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If your e-learning will have a global reach, you need to think long and hard about: Language Time zones Cultural differences (learning styles, humor) Tell Me More If your company is a global business, then you already know that communication […]

Teaching an e-learning course is, in fact, harder than teaching a classroom course. Instructors who have honed their skills toward the classroom experience will need to learn new “how to teach in an e-learning environment” skills. Tell Me More Teaching […]

As a manager, you have two choices. You can hire someone and let the individual make a place for himself or herself. Or you can involve the team in the decision and thereby shorten the timeframe between the new hire […]

If you really want your employees to take responsibility for decisions they make, you have to teach them how to think critically. Further, you have to convince them that you want them to do so. The first is simpler than […]

Most firms have ‘performance management’ or ‘appraisal’ systems. They often have a bad name. People complain that they feel like end-of-term school reports. Frustration is caused by endless form filling. They are often backward looking with little emphasis on career […]

Although there are one or two useful measures, such as staff turnover and retention rates, for the firm as a whole, they have little meaning if applied to relatively small teams. However, it is a good idea for you and […]

Sometimes an organization isn’t ready to address a deficiency or try a better way of doing things. Other needs seem more pressing. This can be frustrating to a follower who feels strongly about an issue. Throwing up our hands and […]

Processes are the chains of activity through which an organization fulfills its needs and the needs of the individuals and groups with which it interacts. Core processes are what permit the organization to achieve its purpose, and other processes support […]

Yes. Discipline Without Punishment solves performance problems promptly and permanently by placing the responsibility for change exactly where it belongs—with the individual. The core concept of giving an individual whose performance is not acceptable a day at the company’s expense […]

There are several reasons that it makes sense to pay the employee for the day he is away from work on decision-making leave. As a practice, the paid suspension: Changes the supervisor’s role from adversary to coach. Demonstrates the company’s […]

The change process has two intermediate, somewhat "invisible" phases and three formal change stages. The process starts with the preliminary phase of understanding the need for change. This is illustrated in Change Stages And Project Processes. After that, the change […]

By a strategic event we normally mean an impact in time and scope change in corporation life that influences the whole corporation or a significant part of it. Very often a strategic event is called a strategic change. The examples […]

Creatively challenging another is a delicate act that must itself be uncorrupted. In relationships we are prone to find fault with the other before examining ourselves, and the leader-follower relationship is no exception. Both the leader and follower who blame […]

One of the most vexing and common problems for followers is finding themselves working for someone who should, but will not, challenge his or her own leader. If a leader two or more levels up from a follower is exerting […]

Not every change you lead or support succeeds. There always comes a time when you have to fish or cut bait. If the change effort not only isn’t working but the results anticipated are unlikely to occur, then it is […]

Continuous change can lead to severe employee burnout. Some symptoms of burnout are that change loses its importance, and employees grow tired of going from one new program to another. It seems to them as if it is more important […]

Your job demands questions to accomplish the following: Questions for inquiry or fact-finding: getting the facts to solve problems or make decisions. Questions for confirmation: confirm facts previously gathered or conclusions made. Rhetorical questions: evoke introspection and contemplation. Each purpose […]

If clarity of communication is a problem, then the secret to improving your communication may be to spend more time planning what you will say before putting words to paper. Before beginning to write, if you don’t do so already, […]

As we’ve talked for some time about various communication schemes, ways for improving communications, communication barriers, and personality types, we can summarize the major aspects of what a good project manager has to know in order to be efficient communicating […]

The knowledge of the personality types of the members of a group of people who are communicating plays an important role in providing efficient communications. Determining personality type is a widely used technique, and there are a number of classifications […]

Since shouting matches take two, you need to be alert to the hot buttons that can anger you—that can make you a party to a shouting match. What situations or individuals trigger feelings of vulnerability or helplessness, or the desire […]

No. Sometimes, controlled anger can make clear how important an issue is. I know a manager who doesn’t get angry at any of his employees when they make a mistake. Rather, she focuses on the situation itself, shouting about the […]

Depreciation is important to project managers because it has an effect on the overall justification of a project, equipment, and other capital assets that are used on projects and the profitability of projects to the company. Depreciation can make a […]

There are several measures that are useful in measuring the health of a company. These measures are also useful in measuring the health of a project. The trend in project management is to have the project manager take on more […]

