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Top Tips for ‘Sustained Success’

Published by Corrina on 12 August, 2010 in Management & Leadership and Top Tips • 3 Comments
Top Tips for ‘Sustained Success’
Eight key principles to help any business achieve and maintain its long-term objectives.
These tips are based on the ISO 9004:2009 standard, which defines eight quality management principles that can help any business “achieve and maintain its objectives in the long-term”. We have quoted the eight principles and added our own tips alongside. More information on ISO 9004:2009
1. “Customer focus”. Understand customer needs and expectations through research and other customer intelligence. Ensure business and management objectives are aligned with customer needs. Effectively communicate customer needs and business objectives across the organisation. Balance customer needs and the interests of other stakeholders such as owners, employees, wider society.
2. “Leadership”. Establish purpose, direction and vision for the business. Set goals and targets designed to meet the vision. Ensure employees and stakeholders understand their roles in meeting objectives and realising vision. Create an environment which enables people to achieve objectives, providing the required support, resources, training and freedom. Establish trust. Recognise people.
3. “Involvement of people”. Ensure people understand their roles and how they contribute to business success. Evaluate employee performance; identify constraints; work to improve employee competences, knowledge and skills. Encourage participation in seeking opportunities to improve business performance and personal skills. Encourage people to share knowledge, experience, problems and issues.
4. “Process approach”. Systematically define activities/steps required to achieve a particular result. Work to improve resources, methods or materials in order to refine key activities and processes. Set responsibilities for managing processes and measuring effectiveness. Improve how different business functions work together on shared activities. Evaluate risks of activities to all affected parties.
5. “System approach to management”. Create a management system that effectively and efficiently manages processes and activities to meet objectives. Define how activities and processes should work. Evaluate processes and continually work to improve them. Understand interdependencies between processes; harmonise and integrate processes. Ensure roles and responsibilities are clear.
6. “Continual improvement”. Take a consistent approach to innovation and continual performance improvement. Make innovation and continual improvement an objective for all employees, and train people in the methods and tools of continual improvement. Set goals, measure performance, and acknowledge improvements through employee recognition.
7. “Factual approach to decision-making”. Establish a rigorous decision-making process which balances facts, experience and judgement. Ensure processes exist to collect relevant data and past experiences such as feedback or lessons learnt. Make data available to decision-makers. Work on improving analysis methods. Listen to personal judgements but ensure they are balanced with data.
8. “Mutually beneficial supplier relationships”. Create strong long-term supplier relationships which are mutually beneficial and balance short-term gains and long-term considerations. Create and maintain open relationships and clear communication with suppliers. Where appropriate share information, expertise and resources, and establish joint development and improvement initiatives. Encourage innovation and continual improvement and recognise supplier achievements.

Eight key principles to help any business achieve and maintain its long-term objectives.

These tips are based on the ISO 9004:2009 standard, which defines eight quality management principles that can help any business “achieve and maintain its objectives in the long-term”. We have quoted the eight principles and added our own tips alongside. More information on ISO 9004:2009

1. “Customer focus”. Understand customer needs and expectations through research and other customer intelligence. Ensure business and management objectives are aligned with customer needs. Effectively communicate customer needs and business objectives across the organisation. Balance customer needs and the interests of other stakeholders such as owners, employees, wider society.

2. “Leadership”. Establish purpose, direction and vision for the business. Set goals and targets designed to meet the vision. Ensure employees and stakeholders understand their roles in meeting objectives and realising vision. Create an environment which enables people to achieve objectives, providing the required support, resources, training and freedom. Establish trust. Recognise people.

3. “Involvement of people”. Ensure people understand their roles and how they contribute to business success. Evaluate employee performance; identify constraints; work to improve employee competences, knowledge and skills. Encourage participation in seeking opportunities to improve business performance and personal skills. Encourage people to share knowledge, experience, problems and issues.

4. “Process approach”. Systematically define activities/steps required to achieve a particular result. Work to improve resources, methods or materials in order to refine key activities and processes. Set responsibilities for managing processes and measuring effectiveness. Improve how different business functions work together on shared activities. Evaluate risks of activities to all affected parties.

