The arrival of Q4 signals the approach of a new year, and the question “what will it take?” resounds in minds and meetings. Strategic planning, performance improvement or change implementation challenges can be daunting and they seldom reconcile themselves in any desirable way. The scale, technical requirements, stakeholder mix and interdependencies associated with such initiatives can be prohibitive, especially in the vortex of daily business.
If available manpower, expertise or objectivity don’t square with the challenge, a temporary infusion of capacity may be the answer. Undertaking remodeling of your home or vehicle can be fun and rewarding if you have the time for the learning curves and latitude for the outcome. But in the business realm, time is money and we never get a second chance at last quarter. Ever better strategies and operational models are essential in our highly competitive economy, and delays, derailments and rework in designing and implementing them will cost exponentially.
Bringing in additional resources signals firm commitment to the objectives, preserves the capacity of the organization to meet current business demands, brings objectivity, information, ideas and tools into the organization and adds resilience for the difficulties inherent in change. If you choose well and work in open partnership with your management consultant, you’ll realize your organizational goals more quickly, improve customer satisfaction and workforce morale, and gain greater internal capacity for problem solving.
“Companies ramped up hiring in September, and more Americans — the most in over six years — were confident enough to quit their jobs, the government reported Thursday.” – Associated Press, 11/13/14
As the economy is ticking upward and unemployment dropping, retaining valuable employees is becoming a critical success factor. Employee defection must be treated with the same gravitas as customer defection.
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Knowing how to get things done for your advertising customers and building credibility with them and your colleagues (who take care of them) is as critical to your sales success as sales training. It requires solid understanding of your products, pricing options, and capabilities to develop customized products. It also helps to know who to go to and how to work effectively with the people and processes that support you and your customers.
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You’ve seen these teams: No matter what comes at them, they work together to meet the challenge. 
When the going gets tough, they take a deep breath, decide to laugh rather than cry and then get a plan together and get going. How do they do that? Give more when it looks like there is no more to be given? Meet impossible deadlines, absorb setbacks and get back on track; come out as winners even when they lose?
“Can do” teams have a short list of “don’ts”:
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Communication is the cultural driver of all organizations. The way leaders from front-line to senior executives communicate sets the tone. Each level has distinct opportunities to promote respect, innovation and collaboration to establish a positive “can do” culture.
Consider the following as you review your communication structure and approach. 
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Most of you are responsible for managing people. That is a challenging role that requires specific tools and skills. The Alliant Exchange is a resource center where you can sharpen your skills and upgrade your tool box.
Alliant’s goal is to help organizations achieve immediate performance objectives while launching a crusade for continuous improvement. This is why we form teams that include client employees from all levels and guide them to identify and solve root cause issues.
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– Charles Darwin
One of the complaints we hear most often from staff and middle managers is, “They (you know who THEY are) keep changing priorities, direction, expectation, the organization structure”, etc. Yes. They do.
They do so with good reason. As business climate, goals and strategies change, it makes sense to review whether the organization charged with achieving them is optimally formed to do so and if not, make necessary changes.
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1963, Informal Sociology, a casual introduction to sociological thinking by William Bruce Cameron, Page 13
Truer words were never said. The ability to determine the right metrics, track them accurately, and distribute that information to the right parties in a format and with timing that make it a useful tool rather than a postscript, falls somewhere between a statistical discipline and a management art form. Even when you have the metric right, the recipients of the information must respond to it appropriately, using it to form the right questions, make decisions, and take action.
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Is developing a culture an appropriate goal for an organization, or is it a reflection, resulting from establishment and support of goals and values? In fact, it is both.
Organizational culture is a reflection of a department or company’s
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My niece has recently moved to China. She does not speak the Chinese language, but hopes to learn it while she is there. Here is the interesting thing I’m observing as I follow her Facebook updates and blog. She seems to be doing better at communicating with her new neighbors than our clients do in their staff meetings, even though she does not speak or understand their language.
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