...And Better Decision-Making Will Follow

From emotions to the time of day, it is often the little things that impact our ability to make a swift and accurate decision. A range of factors can compound the challenges in making good choices, both directly and indirectly.

The framing effect is what happens when an individual applies a specific perception to a given scenario, which can have both positive and negative impacts on decision-making. For example, while an accountant will view an issue through his or her fiscally oriented frame, a lawyer would examine the same issue through a legal frame of reference.

While these frames can be effective when used in the appropriate scenario, the wrong frame in the wrong situation can negatively affect an individual’s perception and lead to poor decisions.

Studying the Brain's Frame

The ways that options are presented to us has an effect on the choices we make. Benedetto de Martino, M.D., a cognitive neuroscientist at University College London, sought to measure brain activity during the decision-making process and published his results in Science magazine. With 20 volunteers, Martino and his colleagues told participants – while positioned under the imaging equipment – that they had received a considerable amount of money, and assigned them one of two hypothetical scenarios: Keep a chunk of money or gamble, or lose a chunk of money or gamble.

The participants who were told that they could keep a portion of the funds or gamble were hesitant of the risk involved. On the other side, those who were informed that they would lose a bit of their money were less averse to risk. The individuals who were affected by framing had greater activity in the amygdala, a region of the brain associated with learning and emotions. Those immune to framing had increased activity in their orbital and medial prefrontal cortex, which, when impaired, can lead to behavior driven by impulse and feelings.

Martino’s study showed that emotions could play a significant role in decision-making when the information is incomplete or complex. When working on projects, employees need to examine issues outside of their context to eliminate the effects of framing.

Closing the Framing Gap

As demonstrated by Martino’s research, frames are a part of the brain’s structure and can be shaped by various influences, such as education, upbringing, socioeconomic status, friendships and family. Failure to recognize active and subconscious framing can negatively impact important decisions and ultimately, a company’s future.

Consider this classic example: About 250 years ago, Encyclopedia Britannica founded and became one of the top resources for information on practically any subject possible. However, as the rest of the world began transitioning to the Internet and digital media, the organization staunchly insisted on selling print versions of its materials. Encyclopedia Britannica’s frame was of print publications – it refused to broaden or look outside that frame, and it hurt the company. Once CDs and the Web became the go-to sources for educational tools, Encyclopedia Britannica disappeared from bookshelves and went into bankruptcy before finally re-emerging as an online resource. They published their first online encyclopedia in 1994 and in 2012 completely stopped producing print versions.

Playing Devil's Advocate

Subsequently, managers learned from Britannica’s mistakes. To improve the decision-making process in project management, they learned to analyze the frames of stakeholders and see how they apply to given scenarios.

Managers need to create a decision frame that benefits both the company and the overall objectives of the project. They could have stakeholders with disparate frames play devil’s advocate in order to identify their own frames and discover and analyze others. From there, project managers can choose the best frame and proceed with decision-making.

For more information on framing, biases and other factors that can impact the quality of decision-making, please contact Jim Wynne at jwynne@meritcd.com or by phone at 610-225-0449. Take a look at Merit’s course catalogue for related courses and other leadership and project management workshops, all accredited for PDUs, CEUs and CPEs.

Supply chain executives are worried about a weak talent pipeline.

More than half of executives at US-based global companies say they are not confident their supply chain organizations have the competencies they need today, according to the 2015 Supply Chain Survey from Deloitte.

As a profession, supply chain management finds itself in something of a crisis. Just as the discipline is gaining stature within enterprises, many organizations are confronting critical shortfalls of talent. Some observers believe the demand for supply chain professionals might exceed supply by a ratio of six to one.

Years of headcount reduction, training budget cuts, and the retirement of highly skilled individuals have all contributed to the shortage of supply chain talent. At the same time, a combination of accelerating technology development and widespread experimentation with new operating models are expanding the scope of supply chain operations, creating a demand for new types of supply chain employees—a trend that is only expected to accelerate in the future.

“Margins are so thin in many industries that any technology or operational change that can provide a competitive advantage—whether its 3D printing or advanced analytics—is critical. And those capabilities are inherently dependent on talent,” explains Kelly Marchese, a principal and supply chain leader with Deloitte Consulting LLP.

It’s not a matter of sheer numbers, rather, it’s a matter of shifting needs as rapid changes in supply chain activities, tools, and goals call for new skills in management and leadership.

The Deloitte survey evaluated technical capabilities ranging from real-time shipment tracking to artificial intelligence. Optimization tools and demand forecasting are the most widespread tools currently in use, but that is predicted to change in the near future. The biggest gap between current strengths and anticipated need is competency in technical analytics. This is seen as the most important technical competency in the near future; only 46 percent of supply chain organizations in the study consider their skills in analytics to be “very good” or “excellent.”