This is a dangerous question to ask and if you haven’t established a reputation as a careful listener, a credible confidant, and a thoughtful leader, don’t ask it. If you do ask it without these credentials, you will be perceived […]

This is a great question for people who find it hard to listen. Your assignment when you ask this question is to watch even more than you listen. Watch people’s faces light up, their bodies relax, and their voices resonate […]

This one’s pretty short and sweet. Just because you’re a leader and someone has asked you a question doesn’t mean you always have to answer it. It is perfectly okay to establish some boundaries, usually around your personal life, that […]

You know the truth; they know the truth. It’s just that no one wants to hear it. Flash back to your college days and hear the groan that followed the professor’s "quiz tomorrow" announcement. Remember your reaction when your child’s […]

E-learning standards are important because they will enable different parts from different vendors to work together. E-learning standards are still emerging. Tell Me More Standards are important so that things you buy from different vendors or at different times can […]

You have to update your e-learning system so it stays fresh. You have to keep courseware up-to-date, keep student access authorizations up-to-date, and periodically upgrade system hardware and software. Tell Me More Your job isn’t over once the e-learning system […]

The responses run the gamut from tears to shouts to threats of violence. If you have reason to believe that an employee might become emotional or even violent, you may want to arrange to have a mental health professional—perhaps a […]

A termination meeting should last no more than ten to fifteen minutes and have the sole purpose of conveying the decision to terminate the employee. For the meeting, you should: Prepare what you will say ahead of time. Give an […]

In truth, termination for cost-cutting reasons should have nothing to do with job performance, although many managers use it as an excuse to rid themselves of poor performers—particularly when they haven’t the level of documentation to terminate the worker due […]

Those who remain will notice the empty cubicle—don’t think you can get away with saying nothing. Rather than getting them to forget the event more quickly, failure to explain will fuel gossip at the printer or increase fear that another […]

By the time this question is asked, the immediate crisis has probably faded. This question becomes the basis for dialogue about the future. As a leader, you want to avoid the position of just being a dispenser of wisdom most […]

Questions during a crisis are less about facts and more about emotions. This question comes straight from the gut, not the head. Most leaders I’ve watched acted as if it were just the opposite. When they ignore the emotions and […]

Up to this point, we’ve explored questions leaders need to ask and answer. We haven’t looked at any questions leaders should not answer. Now is the time, and these three questions are perfect examples of questions leaders shouldn’t answer by […]

My guess is that you won’t be able to answer this question, but you ought to be very glad someone asked it. Leaders help establish, shape, and nurture organizational values. A leader who goes home at night knowing their team […]

You are the HR manager for Consolidated Call Centers, Inc., and your company outsources call centers for other businesses around the world. You have 5,000 call-center employees in seventy-five different locations. You need to train the call-center employees on a […]

You are the head of research for ChemCALResearch Associates, a chemical research firm with about 1,500 chemists and chemical engineers at five research locations in three time zones. Your training goal is to communicate leading-edge research among all your chemists. […]

Do you have the network bandwidth to run the e- learning courses you want? Are your employees equipped with computers that let you run the e-learning courses you want? Will your e-learning system scale up to handle a large number […]

Firewalls are filters that keep unauthorized users and data out of your company’s intranet . But if students are inside your company’s intranet, and are trying to take e-learning courses that are coming across the firewall from an outside Web […]

James Sharpe is Director of E-Learning Technology in IBM’s Learning Services group. He is currently responsible for leading IBM’s Worldwide E-Learning Technology Strategies and Worldwide E-Learning Technologies Competencies. Mr. Sharpe joined IBM in January 1991 as a services consultant. Question: […]

Andrew Sadler is Director, IBM Mindspan Solutions, and is responsible for IBM’s e-learning business. His stated vision and passion is “To change the way that the world learns.” He has worked in the learning field for twenty-four years, and in […]

Percent spent is another simple calculation. It is the amount of the budget that has been spent. It is calculated by dividing the actual cost of work performed by the budget at completion. %spent = ACWP / BAC

Percent complete is a simple calculation. It is simply the amount of work that has been completed divided by the budget at completion. %complete = BCWP / BAC Notice that the percent complete can never be greater than 100. This […]

Question What is the best way to deal with “informal leaders” in a work group who are continuously negative, especially regarding “upper management”? These are the same people who will write letters and send petitions to the top leaders in […]