5. “System approach to management”. Create a management system that effectively and efficiently manages processes and activities to meet objectives. Define how activities and processes should work. Evaluate processes and continually work to improve them. Understand interdependencies between processes; harmonise and integrate processes. Ensure roles and responsibilities are clear.

6. “Continual improvement”. Take a consistent approach to innovation and continual performance improvement. Make innovation and continual improvement an objective for all employees, and train people in the methods and tools of continual improvement. Set goals, measure performance, and acknowledge improvements through employee recognition.

7. “Factual approach to decision-making”. Establish a rigorous decision-making process which balances facts, experience and judgement. Ensure processes exist to collect relevant data and past experiences such as feedback or lessons learnt. Make data available to decision-makers. Work on improving analysis methods. Listen to personal judgements but ensure they are balanced with data.

8. “Mutually beneficial supplier relationships”. Create strong long-term supplier relationships which are mutually beneficial and balance short-term gains and long-term considerations. Create and maintain open relationships and clear communication with suppliers. Where appropriate share information, expertise and resources, and establish joint development and improvement initiatives. Encourage innovation and continual improvement and recognise supplier achievements.

Improving business decisions

Published by Corrina on 12 August, 2010 in Management & Leadership and Strategy & Operations • 1 Comment
Improving business decisions
We explore and summarise interesting insights which could help to make better strategic decisions.
Interesting insights from McKinsey and Harvard Business Review
McKinsey & Company share interesting insights on strategic decision-making in interviews with Martin Sorrell, chief executive at advertising firm WPP, Randy Komisar, partner at investment firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and former Xerox chairman Anne Mulcahy.
Decision-making should be quick, flexible and informal, says Sorrell. “This is not to say the process shouldn’t be rigorous: run the analyses, suck up all the data, and include some formal processes as well”. “The only way to avoid making mistakes is to avoid making decisions”, adds Sorrell; “Instead, learn from mistakes and listen to feedback.”
Komisar suggests creating a balance sheet, “where everybody around the table is asked to list points on both sides”. Rather than giving judgements, contributors first outline the good and the bad points relating to a decision. Once done, participants share their opinions and discuss the decision based on objective insights and personal judgements. “By assembling everyone’s insights rather than their conclusions, the discussion can focus on the biases and assumptions that lead to the opinions.” Komisar adds: “Listen to the little voice… It’s great to see a leader who will echo the little voice in the back of the room that has a different point of view – and thereby change the complexion of the discussion”.
“You need internal critics”, says Mulcahy, “who have the courage to give you that feedback”. Timeliness is also important: “Decisions have shelf lives, so you really need to put tight timeframes on your process.”
In an article for Harvard Business Review, Tom Davenport explains that animation studio Pixar conduct a ‘postmortem’ on major aspects of a project, where team members are asked to present five things they would and would not do again. Postmortems weed out problems, says Davenport, providing crucial feedback which helps to learn from mistakes when making future decisions.
Instinct is important, “but only when four tests are met”, says McKinsey. The familiarity test asks whether we have experience in similar situations, because: “If we have plenty of appropriate memories to scan, our judgment is likely to be sound.” The feedback test questions the availability of reliable feedback in past situations, and whether the right lessons were learnt. The measured-emotions test asks if a decision evokes highly charged emotions which can unbalance judgement. And the independence test asks if we are “likely to be influenced by any inappropriate personal interests or attachments?”. “If a situation fails even one of these four tests, we need to strengthen the decision process”, argues McKinsey.
Turn insights into better decisions
According to these insights, decision-making should be quick, flexible and informal (to avoid missing opportunities), but also rigorous and process-driven. The process should include analysis of relevant data, pros and cons, personal opinions, judgements, instincts, and past experiences such as feedback and lessons learnt. Where no relevant experience exists, or where instincts or judgements are weakened by bias, charged emotions or personal interests, further analysis must be done to strengthen the process and avoid bad decisions. Listening to the ‘little voice’ and ‘internal critics’ could provide the necessary challenge which further tests the quality of decisions.
These insights could be used to create simple decision-making tools, such as Komisar’s balance sheet or McKinsey’s four tests. So why not take a few moments to jot down your own ideas for a quick-but-rigourous decision-making process to suit your business and management team?

