Business Toolkit – Page 64 – thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

Taking a Structured Approach to Problem Solving

May 21, 2018/2 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Entrepreneur, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

A case study in structured problem solving: How we cut $3MM in overtime costs at a hospital by applying structured problem solving.

One of the most rewarding engagements I’ve had as a management consultant was with a hospital that had been under severe budget pressure for years due to excessive overtime costs. I’d never worked for a hospital, so the expertise I was bringing wasn’t hospital management but a structured problem-solving method that I’d learned as a consultant. Here is an overview of each step I used. You can use these same steps to solve your challenging problems.

The Problem Statement. I started by clarifying with my client the problem I was going to solve. I did this with a simple one-page introduction with three parts.

– Situation: A definition of the client and their normal situation.

– Complication: A definition of what has changed in their normal situation that is causing a problem.

– Question: A definition of the problem the consultant is being hired to solve that clearly outlines what success would look like.

By clarifying the problem, we defined success as “substantially reducing overtime without negatively impacting patient care.”

The Logic Map. Next, I created a logical framework – a logic map – to identify all the potential root causes of overtime and categorize them into distinct categories. I chose “Supply-Driven” versus “Demand-Driven” at the top of my framework to organize the potential causes. Potential overtime root causes in the “Supply” category would be things related to the supply of labor – e.g., ‘not enough staff.’ Potential causes in the “Demand” category would be drivers of the demand for labor – e.g., ‘number of patients increased.’

The Interview Guide. I translated that logical framework into an interview guide that I could use in the meetings with the top executives of the hospital. As I walked through the list of all the possible root causes of the overtime problem with each executive, I got a variety of information and opinions on where the biggest, fixable root causes were. After those meetings, I adjusted and added to my logic tree of potential root causes.

Prioritizing Potential Hypotheses. Now that I had a good list of all the potential root causes, I prioritized each based on the probability of being the best answer to the problem. This is important because it takes work to get the data and do the analysis to test each hypothesis. I was able to put the whole ‘Demand’ part of my logic map at the bottom of the list because of the information I uncovered in the manager interviews. The problem had to be related to ‘Supply’ – staffing.

Do you better manage personal finances or business finances?

May 17, 2018/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Poll /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: Which do you manage more closely: your personal finances or your business’ finances?

I manage my personal finances much more rigorously: 29.7%
I pay much more attention to my business’ finances: 30.6%
I strike a good balance on managing both equally well: 36.1%
I don’t manage my personal or my business finances well: 3.5%

Money matters. Most of you report paying a lot of attention to business finances, but be careful that attention doesn’t come at the expense of your personal finances. If your own finances get messy because of mismanagement, it can cause issues with job performance. This isn’t only about making sure your checking account is full and retirement plan is maxed out. Take care of all aspects of your financial well-being. That includes protecting yourself from identity theft and fraud. Those two items alone can cause you problems when you go to get a job, move or get a loan. Protect your identity from theft, and manage your credit carefully. With all the high-profile security breaches of late, it’s probably a good idea to pay some attention to that part of your life.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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How effective is your organization at using good measurement practices?

May 3, 2018/2 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Poll, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: How effective is your organization at implementing good measurement practices?

Very — we’re rigorous about the measurement methods we use: 8.1%
Mostly — sometimes we’re not as effective as we could be: 35.6%
Not very — we’re only disciplined when measuring major metrics: 34.1%
Not at all — we’re terrible in our measurement practices: 22.3%

You can’t manage what you don’t measure. The next time the 56% of you who don’t measure things well are unhappy with how your organization is performing, please remember this poll. You can’t manage, let alone improve, things you don’t measure. Don’t go out and measure indiscriminately though. Clearly define the desired business outcome, identify the best measure of how you’re performing on activities related to that outcome, and stick to a focused set of metrics to track your progress. When you do measure, remember to answer the five key measurement questions:

What’s the measurement’s purpose?
What data source will you use?
How will you calculate the metric?
How frequently will you measure?
Who will review the measure?

If you can answer these questions clearly, you should have a meaningful metric to monitor.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

When you’re not interested in a vendor’s product, how do you handle it?

April 26, 2018/4 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Poll, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: When you’re not interested in a vendor’s product or service, how do you handle it?

I tell them I’m not interested quickly and directly: 74.0%
I continue conversations until they realize there’s not a fit: 4.1%
I ignore their calls and emails and hope they disappear: 21.9%

Exercise common courtesy. While many of you are up front with a vendor when you’re not interested in their product or service, the 22% of you who aren’t might want to reconsider your behavior. Salespeople and other vendor personnel spend significant amounts of time and energy pursuing sales and partnership leads. When you ignore them and hope they just go away, you’re being disrespectful of their time; and, the silent treatment borders on unprofessional. The vast majority of them would prefer a fast and polite, “I’m not interested,” instead of being ignored and spending more time following up. How would you feel if you were in their shoes and your prospects and partners ignored you? Not so good, I assume. Do the right thing. Be professional. Offer a courteous, “No, thank you,” as soon as you know it’s not a fit. There’s always time for professionalism.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

Should you focus on great technology or a great operation?

