Religions and Truth

I came across a great quote from a fellow Capricorn today, Muhammad Ali. He was born on January 17th in 19452 and died last year, as did so many people–famous and private.

He once said, “Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams-they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do-they all contain truths.”

In this time of divisiveness, please take a moment to consider the many things that we share. Beauty exists, but only when appreciated!

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Prioritize the “Why”​ over the “What”​

I had never heard of Michael Parrish DuDell before 1 p.m. today. He’s a very vocal Millennial and he now has a new Boomer fan after I spent an hour listening to a webinar where he shared inter-generational workplace insights. (Slidedeck at http://www.mpdhq.com/citrix)

Besides the headline (above)–which earned a big AMEN from this Boomer–here are a few more memorable quotes:

• 80 million Millennials–they believe strongly in mission-focused work
• They will make up more than 75% of the workforce by 2025, but average tenure for a Millennial employee is roughly two years. (Explanation: they’ve seen their parents get laid off, so why devote loyalty to companies that they believe have no loyalty to employees?)
• They value self-expression up to eight times more than Baby Boomers.
• Reality: Linear careers are no longer desirable and professional trajectory has become D.I.Y.

So how does DuDell suggest older managers connect with this generation?

• “…find a role that aligns with their passions…”
• “…better quality of work life.”
• “Practice Radical Transparency”
• “Embrace Flexible Work Policies”
• Nurture personal bonds of trust in the workplace–ESPECIALLY if the corporate bonds can’t be guaranteed.

Plus, he “liked” my tweet about the webinar about 2 seconds after I sent it out. And did I mention the two official Shark Tank books he has written? Check him out…

Whose Monkey Is It?

I absolutely LOVE Dan Rockwell’s blog post entitled New Questions for Managing Monkeys. Absolutely best are the opening sentences: “You end up overwhelmed, under-appreciated, and angry, if you own other people’s monkeys. Someone walks in your office with an issue – a monkey. Make sure they walk out with their monkey.”

AMEN!!

Read Dan’s post. It’s a great way to start 2017…

Have you seen Pearson Dash?

I’m not entirely certain whether this is “vapor-ware” or not, but the Pearson Dash app for iPad looks like a good roadmap for what can be accomplished with the right technical support with an iPad. The following was copied from the app’s description text on iTunes:

Dash enables you to:
• Prepare and plan for class anywhere with mobile access to your Pearson teacher materials
• Draw on superior instructional content and teaching strategies when preparing for class, teaching, or assessing student understanding
• Differentiate instruction for your students with new content-specific strategies for every page in the student text
• Easily open the companion student eText for iPad
• Preview and play videos from their Pearson programs
• Customize your teacher support with bookmarks and searchable notes
• Navigate the full array of teacher support with keyword search or through the resource library
• Help students learn and practice vocabulary terms with audio-visual resources in English and Spanish
• Project worksheets, images, student journal prompts, and quizzes for the whole class
• Organize and track your students with classroom seating charts
• Record, edit, and e-mail observational notes on your students

 

Doing More for Less Money…Without Going Broke

The Problem:
How do you reduce the cost of developing sales leads among upper-level decision makers without sacrificing communication quality?

The Company:
Softrax, an enterprise software company based in Canton, Massachusetts, sells its revenue cycle automation program to top-level corporate executives.

The Technology Solution:
By offering prospective customers access to free online seminars, businesses can simultaneously attract and educate highly targeted audiences. At one time, conducting a presentation via the Internet (also referred to as webcasting) was an extremely complicated and expensive proposition.  But all that has changed with the growing availability of broadband communications, faster computers, and the widespread use of such multimedia accessories as cameras, headphones, and microphones.

In fact, many industry experts have declared that webcasting is poised to utterly eliminate physical world conferences and seminars.  Besides the simple convenience of gaining access to the top decision-makers in multiple companies with a single presentation, webcasts also reduce travel, printing, and communication expenses.

The Outcome:
Instead of handling the webcasting task in-house, Softrax decided to rely on the expertise of ON24, a webcasting company that provides full video production and data capture capabilities. The collaboration allows Softrax to concentrate on providing cutting edge content, delivered by industry experts that the targeted executives want to hear. Meanwhile, ON24 ensures a seamless technical experience to enhance Softrax’s image as a sophisticated industry leader.

As a result, Softrax has found that the webinars it produces several times a month have become valuable generators for highly targeted and motivated sales leads.

Tune in tomorrow when DataDocsDailyDose.com will see how borrowing ideas from the past and updating them with today’s technology turned an ordinary retailer into a marketing powerhouse.

–J.D. Mosley-Matchett, Ph.D.
“The Data Doc“
You have questions? She has answers!

Don’t Overlook the Personal Element

The Problem:
Software is not a magic wand. If a company adopts a program that is designed to integrate its various functional areas, the managers must ensure that the company’s people are provided with adequate incentives to take advantage of the anticipated efficiencies. Unless the company’s managers help their staff embrace new technology, the result can become a communication blockade with inefficiencies spanning the organization.

The Company:
Researchers Majed Al-Mashari and Mohamed Zairi at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom examined the efforts of a major Middle-Eastern manufacturing company that they code-named Manco.

The Technology Solution:
These researchers investigated Manco’s failed efforts to implement SAP, a sophisticated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. SAP is a computer-based system that unites the information used throughout a company. In that way, diverse departments such as accounting, inventory, sales, and distribution can tap into a single, integrated data model and boost efficiency across the company.

The Outcome:
Although the promise of seamless information sharing throughout a company makes perfect sense on paper, turning the concept into reality may not be a simple effort when the company’s culture isn’t flexible enough to accommodate new and interactive procedures. As the researchers noted, “Unlike many software installations, SAP R/3 installation is a difficult undertaking in that its success necessitates managing adequately a complex context, which involves organizational changes across various key areas related to strategy, technology, culture, management systems, human resources, and structure.” Unfortunately, Manco focused on the technical aspects of the software implementation without adequate attention paid to the other managerial issues.

As a result, instead of using SAP to become a more customer-focused, efficient, and cost-effective competitor in its market, Manco discovered that its responsiveness, reliability, and manufacturing effectiveness plummeted.

The first decision that triggered Manco’s problems occurred when the company Manco tapped for its SAP support recommended a more robust IT infrastructure to facilitate SAP’s complex applications. The company spent $2.8 million to implement SAP, only to achieve a negative return on its investment (ROI).

The key factor underlying the failure stemmed from Manco’s management team underestimating the impact of employee anxiety. When top management first evaluated the expected ROI, much of the savings offered by SAP was based on a resulting reduction in Manco’s labor force. In other words, the people who were expected to help integrate SAP were the very people the software would eventually make redundant. Although there were other issues that further contributed to the failure of Manco’s SAP adoption, it was this initial misstep that represented the fatal flaw.

This was a clear case of how a lack of internal communication can cost a company dearly. The next case study at DataDocsDailyDose.com will show you how communication improvements not only improve employee morale, but also improve the corporate bottom line.

–J.D. Mosley-Matchett, Ph.D.
“The Data Doc“
You have questions? She has answers!