Question I have an employee who is always talking about her peers negatively and the staff is exhausted by it. They are afraid to confront her, fearing that she will become even more difficult to work with. What is the […]

If trainees are to stay well motivated and enthusiastic about working for your firm they need to develop their skills and knowledge quickly and effectively. There are two processes that are central to this need. The first is the way […]

Here are a few tips for integrating new people: Make sure that new people receive the firm’s formal induction programme as soon as possible. If for any reason they have to wait for a while before the next one is […]

Regular and frank communications between colleagues allow everyone to be better informed about results, proposed changes, day-to-day problems and so on. They also help to develop trust and build better relationships. Here are some suggestions: Help your team members to […]

Listening well goes to the heart of the professional–client relationship. Most professionals, if asked, say that they are pretty good listeners, as otherwise they would not be able to do their jobs. That is generally true. However, as with most […]

Human resource specialists who know their stuff attempt to validate selection methods against the performance of the people selected so that the process can be modified and improved as time goes on. Some firms keep records of who interviews applicants. […]

It is helpful for you keep in mind that just as you wish to get the facts about the candidates they want to know the truth about your firm and the team in which they are going to work. If […]

In many professional service teams it is not only the team leaders who coach. Other senior colleagues frequently supervise the work of trainees and less experienced people. Some coaches, or supervisors as they are called in some professions, do an […]

The motivational benefits of positive feedback were explored in Creating the Conditions for Outstanding Performance . Acknowledging and recognizing good performance is a strong reinforcement of behaviour and encourages people to continue to strive for first-class results. There are also […]

Question I am the director of volunteer and pastoral services at our hospital. I automatically applied everything you said to both my departments. I feel that the Nine Principles are just as applicable to volunteers as they are to employees […]

Question Our patient satisfaction scores are at an all-time high: the 85th percentile. Our challenge, however, is turnover at the nursing director and manager level. Have you seen any good interim solutions (i.e., outside help) to temporarily fill positions in […]

Question I am a member of a surgical group and would very much like to take some of these principles into my office. Has anyone attempted this? If so, I’d like a little guidance. Answer Yes, we have seen physicians […]

Question If we are supposed to buy into the idea that we can all make a difference, and that we are all in it together, then why do we have a separate team for doctors? Answer Yes, there is a […]

Question We would like to print cards with our logo and some phrase/mission/value statement to be used for patient service recovery. One program we are looking at is writing a personal note to the patient when we have failed to […]

Question We are confused. We have very good scores on cleanliness in our inpatient areas, but have been unable to move the needle in our outpatient areas. What can we do? Answer First, review the scores in all outpatient areas […]

Question Besides Hardwiring Excellence, what current written resources would you recommend as essential for managers? Answer I recently updated my recommended reading list. Titles that pass the test of time include Jim Collins’s Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make […]

Question What “level” of leader do you suggest participate in Leadership Development Institutes (LDIs)? Frontline supervisors? Or managers who are somewhat more removed? This question is largely driven by this next one: how many people are too many for these […]

As mentioned before, the normal project-oriented environment is often extremely complicated from the viewpoint of the organizational structure. In order to decrease the degree of confusion and argument, the project managers have to undertake every effort possible in order to […]

The content of the staff acquisition process in projects is different from the general staff recruiting procedures for the organization. In The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, it is considered to be one of the facilitating processes […]

We saw in Objectives, Values, Strategy and Change that team leaders throughout the firm have a part to play in bringing about the desired culture. It is not only a matter for those in senior positions. The values of the […]

When you wish to influence your colleagues, especially those in senior positions, to accept your ideas, or those of your team, for changes to policies, processes or working practices, you are more likely to succeed if you think about tackling […]

Leaders of professional service teams are very busy people. Juggling the pressures of the leadership function with the professional work, client relations and marketing and selling activities is far from easy. If you find it difficult to manage your time […]

Here are some simple tips for overcoming a reluctance to delegate: You may have a desire for perfection and feel that you are the only person who can do the work. If so, start by delegating parts of the tasks […]

While examining the leader-follower relationship it is important to bear in mind that the dynamics are much more complex than those between two individuals. There are usually at least several followers who are close to the leader, and the interaction […]

In different situations, at different times, we are all followers or leaders. The best way to learn to lead is to work closely with a capable leader. But whether or not the leader is a positive role model, to the […]

