Check out my blog Wordle as at 15 Sept 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Check out my Wordle to date
This is fun - a Wordle makes an image of a block of text based on the frequency of words used within it.
Check out my blog Wordle as at 15 Sept 2008
Check out my blog Wordle as at 15 Sept 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Operating in a constrained resources environment
With employment hovering around 4% in Australia these days the brutal reality is that the people available for work quite frankly can't or won't. Many businesses, my employer included, are scrambling to find quality people to fill the vacant positions throughout the company.
This brings two interesting issues to the fore:
- you need to be efficient and effective in what you do
- you need smart tools and systems for people to work with
Why?
Efficiency and effectiveness enables your people to do more with less or the same. It allows people to process the 80% straight through activities with the least amount of perturbation and confusion. It frees time for the smart and skilled people to focus on the issues of importance, the 20% exceptions that really need the rigour and focus of the human touch.
Smart tools and systems encourage people to see the value that is placed in their own skills and experience. If you seduce new hires into the business and then present them with fractured and flawed processes that demand they spend an unreasonable amount of time and effort in administration they may well decide to look around again for somewhere that respects them more.
So what can we do as businesses to become better employers of choice then the next guy? Well my employer takes part in the Hewitt Best Employer initiative which measures and reports on the work force engagement across a wide range of focus areas - this is a great initiative and well respected within the business.
At an operational level over the last few years we have implemented a number of improved business management systems including time sheeting and CRM. We have also automated a wide range of internal finance and HR processes within FlowCentric that have radically improved the content gathering, verification and delegated approval activities and unbelievably reduced the time lag. These processes including adding and changing financial customer and supplier records, personal expense claims amongst others. This is an endless journey, there are always new processes to automate and improvements to make to the existing ones.
Interestingly the change management was not as challenging as we had thought it would be. The take up of these improvements and the employee survey feedback has been extremely positive. The web and email environment for the automated processes reduce to virtually zero the amount of face-to-face training required. The speed of process initiation and execution has been pretty much universally welcomed. Indeed now the level of expectation has risen to a point where what was "special" has become just "business as usual".
We are proud of the process improvement solutions we bring to market, we use them ourselves, they work well and deliver genuine and measurable benefits. Our people are more efficient in their jobs and respected in their workplace. We know we have to operate in a constrained resources environment for the foreseeable future and we continue to focus on improving.
Try it out for ourselves - we could deliver a measurable benefit in a key process in your business within 30 days - not must risk or cost in that.
This brings two interesting issues to the fore:
- you need to be efficient and effective in what you do
- you need smart tools and systems for people to work with
Why?
Efficiency and effectiveness enables your people to do more with less or the same. It allows people to process the 80% straight through activities with the least amount of perturbation and confusion. It frees time for the smart and skilled people to focus on the issues of importance, the 20% exceptions that really need the rigour and focus of the human touch.
Smart tools and systems encourage people to see the value that is placed in their own skills and experience. If you seduce new hires into the business and then present them with fractured and flawed processes that demand they spend an unreasonable amount of time and effort in administration they may well decide to look around again for somewhere that respects them more.
So what can we do as businesses to become better employers of choice then the next guy? Well my employer takes part in the Hewitt Best Employer initiative which measures and reports on the work force engagement across a wide range of focus areas - this is a great initiative and well respected within the business.
At an operational level over the last few years we have implemented a number of improved business management systems including time sheeting and CRM. We have also automated a wide range of internal finance and HR processes within FlowCentric that have radically improved the content gathering, verification and delegated approval activities and unbelievably reduced the time lag. These processes including adding and changing financial customer and supplier records, personal expense claims amongst others. This is an endless journey, there are always new processes to automate and improvements to make to the existing ones.
Interestingly the change management was not as challenging as we had thought it would be. The take up of these improvements and the employee survey feedback has been extremely positive. The web and email environment for the automated processes reduce to virtually zero the amount of face-to-face training required. The speed of process initiation and execution has been pretty much universally welcomed. Indeed now the level of expectation has risen to a point where what was "special" has become just "business as usual".
