ISO 27001 for Larger Organisationsby Mark K Jones 2/29/2012 There are a number why becoming ISO 27001 certified for a large organisation is vital but the most important is to keep customer’s personal data protected. Your organisation may record detailed information about your clients, from date of birth, address to exactly how much someone is worth - and this information, in the wrong hands could be extremely damaging. Having a high level of information security is crucial for this reason but to also remain trustworthy in the eyes of your clients and also to evade any legal penalties. When implementing the ISO 27001 standard any personal data you store as a company will be protected on two levels both the information security itself and also the management of the processes surrounding the system. The two aspects go hand in hand, there is no point having an all singing all dancing security system if your staff do ... |
Managing Technology Within An Organizationby John J Matthews 2/29/2012 I am a big proponent of having non-technology business leaders play an active role in the determination of the technology solutions utilized at an organization. While it is critical to include an IT perspective from a technical interface standpoint, having non-IT personnel drive technology solutions often lead to decisions based on thebusiness needs of the organization. As such, any technology request would require a business plan to support the investment. Form A Technology Committee: This is the start of your technology approval process. Create a technology committee that represents various personnel from cross-functional departments. Consider selecting an operations, marketing, accounting, technology and finance member to this team. This committee is charged with creating the process for submitting technology solution requests for the organization as well as providing the prioritization and ultimately, approval of the requests. Develop A Submittal Process: Inherent in a well-thought through technology strategy for an organization is developing a process for the submission of ideas. Following the "garbage-in, garbage-out" mindset, developing a detailed process for submission will help weed out the "nice to haves" and ... |
Efficiency Is Not Just For Workby Craig J Calvin 2/29/2012 Think of all of the situations around the house that you are always telling yourself or somebody else that there has got to be a better way, or that this is a waste of time and there is no reason to have to do things twice? Anybody with kids or a husband or a wife knows that there are things around the house, things that come up every day or every week which could be more efficiently done. How much time do you spend looking for all of the laundry around the house to wash? Are the bills always in one place so that they can be taken care in a timely and efficient manner? Is the garage neat enough and organized enough that you could send a complete stranger in there to find a tool? The answer to these questions is probably in order, too much time, no, and are you crazy, did you see how messy the garage is? The point is that everyone has places in their lives that they could ... |
Implementing a Quality/Environmental Management Systemby Dave G Dungan 2/29/2012 An obvious beginning point is to purchase copies of the standards that are part of the ISO 9000 and 14000 families. While it is ISO 9001 and 14001 that discuss the requirements of certification, obtaining a complete set of standards means valuable resources are immediately accessible. For example, guidelines for improvement and interpretive guidelines are two of the supporting standards that help the organization’s management systems to be more robust. Identifying problems in processes The familiar statement "say what you do and do what you say" summarizes the requirements of both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 in a nutshell. Except for a few fundamental requirements, the ISO standards do not attempt to tell companies how to run their businesses. Their purpose is to provide a framework upon which management systems driven by continual improvement can be built. Both ISO 9001 and 14001 adopt the plan, do, check, act concept. Performing internal audits Internal audits are required for the purpose of enabling organizations to identify for themselves gaps in their processes that may lead to customer dissatisfaction or environmental risk. These audits should be conducted by trained auditors who, as part ... |
Make Performance Reviews Really Countby Robert Boroff 2/29/2012 Some bosses are afraid to reprimand, others are uncomfortable giving positive reinforcement. Both tasks are necessary and if performed in an unsatisfactory way can hurt your relationship with your employees. Take note throughout the year when an employee does something impressive or does something that needs corrected. If you do this you’ll be less likely to feel the need to scramble to come up with something to say. The more specific you can be in your corrections or compliments the better. Some managers find it helpful to provide praise in group meetings. Employees like to be recognized in front of their peers and it will give their peers a role model and encourage them to step up to the plate. Regardless of how your provide praise, employee’s efforts too often go unnoticed so performance reviews can be a great time to praise your employees. This will help improve your retention rates, boost confidence within your employees and will likely make your office a more pleasant place to work. If you feel like annual reviews are too taxing and aren’t effective try semi-annual or quarterly reviews. You may see better results and you’ll have less ground you’ll need to cover. Increasing the frequency of performance reviews will also give employees the opportunity to compare their performance now to their performance in the past. Additionally it will give your employees the opportunity to raise important questions and bring any concerns to you without having to feel uncomfortable. It is important that negative feedback be given in ... |
4 Ways to Motivate Your Project Teamby Jennifer Whitt 2/29/2012 So it’s time to kick off that big project, and keep our team motivated. I’ll never forget Sue, one of my managers a long time ago, and how she kept us motivated. We had been working on a project for months on end, with many long days and nights. Sue came in one evening with pizza, and worked with us through the night to keep her team motivated. It reminds me of my father who was a coach. Before a ball game, one of his big things was to motivate the team before, during and after the game whether they won or lost. It was important to keep the team motivated for the next game. The lessons I learned from Sue and my dad’s examples are things that I try to bring to my own teams today. There are times, of course, when I as project manager forget about my team, and I have to be reminded how important it is to keep them and myself motivated and engaged. I’d like to share four tips that work for me. Set realistic goals It’s great to be excited and gung ho when we first begin a new project and are formulating our plan, but don’t neglect to get input and agreement from team members about the work load. Have you ever been stuck with work that suddenly appeared on the timeline without your input? We hate that. I don’t want to do that to my team, and have found that setting realistic targets ... |
