Swift Teams
We believe Swift-Teams exemplify the fusion of proven traditional change management and program management techniques enabled by emerging collaborative tools and methodologies, grounded in a “fail-fast-forward” philosophy. As an engine for driving process and behavioral change into the organization, Swift-Teams provide short-interval deliverables, typically within three to four weeks. Each team’s work is sequenced with […]
Change Management
Our approach to change is focused on delivering business outcomes and is steeped in practical experience of designing and managing hundreds of initiatives. While implementing change to achieve objectives with speed, predictability and control is complex, the elements summarized below are common to most strategic improvement efforts. Stakeholder & environmental analysis- Identifying and defining the […]
Risk Management
We can never eliminate all risk, as risk-taking is a foundational element of business. Risk management is a disciplined approach to think about, identify, quantify and act to minimize the impact of uncertainty within the critical dimensions necessary to achieve a targeted objective. Risk management process – Beginning with the objectives and working back to […]
Rapid Assessment Framework
Determining “What is most important?” is critical early in any effort. Working with imperfect and incomplete information is a basic tenant of business management. We have developed an objective “root cause” approach to assess enterprise performance against a prioritized short-list of 89 critical dimensions of enterprise health. The approach can be conducted in a very […]
Executive Alignment
Executive teams must provide both the vision for change and “active management” throughout execution. Each leader must constantly work through political and emotional barriers to arrive at a rational consensus, and speak to the organization with a single voice. We support senior leadership teams with decision frameworks, problem solving tools, individual coaching, and a flow […]
Responsibility Mapping
Clarity of responsibilities… …is at the heart of management, coaching, measurement, rewards, etc. Crisply defined and reinforced responsibilities increase focus, integration and performance. I cannot think of a more important layer to execution than making sure everyone knows who owns, who is supposed to do, who needs to review before an action, and those who […]
Process Management 101
For as long as I would like to remember… … I have been using a single slide to orient executive teams, project teams, stakeholders, etc. on What is a process? In simple terms all the work, tasks, activity, etc. we accomplish at work, at home, at school, on-line- anywhere- can be thought of as process. […]
Stakeholder Analysis- A Swiss Army Knife for Managers
Walk a mile in my shoes… …to quote Mr. Presley. And at the risk of mixing metaphors, looking at your work through others’ eyes is critical to the long-term success of all managers. Stakeholder analysis is a great tool to ensure a comprehensive review of those with a stake (e.g, why they care) in those things ranging from the the simple to the complex. Think […]
Form, Instructions and an Example
It often surprises me… … at the busiest point of putting together a survey, after spending person-days creating an elegant survey instrument, very few people seem to have given much thought to those receiving the request for some of their time. This concept seems to apply to all sorts of data collection, certain types of analysis, or anything which relies on others […]
Enterprise View: Collaboration & The Directed Community
In a recent discussion… … we were continuing our focus on eliminating the noise around collaborative technologies and tools. As we thought about how to best represent collaboration, one of my colleagues simplified the problem (paraphrasing slightly): “It’s not about the direction of the information flow, it’s about the number of contributors and the number […]