Knowledge Workers Require a Non-Traditional Manager

Recently I’ve been noticing a trend in organizations requesting assessments to determine what’s impacting the abilities of their teams to work together in a healthy and productive way. Often the anticipated solution is teambuilding. But what’s really driving dissention in so many cases are organizational ‘dinosaurs’ – managers clinging to traditional management approaches that no longer are effective in current workplace cultures and environments, and certainly don’t align with the needs of our 21st century workers. For these situations the recommended solution is most likely executive coaching or leadership training.

The last time I remember hearing managers referred to as ‘dinosaurs’ was about 20 years ago when organizations were moving into a workplace environment that required a computer on every desk Many managers couldn’t see the need, didn’t want to learn how to use one, and certainly didn’t want to support their staff transitioning to this operating standard they considered to be unnecessary. It was a classic case of ‘changeitis’ – trauma brought on by the evolving globe. Well I hate to say it, but a new generation of dinosaurs has been discovered, and one or more of them may be located in your organization. It seems to me our workplaces are once again at a significant crossroads - change or become extinct.

So what has to change? This time the out–of-date thinking has to do with management practices. It was in the industrial era that our ‘traditional management practices’ were developed. Most of the workers at that time were factory workers. Take a moment to contrast today’s workers with those of the industrial era. Today, most of our workers are knowledge workers, defined as workers who talk, text, and network. These are workers who use creativity and thought processes to accomplish their tasks. And most likely, these workers are responsible for making decisions on their own or collectively in a group. Are you beginning to see the disconnects? What was needed then versus now is impacted by so many things including: the work environment, job competencies, empowerment, technologies and innovation.

The command-and-control style of the 1950’s doesn’t work in the 21st century. Knowledge workers need to collaborate, communicate, and be creative in the manner in which they solve problems. The "I’m in charge so do what I say" approach just doesn’t work any longer. Now, I can almost hear some of you saying, "Well everyone knows that. That’s not new." But the reality is, not everyone has realized this yet, and it’s creating organizational chaos and hostile work environments.

So What’s Next?
We need to ensure that our current managers, those in the pipeline, and those we consider for future hires are aware that ‘command and control’ management practices are no longer applicable and that they employ management approaches grounded in accountability and collaboration, demonstrating a participatory, respectful and open management style. We need to offer training, mentoring and executive coaching to aid in transitions for those experiencing difficulty with the shift.

In addition to re-educating our leaders, we also need to change and foster workplace cultures that inspire and reward collaborative processes – environments valuing commitment and accountability, not compliance.

As we move faster towards virtual workplaces, managers will not be able to watch over their staff in the traditional sense of what we know that looks like. Employees will need to agree to goals and be accountable for achieving those goals together with their peers. Work will be accomplished at the location that makes the most sense for the work and the worker. As long as everyone knows the mission, vision and goals and is committed to doing a quality job, work should be able to be accomplished. Policies and procedures will need to be in place to support the transformations of our organizations.

It’s time to help the dinosaurs evolve. Create a strategy to educate managers and employees about changing times and the need to change workplace expectations and practices. Help them see the benefits of shifting from a compliance regiment to one of accountability and engagement. Have employees share their stories about the productivity benefits of working with managers who practice collaborative and participatory approaches. After all is said and done, you may still need a cultural assessment to help you develop next steps; I’d be delighted to help you. Contact me at 770.587.90320.

My point: Learn from the growing pains other organizations are experiencing. Don’t allow your organizations to get hung up and paralyzed by managers trying to force a square peg in a round hole. Many of the ‘traditional’ practices of the past are not relevant or appropriate in today’s environment. Eliminate the ones that no longer apply to your situations and replace them with practices that are more supportive and flexible, a better fit in today’s market. Don’t be left in the dust – embrace change, collaboration and team versus individual work units. For further reading on this topic consider Mark Addleson’s new book, Beyond Management: Taking Charge at Work.

As always, I welcome your comments to my posting. Please click below. If you found this article interesting I’m very happy for you to pass it along to others. Have a great week.



This article was written by Deborah A. King, SPHR, CEO and Sr. Organizational Effectiveness Consultant with Evolution Management, Inc. Debbie and her team are energized by change and can help your organization navigate the human and operational pathways to the future. Contact us for more information:  www.evolutionmgt.com; 770.587.9032.