We explore and summarise interesting insights which could help to make better strategic decisions.

Interesting insights from McKinsey and Harvard Business Review

McKinsey & Company share interesting insights on strategic decision-making in interviews with Martin Sorrell, chief executive at advertising firm WPP, Randy Komisar, partner at investment firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and former Xerox chairman Anne Mulcahy.

Decision-making should be quick, flexible and informal, says Sorrell. “This is not to say the process shouldn’t be rigorous: run the analyses, suck up all the data, and include some formal processes as well”. “The only way to avoid making mistakes is to avoid making decisions”, adds Sorrell; “Instead, learn from mistakes and listen to feedback.”

Komisar suggests creating a balance sheet, “where everybody around the table is asked to list points on both sides”. Rather than giving judgements, contributors first outline the good and the bad points relating to a decision. Once done, participants share their opinions and discuss the decision based on objective insights and personal judgements. “By assembling everyone’s insights rather than their conclusions, the discussion can focus on the biases and assumptions that lead to the opinions.” Komisar adds: “Listen to the little voice… It’s great to see a leader who will echo the little voice in the back of the room that has a different point of view – and thereby change the complexion of the discussion”.

“You need internal critics”, says Mulcahy, “who have the courage to give you that feedback”. Timeliness is also important: “Decisions have shelf lives, so you really need to put tight timeframes on your process.”

In an article for Harvard Business Review, Tom Davenport explains that animation studio Pixar conduct a ‘postmortem’ on major aspects of a project, where team members are asked to present five things they would and would not do again. Postmortems weed out problems, says Davenport, providing crucial feedback which helps to learn from mistakes when making future decisions.

Instinct is important, “but only when four tests are met”, says McKinsey. The familiarity test asks whether we have experience in similar situations, because: “If we have plenty of appropriate memories to scan, our judgment is likely to be sound.” The feedback test questions the availability of reliable feedback in past situations, and whether the right lessons were learnt. The measured-emotions test asks if a decision evokes highly charged emotions which can unbalance judgement. And the independence test asks if we are “likely to be influenced by any inappropriate personal interests or attachments?”. “If a situation fails even one of these four tests, we need to strengthen the decision process”, argues McKinsey.

Turn insights into better decisions

According to these insights, decision-making should be quick, flexible and informal (to avoid missing opportunities), but also rigorous and process-driven. The process should include analysis of relevant data, pros and cons, personal opinions, judgements, instincts, and past experiences such as feedback and lessons learnt. Where no relevant experience exists, or where instincts or judgements are weakened by bias, charged emotions or personal interests, further analysis must be done to strengthen the process and avoid bad decisions. Listening to the ‘little voice’ and ‘internal critics’ could provide the necessary challenge which further tests the quality of decisions.

These insights could be used to create simple decision-making tools, such as Komisar’s balance sheet or McKinsey’s four tests. So why not take a few moments to jot down your own ideas for a quick-but-rigourous decision-making process to suit your business and management team?