A Cutthroat Technical Skills Market

It’s no wonder supply chain leaders are concerned about recruiting and retaining related technical skills. They’re competing not only with other supply chain organizations for that talent, but also with other functions in their own organizations—chiefly IT. “If you look at supply chain and technology, they’re two of the most strained areas of talent in the whole corporate ecosystem,” says Benjamin Dollar, a principal with Deloitte Consulting. “You need to have strong technology skills in supply chain, and CIOs increasingly need to enable sophisticated problem-solving within the supply chain. And neither one can do it with the people they have now.”

Supply chain managers are looking to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates to fill new supply chain roles—but it’s a tough sell. “Most supply chain leaders would love to hire engineering grads from top schools, but a job in the supply chain at a manufacturer is pretty low on their list,” Dollar says. “There’s not enough sex appeal.”

Looking for Leaders

While a large majority of survey respondents (73 percent) said it was extremely or very important to hire employees with the required technical competencies in order for their company to meet strategic objectives, even more (79 percent) said leadership and professional competencies (such as problem-solving, change management, and talent development) were extremely or very important. Strategic thinking and problem-solving were deemed most critical in the future with 74 percent of respondents saying it would be rising in importance. But just 43 percent say they are very good to excellent at it today.

That may be an even bigger challenge for supply chain executives than locating technically skilled professionals. “You can at least take a class in analytics,” says Marchese. “Leadership characteristics take more time to develop.”

CIOs and COOs: A Talent-Sharing Opportunity

“A lot of what’s driving the supply chain talent problem is the need to implement new technologies, and that’s an issue for both the COO and the CIO,” says Marchese.

But to be successful in the future, IT and supply chain must be closely aligned. “You have to create an operating model in which the supply chain can make it clear what its requirements are and IT can show the supply chain the art of the possible,” says Dollar. “To do that successfully, you need a mix of strong supply chain talent combined with advanced technical skills.”

Build Internal Skills Augmented by External Expertise

Advanced supply chain management concepts must be matched by advances in talent management capabilities. The survey also found recruiting new talent is seen as a greater challenge than retaining existing talent, especially at higher levels, suggesting that building skills internally is becoming increasingly important.

The largest difference between the expectations of supply chain leaders and followers is something of a concession to reality. Leaders are more likely to believe their supply chain organizations will make increased use of specialized external expertise and staffing over the next five years. Supply chain talent may flourish best when it lives outside the walls of organizations supporting personnel inside companies where supply chain excellence is “the business of the business.”

---

Sources:

• Supply Chain Talent of the Future: Results of Deloitte’s 3rd annual Supply Chain Survey. © 2015 Deloitte Development LLC. Member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited.
• Supply Chain Crisis Looms WSJ CIO Journal Copyright © 2015 Deloitte Development LLC.

Even the most carefully planned project can run into trouble. Unanticipated weather problems can disrupt the logistics of construction projects, a key software developer quits to take new jobs or an engineer underestimates the time needed to implement components of a production line. Whatever the issue, the challenge of finding a solution falls to the project manager (PM).

It’s a high-pressure situation. The sequence of tasks laid out in the project plan suddenly has holes in it. In essence, the rules of the game have changed though its original objectives remain. Now, the PM must sync up the effort’s priorities with an unanticipated reality. This can mean revisiting the original plan — or at least portions of it — with an eye toward redeploying resources and revamping task lists. All the while, the client expects you to meet the project’s original scope, schedule and budget.

Such situations can’t be addressed on the fly. Developing a plan of attack requires care and detailed communications with everyone involved in the effort.

Determine the Most Important Component. Is the most important driver scope, schedule, available resources or cost? If nothing else, taking a fresh look at this will confirm whether the assumptions you made in your original plan still hold. That’s important as you sketch out an approach to surmounting the new challenges you face. For example, if delivery date is the overriding concern, you may need to adjust the project’s scope or add resources. If budget’s the priority, trimming scope may be your best option. Whatever the situation, the project’s overarching goals are obvious and critical considerations.

Develop a Matrix. Create a grid for the project’s key features and determine whether each is required, important or nice to have. (More articles on creating matrixes here. *See end of this article for sample matrix.) This will help you do two things: First, get a sense of what’s realistic in terms of time, cost and scope given the challenges you have and, perhaps more important, give you a starting point for discussions with your stakeholders and team.

