A lot of responsibility is placed on the shoulders of modern facilities managers. When you work in this position, it’s crucial to understand everything that can go wrong and what the main workplace problems are in your office, factory, warehouse, or other business premises. Below are six workplace problems every facilities manager needs to handle. […]
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TWI Expanded: Using Training Within Industry Program in Mixed Model Production
The Training Within Industry (TWI) program is one of the most popular approaches to developing the skills of experienced operators and leaders in instructing, improving and problem solving. One TWI method is TWI Job Instruction (JI), which is focused on conducting on-the-job training. This method is aimed at reducing the root causes of human errors, […]
Do Your Key Customer Accounts Consider Your Organisation to be an ‘Ideal’ Supplier? Maybe it’s Time to Find Out! (Part II)
Editor’s Note: You can read Dr. Ted Marra’s Part 1 of Do Your Key Customer Accounts Consider Your Organisation to be an ‘Ideal’ Supplier? Maybe it’s Time to Find Out! here. * * * * If you read Part I of this short series, you saw five (5) critical success factors which I have found over the […]
Do Your Key Customer Accounts Consider Your Organisation to be an ‘Ideal’ Supplier? Maybe it’s Time to Find Out! (Part I)
While much has been said over the years about customer-supplier relationships, organisations still don’t seem to get it right often enough. If we’ve heard the phrase, ‘No organisation is an island’ once, I’ve heard it a thousand times and it’s true. One of the vital few factors for long-term competitiveness of any organisation is having […]
Performance Management: 5 Solutions to Challenges We Face
We’re all cognizant of the term “Performance Appraisal.”It refers to the methodical approach of employee’s performance, and the evaluation is done to understand the abilities of each individual for further career development. Regardless of how important the process is, to improve the overall organizational efficiency, inevitably we face certain challenges. When you’ve worked in a […]
Rapid Product Development Projects Using a Hybrid Agile Framework
Why Agile Matters to Consultants Combining traditional project management methodologies with hybrid models impacts the way projects are planned and managed. A hybrid approach can increase the end results, delivering customer requirements and organizational strategic imperatives. But a cultural shift within the organization is critical to its success. It is easy to blame the traditional, […]
A New Direction for Performance Management
The ideal process for managing performance is one that successfully motivates and supports staff to contribute to the achievement of the goals and objectives of the organization. A continuing process that encourages on-going communication and coaching between managers and their employees has many benefits and advantages over traditional Performance Management. The Problem with Traditional Performance […]
Increase Organizational Effectiveness through Project Quality Audit Reviews
Corporations throughout the world are losing billions in wasted project spending owing to their mis-management, poor quality processes, lack of knowledge in how to manage projects, etc. These projects are often not included in the normal auditing practices. Understanding the process of auditing projects, in addition to their other best practices; will positively impact the […]
Risk Management – Improving Your Project’s Success
What Is Risk Management? Risk Management is the process of identifying, analyzing and responding to risk factors throughout the life of a project and in the best interests of its objectives. Proper risk management implies control of possible future events and is proactive rather than reactive. For example: An activity in a network requires that […]
Are You Still Using a First Generation Performance Framework?
What is a “first” or “second” generation Performance Management and Measurement framework? Let’s begin by defining these concepts. First generation Performance Management and Measurement frameworks derive Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from strategy. These include well known and established frameworks, such as Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and EFQM Excellence Model. These first generation frameworks have led organizations to increase the […]
How to Achieve Personal Growth Using Lean Six Sigma?
“If you work hard for your job, you make a living. But, if you work hard on yourself, you can make a fortune.” – Jim Rohn My first inspirational book, about change and personal growth, was about Total Quality Management. The first question that came to my mind, while reading Environmental TQM, was how can […]
What Exactly is Value Stream Mapping (VSM)?
There are tons of “value”-driven management frameworks. Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is one of the most well known–but, do you know what exactly this methodology refers to? Value Stream Mapping Overview VSM is Lean Management method for analyzing the current state and designing a future state for the series of events that take a product or […]
