Achieving Business Excellence JohnSpence.com Page 1 ACHIEVING BUSINESS EXCELLENCE Understanding the Pattern of Business Success
Achieving Business Excellence
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ACHIEVING BUSINESS EXCELLENCE
Understanding the Pattern of Business Success
Achieving Business Excellence
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The 4 Ps of expertise
P
P
P
P
The Formula for Business Success: (T+C+ECF) x DE = Success
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THE 4 I’S
Ignorance
Inflexibility
Indifference
Inconsistency
How to avoid the 4 I’s (1 = terrible 5 = average 10= world class)
Aggressive external market focus _______
Ridiculously high level of customer focus _______
Keep the "Main Things" the main things _______
Bullish on knowledge sharing and learning _______
Teamwork is mandatory – not optional _______
Passion and commitment at all levels _______
Foster a healthy paranoia _______
Revel in change _______
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ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS AUDIT
Answer the following questions as honestly as possible using this 1-10 point scale:
1 = Strongly Disagree 3 = Disagree Somewhat 5 = Not Sure
7 = Agree Somewhat 10 = Strongly Agree
1. We have a clear and detailed vision for the direction of our company that is very well
communicated throughout the entire organization:
2. Every employee has clear/quantifiable/observable performance objectives:
3. There is a high level of very open and honest communication throughout the organization:
4. I have a high level of trust in the skills, abilities, and integrity of my co-workers:
5. There is a high sense of urgency within the organization to get things done:
6. We have only the best, highly competent people in all areas of the organization:
7. We focus very intently on the needs of our customers:
8. There are no politics, rumor-mongering or finger-pointing within our organization:
9. Our key leaders operate as a highly-effective team:
10. There is a high level of both personal and mutual accountability within the organization:
11. People display a positive, enthusiastic attitude throughout the organization:
12. We are superb at collecting and using feedback from our customers:
13. Our organization displays great discipline in pursuing our focused business objectives:
14. I am very pleased with where our organization is in the marketplace today:
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Orange Revolution: 4 + 1
Clear, specific, measurable and binary goals (no ambiguity) _______
High levels of trust across the entire organization _______
Free flow of all pertinent information across the entire organization (transparency) _______
High levels of both personal and mutual accountability _______
A focus on catching people doing things right and rewarding them _______
Wow No Surprises Cheer
Elements of high-performance team
_____D
_______ M
_______ C
_______ C
_______ M
_______ D
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Key team competencies
1. Setting clear, specific and measurable goals
2. Making assignments extremely clear and ensuring required competence
3. Establishing 100% accountability for high performance across the entire team
4. Running effective team meetings
5. Building very strong levels of trust
6. Establishing open, honest, frank and safe communication
7. Managing conflict effectively
8. Creating mutual respect and collaboration
9. Encouraging prudent risk-taking, creativity and innovation
10. Engaging in ongoing team building activities _______
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Elements of a winning culture
1. People enjoy the work they do and the people they work with
2. People take pride in the work they do and the company they work for
3. There are high levels of engagement, connection, camaraderie and a
community of caring
4. There is a culture of fairness, respect, trust, inclusiveness and teamwork
5. The leaders walk the talk, live the values and communicate a clear vision and
strategy for growth
6. Lots of open, honest, robust and transparent communication across the
entire organization
7. The company invests back in employees; there is a commitment to learning,
coaching and development
8. There is a bias for action, employees have an ownership mentality and
always strive to give their personal best
9. There is high accountability and a strong focus on delivering the desired results
10. There is ample recognition and rewards and mediocrity is not tolerated
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Keys to effective management
Communicate Clearly —internally and externally, honesty, transparency, and candor
Force the Hard Decisions — core values drive fast, effective decision making
Focus Relentlessly on Key Results — outcomes not effort, clear metrics, binary
Remain Flexible to Change — be agile, adaptable and nimble, embrace change
Prove Your Value to the Customer — every day, in every interaction
Force Collaboration — teamwork is mandatory, not optional, no Prima Donnas!