Consult the Project Team. It’s essential to view that matrix as a working document. While you’re compiling it, talk to the project team to get its take on what’s required to complete each feature given the new circumstances. Their input will help you present an accurate picture to stakeholders of the project’s true status and their options going forward.

Talk to the Stakeholders. With a clear picture of the project’s technical needs, you’ll be able to provide stakeholders with an accurate view of the scenarios available to them. For instance, if the launch date is critical, you can show exactly how additional resources can maintain scope while meeting the original schedule. Again, though, make it clear that you’re gathering information and presenting options. As you did when creating the original project plan, your goal is to develop a consensus around your solutions.

Document Everything. Clear communication is always a vital part of project management, but it’s especially important when things are in flux. Be sure everyone involved understands the concerns of others and has their own interests addressed. Once you’ve settled on a course of action, get necessary approvals promptly on paper or by email.

When unforeseen events disrupt your plan, it’s important to take a step back. Evaluate the circumstances carefully and work with the project team and stakeholders to set the priorities necessary to keeping the project on-track.

Merit Career Development can help you develop the skills to respond to real world project management challenges. In fact, many mentioned in the first paragraph of this article are likely to take place in our simulation tool, SimulTrain®. This tool creates an engaging training experience using state-of-the-art computer-based technology. Our PM training programs include key project management topics like risk management, scheduling, managing scope and cost, and leadership skills including negotiation, improved decision-making, and conflict management. For more information, please contact Jim Wynne at jwynne@meritcd.com.

Sample Matrix to Help Prioritize PM Elements

...an Innovative Approach to Managing Uncertainty

Innovations in information technology have enabled companies to adopt supply chain management as a critical element of their corporate strategies. Despite these breakthroughs, many companies have not fully realized the benefits of constructing collaborative relationships with supply chain partners.

Professor Jack Muckstadt of Cornell University and his colleagues Drs. Murray, Rappold and Collins point out that, as companies focus on their core competencies, they have made significant strides to integrate their internal business processes and information flows and are leveraging this capability to compete as part of a larger supply chain. This compels corporate leadership to better understand their customers’ needs:

• What do they want?
• Where do they want it?
• When do they want it?
• How do they want to receive it?
• What are they willing to pay for our products and services?

Constructing and operating a competitive supply chain is the primary objective of supply chain management. Several obstacles must be overcome to achieve this goal:

1. Demand uncertainty is substantial and it can severely degrade anticipated performance in terms of unit cost, speed, quality, and responsiveness.
2. Long and variable response times due to the supply chain’s inability to respond to environmental changes in a timely manner.
3. Poor information infrastructures still lack the capabilities necessary to acquire, store, manipulate, and transmit data effectively and quickly.
4. Business processes are often not designed properly. Internal and external processes are required to adapt to evolving business and supply chain conditions.
5. Inadequately designed business metrics and decision support systems to contend with supply chain uncertainty.

Strategic and tactical modeling paradigms employed in supply chain decision support systems are insufficient. The manner in which uncertainty is treated in many operational environments is inadequate.

The Essential Foundation: Integrated Business Systems

It is essential to think of the supply chain in terms of five interconnected business systems: engineering systems, marketing systems, manufacturing systems, logistics systems, and management systems. Opportunities for supply chain efficiency tend to occur at the boundaries of these individual functions. The greatest competitive advantage comes to those companies that focus on both (1) integrating these five systems intra-organizationally, and (2) integrating these business functions as much as possible with their collaborating supply chain partners.

Supply Chain Operational Excellence: The Five Principles

A competitive advantage will exist only if several key attributes exist in a supply chain. Five guiding principles are necessary for effective supply chains. Applying all Five Principles of Supply Chain Management is necessary for the effective design and execution of supply chain systems:

1. Know the Customer.
2. Adopt Lean Philosophies.
3. Create a Supply Chain Information Infrastructure.
4. Integrate Business Processes.
5. Unify Decision Support Systems.

1. Know the Customer
Without a clear understanding and definition of customer requirements, a supply chain cannot be effectively constructed. One must construct an information infrastructure to capture customer transaction data, store the data, and analyze it from an operational perspective. The objective is to obtain a clear statement of the customer’s requirements. A supply chain’s requirements vary by customer, product, and location. These requirements must be thoroughly understood and form the foundation for constructing an efficient and effective supply chain.