Everybody who works in Gillian Beresford’s team agrees that she is a fine leader. ‘She is not perfect but then nobody is,’ says one colleague, ‘but she is always willing to learn.’ Her team members talk in glowing terms about […]

For many people a lot of the interpersonal and intrapersonal skills come naturally. Good leaders build on their strengths. However, there are usually some forms of behaviour that need to be changed and others that may need to be engaged […]

Sometimes you will be told who the members of your project team are going to be. That is generally unfortunate. It is much better if you can get your project sponsor to agree to you identifying and then inviting people […]

You may find yourself managing a project and then discover, much to your surprise, that there is opposition to it in some parts of the firm. You are surprised because, after all, your sponsor is a senior figure, the project […]

Generally, in smaller firms, office romances are tolerated. It is due to the more casual environment of such firms. But larger companies covertly (or very overtly) discourage romance between employees—in particular, those between managers and their staff. If your company […]

In the United States, the handshake is the meeting/greeting ritual. And many managers place a lot of emphasis on it. We allow impressions based on the handshake and the rituals that surround it to determine future business relationship. Don’t extend […]

Human beings give meaning to their lives through constellations of commitments. The commitments they make span the range from personal development, to family, to groups and organizations, to vocations and avocations, to local or global causes, to perceived spiritual truths. […]

A defining moment for leadership occurs when it is confronted with a moral stand by a follower. What leadership does next may affect the fate of the organization and its leaders for years to come. If followers feel the need […]

The simplest way is to send a representative in your place. Ask in advance. Tell the meeting chair that you would like to attend but have some work that must be done immediately. In your place, you would like to […]

It may seem simple but the most effective way is to end meetings with a summary of agreed-upon actions, including who is to do what and when. This information should also be recorded in the minutes of the meeting. Since […]

At the same time that you share your year-end written appraisal of an employee, lay the groundwork for the next year’s performance by working out an employee-development plan. Too often managers talk only about the financial consequences of the employee’s […]

If an employee disagrees with your assessment—even refuses to sign the appraisal form—don’t become upset. Explain that the signature does not represent agreement with the evaluation. It only signifies that the employee has seen the appraisal, discussed it, and been […]

Offsite workers have to feel as if you care as much for them as for those on site. Toward that, you need to interact in person whenever you can. Without personal contact, misunderstandings are more frequent. If you can’t meet […]

When staff members bring you a problem, don’t solve it. Instead, ask what they think should be done. Don’t accept "I don’t know." If time allows, ask them to think about it and come back with suggested solutions. Hold staff […]

New approaches only become embedded in the culture when it is clear that they work and are superior to old methods. Use lots of talk to hype up the validity of the new practices and promote and reward those who […]

It is helpful to use the credibility afforded by early gains in the change process to tackle additional and bigger projects. It is important to re-emphasize shared purpose and to keep up the spirit of urgency. It is a good […]

Question For approximately six months we have been posting the names of managers who are late in submitting evaluations. We have experienced fair success with this tactic. When you implemented it, did you find that you experienced peaks and valleys […]

Question I’ve read your articles on evaluations, but I’m curious about whether you personally endorse raises that are tied to those evaluations. Or do you believe that pay and evaluations are two separate entities? Answer This is an area that […]

Various pieces of research, including those by Frederick Herzberg (2003) and Harry Levinson (2003), have shown clearly the importance of distinguishing between extrinsic incentives like pay and conditions and the intrinsic ones that lie deep within human nature. Ask people […]

Most professionals enjoy their technical work. After all, they chose the career in the first place primarily because they were attracted to the work involved and felt that it suited their abilities and personalities. Of course most people get bored […]

When transformation occurs it should be acknowledged. We all believe we are good people. When that belief has been challenged and we have walked the difficult road of attempting to match reality with our beliefs, we deserve to hear about […]

In transformation, as in virtually every human activity, persistence is often the difference between success and failure. If we do not persist, we “give up,” and those who give up are no longer assuming responsibility for the situation. To a […]

I have a concern about one of my people’s performance, but I haven’t previously discussed it with him. Is it okay to bring it up for the first time on the performance appraisal? The traditional rule is well known and […]

One of my subordinates does a very good job . . . not breathtakingly outstanding, but solid and strong and better than average. Should I rate her in our middle category of fully successful or push her evaluation over the […]