Rigorous but Not Ruthless — set high standards and hold people 100% accountable
Based on: “Tough Management” by Martin
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Web of value = VOC + MOT + WOM
What are all of the ways you currently listen to the VOC?
What are several new ways you can add?
MOT Workshop: What do you believe are the top THREE MOTs for your customers?
Do you have a robust system/process in place to ensure repeatable success in delivering these MOTs flawlessly to every customer?
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WOM Workshop
1. Describe in detail what your “Ideal Client” looks like.
2. What are the “triggering events” that cause them to buy from you? What happens in their world that
makes them need/want to do business with you?
3. What is special / unique / valuable about the way you solve their problems? Why, specifically, do your
customers choose you?
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How do you get potential customers to...
KNOW you:
LIKE you:
TRUST you:
TRY your products/services:
REPEAT buy from you:
Become a customer evangelist who sends lots of high-quality referrals to you:
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THE 4 + 2 FORMULA
THE FOUR PRIMARY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
1 = Not at all 3 = Poor 5 = Fair 7 = Good 10 = Superior /Excellent
1. Strategy: Devise and maintain a clearly stated, focused strategy: Whatever your strategy, it will only work if it is sharply defined, clearly communicated, and well understood by employees, customers, partners, and investors.
2. Execution: Develop and maintain flawless operational execution: You might not always delight every customer, but make sure that you never disappoint them. Winners consistently meet the expectations of their customers by delivering on their value proposition. Bad quality surely will hurt.
3. Culture: Develop and maintain a performance-oriented culture: One of the best indicators of being performance-oriented is the way you deal with your own poor performers. It is easy to reward good performers. What matters is whether you have the courage to get rid of poor performers.
4. Structure: Build and maintain a fast, flexible, flat organization: What really counts is whether structure reduces bureaucracy and simplifies work. Simpler and faster - such are the best goals for all organizations.
THE FOUR SECONDARY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
1. Talent: Hold on to talented employees and find more: Winning organizations pay great attention to finding, growing, developing, and rewarding very talented people.
2. Leadership: Key leaders are truly committed to the business: The research data clearly showed that the leadership effectiveness of the top executives, on average, influenced 15% of the variance in corporate performance, for better or for worse.
3. Innovation: Make innovations that are industry transforming: Agile companies that were highly innovative and able to anticipate rather than react to disruptive events in the marketplace, were always the winner.
4. Mergers and Partnerships: Make growth happen with mergers, alliances, and partnerships: Internally generated growth is essential, but companies that can also master mergers and partnerships are much more likely to be winners.
Based on: "What (Really) Works” by Joyce
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Here is a checklist of actions that led these companies to bring in financial returns that were often as much as 20 times greater than their competitors...
1 = Strongly Disagree 3 = Disagree Somewhat 5 = Not Sure
7 = Agree Somewhat 10 = Strongly Agree
We have an uncompromising determination to achieve excellence in everything we do:
We have a real commitment to high-quality work, and tolerate nothing less:
We have a real commitment to high levels of customer service, and tolerate nothing else:
In this company we set and enforce very high standards for performance:
Management gets the best work out of everybody in the company:
The quality of the work performed by our group is consistently high:
We make our customers feel as though they are very important to us:
Customer satisfaction is a top priority in our company:
We listen well to what the customer has to say:
We are extremely good at building long-term customer relationships:
The people in our company do "whatever it takes" to do a good job for the customer: _______
We do a good job of resolving customer problems when they occur:
The level of quality service delivered by my group/team is consistently high:
READ THAT LIST AGAIN… AND AGAIN!!!!!