2. Adopt Lean Philosophies
For the past 25 years operationally excellent companies have focused on creating lean organizations. These companies have shortened internal lead times and made them more predictable and repeatable. They reduced work-in-process inventories from months of supply to days. Firms implemented just-in-time delivery strategies for their most costly component materials, and have worked to dramatically reduce setup times. These actions have substantially reduced indirect costs and improved use of physical space. More importantly, they have created cross-trained, empowered and more highly motivated workers. For maximum supply chain efficiency, all partners must engineer, align, and execute their processes so that the entire chain has the above attributes. Lean supply chains must also be designed as tightly-coupled systems that quickly and profitably respond to market demand fluctuations. No combination of software systems can compensate for a poor physical operating environment. Therefore, lean philosophies must be extended beyond a company’s internal operations to its trading partners across the entire supply chain.

3. Create a Supply Chain Information Infrastructure
An effective information infrastructure, both intra- and inter-organizationally, is necessary for a supply chain to achieve competitive advantage. Today, internet enabled B2B collaboration makes it much easier for supply chain partners to share timely demand information, inventory status, daily capacity usage requirements, evolving marketing plans, product and process design changes, and logistics requirements — to mention just a few. However, true collaboration requires joint planning of inventory and production strategies and the reliable joint execution of operational plans on a continuing basis. How capacity is used daily must be considered from an overall system perspective, not just a local viewpoint. Simply passing data (even customer demand data) among partners does not realize the true economic potential of collaboration.

A traditional collaborative planning and forecasting initiative is merely a starting point; it barely scratches the surface of the financial rewards and competitive advantages that are possible through a true collaborative supply chain. Our recommendation is much more substantive and comprehensive.

4. Integrate Business Processes
Business processes must be established both intra- and inter-organizationally to support the supply chain’s strategic objectives, as illustrated in Figure 1, above. These processes, coupled with the information infrastructure, support the efficient flow of material through the supply chain. While much attention has been placed on understanding business processes within organizations, it is essential to build processes inter-organizationally to leverage and enhance partners’ capabilities. These inter-organizational processes must be designed to take advantage of the increased information that drives daily supply chain decisions.

5. Unify Decision Support Systems
Academics and software providers have designed and built Decision Support System (DSS) environments for individual companies and supply chains. These environments are based on different philosophical models. Also, they differ in how they forecast demand, and how they drive production and allocation decisions. Their goal is to generate plans that simultaneously consider all elements of the supply chain. No matter which approach is taken, these systems and their embedded rules drive many daily supply chain activities. Therefore, they have a substantial impact on the operating behavior, and consequently, on overall supply chain performance. How much they enhance this performance depends on both the accuracy of their input data and the modeling approaches employed. These decision support systems need to address uncertainty in an explicit manner—and most do not.

A New Decision Modeling Paradigm

Commercially available Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) systems have led to considerable improvements in supply chain efficiency in many companies. Success in implementing these systems depends on the extent to which the Five Principles of Supply Chain Management are followed. Strategic and tactical modeling paradigms employed in supply chain decision support systems are inadequate. Supply chain manufacturing and distribution systems are often not appropriately designed and operated.

Typical consequences of poor design are inventories concentrated in the wrong products at the wrong locations, and production metrics that do not match projections or meet management’s performance expectations. A fundamental cause of this failure is the environment’s uncertainty and the inability to construct accurate demand forecasts for most items. Given that creating accurate forecasts is difficult, entirely new paradigms like the No B/C Strategy must be used to ensure responsiveness. An integrated supply chain needs to be created that quickly and repeatedly moves the right quantities of materials to customers for those items that experience highly uncertain demand.

A New Operating Philosophy: The No B/C Strategy

When considering how much inventory to carry and in which products, it is essential that inventory be carried in those items for which it will be most useful. Inventory held centrally by manufacturing is nothing more than stored production capacity, or stored time. Most companies have significant inventory write-downs each year, and have to sell off inventory at less than cost. This occurs because it is virtually impossible to predict customer demand over a short lead-time.

So why are companies generating forecasts that are so prone to error? Inventory fundamentally exists in supply chain systems because customer order lead-times are shorter than manufacturing and delivery lead-times. If companies have long lead-times, then they must stock some inventory. This is where traditional planning systems fall short.

When considering the attributes of a new planning paradigm, the planning philosophies must include uncertain demand, customer lead-time requirements, finite production capacity, and inventory stocking decisions for different products and different customers. Not all products and customers behave identically. Not all customers for the same product behave identically, either.

The answer is a hybrid make-to-stock and make-to-order planning strategy that stores inventory in products while considering finite production capacity and highly uncertain demand. Called the No B/C Strategy, it categorizes products into ABC categories using a new method. Inventories exist only for products where there is a low risk of not selling them quickly.