What Is Leadership? What Is Management?by Geraldine L Khoury 8/20/2011 Good Leaders, good results, high return on investment (ROI) will definitely bring sustainability and profit to your organization. But the most important question to be answered to see the high ROI is WHAT MAKES one Leader BETTER than another? Good leaders are MADE not BORN. People who are able to become good leaders are those people who develop themselves through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, experience and keeping up with new advancements in today’s fast moving world. A leader is someone who gets work accomplished and who meets organizational objectives profitably through the work of others. Leadership and management are both essential to the overall success of a team, department and the organization. Therefore, to ensure success an Effective leader must understand what leadership is, what skills are required in additional to having the critical management skills and being able to use both in tandem to ensure that the desired deliverables are achieved. Leadership is a performance so you, as a leader must be conscious of your behavior, because everyone else is. Therefore, to begin, you have to be aware of leadership traits that are necessary to differentiate you from the rest of the pack. Leadership traits include: Energy Perseverance Education Intelligence Good judgment (this is the only skill that cannot be learned) Personality Self-confidence Creativity and initiative Objectivity Enthusiasm and optimism The next question then becomes: How can I, first evaluate my level of skill, and second, how can I improve ... |
The Six Sigma Terms Your Managers Should Knowby Tony Jacowski 8/20/2011 One Six Sigma concept, hazard analysis is a key term that should be focused on in many industries. This refers to the analysis of any hazards that serve to obstruct the flow of work and that pose a danger to employees. By learning to identify and eliminate these hazards, your managers become able to create work environments that are not only productive, but safe as well. These are environments that suffer few injury related slowdowns and/or losses. When there is a strong focus that is placed on safety, managers are able to save their companies money in numerous different ways. When there is no loss in production, there can be no production related losses in profit. There is an increase in interest from potential employees who understand that their safety is important to the employer. More than this however, an extended record for safety can mean tremendous savings in terms of commercial insurance. It is dangerous and often impossible for a company to operate legally without the proper forms of commercial coverage. Those businesses who routinely prove themselves to be exemplary in terms of employee and job site safety routinely earn discounts on the policies that they need. Accountability is another important word that Six Sigma trainees will touch upon during the training process. Without accountability, it is impossible for any organization to function over an extended period of time. The Six Sigma process teaches the benefits and advantages of accountability, especially as it applies to the whole team. When managers assume accountability for ... |
Managing Conflict in the Workplace: Just Draw a Circleby Jeffrey Tobin 8/20/2011 A friend of mine once asked me to draw a circle on a chalkboard. The circle was to represent all knowledge - everything known and unknown. The chalk squeaked loudly as I drew the largest circle I could. "Now," he told me, "draw another circle inside that one that represents everything that you know." [Well now, wait a minute. I was already at a disadvantage: when I was a kid, my dad used to tell me, "Now don’t you get smart!" So I never did.] I thought about the request. Relative to the size of all knowledge, how big of a circle should I draw? How much do I really know? I eventually faced facts and drew a very small circle, just inside the edge of the big circle. There was no joy in it, but mine was an honest response. I really don’t know all that much after all. I stepped back from the chalkboard and considered my work. It didn’t make me feel very good about myself. But wait! Salvation! I theorized that most everyone would draw circles similar in size to mine. My guess was that each person would admit that they, too, knew very little about things. If ignorance is bliss, bliss has a lot of company. So what does this have to do with conflict in the workplace? A great deal indeed. Most conflict comes as a result of differing perspectives. Race, religion, politics, even issues such as "who stole my stapler?" often begin - and end - with differing ... |
Tips for a Well Managed Companyby Tahir Akbar 8/20/2011 The most important thing in the overall management of the organization is to clearly understand what management is all about. If the leadership of the organization only administers the official work processes and keep up maintaining a record, that is nothing but a clerical job only or you can say to a large extent that it is a job an admin officer. Contrary to this, what an ideal management expert (not necessarily in academics, he can be professionally experienced manager) thinks of organizational management is totally different. An organization is an entity that works in the pursuit of some goals, specified by relevant stakeholders, primarily management. Hence, the concept of organizational management becomes pretty clearer to us and we can define it as a process of defining and specifying shared objectives and developing a plan of action to achieve those ones. This is the simplest possible definition of organizational management. Having said that, now we move towards how to manage an organization to achieve its objectives in a coherent manner? Remember, organizational goals are specified by one or a limited number of individuals, but their achievement requires involvement of the whole system, resources and human beings. Hence, an effective management strategy would be the one, which helps the organization build up a comprehensive plan of action to achieve its goals by utilizing the available resources in the best possible manner. There are two very important ideas about achievement of the goals, particularly the organizational goals. The first one is acquiring the latest, trendy ... |