Connecting offline with online marketing

Published by Corrina on 12 August, 2010 in Sales & Marketing • 0 Comments
Connecting offline with online marketing
Connect offline with online marketing to maintain or create consumer interest and increase sales.
People go online for more information on products or services – even when purchasing offline
An iProspect survey of 2,300 individuals found that 67 per cent were driven to search for more information online following exposure to offline marketing. The top three channels driving users online were television ads, word of mouth, and magazine or newspaper ads. iProspect hypothesise that people go online to ‘seek validation’ of offline marketing messages. And an eMarketer survey found that 63 per cent of respondents go online to research products or services before purchase. These findings suggest that companies without a strong online presence may lose valuable consumer interest. iProspect’s study also suggests that businesses marketing solely online may miss opportunities to create online traffic using offline marketing.
Companies that do not sell online might think that driving people onto the internet will result in losing sales to web retailers – but this may not be the case. Studies from BIGResearch and TMP Marketing both found that over three-quarters of respondents who research products and services online follow up with offline actions including in-store purchase. This ‘research online, buy offline’ behaviour shows that offline businesses can compete with web retailers – if they provide the information consumers are looking for.
What information are your audiences looking for?
Basic product or service detail may exist on your website, but could you expand on this with resources that answer common queries – such as FAQs, environmental credentials, or customer reviews? To support offline marketing, could you create news items or web resources that provide further details on campaigns? Or social networks could provide ways for new and existing customers to discuss products or services, allowing people to both obtain information and become more confident in your credibility.
Make it easier for people to connect with online information
As iProspect’s survey found, offline marketing drives online search. And in a business i article last year, search expert Ed Foster said: “Search is a barometer of other noise you make in the market”, pointing out that offline marketing can increase search activity. Search engine optimisation or search advertising could therefore allow people to more easily connect with your online information.
Simple offline steps could help people to easily find your online presence, such as ensuring your home page and social network links are on general marketing literature, and linking campaigns to specific ‘more info’ web pages. The use of ‘friendly urls’ such as ‘example.com/summerspecial’ could make such links more presentable on printed materials, and more memorable to the consumer.
Create online traffic using offline campaigns
Offline marketing can drive online interest. Businesses engaged solely in online marketing could therefore create new offline campaigns designed to create online traffic. Campaigns could highlight the valuable online information on offer, and perhaps offer incentives to get involved. For example, you could – via direct mail, ads or PR – invite people to your Facebook page which provides information and special offers, or encourage participation in online product or service feedback discussions. Finding ways to encourage customers to share experiences with friends could also spur online interest.
Facilitate ‘research online, buy offline’ behaviour
Providing relevant online information fulfils the research needs of consumers. But, for companies that do not sell online, it’s important to then bring people back into the offline world. For instance, emphasising the benefits of offline purchase, such as try-before-you-buy, and providing call-to-actions, such as callbacks, online appointments, in-store reservations or vouchers, could convert online interest into offline purchase. What steps could you provide to make offline purchase easier and more beneficial?
The value in connecting offline and online
The internet is an important resource for consumers seeking information on products and services. People are often driven online in response to offline marketing, or other influences such as word of mouth. But they may ultimately return offline to purchase. Proactively providing the right information, and helping people to connect with it, could therefore help to both create and maintain interest in your products or services, thereby increasing sales – online or off.

Connect offline with online marketing to maintain or create consumer interest and increase sales.

People go online for more information on products or services – even when purchasing offline

An iProspect survey of 2,300 individuals found that 67 per cent were driven to search for more information online following exposure to offline marketing. The top three channels driving users online were television ads, word of mouth, and magazine or newspaper ads. iProspect hypothesise that people go online to ‘seek validation’ of offline marketing messages. And an eMarketer survey found that 63 per cent of respondents go online to research products or services before purchase. These findings suggest that companies without a strong online presence may lose valuable consumer interest. iProspect’s study also suggests that businesses marketing solely online may miss opportunities to create online traffic using offline marketing.

Companies that do not sell online might think that driving people onto the internet will result in losing sales to web retailers – but this may not be the case. Studies from BIGResearch and TMP Marketing both found that over three-quarters of respondents who research products and services online follow up with offline actions including in-store purchase. This ‘research online, buy offline’ behaviour shows that offline businesses can compete with web retailers – if they provide the information consumers are looking for.

What information are your audiences looking for?

Basic product or service detail may exist on your website, but could you expand on this with resources that answer common queries – such as FAQs, environmental credentials, or customer reviews? To support offline marketing, could you create news items or web resources that provide further details on campaigns? Or social networks could provide ways for new and existing customers to discuss products or services, allowing people to both obtain information and become more confident in your credibility.

Make it easier for people to connect with online information

As iProspect’s survey found, offline marketing drives online search. And in a business i article last year, search expert Ed Foster said: “Search is a barometer of other noise you make in the market”, pointing out that offline marketing can increase search activity. Search engine optimisation or search advertising could therefore allow people to more easily connect with your online information.

Simple offline steps could help people to easily find your online presence, such as ensuring your home page and social network links are on general marketing literature, and linking campaigns to specific ‘more info’ web pages. The use of ‘friendly urls’ such as ‘example.com/summerspecial’ could make such links more presentable on printed materials, and more memorable to the consumer.