Conclusion

Installing advanced information systems and streamlining business processes will not overcome a poorly designed physical operating environment, and vice versa. Business processes and rules must be tailored to the specific nature of the operating environments and to the supply chain’s objectives. Finally, decision support systems and business processes must be capable of explicitly dealing with uncertainty. One such approach is to employ the No B/C Strategy.

A client company applied all five of the Five Principles and realized a 60% decrease in finished goods inventory for its top 10 products. Concurrently, finished goods stock levels dropped 40% across the product family. Simultaneously, customer service levels (on-time delivery) increased to 95.2%. Most notably, the on-time delivery performance for make-to-order products increased from 37% to 60%, and is still increasing to this day.

Companies with sophisticated and complex supply chains that are willing to embrace change can gain a great competitive advantage. Looking at their supply chain operating paradigm in an innovative way can positively impact bottom line results. By adopting a new operating philosophy, the No B/C Strategy, and adhering to the Five Principles of Supply Chain Management, these companies will see new supply chain efficiencies that previously have not been possible.

---

This article was adapted, with permission, from Guidelines for Collaborative Supply Chain System Design and Operation; Muckstadt, Murray, Rappold and Collins; Technical Report No. 1286, School of Operations Research and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Cornell University, 2001.

For more information about Supply Chain Leadership, or to attend one of Professor Jack Muckstadt’s courses, visit Excellence in Supply Chain Design + Operation or contact Jim Wynne, Merit Career Development, at jwynne@meritcd.com.

More often than we’d like, managers have to manage conflict. Teams are human, after all, and arguments can arise for many reasons, from disagreements over workflow and competing priorities to perceived preferential treatment, or lack thereof.

When conflicts arise, it’s the manager’s job to keep everyone moving forward, putting them together to work out technical differences or reach a compromise on resources. Even in the case of a heated debate, an effective manager can lead the team toward a decision that’s workable for everyone.

Sometimes, however, team members seem to talk past each other, arguing about peripheral issues or focusing more on each other’s personalities than anything else. These are likely indicators that the people involved simply don’t work well together. If their disagreement is surrounded by a discontent that permeates all of their interactions, cooperation stops.

It’s a thorny problem to confront, and resolving it involves more than listening to both sides and steering them toward a solution based on merit. How, then, do you forge a truce?

1. Actively Listen. It’s critical that managers pay close attention to their team’s dynamics at all times. Personality clashes aren’t the kind of thing most people like to talk about, so you can’t depend on others to clue you in when issues start to smolder. Even as you’re putting your team together, pay attention to personalities and consider how well individuals will mesh. While it’s reasonable to expect everyone to act professionally, sometimes people take such opposite approaches that avoiding conflict may be very difficult.


2. Deal With It Promptly. If you spot trouble, respond in a timely manner. As uncomfortable as they are to deal with, personnel issues rarely take care of themselves. Indeed, leaving people to work out conflicts on their own may only intensify the problem. When you see arguments becoming personal, take the position of mediator, quickly.


3. Listen to Both Sides. Be sure to listen to all parties and look for more than venting sessions. You need to understand the specifics of the conflict and make them support their complaints with specifics. Most important; seek possible solutions from each person.


4. Remain Impartial. Your role here is to be a mediator, not a judge. That means you should understand the issues from both perspectives, with an eye toward finding some middle ground. When talking to one person, try to educate them about the other’s point of view, without taking sides.


5. Seek a Compromise. Seek recommendations from both parties on what approach might ease the tension. Maybe it’s more frequent communication, or a change in scheduling, responsibilities or processes. Maybe it’s an agreement to exchange notes before documentation is widely distributed. Regardless, encourage the parties to find pragmatic, manageable ways to work together.


6. Document It. Follow up your conversations with emails to make sure everybody’s clear on what was discussed and agreed to. Focus on the details of the agreed-upon plans to move forward rather than on the complaints.

Of course, situations vary. While you’ll have to tailor your strategy to the personalities and issues involved, your intent should always be to focus everyone on the work they’re responsible for, and the goals they have to meet. You probably won’t turn your clashing team members into close colleagues, but you can provide them with an avenue to manage their conflict and focus on getting their work done efficiently.

For more information about how Merit Career Development can hone your leadership and management skills – including managing conflict on your team – please contact Jim Wynne at jwynne@meritcd.com.

Are you giving your staff the training they need to best serve your clients? Sure, you’ll pay for the tax courses, but are you giving them the people skills—like problem solving, customer service and supervisory skills—that they need to make your firm the best it can be?

You may be surprised to learn that your accounting staff hungers for more training. Consider some findings from a recent CPA Trendlines Career Outlook survey:

• Less than a quarter of respondents agree that their firm always pays for the courses they want, not just what they need.
• Fewer than 20 percent of respondents say their firms pay for soft skills learning. Offering your staff an expanded menu of training that includes soft skills and other education can improve client relationships and staff retention, as well as develop future leaders.

