, but John’s naming of, and describing of the concept is brilliant, which leads to understanding and action. His book Freedom from Command and Control is a must-read for anyone involved in service centres, along with the more recent Beyond Command and Control.
Read more…If you’d like to watch me go through this on video, just click here. 6 mins with captions.
Senior Management is not just more management. It’s a new kettle of fish. I’ll go through:
First – what are we talking about here? The key thing is manager of managers. Or, managers of multiple teams, who each have their own leadership. These roles can be called various things, some of the ones from my clients are:
Read more…A state of overload and chaos has become sadly normal in organisations. Here’s the thing – it comes from a very natural condition – an obsession with utilisation. I’ll explain…
These ideas originated from one of the all-time gurus – Eli Goldratt.
To demonstrate, I’ll draw my favourite diagram that my long-time clients will recognise (with one change):
Many of my clients are in the social sector, and within that, government at all levels. Often in workshops, the question is asked “who is your customer”. The answer…”the community”.
This comes from a good place. But….there is a better way to see who the ‘Customer’ is, which leads to ultimately serving that community better. And…these ideas also apply to those in the private sector too.
Here’s a basic diagram of a work system. These ideas are informed by the work of Ken Miller who wrote a book called “We Don’t Make Widgets”, specifically for government enterprises. Well worth a read.
The disgruntled masses – the groups in your organisation that are locked into staying the same, staying disappointed, and no lever is long enough to jemmy them free. This article is about what’s going on and the strategy to get things moving.
The Organic Systems Framework of Barry Oshry helps us see what’s going on. He shows how we can see organisations as social systems, and through running week-long live-in simulations with groups for over 40 years, has seen the same consistent patterns emerge again and again.
Read more…Your people want more communication. I know this because your latest staff survey had this as the second-biggest issue behind cross-functional work.
You want more buy-in and commitment. You also want more accountability or ownership taken, and you want your team, your division, your organisation to be more adaptable, responsible, or dare I say it….that ‘a’ word.
The good news is there’s a simple step you can put in place that lays the foundation for this (not the panacea…but the foundation)
If you’ve been alive and in organisations this century, you’re tired of being told that you need to go from this:
