New utility makes long websites short
Just a quick note about a useful website.
Often when you want to send someone a web address through an email or you want to tell them over the phone a website like
http://www.samplewebsite.com/frtdfgg?=ref=45?&password=no?username=blank
is not very helpful.
You can paste that (or any) website in
and outcomes a short one
The example above becomes
http://gvlx.com//5
Good ‘eh
(But don’t forget you need to add the http://www. at the front…
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Freedom from Command & control - John Seddon
Freedom from command and control has been around now for a few years but as part of a project only recently, it crossed our desk and we read it.
John Seddon is a vocal critic of management fads, and has advised UK Government ministers. The book is blessed by Chief Executives and Directors from places like First Direct, Cranfield School of management and Westminster police.
Anyway the book is a tour around a number of areas of management starting with Toyota & Ford and moving to modern day phenomenon like call centres & local authority performance management.
He demolishes targets in just a few pages – sometimes he actually asks managers to explain why a business or service has targets. The conversation sometimes goes like this (apologies for quoting it almost verbatim but it did make us laugh out loud.)
Senior Manager “Here’s your target”
Team leader “But how should I go about achieving it?”
Senior Manager “That’s what you get paid for, deciding how to do things”
Team Leader “So is that the sign of a good manager, someone who hits targets?”
Senior Manager “Of course”
Team Leader “So, what if people achieve their individual or team targets by doing things that are not good for the organisation overall or actually stop someone else achieving theirs?”
Senior Manager “I expect people to be sensible & work in the best interests of the company”
Team Leader “But quite often people cover up deficiencies in procedures & safety to meet targets”
Senior Manager “Give me their names”
Team Leader “Oh, I am just talking hypothetically. Anyway, aren’t you better off with individual capability measures instead of targets. Who know’s what & what’s going on in the business and then you get a discussion about best practices and what is best for the customer and the business as a whole”
Senior “Eh? People can discuss all they want. Just so long as they achieve the targets I set”
However, his real fire and venom is saved for contact centres and call centres
Seddon argues a plain and simple fact about call centre and contact centres.
Contact centres can generate piles and piles of statistics on; numbers of calls, calls per agent, calls on hold. But completely fail to work out why people call
Understanding that leads us to the break and fix method.
Customer has demand—–business understand problem—–Determine how to resolve ——respond/resolve in efficient manner
OK, so far so good, but when he talks about failure demand then it starts to click in to place.
Failure demand is customer demand caused by a failure to do something right for the customer.
The something may be turn up ontime, call back, do something anticipated or expected by the customer.
Most organisations (even customer focused ones) are “swimming in failure demand”
Fixing that will make any target setting seem futile by comparison.
Is this book a very interesting read- Yes
Will quoting Seddon and his views make you unpopular and make you sound like a smarty pants - Yes
(He has no time for quality standards, UK initiatives like investors in people IIP & chartermark so if your organisation goes in for these, this book might may you sqirm a little)
In his summing up chapter he outlines that turning off the causes of failure demand is on of the strictest economic levers available to managers.
And we thing that is something worth working for and (maybe) even being unpopular for…
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How to write a reference
How to write a reference is a question many managers, experienced and novice constantly find themselves asking.
The problem is usually this
Someone who works for you requests a letter of reference for another job. They have been successful in an interview and their entire new career depends on what you say.
The trouble is that the person concerned isn’t a very productive member of staff and you really would prefer to see them working somewhere else (or not see them at all!)
But how to phrase a reference?
Most large employers have a standard form which will ask you trigger questions (often based on facts), such as “how many days have they had off sick in the last year?”
These are easy - the facts don’t lie (just make sure you don’t make any mistakes - 6 days sick in a year is acceptable but 66 (just a typo away) is not)
But if it is a small employer or they don’t provide a form - how do you write a reference then?
Well, the trick is to tell the truth - but weave in some “code” and hope the other person can “read” it
Examples
“Fred took time getting to grips with the machines we use here but once he did, he proved reliable and dependable” means “he is slow”
“Although Debbie had problems with co-workers, she provided valuable input to the team” means “she is awkward and tricky to deal with”
“Paul helped specify the standards for a lot of the procedures for the team” means “he moans and complains a lot”
Is there another way?