“Solid communication and interpersonal abilities are becoming just as important to accounting professionals in addressing client needs” as traditional training, writes Paul McDonald, senior executive director with Robert Half in a recent CPA Practice Advisor article. “Your team members also need business acumen that extends beyond accounting to understanding clients’ bigger-picture business goals and concerns.” McDonald identifies desirable soft skills: diplomacy, customer service, problem solving, adaptability, and communication.

These important skills are also the ones that staff wants to learn. For instance, problem solving gives accounting and finance professionals the most career satisfaction, according to recent a Robert Half survey. In fact, problem solving outranked number crunching in the results, which is pretty amazing given the importance of numbers for accountants!

Soft skills learning can help accountants at any stage of their careers, says Kathy Ryan, CEO, CFO and co-founder of RoseRyan, a CPA firm serving the San Francisco Bay area, in an Accounting Today article. “I challenge anyone who feels they are being held back in their career but is not sure why, to get a reality check on their soft-skill set and do some fine tuning. I also encourage those in leadership positions to consider ways they can cultivate the ‘softer’ side of their teams’ abilities (and their own).” It isn’t a surprise to learn that Ryan’s firm regularly teaches soft skills.

Asking staff about the courses they would like is now a trend at accounting firms, the AICPA says in its white paper, The Evolution of CPA Firm Learning:

• Staff can learn better when they have a say in their learning plans. - The white paper cites an American Society for Training & Development article, “The Amazing Era of Self-Service Learning,” that suggests your firm may see as much as a 500 percent increase in learning benefits when staff manage their own training.
• Real knowledge rather than “getting training hours in” is becoming the focus. - More experience-related, simulation, and “mock” programs build real-life skills.
• Succession needs require staff to learn more than technical topics. - Firms are including more leadership, management and other personal development courses, and they’re introducing them earlier in their staff members’ careers.

Staff who are hungry to learn about running the firm, interacting more efficiently with clients, managing support staff, and the other ingredients of a successful CPA firm should be consuming the appropriate soft-skills training. Serve staff what they want, and your firm will have a banquet of talented professionals to build your firm.

Soft skills training is critical for both your staff accountants and your firm. Merit Career Development offers leadership and communication courses specifically designed for accountants plus the opportunity to earn CPEs. For more information, please contact Jim Wynne at jwynne@meritcd.com.

In recent years, a growing number of organizations have changed the way they are structured. The old top-down way of doing business, in which management wields all the power, is increasingly giving way to a collective leadership style, in which all employees are involved in setting and reaching company goals.

Some of the most successful companies - like Google, Apple, and Zappos, for example - are comprised of employees who are passionate about their company’s business strategy and working toward its goals. They are also engaged in actively promoting their company’s policies.

Collective leadership is one way to increase employee growth and productivity. Blurring the lines between boss and worker, it empowers the latter - and leads to creativity, team building and openness, allowing employees more ownership of their work, while maintaining a level of discipline that ensures the job gets done.

Leaders who practice this type of collaboration believe that their power doesn’t come from their title or position, but rather that the group is stronger when everyone shares information and each individual is encouraged to offer ideas and suggestions.

The challenge for the leader is to create an environment where diverse individuals can work together effectively toward those shared goals. To do so, keep these points in mind:

• The manager must trust the employees and their judgment, and make sure the employees know it.
• Employees need to be capable of achieving the stated goals.
• Employees must believe in what they are doing and know they are members of the team.
• The manager needs to recognize that employees from different generations may have different work styles and know how to blend those differences for team productivity.

A manager who practices collective leadership is easy to spot. First and foremost, she doesn’t dictate to her team, rather, she brainstorms with them, and they arrive at solutions together. This leader knows how to allocate time and resources to foster this collaboration, allowing team members to hold various roles in which their responsibilities evolve.

She doesn’t run around “putting out fires,” instead, she gets to the root of an issue, offering immediate and ongoing feedback. She coaches all year round, not just at performance review time. And she ensures her team members are cross-trained, trusting them and allowing them to be accountable for themselves.

Of course, it’s not simple or easy, but there are some guidelines for creating a collective leadership style in your workplace, according to Marion Chamberlain in the Huffington Post:

• Rotate leadership responsibilities, giving everyone the chance to understand what it means to “lead.”
• Educate everyone equally, giving them access to the same information.
• Don’t promote just to promote. Let individuals learn new tasks and move forward in those they are best at.
• Offer good salaries, benefits, and additional perks, so employees will want to keep advancing their skill set.
• Allow employees to make their own decisions and hold themselves accountable, based on clearly stated guidelines.