We are proud of the process improvement solutions we bring to market, we use them ourselves, they work well and deliver genuine and measurable benefits. Our people are more efficient in their jobs and respected in their workplace. We know we have to operate in a constrained resources environment for the foreseeable future and we continue to focus on improving.
Try it out for ourselves - we could deliver a measurable benefit in a key process in your business within 30 days - not must risk or cost in that.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Where do you start the BPM adventure?
I have had a number of conversations recently with an array of different people - colleagues, partners and clients - all on the topic of "where do you start?". How do you choose what activities and operations in the business are the best candidates for review and improvement? The answer of course is "it depends" (spare me the classic MBA speak please!).
We have a little team of experts that have all sorts of clever tools to help work that out through impact, risk and benefit matrices and I will cover some of that another time. But I think there is a very fundamental issue that rapidly focuses down on the BPM ground zero. "It depends"..... on who the project sponsor is.
It appears to me that there are typically two ends of the business that foster process awareness - cost and customer service. And when I say "cost" I bundle into that the areas of risk, governance and compliance as well. Invariably the project sponsor will be either someone focused on tightening the way things are done to drive down the cost or they will be focused on improving the customer experience.
Neither is the right or wrong place to start - each is the appropriate arena of influence for the sponsor, for the person who cares. And that is actually what it comes down to, someone in the business must care enough about what their responsibilities and goals are to look outside of "what is" and consider "what could be".
We have a little team of experts that have all sorts of clever tools to help work that out through impact, risk and benefit matrices and I will cover some of that another time. But I think there is a very fundamental issue that rapidly focuses down on the BPM ground zero. "It depends"..... on who the project sponsor is.
It appears to me that there are typically two ends of the business that foster process awareness - cost and customer service. And when I say "cost" I bundle into that the areas of risk, governance and compliance as well. Invariably the project sponsor will be either someone focused on tightening the way things are done to drive down the cost or they will be focused on improving the customer experience.
Neither is the right or wrong place to start - each is the appropriate arena of influence for the sponsor, for the person who cares. And that is actually what it comes down to, someone in the business must care enough about what their responsibilities and goals are to look outside of "what is" and consider "what could be".
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Glad it's not T5 for me
I am heading for London again late April and I was hoping to have the joy of Terminal 5 rather than the bleak and harried T's 1 through 4 that I have hated and blogged about before - but it was not to be - and aren't I glad after the last few days of total chaos after the inglorious opening.
The news reports here mention that BAA executives were doubtful of the systems capability to handle the volumes some weeks ahead of the opening. The baggage handling had only been tested to 80-90% capacity. Even though they throttled back the number of flights for the opening days they still managed to choke the systems.
As usual it looks like BAA treated their customers with complete contempt and left them to lie around the place for hours on end without much succour and comfort. Catastrophic. Thank goodness it wasn't me. Makes the old T's look like a walk in the park.
I wonder what would happen in Beijing if they hit the same problem pre-Olympics. I suspect they would bus in 500,000 workers and just manhandle the bags around the place, chin up, smiling hard!
The news reports here mention that BAA executives were doubtful of the systems capability to handle the volumes some weeks ahead of the opening. The baggage handling had only been tested to 80-90% capacity. Even though they throttled back the number of flights for the opening days they still managed to choke the systems.
As usual it looks like BAA treated their customers with complete contempt and left them to lie around the place for hours on end without much succour and comfort. Catastrophic. Thank goodness it wasn't me. Makes the old T's look like a walk in the park.
I wonder what would happen in Beijing if they hit the same problem pre-Olympics. I suspect they would bus in 500,000 workers and just manhandle the bags around the place, chin up, smiling hard!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy
With “greening your business” being a fashionable corporate catch cry these days I thought I would put together my thoughts on what could be involved in an environmentally sustainable procurement policy. I think it would be fairly obvious to everyone that you won’t become carbon neutral by policy issues alone, for that you will need to purchase carbon credits in some form, preferably from a reputable and certified carbon trader. I think there are lots of people buying credits for trees that will never be planted out there.