Won’t people complain when I deliberately treat some people better than others? Won’t I be accused of favoritism? Yes, they will complain. Yes, you will be accused of favoritism. That’s okay. Consider where the complaints are coming from—the poorer performers. […]

Yes, it is discriminatory. If some people do better work than others do, then they should get more recognition. The better, more productive employees will get more freedom to act and more Post-its saying ‘‘Thanks’’ stuck to their computer monitors. […]

The "halo effect" is a tendency in performance appraisals to assess an employee as outstanding because of one very impressive trait or accomplishment on the assumption that her other accomplishments were equally impressive. For instance, you were so impressed with […]

While documentation can protect you in a legal issue, supporting your assessment when questioned in court, it also ensures you conduct accurate and effective appraisal discussions with your employees. Consequently, you want to be sure you document helpful information. Which […]

Performance planning is completed when the manager and the individual have come to an understanding (ideally, an agreement) on the individual’s key job responsibilities, the goals that the person will achieve over the next year, the competencies that the organization […]

What do I do if the individual disagrees with the goals I want set, or says that my standards are unreasonable, or that one of the key job responsibilities I’ve identified is not really part of the job? You’re the […]

It’s unusual for someone to refuse to sign the form and refuse to put any comments in the section earmarked for them. Start by asking why, and explain the purpose for the signature: ‘‘I’m surprised, George, that you are refusing […]

Here are the steps to wrap up a performance appraisal discussion effectively: Briefly summarize the entire conversation (review your core message). Discuss two or three areas of strength to be continued and enhanced. Review the most important area for immediate […]

Many successful team leaders find it helpful to vary their styles by reference to the situation that they find themselves in. Hersey and Blanchard (1993) have developed a useful framework. The idea is for leaders to vary the amount of […]

If you know your own preferences then you will understand yourself better and that is likely to enhance your relationships with others. Also, if you know your own preferences you will be more aware of your own biases and that […]

A cost improvement curve is based loosely on the idea of a learning curve. In some contracts, generally large ones, the client may require the vendor to reduce the price of items supplied later in the project to less than […]

The law of diminishing returns says that each time we do something to receive a benefit, the benefit will be less and less. The best way to think of this is by a simple example. If we are with a […]

A stakeholder is anyone who has something to gain or lose as a result of this project. It includes all the people who have something to gain or lose by either the doing of the project or the results delivered […]

A project has three baselines that will be used for performance and progress measurement. They are the scope baseline, the time or schedule baseline, and the cost baseline. The scope baseline is the sum of the deliverables of the project. […]

The so-called Seven Tools for Quality Management form a basis for overall TQM methodology. In general, all the tools are based on two major approaches: statistics and team involvement. We can formulate their major goal as a set of instruments […]

As in most of the decision-making processes in project management, when we consider the opportunity to improve our management functions we normally look first at what is called the cost-benefit analysis. In other words, when we are thinking about quality […]

Now reread the answer to the last question. Probably the team you assembled in response to that question will continue to deal with the results of asking this question. There’s one more thing to focus on. In a time of […]

Crisis creates fear, and the only way I know to quell fear is with information. Your job as a leader during a crisis is to be visible, approachable, accessible (see the comments on the previous question), and the fount of […]

You don’t ask this question so you can hear the answer, you ask it so your mentee can hear their answer. This is a question designed to help people understand that they should dream about their future. Isn’t it sad […]

Business, any business, is about people. I will defend that statement at any time, in any place, under any circumstance. Leaders know more people, usually because they’ve been around longer and had more opportunities to meet and converse with more […]

If you don’t ask this question shortly after you meet a new employee, if you don’t keep silent long enough for them to respond, and if you don’t answer truthfully any questions that they do ask, you’ve lost any chance […]

This question is probably the most blatantly selfish question in the entire book. Finding good questions becomes an obsession for leaders who learn the value and power of asking questions. What better way to find questions than to ask for […]

Please consider this question carefully. Asking it means that you take leadership seriously, and it would be dishonest to ask if you neither have the resources nor the intentions to provide the support you’re asking about. But, even if you […]

Why would you ask this question? Why do you ask any question? Questions are asked in order to learn. This question goes to the heart of the philosophy that believes that people aren’t born to be great leaders; they’re great […]