Charlie Todd

Prescription For A Healthy Organization: A Daily Dose of Human Connection

I've recently realized that I am observing more and more "problems" surfacing in client workplaces that have to do with a lack of personal relationships. Investigating the root cause of the situations, the conflicts are most often anchored to behavioral reactions associated with feelings such as a lack of trust, isolation, or a disconnection from feeling part of the team. At a time when organizations should be fostering engagement and designing workplaces that support retention, are business strategies associated with technology, improved efficiencies and work/life balance working against our success?

In a Harvard Business Review article originally published in 1999 and republished in 2010, Edward M. Hallowell wrote about what he termed the "human moment." In 1999 Hallowell was concerned about the problems he was seeing and hearing about from business executives he was counseling in his psychiatric practice. If he was concerned with the impact of the technologies of a decade ago - stop for a moment and consider how much greater the impact of current technologies are on this issue today!

Rather than hold face-to-face meetings with teams, suppliers or clients, it's much more cost effective today to conduct a web-based meeting. Instead of holding monthly staff meetings in the conference room, it has become quicker, easier, and less costly to communicate through conference calls. Training workshops which offered opportunities for colleagues to network and get to know each other while they learned new skills together have been replaced by cost effective and time saving webinars. And the need for office space to centrally locate employees and work teams has given way to new work designs like teleworking and flex offices. There's no doubt about it, technology advancements are providing great opportunities for faster, cheaper work alternatives, but what's the cost of the significant lack of human connections?

The Human Moment
Dr. Hallowell defined the human moment as an authentic psychological encounter that can happen only when two people share the same physical space. The prerequisites for the human moment to occur include people's physical presence, as well as their emotional and intellectual attention to the moment. Yes, the opportunity to create human moments does require energy and an investment in time and travel. However, what we're learning about the brain continues to support the idea that a deficiency of human contact leads to workers feeling lonely, isolated and confused about work assignments, direction and mission.

Emails, text messaging, instant messages, and voice messages are all opportunities for us to communicate with each other. However these communication channels don't provide for the key essential of communications - body language. We've always heard that we hear more though our eyes than through our ears and that is demonstrated time and again as we rely less on face-to-face engagements and more on the convenience of technologies.

What Hallowell's research found was that the lack of human moments results in worry. He wrote about "good worry" that leads to constructive planning and creativity and "toxic worry," which is anxiety. Hallowell found that anxiety immobilizes workers and leads to indecision or destructive actions. He concluded that toxic worry is among the most debilitating consequences of vanishing human moments, and the source of the misunderstandings that result from misconstruing communications.

So What's Next?
Thinking about this dilemma, which I'm assuming will only get more intense if we don't start paying more attention to it, my memory replayed a TV commercial from many years ago. The scene is a corporate conference room. The meeting participants are concerned and worried about why the meeting has been called, especially in light of the downturn in their business. The camera focuses on the boss, who is standing at the head of the table. The boss begins to speak and announces that the decision has been made to get back to valuing their customers. He holds up a hand full of airline tickets and announces they're returning to their roots to improve business: face-to-face customer meetings. He was selling more than United Airlines services - he was selling the power of human connections. Today, not only do we need to be careful not to be too virtual with our customers, we also have to be attentive to adequately connecting our employees.

Many organizations that promote teleworking also require their employees to come into the office on a frequent basis to attend staff and/or team meetings so teambuilding and relationships can be forged. These organizations know that workers are more productive and efficient when employees know each other personally and can tap into that relationship, trust and familiarity to avoid misunderstandings.

With the increasing advancement of technologies encouraging less need for working face-to-face, organizations need to be mindful to craft opportunities for personal interactions into their processes. Perhaps the idea of "open" meetings with pizza and snacks once a month to discuss business and project issues that members are interested in could spark connections.  Or promote lunch and learns to share skill building or project updates to offer another forum for individuals working together to meet each other face-to-face.  Ideas for gathering employees together for the specific purpose of getting to know each other and building relationships they can tap into in the future are more important now than ever. We need to encourage and plan for events focused on human interactions

The Human Resource and academic professions are hearing loud and clear from businesses complaining that entry level candidates are coming into the workplace without strong interpersonal and communication skills. The cause of this may be their personal interaction with technologies, as well as habits learned while at school. I fear this lack of abilities to interact with others will only complicate the struggle organizations are already confronting resulting from the lack of human moments available in each work day. As leaders within our organizations, we have a responsibility to improve productivity and profitability. Could improving opportunities for building human moments at work be a key to meeting those business goals?