April 5, 2018/1 Comment/in Business Toolkit, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Poll, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: Which is more important: having a great technology to sell or a great operation that sells it?

It’s all about the tech. It’ll sell itself. :15.5%
Operations and execution is where it’s at.: 84.5%

The tech is the easy part. No matter how great your technology is, if you can’t sell it and execute your business plan, the tech is worthless. Ensure you invest appropriate time and energy in thinking through your operating model and managing execution. It’s much more important to get the basics right: define a strategy, hire the right people, sell like crazy, execute your plan and give up control to let the talented people you hire do their jobs. If you stay too focused on the tech, you’ll find you own 100% of a cool code base or product that no one uses.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

Want to succeed as a consultant? Pick the right revenue model

March 14, 2018/3 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Sales, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

If you want to be a consultant and run your own firm, you need to have a good sense of your revenue model. There are many to choose from. Pick the right one and be very profitable. Pick the wrong one and you’ll be working like a dog for a tiny paycheck.

Your revenue model explains how you make money. You need to determine how to charge for the services you’re offering and what services you’ll charge for.

Consultants use three primary revenue models: fee-for-service, project-based, and per-unit. There’s a big difference between a fee-for-service consulting model, a project-based model, and per-unit pricing models.

Fee-for-Service

Fee-for-service gets you an hourly rate. You charge a specified amount of money for each hour or each day of services rendered. The upside of this model is you get paid for your time so if the project expands, you get paid more money. This is especially attractive in situations where there might be scope creep on your project.

The downside to this model is there’s pretty much a cap on what you can charge per hour. You get no benefit from being more efficient.

If you’re going to work on projects with a poorly-defined scope or if there’s no predictable amount of work you’ll be doing, consider using a fee-for-service model.

Project-Based

For project-based revenue models, there’s a one-time fee for the entire project. The upside of this model is if you’re more efficient, you’re more profitable. The downside is if the scope of that project creeps, your economics on that project could be terrible.

For example, if I have a very clear expectation that a project will take six weeks to complete and will require four days of effort per week, I can take my daily rate and multiply it by 24. I may even build in a 10% hedge to that rate. That would be the project-based cost I would charge the client. If I work efficiently and it only takes me five weeks instead of six, it’s a much more profitable project because I can now use that open sixth week for other client work. If, however, I didn’t estimate well and I let the scope of the project expand to seven weeks, I’m still only getting paid for the six weeks since it was a project-based quote.

Use a project-based pricing approach when you have a very clear sense of project scope and you don’t believe there’s much risk of scope creep.

Unit-Based

4 Major Job Interview Mistakes to Avoid

February 28, 2018/1 Comment/in Business Toolkit, Career, Communications /by Mike Figliuolo

Job interviews are high-stress environments. It’s easy to make mistakes in those situations. If you’re aware of these four major errors, it’s less likely that you’ll make them during the interview.

My daughter is about to graduate from graduate school with a master’s in customer insights/marketing. We’ve been having a lot of conversations about resumes, job search, and interviewing as she looks for a job (by the way, if you’re hiring someone in branding/marketing/customer insights, I know a candidate… email me…). I sent her the below article to share some thoughts on mistakes she should avoid during this process. I hope you’ll find these suggestions helpful too.

I know many of you who read this blog are also out there in the job market. If you’re lucky enough to land an interview during these tough economic times, don’t blow it with a moron moment.

I’ve interviewed (and been interviewed) hundreds of times. Some went fantastic. Others made me cringe. Remember, in times like these, an employer is looking for ANY reason, no matter how small, to knock a candidate out of the running. They can afford to be extremely choosy as they seek out the highest caliber talent.

Much like my prior posts on how not to be stupid and lazy, how to avoid one major interview landmine, and really understanding the role of your resume, this post will focus on helping you avoid classic mistakes I’ve actually seen first-hand during interviews.

Here goes: 4 job offer-killing interview mistakes…

Mistake 1: Your Watch

Not looking at your watch can kill your chances. Looking at it can kill them too.

If you’re late for an interview with me, you’ve got one shot to rescue your interview. That explanation better include traffic accidents, exploding cars, and emergency room trips. If you’re late just because “it took you longer than you thought to find the place” we’re done. Be fully cognizant of drive times. Factor in a huge buffer. Being late is being disrespectful. It makes me wonder what you’ll be like if you work for me.