Create online traffic using offline campaigns

Offline marketing can drive online interest. Businesses engaged solely in online marketing could therefore create new offline campaigns designed to create online traffic. Campaigns could highlight the valuable online information on offer, and perhaps offer incentives to get involved. For example, you could – via direct mail, ads or PR – invite people to your Facebook page which provides information and special offers, or encourage participation in online product or service feedback discussions. Finding ways to encourage customers to share experiences with friends could also spur online interest.

Facilitate ‘research online, buy offline’ behaviour

Providing relevant online information fulfils the research needs of consumers. But, for companies that do not sell online, it’s important to then bring people back into the offline world. For instance, emphasising the benefits of offline purchase, such as try-before-you-buy, and providing call-to-actions, such as callbacks, online appointments, in-store reservations or vouchers, could convert online interest into offline purchase. What steps could you provide to make offline purchase easier and more beneficial?

The value in connecting offline and online

The internet is an important resource for consumers seeking information on products and services. People are often driven online in response to offline marketing, or other influences such as word of mouth. But they may ultimately return offline to purchase. Proactively providing the right information, and helping people to connect with it, could therefore help to both create and maintain interest in your products or services, thereby increasing sales – online or off.

Guide – Create your marketing strategy

Equality Act 2010 – Did you know?

Published by Corrina on 12 August, 2010 in HR & People Development and Legislation & Regulations • 0 Comments
Equality Act 2010 – Did you know?
Some things that businesses may not know, but should know, about the upcoming Equality Act.
◦ Most provisions of the Equality Act become law on 1 October 2010. The Act consolidates existing equality and discrimination laws and provides new, simpler, stronger and more consistent rules.
◦ The Act protects people from discrimination on the basis of specific ‘protected characteristics’ – sex; sexual orientation; disability; race, ethnic origin, colour and nationality; pregnancy and maternity; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; belief and religion.
◦ People who access your products, services or facilities, and your employees, are protected from direct discrimination on the basis of the above protected characteristics.
◦ Rules, policies or practices which apply to everyone but disadvantage people with a protected characteristic may result in indirect discrimination – unless your actions were ‘reasonable’.
◦ For example: only offering appointments by phone may indirectly discriminate because this may disadvantage deaf people, and it may be hard to show you could not have provided other options.
◦ Protection also applies to people treated unfairly because they are perceived to have a protected characteristic, and people treated unfairly due to associating with someone with a characteristic.
◦ The Act makes it easier for people to show that they have difficultly carrying out day-to-day activities and come under the protection of the act as a disabled person.
◦ Firms must ensure that a customer who is breastfeeding is not treated unfairly by employees; or other customers, if their unfair treatment has been previously brought to your attention.
◦ An employee who has had several linked periods of depression over the last two years, who finds it difficult to carry out day-to-day activities, is defined as disabled for the purpose of the Act.
◦ It is discrimination to treat a disabled employee unfavourably due to factors connected with their disability, such as a tendency to make spelling mistakes resulting from dyslexia.
◦ You may be liable for employee harassment by third parties if you are aware that it has occurred at least twice before and you have not taken steps to prevent it happening again.
◦ You cannot prevent employees from having discussions to determine whether pay differences exist that are related to protected characteristics.
◦ The Act limits circumstances in which you can ask job applicants health-related questions.
Because the Equality Act extends and strengthens protections, you may need to review and amend your business’s equality and discrimination policies and practices.
These are just a selection of the Act’s provisions. Click here for more comprehensive details
Guides: Set up employment policies for your business, Prevent discrimination and value diversity

Some things that businesses may not know, but should know, about the upcoming Equality Act.