What do you think - is the human moment important? If yes, what are some of the techniques your organization supports for making personal interactions happen?

Peter Clayton

Collaborate for a Solution

www.evolutionmgt.com

770.587.9032

Wanted: Global Managers

Do you remember the 1964 World’s Fair Disney exhibit, "It’s a Small World"? (It debuted the song you can’t get out of your head as soon as you hear it.) Well fast forward to the 21st century and we’re there – "it’s a small, small world." The notion of a global marketplace is no longer a prediction; it’s here, and its impact is far reaching. 

Globalization not only impacts companies that import and export products. It influences the operations of all types of industries that have facilities in the U.S. and overseas, as well as totally U.S.-based enterprises that have competitors in foreign countries. Today, companies with an Internet presence and a few employees can, and do, compete effectively in the global marketplace. Globalization - the movement toward economic, financial, trade, and communications integration - is impacting all types of businesses, regardless of size.

We’ve grown beyond just large corporations like Coca-Cola and Sony needing to pay attention to how international business is driving changes to our education systems, leadership development programs, customer service approaches, technologies and financial decisions. Business investments in products, services, workforces, facilities, technologies, and communities all have to consider what’s occurring in the global marketplace. Is your organization considering these influences? Is your leadership team designing strategic initiatives for competing and winning in a smaller world?

A "World-Wise" Road Map
The 2010 IBM Global Chief Human Resource Officer Study, titled Working Beyond Borders, found that "while organizations continue to develop and deploy talent in diverse areas around the globe at an accelerated rate, the rationale behind workforce investment is changing." The study findings indicate that:

• expansion requires workforce redirection to locations providing the greatest opportunity, not just lower costs
• management strategies to reflect an increasingly dynamic workforce must be re-imagined
• competitive success will depend on leadership talent to assimilate information and share insights among a diverse group of employees living and working around the globe
• social networking and collaboration "soft" skills also have a beneficial bottom-line consequence

Supporting the IBM Global Study findings, the May issue of HR Magazine, (available to SHRM members), includes an interesting article by Kathryn Tyler entitled, Global Ease.

Kathryn’s article focuses on the strategies necessary to help organizations build "culturally competent" Chief Human Resource Officers (CHRO). I saw the value of these strategies carrying over to any manager responsible for leading international work teams; not just HR. So I’m offering them for your consideration.

Ms. Tyler suggests that organizations and individuals can independently and collaboratively incorporate career learning opportunities, such as the following, to boost global leadership development:

Travel - A long term assignment may not be practical for everyone; but with a slight modification, perhaps taking an 18-month assignment with two-week trips back to the states every three months, it may be a workable option. Work and travel should be focused on countries and cultures that are important to the organization whether the location is dedicated to operations, labor or customer markets.

International degrees and workshops - Not all professionals need an international degree. Enrolling in global courses can be very educational and rewarding. Schools such as the Thunderbird School of Global Management offer courses on various topics related to globalization. However, for managers who have the time for and interest in an international degree, the experience can be valuable and allow for establishing a strong business network with executives from other countries.

Read globally - Keeping up on world news through country specific newspapers and resources such as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Economist, Fortune and Harvard Business Review is a must. Incorporating discussions about current international events into management meetings can also lead to innovation and creativity.

International projects - Managers should be encouraged to study a new language, assisted by resources such as Rosetta Stone; and to volunteer for project assignments as they are identified. An organization can build a competitive advantage by locating managers in emerging markets for a year or two in order to gain an understanding of the way work and business relationships are accomplished.

Multicultural network - Leaders should be encouraged to network with other managers and executives who have international backgrounds and responsibilities, even if their role is not the same. Managers can also be matched with mentors outside the U.S. and should be offered access to opportunities where they could join in on international team projects.

So What’s Next?
The writing is more than on the wall: Globalization is here to stay, and leaders need to be taking the right steps to embrace it. Just by virtue of the word, globalization means business not usual. Therefore, it requires new thinking and new ways of doing things.

As I wrote about last week, planning and implementing organizational change isn’t a strong suit for American businesses; as demonstrated by a 70% failure rate. It takes time and commitment to successfully initiate change and to have it embraced by employees. But it can be done with the right leadership and change management approach.

According to Peyman Dayyani, VP of Organizational Development and Human Capital for Mobile Communication Company of Iran, who was quoted in Tyler’s article, "acquiring global skills should include a 70-20-10 learning approach: 70% learned by doing, 20% from being mentored by individuals with a global mind-set, and 10% by reading and attending classes." This formula can provide a good yardstick for developing the mixture of global learning experiences suited for specific organizational needs.

