Blog - Page 20 of 24

The never ending search for expertise

August 20, 2012

There is a tendency in our business (management consulting) to think we know quite a lot about the functional areas or businesses we study.

The importance of managing your message

August 17, 2012

Manage the headlines.

Wrench time: The secret to performance improvement

August 14, 2012

As a recent college graduate, one of our partners had asked an experienced consultant what to look for when working in a maintenance area. The veteran said, "The same thing you look Read More

Why change requires a crisis

August 10, 2012

Change requires a crisis.

Don’t put down your audience

August 02, 2012

We had done quite a lot of work in one particular industry and through word of mouth we were invited to speak at a national convention. We prepared an insightful speech that Read More

In many organizations some of the reported performance numbers aren't very "real". It's very similar to people's golf handicaps. The handicap system is a wonderful mechanism to track performance and to allow Read More

How to build business relationships that last

July 20, 2012

In project-based work like ours, a strong start is critical because the customer may be slightly uneasy having just made a significant buying decision.

How to update your client in 30 seconds or less

July 16, 2012

“The Elevator Test” refers to when your top customer (or boss or board member) walks into an elevator that you are on and asks, “So, how is everything going?” You have approximately 30 seconds to say something meaningful that the person can take away with him or her, which is roughly the time of a typical TV advertisement or news feature.

Jot it down! Why note taking is critical to your success

June 26, 2012

There are a couple of other good reasons to take notes. Taking notes during a meeting is respectful. It tells the person speaking or presenting that you are actually interested in what they have to say. It also forces you to listen more intently to the actual points being made.

The subtle problem of a disorderly work area

June 21, 2012

“Broken windows” of various sorts are common in most businesses from obvious work flow clutter to less obvious errors or inconsistent formats in a presentation, spelling mistakes in a memo, etc.