The collective leadership approach has grown with the increase in international competition and the shrinking of the global marketplace. Employees want to have more responsibility and autonomy in their work, as they actively engage and work as a team to create and set goals, and to achieve them.

This is especially true of the generation born between 1981 and 2000, the Millennials, who, in general, like to interact and collaborate with their colleagues, using a high degree of creativity to accomplish goals. This is a major divergence from the Baby Boomers who thrive on direct orders and chain of command, closed doors and annual reviews.

A truly collaborative environment is creative and innovative and must tap into the best qualities of all the diverse individuals of all ages in its workforce. Putting at least some of these techniques in place can be a smart business decision that pays dividends over the long haul.

For more information about how Merit Career Development can hone your leadership and management skills, please contact Jim Wynne at jwynne@meritcd.com.

The popular quote attributed to Mahatma Gandhi summarizes Transformational Leadership well: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

How do you best inspire others? By being who you want them to be and doing what you want them to do. By walking the talk. By leading by example. By enthusiastically sharing your vision and inspiring them to join you in making it a reality.

One who inspires trust, respect and admiration in his followers to the degree that they agree to work with him toward a common goal for the betterment of all—that person is a transformational leader.

Remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., giving his inspirational “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial? How about John F. Kennedy motivating Congress to support his dream of sending an American to the moon? Both transformational.

According to John Juzbasich, CEO of Merit Career Development, transformational leaders such as King and Kennedy—and millions of others such as teachers, scout leaders and heads of community groups—work toward change that is for the good of the whole. They provide needed guidance in times of change, whether it be societal, environmental or policy.

Transformational leadership has four pillars:

1. Inspirational Motivation is the passionate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., facing millions of inspired supporters in Washington, D.C., using powerful words in a powerful speech in an attempt to bring about profound societal change.


2. Intellectual Stimulation challenges others to reach for the stars. Literally, in Kennedy’s case. As Juzbasich says, “We weren’t even a player in the space race at that time!” Some great benefits came out of that challenge being taken up in 1961: space blankets, Velcro, and dried foods are all invented byproducts of the space race.


3. When the group looks up to its leader and wants to be like her, that leader has Idealized Influence. Both attitude and behavior must match; this is where the leader must walk her talk.


4. Individualized Consideration. Think about Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers. He knew each football player on his team so well, he knew exactly how best to motivate them to inspire performances beyond all expectations.

“You see people who work toward positive change all over the world and they are changing the world in various ways,” says Juzbasich. “We all have these qualities. They can be measured and developed. Paint a picture of a better world and inspire your people to want what you want, reframing the task so the person feels honor and prestige.”

A transformational leader is a role model who challenges team members to ‘own’ their work. He understands the individual strengths and weaknesses of those he seeks to inspire and assigns tasks appropriately so that team members can be successful.

And he doesn’t stop there. Transformational leaders not only inspire others to pursue a task that was thought to be impossible, they empower group members to grow into inspirational and transformational leaders themselves.

Just as these leaders expect the best of themselves and strive to perform at their highest level, they expect the same from their teams. That expectation, along with the leader’s belief in them, continues to inspire the group to do its best, in turn creating higher levels of satisfaction all around.

For more information about how Merit Career Development can transform your leadership and management skills, please contact Jim Wynne at jwynne@meritcd.com.

It can be one of the most uncomfortable situations a project manager faces: You have a team member who simply isn’t delivering. Their work may be late or poor. They skip meetings or don’t file their progress reports in a timely manner. For whatever the reason, their role in the effort hasn’t gelled, and the gap is causing everyone else to scramble.

Most PMs dread such scenarios. After all, it’s never easy to call out someone on their performance. But when the need arises, you have no choice but to address the issues quickly and firmly. If ignored, personnel challenges can spread as other team members shoulder extra work and become distracted from their own priorities. Ultimately, the project’s quality, schedule and budget can be threatened.

The conversation is made all the more awkward by the unique relationship PMs usually have with their team – a position that’s more about dotted lines than formal reporting structures. When the underperformer isn’t a direct report, the PM must take the approach of an interested and invested colleague, a fellow team member whose focus is on solutions rather than blame.

Talk to the Person. Your first order of business is to meet with the person and examine the issues you face. Express your concerns, but make clear that you’re beginning a conversation and looking for a solution, not issuing edicts. Be sure to get an acknowledgement of the problem and an agreement that it has to be resolved.