Not only do organizations need to consider the impact of globalization in their approach to strategic expansion, they also have to re-imagine their orientation, leadership development and human resource programs that support workforce analysis, succession planning, engagement, job rotations and more. Leadership development, especially to grow global cultural competencies, still seems to be elusive to many organizations. According to IBM’s Study, companies are struggling to both find and nurture effective future leaders.

Cultural competencies necessary for the success of global leaders according to Kathryn Tyler include self-awareness and the knowledge of how you are perceived by others; language acquisition, which not only provides a means for communication, but also allows for insights into the culture; and societal sensitivities, which allow leaders to be open to different solutions and adaptable to different cultures and work style norms. Leadership development programs focused on integrating these competencies along with the traditional leadership skill sets would go far in helping executives prepare for managing an international workforce.

The experts have gathered data, analyzed it and are laying out road maps for tuned-in organizations to follow in their quest to motivate and prepare leaders for the changing requirements of global management. What advice would you add to aid companies trying to strategize about how to prepare for success in a global market?

Professor Andrew Kakabadse

How Do You React to Change?

Respond to this question using a scale of 1-5, with 1 being a response of ‘Avoid at all Costs – I like routine’ and 5 being ‘Energized By Change – I seek out opportunities to do something different.’

There is evidence that change and the frequency with which we must deal with it will continue to increase in our professional and personal lives. This fast-paced diet of change is going to require a stronger and stronger demonstration of skills such as adaptability and flexibility. These capabilities will be necessary in our home lives as well as in response to expectations from our employers when it comes to managing our careers. If that’s the writing on the wall, what are you doing about strengthening your skills to be ready to respond in a healthy and productive manner to the changes the world is unleashing?

Requirements of an Innovative World
In a recent article written for FedEx entitled Adjusting to a Rapidly Evolving Economy,  Catherine Bolgar, former editor of the Wall Street Journal, suggests that the traditional approach - get an education and then go get a job - may be becoming obsolete. Combining her notion with what business leaders say about the way they will fill jobs five years from now ("We haven’t developed those job requirements or titles yet") and it becomes clear that continuous learning and building a capacity to embrace and quickly react to change are skills we all need for the future. The fog isn’t completely lifted on how education and innovation will transition together, but as John Howkins, author of the book, The Creative Economy says, "When somebody stops learning now, it’s like they’ve stopped thinking, or at least being creative." Certainly you don’t want that description to apply to you, and you also don’t want any colleagues on your team who have given up their passion for learning and development. So what can you do?

Naturally our basic curriculum will remain relevant. We still need to learn math, science, and the ABC’s; but technology has changed what we do with the information we’re learning. We no longer have to memorize the answers – they are just a click away. But what’s important now is knowing how to understand and use the unlimited data available, analyze what it means through the filter of the big picture, and make recommendations of what steps are best to consider for moving forward. These are fast becoming critical skills for 21st century workers. 

I wrote a blog a few weeks ago about my experience judging at the SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) Student Conference.  In the past the SHRM student conference competitions were based on a Jeopardy! style of questioning, requiring students to memorize employment regulations, definitions, laws, etc. This year the format changed to one where students prepared a two page executive summary of a case study, including issues, possible solutions and recommendations. In addition, they gave a 30 minute presentation of the case, demonstrating analysis and problem solving logic. This format change was initiated as a result of what SHRM is hearing business leaders need from new employees coming into the workplace. Key among those abilities to be successful are the following:

• Adaptability
• Problem-solving
• Analysis and recommendations
• Collaboration
• Mentoring
• Entrepreneurship

Technology – a Big Driver of ChangeI was recently in the grocery store with a friend who was visibly upset and appalled that I had selected the "self-checkout" option. "Don’t you realize that you are taking someone’s job away by using this lane?" he demanded. My response, as heartless as it may have sounded was, "They’ve already lost that job, and it’s not coming back!" As technology helps businesses improve efficiencies and cost-savings, jobs will change. That’s how it’s always been – it just hasn’t been this fast.

I looked over at the other four check-out lanes that were still being managed by real people, and hoped they, as well as their employer, have their eyes open to the future. The ‘checkout’ position is going to become obsolete and they need to be learning a new skill to help them move on to the next job in their career. We’re already reading about the research and development of shopping carts with scanners on them; you’ll be "checking out" as you are shopping. How quick and easy will that be? There isn’t anything we can do to stop the march of technological progress. What we can manage is how we prepare and handle the on-going changes technology and globalization will bring.