This is the BIG question, and only you can answer it. But answer it you must. Leaders owe it to themselves as well as the people they lead to go deeper into their own motivations, their hopes, and their dreams. […]

I was doing a team-building session for a group of system-types in a large organization. We had claimed our space in the corporate conference center and made it ours for the two days of our session. By the afternoon of […]

This may be hard for male readers to understand, but when a woman moves, finding a skilled hairdresser is a critical, top-of-theto-do-list task. When I moved to northern Wisconsin, I asked for recommendations, made appointments with several of those people, […]

This question is designed to take the conversation to the level of specific action. This is the What would make us better? question, with teeth. You’re asking your customer to express the thoughts and ideas they had while waiting on […]

The nature of my work requires that I spend a great deal of time away from home. Time alone in hotel rooms provides fertile ground for unusual questions to surface. One evening I got to wondering how a hotel concierge […]

The best time to ask this question is when you’re talking to a customer. The next best time to ask this question is when you’re talking to someone on your team who regularly interacts with your customers. This is a […]

As with any new endeavor, starting is the hardest part. Reasons to postpone action exist in abundance. "I’ll start after I finish reading the book." "Mondays are better for beginnings than Thursdays." Even traumatic events that would appear to cry […]

Fear is a powerful emotion. It can paralyze you in times of crisis, cause you to cower in the face of an adversary, or lash out in an inappropriate direction. Fear will keep you silent when you should speak. Fear […]

Ask questions about areas of past jobs that were likely to have caused problems. Find out how the individual handled them. For example: What aspects of your previous jobs gave you the most trouble? What are some of the disappointments […]

Concerns about hiring a person with a disability often centers around the person’s ability to perform job duties and meet attendance demands. While discussing this issue with someone disabled may seem awkward, it can be made a manageable situation if […]

However effective you are as a team leader there is no way of avoiding periodic crises such as the loss of a major client, a significant business downturn, the loss of a highly competent colleague to a competitive firm or […]

Some conflict between team members is healthy and should be welcomed. If people debate matters of substance with each other and examine different points of view in a robust fashion then the team will benefit. Better solutions are likely to […]

Risk management is, in reality, not a special, separate process that is being carried out somewhere else in a company. In a normal project, risk management is so much interrelated with all the other project management processes that some of […]

The process of monitoring and controlling and keeping track of the identified and the unidentified risks is risk control. In this process we hope to identify risks that are no longer possible and risks that are coming due, as well […]

Any project that has ever been done has probably had scope changes. It is only reasonable that as a project develops, learning takes place and the environment of the project changes. These changes can result in scope changes on the […]

From the systems engineering and systems management way of thinking, we can say that each task in the WBS is a process that converts inputs to outputs. In the WBS we have identified the tasks that must be completed in […]

In the final analysis, a follower’s potential for influencing a leader will depend on the quality of relationship that has been developed between them. There is a certain paradox in building such relationships. On the one hand, taking care to […]

If leaders stumble, courageous followers help to pick them up and repair them. But we support a leader better when we practice preventive medicine. It is wise to get a physical checkup periodically even though we feel healthy. We look […]

Despite the moral demand to leave, a follower may choose to stay—the price of leaving may simply be too high. Courage is not absolute. We cannot judge another for making this choice unless we ourselves have faced it. If we […]

Any behavior falls somewhere along a spectrum of intensity for that type of activity. The study of statistics tells us that the distribution of intensities within a group always forms a familiar bell-shaped curve. Most people display similar intensity and […]

Getting away from the office—the two- or three-day management retreat for teambuilding—is becoming increasingly popular because: Team retreats enable the team to get away from the pressures of daily operations to focus fully on its concerns as a group in […]

The group’s mission plays a major factor in team selection. Will it solely provide feedback to others? Will it have a specific project to complete? Will you need a small project team of experts or will you require a larger […]

Teams are apart for much more time than they are together. Most professionals spend large amounts of their time writing, reading, calculating, designing, researching and in meetings with clients. Much of the time is spent on technical or professional matters […]

Typically professional service teams contain a huge amount and variety of talent and experience. Often it is utilized in a rather piecemeal fashion. In the good teams, time is put aside on a regular basis so that best practice can […]

Yes, performance appraisal is really necessary. And, no, there is no better way to obtain the benefits. There are several books that argue in favor of abolishing performance appraisals altogether. But the procedures they recommend are merely workarounds; the steps […]

