Business and Finance

Deciding what changes need to be made may be the easy part. Communicating the change, and obtaining leadership and employee buy-in may be the greater challenge. With all the change that businesses face, you might think that organizations would know how to handle change and do it well.

What Do Statistics Show?

HR Magazine says that, according to a report by IBM entitled The Future of Banking, this is not the case. The report indicated that, even though the industry expected radical (emphasis mine) change, managing it was quite a different story.

* 15% said they were very successful at managing change.
* 32% said they were successful.
* 33% said they had some success.
* 15% said they had little to no success.

Research by the Corporate Strategy Board of Arlington, VA, agrees that change is not handled well by organizations, citing a 50% failure rate.

The banking industry is far from being alone in the churn of change. The hospitality industry has also endured its share of change because travel is one of the first perks given up in hard times.

“Going green” has become a mantra for business and citizens, but even it has experienced change in the form of lower prices in areas of recyclables.

Given the changes of the past year in the economy, politics and environment, organizations would do well to understand how to better decide, communicate and implement needed changes.

Why Do Change Efforts Fail?

Flexibility

Many organizations are inflexible. They want to implement change with the finesse of a bulldozer. Driving change without the ability or desire to make needed adjustments tolls the death knell for any change initiative.

Flexibility is particularly important for the small business owner. One thing in your favor is dexterity. Small businesses don’t have the cumbersome layers of management, multiple locations, or ensuring compliance with governmental regulations.

A change endeavor, — a new developmental program, reporting procedure, accounting process or customer service initiative — will not fit every department, every procedure, or even each individual customer or employee.

Solution: CEOs should be certain that current procedures and process are understood. Oftentimes the top executive is the one person who lacks the understanding of workflow, tasks and initiatives. Smaller businesses may need to be careful about ignoring needed changes and bring in another set of eyes in order to obtain a clearer vision. Stay current and keep involved, but avoid micromanagement in the process.

Continue reading ‘Tis’ the Season for Change’ »

No Uppercut, No Hook.

A simple message, communicated across the ranks; from the streets of Bhiwani, to the boxing rings of Mumbai. This simple message is the single most important reason for Indian boxers coming to fore in the Beijing Olympics.

The shortest distance to land a punch is to go straight. It is also the easiest way to score a clear punch & register a point. When the Indian Boxing Federation realized that, they executed this strategy ruthlessly by banning uppercuts & hooks. A penalty was imposed on any boxer who tried an uppercut or a hook.

Continue reading ‘Simple Message Drive Great Strategy Execution – Example of India's Lone Boxing Medal’ »

When outsourcing some people think that it’s as easy as giving the offshore company the requirements and letting them do their thing, and then come back some time later to pick up the finished product. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Outsourcing a project to an offshore company can meet failure due to several reasons, the most common one being lack of communication between the buyer and the seller.

Many buyers don’t consider the importance of regular communication on all stages of the project development until it’s too late. Many barely talk to the company between the moment they award the project and the end of the deadline. And this is a big mistake. Like in-house employees, offshore companies need someone to manage their work and keep them on the right track.

When you don’t communicate, you waste time which you could have applied fixing problems… and eventually you start losing money if you’re dependent on a deadline.

Continue reading ‘The Importance of Communication in Outsourcing’ »

One of the first questions that come to your mind when deciding to make a presentation is: What are the public speaking topics that I have to choose from? What is the public speaking topic that will impress my audience the most?

First of all, going through the process of choosing a great topic could be an enjoyable experience. Looking for topics that you are passionate about could be even more enjoyable. Once you decide what your public speaking topic is.Then, go and do your homework. There are a lot of information sources as you know, but the best one is “libraries» as you will find reliable as well as credible books and documents. This is of course is very important when you have a topic related to human sciences,history,education,business…etc.However,If your presentation revolves around a current and up-to-date issue. Then Libraries are not the suitable source. The internet however is the place to get information from as it contains the most current topics and issues all over the world.

Continue reading ‘Public Speaking Topics: How to Go Through Choosing Great Topics’ »

Communicating With Others

We constantly interact with, and relate to others and the world around us. Effective communication is essential for us to resolve problems and evaluate solutions, to be able to listen well, to motivate ourselves and others, to speak effectively, and to ask the right questions to get the right information we require. The way we sit, stand or walk, our facial expressions, the way we dress, the house we live in, the car we drive, all communicate some message about ourselves and the way we think to others.

Communication can be simply described as a sender delivering a message to a receiver. Perception impacts significantly on communication. The way the message is intended by the sender may be quite different from the way the receiver perceives the message. Perception can be described as a pair of spectacles through which we process all the messages received from others. It varies according to how each individual is influenced by experience, attitudes and beliefs.

Continue reading ‘Communicating With Othres’ »