So What’s Next?Individuals, as well as the business and academic communities have a responsibility to address these new skill sets. For individuals who do not like change, it’s important to take the necessary steps to get comfortable with it. Try new things to relax your preference for control and structure. Set up situations where you don’t know all the answers before the questions are asked. Put yourself in elements that you are not familiar with to strengthen your confidence that you can deal with whatever happens.

Employers can also help employees build these necessary skills. Through a variety of assessments employees can become familiar with their work style preferences and use that knowledge to modify them and grow capacity to deal with change. An assessment like the Myers Briggs Type Indicator for example, opens opportunities for dialog and discovery about how individuals deal with information, decisions and structure. What we know about preferences is that they are just that -- "preferences."  Just because someone has a strong tendency preferring a lot of structure and routine, doesn’t mean they can’t learn to embrace and deal with changing situations and less predictable work relationships in a healthy and positive manner. It just takes time to help them understand their preferences and assist them in shifting their immediate reactions. Self discovery work like this does require patience, commitment and possibly the accountability of working with a manager or external business coach to stay the course. However, the results can be very rewarding for both the individual and the company.

Establishing a mentoring relationship also has the benefit of sharing knowledge and building collaboration skills while dealing with real-time problems and situations. For mentors and mentees these relationships can lead to life long friendships, career development and often spotlight leadership potential that may not have been realized to date.

We may not know all the requirements for those jobs without titles and job descriptions that we’ll be filling four or five years from now, but we do already know some of the success factors that the employees in those positions will be measured by.

What are you doing to make sure you aren’t viewed as "behind the times" when it comes time for your next promotion or career change? What are you helping to facilitate in your organization to better align your workforce readiness preparation with the skill sets of the 21st century? 

Large and small organizations- public, private and non-profit - see the need to change their business strategies. Don’t forget the importance of aligning the people-management functions along with those business changes.

I’ve written this blog to start a conversation about skills required for the future and what we can do to develop them. What’s your advice about ways to improve flexibility and "soft skills"? What steps do you suggest to improve understanding and alignment with the changing relationship of education and business skill set needs?

I look forward to your answers to those two questions. Please click below and share.

Innovation and Creativity at Work

How do you react to change?

I’ll Take “The Workplace of the Future” for $1,000

Answer:  He will likely be your boss in three years.

Watson:  Who am I?

Last week many of us watched, and maybe even cheered for, contestant ‘Watson’, the IBM supercomputer on Jeopardy!  When it was all over and Watson won the $1 million prize, it was obvious that we had just witnessed a significant step in the evolution of robotic engineering.  The research that went into building and training Watson has dramatic consequences for the future of work, as well as education.  However, since Watson has a “statistical brain” and not an analytical one, probably those of us in positions managing Human Resource Departments or day care facilities are still safe; at least for today.

Technology Advances; Workers Remain Nervous

The Jeopardy! showdown pitted computer chips and bytes against brains.  Watson challenged two of the greatest Jeopardy! champions in history: Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings.  As I watched Watson win, I couldn’t help reflecting back on a Turner Classic Movie, Desk Set.  This 1957 classic comedy stars Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.  It‘s unique, being the first and only movie to examine the impact of the advancement of automation in the workplace, along with the fears experienced by the workers concerned about losing their jobs.  Ms. Emmy, the computer’s name in the movie, could have been Watson’s “grandmodel.”   

For IT and robotic engineering professionals, the accomplishments of Watson were certainly significant, but probably not a big surprise.  However, for those of us not as close to the progress and impacts robotics are having on our everyday world, this was definitely an eye-opener, leaving many of us with the question – “What’s next? Will a computer be doing my job in the future?”

According to Gerald Greene, a contributing author to suite101.com the contest was ‘an excellent’ test of the progress being made with artificial intelligence.  “Not only did Watson have to demonstrate a mastery over an incredible range of knowledge, he also had to correctly interpret nuances and subtleties in the English language.”  Watson, the supercomputer, is equal to 6,000 high-end desktop machines!  Apparently the breakthrough responsible for Watson’s excellent performance is a technology called “machine learning.”  