The initial steps most organisations will take in “greening up” are well covered in the media and elsewhere and include recycled paper, low energy light bulbs, water aerators on the taps, waterless fresheners in the gentleman’s urinals (yes, really – see them here), auto sleep on the photocopier, switching off all the computers and monitors, time controlled lighting, removing all those light bulbs beside the building windows that are there just for show and the like. These are all tactical responses to address specific areas within the business environment and I wholeheartedly support them.
What I wanted to address was the policy and practice around “what we buy” and “where things are sourced from” that could result in some major improvements to buying behaviour within the business.
What are you sourcing from geographically distant locations? Do you need to buy from that supplier or can you source the goods from a more local vendor to drive down carbon emissions from transport? Do you really need those exact goods or will a similar but not quite identical alternative of acceptable quality available from a closer distribution point be acceptable?
Where are the goods that we are buying originally made/sourced and how much effort has gone into transporting them to our geography in the first place? Do we really need South American cherries on the boardroom fruit platter?
Have you made a purchasing decision based purely on price rather than holistic value? Would you be willing to pay a little more to reduce the carbon cost of shipping the cheaper goods to us? What level of premium would you be comfortable with? 5%? 10%? 20%? (My swift Google based research of research suggests around 10% is the tipping point for the majority) What if you went to a more local supplier and negotiated a contract with guaranteed volumes that shared the difference between the two organisations in support of a greener outcome?
What about the overall total cost of ownership? If there is only a modest purchase cost differential and the more expensive option comes with a better warranty and maintenance package then the total lifetime of the product will be longer and time to replacement will be extended. That has a green benefit as well as a commercial one.
What products are you buying that are environmental plunder? Warning – rant approaching - My personal hobby horse here is bottled water. Since when did we need to drink water from a PET bottle in preference to a tap? Disregarding what is a ridiculous markup on the raw material – my local water supplier pipes fresh, clean and cold water to my door for $1.339 per thousand litres whilst 500mls of, for all intents and purposes, the same product in a bottle in the fridge at the local convenience store is $3.00 or more – how can it be more expensive than milk for goodness sake? – and what makes it seem like a good idea to have a fresh bottle every time we need a drink? That plastic doesn’t grow on trees you know. End of rant.
Where purchasing involves paper and wood based products have we assured that all orders are fulfilled with materials from sustainable sources? If you are getting new chairs in the boardroom do they really have to be from Indonesian old growth teak forests?
A dreaded by-product of purchasing is waste. Have you published a waste management policy that supports and encourages waste avoidance/minimisation, product reuse and materials recycling? Can you work with the building management company to improve waste recycling within the whole building if there are not already sufficient services available?
Where chemicals are used in the business can efforts be made to select bio-degradable and lesser toxic alternatives than those with the harshest agents in them?
Are there areas where commercially recycled products are available as an alternative to new? – I am thinking here of photocopier toner cartridges and the like.
When looking for ideas on where to green up the business look no further than your own workforce – send out a call for ideas and suggestions – you could well be swamped.
Is there a place in the business for a “green team”? A group of motivated individuals from throughout the business whose goal is to reduce and improve the company carbon footprint on an ongoing basis. There will be a surprising amount of people willing to volunteer for such a remit. Give them a target and make them accountable. Advertise their existence and celebrate their successes within the business (without flying in a crate of French champagne!). This volunteer responsibility should be acknowledged as career resume enhancing.
Have you communicated to your suppliers that you are interested in and have a preference for goods that can be shown to have a lower carbon footprint? Don’t expect to be able to make sensible decisions on your own – push the responsibility and motivation out to your supply chain – publish a policy that assures preference in your buying contracts to environmentally conscientious suppliers.
What about preferential agreements for suppliers that have initiated and can demonstrably display/disclose their own environmental management and waste reduction policies and programs.
Some things are not going to change easily in the business. You can’t easily cancel existing supply contracts, however you can encourage suppliers to improve their own behaviour within existing contracts.
You can’t change sourcing of critical or strategic components for the business and jeopardise your operational activities however you can urge strategic suppliers to look within their own businesses for environmental responsibility.