Be Clear. Explain the ramifications of the person’s lagging performance. For example, by missing his own deadlines, he’s holding up the work of his teammates. Or, because she’s skimping on quality control, her colleagues have to put in extra time to identify and fix problems on top of meeting their own responsibilities. Be honest about what you’re seeing, and specific in your observations.

Understand the Problem. The issues may be symptoms of a larger problem. Your team member may be facing challenges at home, with his boss, or something else. Whatever the underlying cause, it’s important to understand the forces that are at work here. After all, you can’t address a matter until you know its dynamics.

Have Ideas. Good project managers always have solutions in mind. That’s as true when it comes to working with people as it is when facing logistical or technical hurdles. As you come to understand the problem, develop approaches for addressing it. It might be the person has too many competing priorities and needs clarity. There could be a personality conflict with another team member. Whatever the issue, proactively work with the person to develop an approach that will get their efforts back on track.

Put in the Time. Coaching people takes time – sometimes a lot of it. Chances are, a single conversation isn’t going to do the trick. Set up regular one-on-ones with the person so you can track her progress and follow up on previous discussions. Develop metrics so you have an agreed-upon mechanism to measure her performance until the situation is resolved.

Remember, this process should be interactive. Encourage the team member to develop his own ideas, and listen to them carefully. Sometimes, all a person needs is an opportunity to talk things through in order to get refocused.

For more information about how Merit Career Development can hone your leadership and management skills, please contact Jim Wynne at jwynne@meritcd.com.

Project managers have to be expert negotiators, able to forge agreements between people who often have competing agendas. For example, the sales team may be determined to speed up a project so that it launches before the holiday shopping season, while Product Development wants to delay long enough to include a hot new feature. Meanwhile, the development team warns that a change in either schedule or scope will wreak havoc on the work they’ve already done. Whatever the dynamics, the project manager has to labor between parties to develop an acceptable solution.

Negotiating with stakeholders is tricky. They can be possessive of a project and pressured about its outcome. Because they have so much riding on its success, they can become prickly when issues challenge their assumptions or their comfort level. At the same time, their lack of technical expertise can make it difficult to understand the options that are viable for resolving an issue. And, of course, project managers can’t unilaterally impose a solution. They have to rely on their negotiating skills to keep things moving forward.

In the end, all participants want the same thing: a successful project that is complete in scope and delivered on-time and on-budget. For this reason, maintaining a perspective of partnership often pays the most dividends.

Think About Their Point of View: Recognizing why your stakeholder approaches an issue in a certain way is as important as understanding what they’re arguing for in the first place. For example, grasping the Sales department’s considerations – their overall targets, the competitive pressure they face and the demands salespeople hear from customers – will allow you to have more effective discussions around their concerns about schedules or feature sets. Similarly, understanding the technical and logistical constraints of the development staff will lead to more meaningful conversations about delivery and quality control.

Be Prepared. You can’t go into a negotiation assuming you’ll wing it, so anticipate your partner’s concerns, and be ready to address them. If you know tradeoffs will be required, outline the stakeholder’s choices and explain the impact each will have on the project’s scope, timeframe, and budget. In some cases, schedule is the overriding concern. In others, it might be cost. Bear those priorities in mind as you lead the discussion. It doesn’t make sense to stress the schedule-related aspects of a problem when the stakeholder’s mind is on how much money they’re spending.

Be Honest: It’s just as important for stakeholders to understand the challenges you face. So be proactive about sharing your perspective and remember that the stakeholder’s goals are impacted by many of the same things that influence yours: You all want the project to succeed, for example, and for your company to be well positioned in the market. Always be forthright in discussions about business outlook, project status and any difficulties you may anticipate. Not only will this provide a complete picture, it could help uncover solutions as the stakeholders weigh in with their own experience and ideas.

Listen: In any negotiation, it’s important that both sides be heard. Be sure to let the stakeholder outline their viewpoint and ask questions when necessary to make sure you understand where they’re coming from. As your discussion continues, address the issues they’ve raised or promise to research areas that you can’t reply to on the spot. Too often, negotiations go off-track when one party believes their concerns are being given short shrift.

Of course, the situation is complicated by the unique place where PMs sit. Responsible for addressing everyone’s concerns, they almost never have the pure authority to pursue a particular approach without building some kind of consensus. Even if they did, successful projects are rarely built by edict. The best project managers have a knack for getting all sides to understand the others’ point of view and work cooperatively to attain the effort’s overriding goals.

Stakeholder Management can be tricky. Learn how to work with your internal partners more effectively in Merit Career Development’s Stakeholder Management course. To learn more, please contact Jim Wynne at jwynne@meritcd.com.