  • Most provisions of the Equality Act become law on 1 October 2010. The Act consolidates existing equality and discrimination laws and provides new, simpler, stronger and more consistent rules.
  • The Act protects people from discrimination on the basis of specific ‘protected characteristics’ – sex; sexual orientation; disability; race, ethnic origin, colour and nationality; pregnancy and maternity; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; belief and religion.
  • People who access your products, services or facilities, and your employees, are protected from direct discrimination on the basis of the above protected characteristics.
  • Rules, policies or practices which apply to everyone but disadvantage people with a protected characteristic may result in indirect discrimination – unless your actions were ‘reasonable’.
  • For example: only offering appointments by phone may indirectly discriminate because this may disadvantage deaf people, and it may be hard to show you could not have provided other options.
  • Protection also applies to people treated unfairly because they are perceived to have a protected characteristic, and people treated unfairly due to associating with someone with a characteristic.
  • The Act makes it easier for people to show that they have difficultly carrying out day-to-day activities and come under the protection of the act as a disabled person.
  • Firms must ensure that a customer who is breastfeeding is not treated unfairly by employees; or other customers, if their unfair treatment has been previously brought to your attention.
  • An employee who has had several linked periods of depression over the last two years, who finds it difficult to carry out day-to-day activities, is defined as disabled for the purpose of the Act.
  • It is discrimination to treat a disabled employee unfavourably due to factors connected with their disability, such as a tendency to make spelling mistakes resulting from dyslexia.
  • You may be liable for employee harassment by third parties if you are aware that it has occurred at least twice before and you have not taken steps to prevent it happening again.
  • You cannot prevent employees from having discussions to determine whether pay differences exist that are related to protected characteristics.
  • The Act limits circumstances in which you can ask job applicants health-related questions.

Because the Equality Act extends and strengthens protections, you may need to review and amend your business’s equality and discrimination policies and practices.

These are just a selection of the Act’s provisions.  Click here for more comprehensive details

Relevant guides from the Business Link website:

Set up employment policies for your business

Prevent discrimination and value diversity

Capturing the Challengers

Published by Business Link on 21 July, 2010 in Management & Leadership and Strategy & Operations • 1 Comment

This year we showcased 100 inspirational local businesses of all sizes and from all sectors. Each one displays the type of drive, passion and innovative approach that has enabled them to challenge larger, established firms and succeed despite fierce competition.

These ‘Challengers’ have captured the imagination and admiration of businesses across the region. Today we take another look at all 100 case studies to try and capture the essence of a Challenger business.

To do this we tried something different. We took all 46,600 words from the case studies and put them into a ‘word cloud’ generator. The resulting ‘cloud’ features the top 50 most popular words; the bigger a word appears in the cloud, the more frequently that word appeared in the case studies.

Capturing the Challengers

So, does the cloud reflect the true essence of a Challenger?

Customer(s), People. Challengers talk about ‘people’ as opposed to ‘customers’ – a reminder that behind ‘target audiences’ and ‘customer groups’ are unique individuals. They are keen to know what both existing customers and new prospects want and need. They are also focused on developing their own people.

Innovation, Development, New, Ideas. As one business put it, it’s about “constant innovation, expansion and improvement”. Another adds: “Innovation and reinvention are vital”. In addition to product development, service innovation was frequently mentioned. Clear focus on new ideas, new products and services, new markets and ventures.

Sales, Marketing. Challengers are sales focused, and have a tight grasp of sales numbers. Online sales – or an online presence to promote offline sales – was frequently mentioned. Employee development also said to be a key sales driver. Two quotes reflect the mood towards marketing: “We are absolutely marketing led”, and “Marketing is vital”. Sales and marketing innovation is important; one firm said it “thinks outside the box”, doing “lots of smaller activities” rather than more costly approaches.

Local, International. Great importance attached to ‘local’, in terms of local markets and use of local tradespeople, but also a clear focus on cracking international markets and becoming global businesses.

Energy, Environmental. Numerous mentions of energy efficiency, lowering fuel usage, renewable energy sources, green business policies, reviewing energy consumption. Challengers take pride in an ethical approach and see financial and marketing benefits in being green.

Commitment. Constant commitment to customers, customer service, quality, product and service development, people, relationships, the brand, social media, modernisation. The words ‘focus’ and ’time’ frequently attached to these phrases, suggesting such commitments are not always easy. Finally, to quote a Challenger, there’s simply: “A commitment to deliver exactly what customers are looking for”.

Approach. Challengers take pride in their approach, calling themselves: entrepreneurial, pioneering, different, new, unusual, flexible. While they see value in traditional approaches, they are not afraid to approach things differently.

Download the Challenger Guide to Business