And as if that isn’t enough, there’s more.  Eduard Hovy, Director of the Information Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California, whose work contributed to the development of Watson, recently shared with the Wall Street Journal that RACR (Reading and Contextual Reasoning or Reading and Contextual Reasoner – they haven’t decided on the name yet) will add a subtle but important difference to the next generation of supercomputers.  With RACR, the computer will be able to learn information and then perform reasoning functions.  Wow, and that’s going to be available in the not too distant future.  So what does that advanced technology offer to our businesses, as well as our children trying to answer the question, what job would I like to do when I graduate?

Martin Ford, a contributing writer to CNN Money writes that “automation has been kept at bay for many lower wage jobs by a human worker’s unique ability to recognize complex visual images and then respond accordingly.  But as machines and robots grow increasingly dexterous and better at seeing and understanding the world around them – that will change.”  Already robots in Japan are able to autonomously pick strawberries, selecting only the ripe ones based on color.  

More Rapid Change

We have experienced a lot of change brought on by technology since the 1960’s, causing the work environment to evolve at a rapid pace.  And it is true that as some jobs become extinct, others are created.  However, it doesn’t appear that the ratio is balanced.

• Most companies no longer employ ‘real’ people to answer their phones anymore; it’s all automated. 
• We’re comfortable using ATM’s and directing our own on-line banking, no longer requiring banks to employ as many tellers per bank as they used to. 
• Airlines have embraced technology in such an aggressive way that we now book our own flights, check ourselves in, and print our own boarding passes.
• Most workers to do their own word processing, which has allowed the elimination of the jobs once offered by central word processing centers.
• And even our grocery stores are using technology to displace checker and bagger positions, by allowing us the privilege of using the self-check out computer equipment. 

Our economy has transitioned from a manufacturing-base to a knowledge-base.  So how does that influence the impact of these new technology capabilities on the way work will be performed?  When Mr. Hovy explains that the next generation to Watson “will be able to find answers to questions by understanding context and reasoning based on background knowledge, and be able to make more sophisticated decisions about which pieces of information are trustworthy by using qualitative ‘indirect measures,’ what does that mean to the jobs we now think of as stable? 

I’m not sure what it means other than change is traveling at light speed towards us and we have to be ready with strategic plans and actions to address the resulting impacts. If we aren’t ready with qualified employees to transition and successfully perform in this new environment, other leading technology countries will be there to offer the solutions.

So What’s Next?

Although we can envision a demand for some jobs related to the changing technologies, (see below) it’s safe to say that many of the jobs that will be required as computers like Watson evolve are unimaginable today. 

• Programmers who understand the new technologies such as machine learning, RACR and their next generations
• Project managers who are capable of leading technical teams with excellent people skills, mastery working with virtual teams, and methodologies to keep projects on time and within budget
• Robotic engineers who can integrate technologies and work processes to deliver quality outcomes in an efficient manner
• Educators to raise the bar for excellence with expanded curriculums in math and science

We are already reading reports of IBM’s success to partner Watson with Nuance Communications to “explore, develop and commercialize” the Watson computing system’s advanced analytics capabilities in the health care industry.  Can you imagine the ramifications for health care if robots begin to take the place of doctors, nurses and surgeons? 

There has also been news that the features of this type of technology will be useful in other fields such as government responses to pandemics, aviation safety, call centers, and terrorism risks.  As IBM’s CEO Sam Palmisano said, “As exciting as Watson’s victory is, we didn’t invest four years and millions of dollars simply to win a television game.  We did so because this remarkable system represents the new frontier of information science.”

HR and OD professionals, as well as business thought-leaders and academic leadership got a taste of the changes coming via the Jeopardy! challenge.  So now that we’re aware of what’s coming, how can we prepare?  Here are a few suggestions:

1. Be aware of and stay informed to the progress being made with technologies, and the next generation of the supercomputer.  One article estimated the timing at about five years from now.  Naturally that won’t have an immediate impact on all organizations, but it will be a sign of what is to come.
2. Build a collaborative team of business leaders, HR and IT professionals to envision how robotic technologies could play a part in the evolution of your business and link with technology partners to build these into your operations and/or stay tuned to trends in those areas.
3. Identify and implement career paths to position employees for the next generation of jobs, especially for those envisioned as a possibility for extinction.
4. Partner with technical and university system leaders to build curriculums to prepare workers for the future and entice technology companies to locate and bring new jobs to your locale.
5. Embrace the new technologies of telepresence – communication tools that let people “meet” remotely with high-def conference rooms and robots.   This transition will help workers get comfortable with advancing technologies, as well as robotic interfaces.
6. Build a strategy to raise the awareness of your workers about advancing technologies and engage them in planning for how these technologies can be utilized in your operations.  This relationship can also be helpful to transition their thinking about what these changes mean to the competencies that will be required in the future.