Your watch can kill an interview too. If you look at it so much as once during an interview, we’re probably done. It’s not your job to keep the interview on time – it’s the interviewer’s. That one glance at a watch signals “I’ve gotta be somewhere else” and that you’re disinterested in the conversation. Thanks for playing. Bye bye. Interview over. Remember – being with that interviewer is the most important thing in your life at that moment (in theory). Signaling otherwise craters your chances of landing the job.

Mistake 2: Your Phone

Are you a procrastinator on big projects?

February 15, 2018/0 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Business Toolkit, Leadership, Poll /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: Are you a procrastinator on big projects?

– Absolutely not – I tackle projects as soon as I can: 24%
– Not really – I’ll procrastinate from time to time: 44%
– Kind of – I put off most things with a few exceptions: 24%
– Absolutely – I always wait until the last minute: 8%

Some procrastination, but not much. Most of you are pretty good at tackling work as it comes in or, at the very least, not leaving it until the last minute. If you’re one of the procrastinators, think about the stress you experience by putting things off. Realize while a little stress does increase performance, too much stress — especially if it’s chronic — can severely diminish performance and affect your health. Consider changing your habits by planning better, changing how you tackle work, breaking big projects into smaller deliverables, and finding someone to hold you accountable for completing your work sooner. You might be surprised by how much less stress you face by making these changes. Coming from a guy who’s had a couple of heart attacks, trust me on this. Change your habits before they change your life.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

How to Tell a Story with Data

February 14, 2018/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Data can be boring even if it’s critically important. If you learn how to tell a story with data, however, the results can be compelling, interesting, and impactful.

Today’s post is by Paul Smith, thoughtLEADERS principal and bestselling author of Lead With a Story and Sell With a Story.

Have you ever been hammered with data that you knew was important but you didn’t understand why the person sharing it was so passionate about it? Have you ever shared data and facts with colleagues in an attempt to influence them only to find they didn’t care about the message you were trying to convey?

There’s a better way to communicate than just throwing data at people.

Tell a story with the data.

Here’s a quick video that covers an example of how to tell a story with data. The example will help you understand the technique and you’ll be telling better, more compelling stories before you know it if you apply these methods. Enjoy!

If you’re interested in becoming a better storyteller yourself, check out our Influencing through Storytelling course and our Storytelling for Salespeople course where we can come into your organization and help you build this powerful, critical skill.

How would you characterize your approach to growing your business?

February 8, 2018/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Entrepreneur, Innovation, Leadership, Poll, Sales, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: How would you characterize your approach to growing your business?

– I lean toward “structured” and focus on pragmatic planning and execution: 56%
– I lean toward “creative” and always generate new, interesting ideas: 44%

Balancing creativity with structure. It’s a pretty even split between structure and creativity, with the edge falling more toward structure for how to grow your business. Clearly, both sides are important. When you can find the balance between the two, you have the opportunity to build something unique, special, and fundamentally sound. Err too much toward one or the other and you either miss out on new ideas or you let your business stagnate. If you personally fall on one end of the spectrum, consider surrounding yourself with others who skew the other way so you have a good balance between creativity and structure for your organization.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

How well do you define the question at hand before rushing off to solve the problem?

February 1, 2018/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Leadership, Poll, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: How well do you define the question at hand before rushing off to solve the problem?

– Very – I always have clarity on the “why” of the problem. 31.9%
– Mostly – Sometimes I’ll jump straight into problem solving. 61.3%
– Not very – I tend to race off and solve before understanding why. 5.9%
– Not at all – It’s quite often I skip the problem-definition step. 0.9%

Understand the “why” first. Most of you try to understand the “why” before rushing off into problem-solving, but doing so can be hard. It’s easy to succumb to the temptation to get the problem solved quickly. This usually means immediate brainstorming, analysis and solution-generation. I’d venture to guess that all of us have rushed off like this once or twice only to find we solved the wrong problem. Get clarity on the “why” before any solution generation begins. Slow your teams down. Understand what your stakeholder wants and why it’s important. The more effectively you do that, the more likely it is your final recommendation will be approved.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

Is the sum of your team’s goals more than your total goal?

January 18, 2018/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Leadership, Poll, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: When setting goals, is the sum of your team’s goals more than your total goal?

– All the time. It helps me hedge on hitting my goal: 39.6%
– Sometimes, but only for the most critical goals: 36.9%
– Rarely. I only do it in extreme cases: 9.4%
– Never. Their goals add up perfectly to my goal: 14.1%

Overallocation can be beneficial. The process of having subordinate goals add up to more than your group goal is called overallocation. Doing so can be beneficial. It stretches your team below you to deliver more while at the same time increasing the likelihood that you hit your team goals. But be careful: Too much overallocation of goals can frustrate your teams and make their goals unattainable. A few basic overallocation principles like using commit and stretch goals, ensuring goals are SMART, and explaining your approach to your team can go a long way toward making this a successful goal-setting strategy.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!