Strategic Leadership Developmentby M Rasing 3/15/2011 Strategic Leadership Development is sometimes mistaken for some conference, or a seminar-training-workshop. But it is more than that. If you truly want to develop leaders, you need to align the vision, mission, strategy and culture of the organization. When you implement any program, you should intentionally integrate all these elements into the program. For every leadership development effort of your company, you need to think strategically and consider the needs of the organization. Don’t just commit to any program. But if you do, make sure that you evaluate the effectiveness of the programs, including the design of the program and the credibility of the service providers. Think on the role of the managers and the leaders in the organization. Are they maintaining the status quo or are they pushing the limits of what the organization can accomplish? Try also to understand the workings of the organization, the different kinds of people in your organization and how they interact with each other. Karl Marx once said that the point is not just to understand the world but to change it. What then, are your leaders doing to help make that change possible? Through strategic leadership development, the organization invests on its people so that there are, not just a handful of effective individuals, but a whole army of them who can become successful, effective and efficient at what they do. An organization composed of excellent individuals can accomplish wonders! Don’t just build the competencies and skills of your workforce. Instead, teach them how to achieve ... |
Successfully Transform Your Organizationby Mark T. Jordan 3/15/2011 Implementing successful transformation will set your company apart from the competition. However, only about a third of businesses globally say their company is doing a good job preparing for change, according to the McKinsey Quarterly. There are several strategies used to help organizations better prepare for change; including setting ambitious goals, having a highly involved CEO and implementing good communication initiatives. Communicating transformation plans in a positive way is also important. Employees are more likely to get on board with this approach, improving your chances of success. Creating a Successful Transformation Your initiatives for transformation change will vary, based on your company’s goals. Some companies seek to move from good performance to exceptional performance. Other companies might be interested in completing a merger or acquisition. Or, your organization might want to enter an entirely new market. Regardless of your ambitions, the first step in any transformation plan is setting clear goals for your company. While this may seem obvious, organizations do not get this right as often as they would like. Research has shown that when asked what they would differently if they were able to do the transformation over again, almost half responded that they would set clearer targets. Companies that create clear goals are more likely to experience a successful transformation. Engaging Employees If both managers and employees aren’t engaged in the transformation plan, experiencing success will become difficult. In fact, research shows that when employees are on board, companies experience much better transformation results. The company’s CEO also needs to be ... |
Effective Management: The Key to Business Successby Mabel Miles 3/15/2011 From time immemorial, management has been an integral part in whatever activities that mankind pursues in life. The term "management" derives from the Latin word "manu agree" which means to lead by hand. With sound and effective management, no doubt, organizations can guide employees to productive work. With effective management, managers and supervisors can direct, organize and influence workers to ensure productivity, coordination and profit. It is the act of getting people together to achieve its desired objectives and goals using its manpower and resources efficiently. Its function comprises of planning, staffing, organizing, directing and controlling one or more employees to accomplish its goals. It is an important tool in almost all areas in society because with it, you can ensure the smooth operation of whatever undertaking we want to pursue, like associations, financial institutions, schools and companies. It is considered the backbone of an organization or a company, which guides, controls and supervises all areas of a business enterprise, starting from human resources to production. Lack of efficient and effective management often results to business losses, labor turnover, decline of sales and business closure. Because of its importance to the total welfare and operation of companies, stakeholders and business owners hire credible, qualified and efficient managers and supervisors to manage the firm. Business enterprises also provides its employees and executives ongoing training to further its skills and to keep them abreast with the latest technology and techniques in the market. Significance of Management to companies: * Reduction of cost - with ... |
Achieving Top Performance Through Motivationby Justin Jesse 3/15/2011 Nowadays, our job market is getting more and more competitive. Stress has become an integral part of many employees and some of them fail to take it. In order to reduce stress at the workplace, the leaders play an important role here. They are required to inspire and motivate their subordinates so that they can perform better and work happily. To be frank, it is not really hard to keep the staff morale high. You need to apply the right approach to bring out the best in people. Let me share with you some practical tips. Employees need to balance their work stress and personal motivation to enhance their performance. In order to know your staff better, you are suggested to be open-minded. Get your staff to write down their personal goals. Different staff may have different goals. How can the employees align their goals with their company goals? It is your job to analyze their goals and help them to integrate theirs with the company goals effectively. In order to keep the staff morale high, it is important to let the employees realize that working and contributing to the company can also benefit them personally. Don’t be surprised if some of the subordinates do not have goals. They do not know what they want to achieve. Being a leader, you need to sit down with them and set a clear goal plan for them. Write the plan down and guide them step-by-step. Get them to read their goals every ... |
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