Obviously, you would rather not something in writing which you can’t defend or prefer for the individual concerned not to see. So why not phone the party requesting a reference? Quite often, you can still speak “in code” but you will get feedback from the other party and make sure they “get it”
Other tips
Keep a (confidential) copy of everything you send. Make sure it is locked away from prying eyes.
It’s probably best not to discuss the reference with anyone else. Even asking admin assistants for sickness stats can raise the “gossip-ometer” stakes
Related links
Recruitment & selection skills for managers course
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Symptoms of stress
In a few weeks, we start one of the most stressful times of the year.
But how can you recognise the symptoms of stress in a work colleague or a loved one?
We aren’t Doctor’s or medical people but here are some points that we have found to be consistent indicators of stress.
1. Coughs & colds.
OK, these are common enough at this time of year but in conjunction with one or more of the following.
2. Upset stomachs & sickness
This is a sign that the nervous system is working overtime.
3. Water works problems
Water infections, women can have menstrual problems & similar
4. Hyper emotional
Not sure if that’s a word, (but it is now). Breaking down and crying or shouting at a small or trivial matter.
Quite often, the shouting will come before the tears.
If you have completed our stress awareness course, you will know the common factor linking these 4 symptoms.
If you have not, the links are here.
http://www.sharp-end-training.co.uk/stress.html
http://www.learn-on-demand.co.uk/stress.html
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Barack Obama, black people & the words we use
Much has been written about the coincidence of Barack Obama & Lewis Hamilton achieving lifelong goals within the last week. Both are black men, both have done great things.
The day before Lewis Hamilton’s victory, something really odd struck us (and we weren’t intended to write a blog post about it - but we have.)
Watching coverage of the Rugby League World Cup currently taking place in Australia was very interesting. For most of the matches not featuring England, television highlights are piped to the UK with the Australian commentary still intact.
Now (apologies to commentators everywhere), but these guys really get into the game and it’s a bit like sitting next to a very enthusiastic friend.
In the recent New Zealand-Papua New Guinea game, one of the commentators said something (half screamed would be fair comment) which most people in the UK would find certainly odd, possibly objectionable.
(If you don’t follow rugby league, the New Zealand national team usually consists solely of players from maori and other non white origin)
“He looks up and sees plenty of blacks to chose from”
In the UK, this would be jumped on as overtly racist (even though he was refering to shirt colour not skin). We think that these men were playing for their country in the world cup in probably the most violent sports in the world and the commentators saw it as such.
Bottom line - racism stinks - And we shouldn’t be worried about what we say and risk being called a racist.
Pick the best person for the job. It doesn’t matter if it is the Rugby League World Cup, Formula 1, President of the US or packing widgets at your factory.
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Change Management
Change Management - The banana principle
Change is constant. – we are constantly amazed when we work with companies and businesses about their resistance to change.
People who enjoy watching TV stars like Madonna, Prince & the UK model Katie Price constantly change and refine their image and move forward always seem so reluctant to move forwards and change anything in their working patterns.
We use a passage taken from “The Complete Negotiater” by Gerard Neirenberg who explains change as follows:
Take a banana and put it in your pocket or bag for a few weeks and carry on with your normal activities.
What happens to the banana?
It changes without you doing anything
The point- change happens – regardless of what people like or want.
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Summary of The Data Protection Act
Another batch of Data goes missing and managers everywhere are scrambling around the internet to make sure that they are not next in the firing line.
To make it easy, we have added a simple summary of the Data Protection Act below
The Data Protection Act is based on eight legally enforceable principles that organisations and individuals must apply when processing personal data.
What is personal data?
Personal data is anything that an organisation holds about you. For example, Your name, address, financial
information, purchase history, credit rating, etc
Breaking the Data Protection Act is a criminal offence and carries a maximum £5000 fine.
The Data Protection Act 1998 was introduced to comply with the European Directive 1995 and replaced the Data Protection Act 1984.
It doesn’t matter if the information is paper based or electronic.
The Data Protection Act is enforced by the Information Commissioner, an independent supervisory authority reporting directly to Parliament.
Anyone who suffers damage due to a of fault of a data controller who has breached the Act is entitled to compensation from the data controller.
The easiest way of meeting the requirements of the Act is to be as open and honest as possible with the data
subject (your customers) regarding how the data you collect will be used, and who will have access to this data.
And then by having secure & robust procedures for carrying, storing & using this data.
Related links
Data Protection Act Online Training
Pay as you go Data Protection Training
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