What are some experiences or ideas you have to help organizations and leaders prepare for and embrace the next generation of Watson-type computers headed to the workplace?   As business professionals what do you think we should be focusing on to help with these types of business transformations?  I’m curious about how the ‘robot’ workplace of the future looks to you?  Please add your comments below.

Designing Watson

First Do Your Planning …. And Then Follow The Plan

If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there. - Lewis Carroll

A few weeks ago a friend of mine, Laurie Bacopoulos, President of CobbleStone Consulting, shared an interesting and educational presentation at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) State Council’s Leadership Planning Conference.   We had invited Laurie to speak on Project Management to our SHRM Chapter members from across the State.  These leaders are dealing with organizational challenges such as:  motivating volunteers, improving efficiencies, doing more with less, and delivering value for our members.  Sound familiar?

For over 21 years of my work career I’ve been involved with engineers and scientists, all demonstrating strong and proficient understanding of project management methodologies.  I’m grateful for those experiences and what I learned from them, as well as what I learned taking classes on Project Management techniques.  Working with my clients, I see the benefits they gain by improving their understanding of what the discipline of project management is all about.  Utilizing the tools and methodologies is a skill set that everyone can use whether working in a volunteer organization, or non-profit, private, or public sector enterprise.  It also really doesn’t matter where your position fits in the hierarchy of that organization.   If you’re working on completing a project that has a start and end date and someone (your boss or stakeholder) expects it to be done using specific resources, utilizing a solid project management approach will help increase your chances of success.

In today’s business environment, arming employees with a ‘project management tool kit’ can help the organization avoid these common operational potholes:

• Missed deadlines
• Poor quality of services or products
• Miscommunication and conflict between team members and stakeholders
• Rework to fix mistakes
• Unclear directions that result in rework and lost time
• Essential tasks forgotten or skipped
• Confusion of team member roles and responsibilities
• Duplication of effort
• Budget overruns

Do your work groups ever run into these problems?  Enhancing corpoate culture by introducing practices that embrace project management principles could eliminate these issues and improve overall performance of the organization.

So What is Project Management?

According to the Project Management Institute, the world’s leading association for project managers, project management “is the application of knowledge, skills and techniques to execute projects effectively and efficiently. It’s a strategic competency for organizations, enabling them to tie project results to business goals — and thus, better compete in their markets.”   And who doesn’t need to do that?

Project Management starts with understanding what a project is.  A project is defined by several unique characteristics: 

• an activity designed to produce a unique product, service or result
• temporary in nature
• not a routine operation, but a specific set of tasks designed to accomplish a specific goal. Because it is not routine, the project often requires people to work together who usually don’t have a need to interact – sometimes from different organizations and across multiple geographies - a defined beginning and end in time, scope and resources

Some examples of a project might include:

Human Resources	Development of a new health care benefits package
Information Technology	Integration of the PeopleSoft System
Comptroller	Introduction of a new payroll and compensation system
Safety	Compliance with new OSHA regulations
Chief Operating Officer	Changes associated with innovation and cost-savings measures

5 Phases of Project Management

The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), a guide published by the Project Management Institute, represents generally recognized good practices and standards in the profession.  According to PMBOK Project Managers should follow a 5-phase approach which clearly communicates what the end result is to be, as well as who will do what and when.  The phases include:

Phase I – Initiation:
In this phase the Project Manager facilitates research and discussion required to evaluate the business need, options and solutions for addressing the need, and works with the appropriate stakeholders to define the approach ultimately selected.   This definition of approach will include the scope of the project, along with the budget, project goals, stakeholder roles, and schedule.   A Project Charter is a helpful tool during this phase. 

