Posts tagged as:

process

We Know Best

by Steven M. Smith

“We know better than they do about what’s needed.” Whenever you hear an influential member of your team utter those words, fasten your safety belt. The team is nearing the Twilight Zone.
The person saying, “We know better than they do about what’s needed,” is referring to the customer.
When decision-makers say “We don’t have time for [...]

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People versus Process Orientation

by Steven M. Smith

People have passionately argued about whether people are more important than process or process is more important than people. Tune in; for instance, a colleague writes passionately about the triumph of people over process. Another colleague writes passionately about the importance of heroes. A pundit writes passionately about how great systems (process) are more important [...]

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Elements of Effective Management

by Steven M. Smith

I am fortunate to have worked on a team led by Anne Cawley early in my career. Experience working with her enabled me to know, rather than speculate, about the power of an effective manager.
What elements of her management style made her effective?
Congruence: She conversed with members of her team as equals rather than subordinates.
Hiring: [...]

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Decide as a Team

by Steven M. Smith

Do some members of your team make agreements during meetings but fail to support them afterwards? If this behavior is happening, I suspect your team is using an obscure process to make decisions.
Identifying Obscure Process
An obscure decision making process is easy to identify. Ask each member to create a map of the process used to [...]

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Word Choices — We — Part 2

by Steven M. Smith

In my first entry about the word "we," I argued using the words "We decided to…" often create ambiguity. I suggested asking yourself several questions to reduce ambiguity either when you hear those words or when you are about to say them.
In this entry, I will lay out the case for when using the words [...]

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Seeing Process; Improving Process

by Steven M. Smith

Workshop
Have you ever seen a map of a process worth a second glance? Perhaps the map didn’t contain anything resembling the process as you know it. Perhaps a second glance wasn’t a consideration because there was no map
Experience a method, which requires no previous training, that creates process maps worth a second glance.
During the workshop, [...]

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