The initial steps most organisations will take in “greening up” are well covered in the media and elsewhere and include recycled paper, low energy light bulbs, water aerators on the taps, waterless fresheners in the gentleman’s urinals (yes, really – see them here), auto sleep on the photocopier, switching off all the computers and monitors, time controlled lighting, removing all those light bulbs beside the building windows that are there just for show and the like. These are all tactical responses to address specific areas within the business environment and I wholeheartedly support them.
What I wanted to address was the policy and practice around “what we buy” and “where things are sourced from” that could result in some major improvements to buying behaviour within the business.
What are you sourcing from geographically distant locations? Do you need to buy from that supplier or can you source the goods from a more local vendor to drive down carbon emissions from transport? Do you really need those exact goods or will a similar but not quite identical alternative of acceptable quality available from a closer distribution point be acceptable?
Where are the goods that we are buying originally made/sourced and how much effort has gone into transporting them to our geography in the first place? Do we really need South American cherries on the boardroom fruit platter?
Have you made a purchasing decision based purely on price rather than holistic value? Would you be willing to pay a little more to reduce the carbon cost of shipping the cheaper goods to us? What level of premium would you be comfortable with? 5%? 10%? 20%? (My swift Google based research of research suggests around 10% is the tipping point for the majority) What if you went to a more local supplier and negotiated a contract with guaranteed volumes that shared the difference between the two organisations in support of a greener outcome?
What about the overall total cost of ownership? If there is only a modest purchase cost differential and the more expensive option comes with a better warranty and maintenance package then the total lifetime of the product will be longer and time to replacement will be extended. That has a green benefit as well as a commercial one.
What products are you buying that are environmental plunder? Warning – rant approaching - My personal hobby horse here is bottled water. Since when did we need to drink water from a PET bottle in preference to a tap? Disregarding what is a ridiculous markup on the raw material – my local water supplier pipes fresh, clean and cold water to my door for $1.339 per thousand litres whilst 500mls of, for all intents and purposes, the same product in a bottle in the fridge at the local convenience store is $3.00 or more – how can it be more expensive than milk for goodness sake? – and what makes it seem like a good idea to have a fresh bottle every time we need a drink? That plastic doesn’t grow on trees you know. End of rant.
Where purchasing involves paper and wood based products have we assured that all orders are fulfilled with materials from sustainable sources? If you are getting new chairs in the boardroom do they really have to be from Indonesian old growth teak forests?
A dreaded by-product of purchasing is waste. Have you published a waste management policy that supports and encourages waste avoidance/minimisation, product reuse and materials recycling? Can you work with the building management company to improve waste recycling within the whole building if there are not already sufficient services available?
Where chemicals are used in the business can efforts be made to select bio-degradable and lesser toxic alternatives than those with the harshest agents in them?
Are there areas where commercially recycled products are available as an alternative to new? – I am thinking here of photocopier toner cartridges and the like.
When looking for ideas on where to green up the business look no further than your own workforce – send out a call for ideas and suggestions – you could well be swamped.
Is there a place in the business for a “green team”? A group of motivated individuals from throughout the business whose goal is to reduce and improve the company carbon footprint on an ongoing basis. There will be a surprising amount of people willing to volunteer for such a remit. Give them a target and make them accountable. Advertise their existence and celebrate their successes within the business (without flying in a crate of French champagne!). This volunteer responsibility should be acknowledged as career resume enhancing.
Have you communicated to your suppliers that you are interested in and have a preference for goods that can be shown to have a lower carbon footprint? Don’t expect to be able to make sensible decisions on your own – push the responsibility and motivation out to your supply chain – publish a policy that assures preference in your buying contracts to environmentally conscientious suppliers.
What about preferential agreements for suppliers that have initiated and can demonstrably display/disclose their own environmental management and waste reduction policies and programs.
Some things are not going to change easily in the business. You can’t easily cancel existing supply contracts, however you can encourage suppliers to improve their own behaviour within existing contracts.
You can’t change sourcing of critical or strategic components for the business and jeopardise your operational activities however you can urge strategic suppliers to look within their own businesses for environmental responsibility.
What happened to that quarter?
Boy - January to March seems to have disappeared this year. I know the years get shorter as we get older but this is ridiculous. What happened? What did I rant about? Who knows? Who cares?
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