No appraisal system is immune to legal challenge. Nonetheless, the risk of legal difficulties can be minimized if seven basic good management practices are followed. 1. Base the performance appraisal on an analysis of the job. 2. Define your performance […]

Most people do a good job—not outstanding, not unacceptable—and therefore get rated in the middle category. But they all hate getting rated there. They see it as being labeled as a ‘‘C’’ student. How do we explain that getting the […]

Some computer-based performance appraisal systems offer an electronic form with different traits listed: quality of work, quantity of work, attitude, or dependability. The manager clicks on a one to five scale and then the machine generates the text for the […]

We are considering either turning our existing performance appraisal form into an Internet-based application or purchasing a web-based performance appraisal system. Is either a good idea? Yes. There are several significant advantages that a sophisticated, Internet-based performance appraisal system has […]

First, a definition. Forced ranking is a recently developed management procedure that requires managers to assign employees into predetermined groups according to their performance, potential, and promot-ability. General Electric, the company best known for the procedure, sorts employees into three […]

In recent years Eliyahu M. Goldratt has developed several interesting ideas about project management. One of the more controversial ideas is his theory of critical chains. This is a method of adjusting schedules to reduce the probability of projects being […]

The Monte Carlo process is a simulation technique that is used to statistically predict the duration of a project when there is uncertainty about the duration of the activities of the project. Simulation techniques are used because the number of […]

This style blends the characteristics of the other two styles. A group of students meet with an instructor over the Internet and can communicate. But they are not necessarily online at the same time. Students act alone to study the […]

“Self-directed learning” asks a student to act alone while working through a step-by-step arrangement of student materials. This is the “teach yourself” type of training. There is no instructor or group of peer students to communicate with. Tell Me More […]

The building blocks for e-learning do not fit together in just one way. You can use some or all of the building blocks for a specific e-learning solution. Tell Me More You can fit these building blocks together in almost […]

Although it’s not part of the learning experience, tracking and reporting are important so you know who has taken what training courses. Tell Me More Although it’s not very important while a student is in the midst of taking a […]

Costs for an e-learning solution provider will vary depending on the complexity of your problem and the quality you demand in the final solution. It also depends on when you’re reading this book since costs of almost everything dealing with […]

There are several e-learning elements that you can decide to make or buy: Courseware Instructors Learning management system (LMS) Hosting Tell Me More As in many other areas of your business, one of the big decisions you make about e-learning […]

Depending on what you need to measure, you can get very different e-learning solutions. Tell Me More As a businessperson, you’re interested in e-learning because it can have a positive effect on your business. So you’re going to want to […]

Depending on whether you think you need collaboration, you can get very different e-learning solutions. Tell Me More In general, it’s good to have the ability for students to interact with other students while they take the course. This is […]

Your best bet is to finish reading the rest of this Adeak articles. Or, you can look on the Internet. There are hundreds of place to look, but you can start by looking at only a handful of Web sites. […]

E-learning fits into a long tradition of learning at a distance. Tell Me More Learning at a distance is not new. That’s what correspondence courses do. That’s what “how to” books do. That’s what public television programs at 5:30 A.M. […]

Find a comfortable place for the meeting. If you like, take the employee out to lunch, even breakfast. Discuss the employee’s new plans, and let the person know that you are happy for him or her. Now is the time […]

Turnover is the total number of separations of employees from your department during a given time period. This question raises a more basic question: "What makes most employees leave their jobs? Many managers will tell you that the reason is […]

The capability and flexibility of the systems that surround the e-learning courses will continue to improve, making e-learning even easier to manage. More and more e-learning systems will be interconnected, which should improve the accessibility and availability of e-learning courses. […]

The e-learning technology will become richer and richer over time so that students will get closer and closer to the richness of a face-to-face learning experience. And e-learning courses will probably get cheaper to make and cheaper to deliver. But […]

Question We would like to provide a one-page dashboard with a weekly summary of pertinent information for hospital executives, directors, and managers—possibly using a pop-up screen on their PCs. What metrics would you suggest we include? What other ideas do […]

Question We have recently developed communication boards throughout the hospital using the Five Pillars—People, Service, Quality, Finance, and Growth—which is wonderful. However, we are struggling with posting percentile rankings that are less than desirable (i.e., 30s and 40s). Our concern […]