Phase II – Planning:
In Phase II, the Project Team develops a workable plan for implementation of the project.  Obviously considering one of our examples above – implementation of a new payroll and compensation system – you can imagine that this Phase requires a lot of time and diligent attention to details.  Depending on the size and complexity of the project, the team may use a checklist to track the sequence of the tasks to be performed, or the needs may demand a sophisticated project management computer software tool.   Either way, the planning will involve details associated with:

• what deliverables the team’s success will be measured by
• each task or activity that needs to be performed in order to complete each deliverable and the sequence in which they must be done
• what resources, internal and external, will be required to complete each task
• how much time is being allocated to the completion of each task, with an eye to mitigating any risk resulting from a task determined to be ‘critical’ falling behind schedule
• allocation of the budget (labor and expenses) for completing each task
• process by which changes to the agreed to project scope will be managed

During this phase everyone needs to plan.  As the project team finalizes the Project Plan, each individual associated with the project should also be applying the same concepts to their own responsibilities within the project.   These plans will help each team member focus on the specific tasks they are responsible for and integrate how those tasks align with the team’s progress towards the final project goals.

There are a variety of tools that can be utilized in this phase including: Gantt Charts, brainstorming, Fishbone Diagrams, Critical Path Analysis, and MS Excel for financial analysis, to list a few.

Phase III: Execution
This is the phase where the actual work begins.   A word of caution:  Often organizations have a tendency to sacrifice the planning phase in order to more quickly jump to execution.  The carpenter’s rule to ‘measure twice and cut once’ is a good rule to follow when anyone suggests shortening the required time for good planning.  Experience has demonstrated time and time again, that spending less time on planning results in rework, overruns and unhappy customers.   The process works for a reason – be true to the process.

Phase IV:  Monitoring and Control
The Project Manager is continually interacting with the project team and soliciting communications about how things are going.   What’s working well, what problems are being encountered, and what potential project risks need to be mitigated.  Depending on the length of the project, this type of interaction may be occurring daily, weekly or monthly.  This is the phase where the Project Manager (PM) is assessing where the project is, compared to where it was planned to be, including planned vs. actual costs and deliverables.  This phase continues until all the deliverables have been achieved and the project is considered complete.   Of course, there can be reasons that a project is stopped before it is completed.  These reasons are usually out of the PM’s control.

As you would suspect, Phases III and IV require the PM to utilize excellent interpersonal, communication and conflict resolution talents.   These abilities are useful in the other phases as well, but as the project begins and progresses, the PM will have more involvement with team members and must influence them to stay on schedule and within budget while delivering quality work.

Phase V:  Closing
This phase is often overlooked, as some organizations see the delivery of the final outcomes as the end of the project.   However, it’s very important to follow the PMBOK model all the way through Phase V.  Often without the correct attention to project closure the organization will continue to experience resources being consumed to support project activities which are no longer necessary, and often by this point it is without a return on the investment.  

During closure the Project Manager ensures that the entire project plan has been completed.   This is a great time for the team to celebrate its accomplishments, as well as to facilitate an honest critique of what worked and what should be done differently the next time.  The team members need to be re-assigned to other projects or work tasks, and the deliverables should be signed off by the customer.

So What’s Next?

The recession has taught us all how to do more with less: at home and at work.  Encouraging the development of strong project management skills within an organization can re-enforce the abilities to accomplish more with fewer resources.  While staffs and budgets are leaner and meaner, project management practices could improve the organization’s abilities to:

• meet and exceed customer expectations
• maximize the use of limited resources (time, talent, funding, space, technology, etc.)
• complete projects on time and within budget
• transfer knowledge about what was done and lessons learned for future references
• build confidence and good business practices across work teams 

Recently I’ve been noticing more organizations asking consultants to share their project management experiences, and at the same time have also seen more job postings requiring project management skills.  Could it be that organizations are beginning to understand that Project Management skills aren’t just for engineers and IT workers?  If they are, great!  But let’s not forget these skills are important for existing employees as well.  Introducing project management skills, for project managers and non-project managers alike, into the organization’s professional development and training plans can improve the abilities of work teams as they are more aligned with a unified concept of the project work process, the terminology, the methodologies and tools, and the purpose of this type of approach.  All of this leads to a higher probability of project success and team performance.  What firm wouldn’t want that?  

Laurie, who is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), suggests that “when utilizing a framework built from established project management standards, Project Managers also have the opportunity to demonstrate their competencies associated with tenacity and determination, organization and attention to details, risk and relationship management.”   Reviewing the five-phase approach you can see how these additional attributes complement the Project Management rationale.

As our economy continues to be defined as ‘knowledge-based,’ what are your thoughts about the relevance of improving project management skills within our organizations?  What experience have you had with project management and do you see a benefit?   What programs and/or certifications have you found helpful?   I’m curious to hear what you think.   Please take a moment to comment below.  And, if you found this blog helpful, please forward it as appropriate.

Creating a Fishbone Diagram