THIS IS CRITICAL TO YOUR SUCCESS
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Disciplined Execution
1 = Strongly Disagree 3 = Disagree Somewhat 5 = Not Sure
7 = Agree Somewhat 10 = Strongly Agree
We have a clear vision for exactly where we are trying to take our organization
We have a detailed and specific plan to accomplish the key objectives we are trying to execute
Our senior leaders are all 100% committed to executing the key objectives
The key leaders/employees in our organization are all superb at execution
All of the major objectives we are pursuing are fully aligned and mutually reinforcing
We have excellent systems and processes in place to ensure consistently superb execution
There is continuous and transparent communication throughout the entire organization about exactly
where we stand on executing on our key objectives
Every employee has all of the training, support, equipment and resources they need to deliver the
results required of them
We are superb at adjusting and adapting our strategy and objectives when truly necessary
We do a great job of celebrating both small and big wins and praising great performance
We refuse to tolerate mediocrity or lack of accountability and deal decisively with people who are not
able to meet the clear standards of performance in our organization
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The five keys to accountability (1-10)
1. 100% Clarity + Appropriate Authority _______
2. 100% Agreement _______
3. Track & Post (Easy to understand + highly visible) _______
4. Coach, Mentor, Train and Support _______
5. Reward Success / Punish Failure _______
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WORKSHOP: IDEAS INTO ACTION
Go back page-by-page and carefully look through the entire book. Compare and contrast your scores on the various audits and re-read any notes you wrote. What are the themes that emerge… the patterns? Look for any scores below a 7 as an area that needs improvement and anything in the 1-5 range as a serious problem that needs attention.
The goal here is to really dig into these topics so you can take an honest look at the actual current state of your organization. This is a rare opportunity to take a critical look at how well your organization is truly operating and specifically what must be done to improve it. Take this exercise very seriously and push yourself to really understand what these scores and everything you learned today about world-class organizations could mean to your business.
1. Strengths What was the pattern of high scores? In what major areas did you seem to have as strengths, where you scored an 8 or higher across all of the workshops?
2. Weaknesses What was the pattern of low scores? In what major areas did you seem to have as weaknesses, where you scored a 6 or lower across all of the workshops?
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3. Key strategies for success Based on everything you have learned here today and your own personal business experience, what do you believe are the top strategies your organization must focus on to build and sustain success? What are the 3 - 5 most important ideas that will drive your organization’s future? (Please describe these in detail. You might lead off with a single word or short phrase, but then you’ll need to give a definition and description to exactly what you mean. It must be clear precisely what each idea means and how you will pursue it.)
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4. Organizational action steps Please list at least 4 specific, measurable, observable and BINARY action steps that your organization can take to implement the ideas you learned today. Based on the list you just created, as well as the strengths and weaknesses you identified, what can be done right away to take the lessons of this class and put them into positive action for your organization?
1.
2.
3.
4.
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5. Personal action steps Please list at least 4 specific, measurable, observable and BINARY action steps that YOU can take to implement the ideas you learned today. Based on the list you just created, as well as the strengths and weaknesses you identified, what can you do to make a more positive impact on your organization’s success?
1.
2.
3.
4.
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NOTES:
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SMALL GROUP WORKSHOP In your teams, share what you just wrote in the previous workshop. Make sure that each person takes time to explain their findings and recommendations. Then, combine all of your answers in order to create a group answer to the following questions:
1. What does your team feel are the THREE major strengths of your organization at this point in time?
2. What does your team feel are the THREE major weaknesses of your organization at this point in time?
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3. Out of everything you have written, what are your teams top 4 recommended action steps that the organization should take immediately? Make these action steps specific, measurable, observable and…BINARY!
1. 2.
3.
EACH TEAM WILL HAVE 5 MINUTES TO PRESENT THEIR FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
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NOTES:
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NOTES:
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NOTES:
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It is my sincere hope that you have enjoyed this class and found it extremely valuable. The challenge now is to take everything you have learned and apply it in your business. Even the best ideas in the world are useless without massive action behind them.
If you did find this class of value, I also hope that you will enthusiastically refer me to any colleagues or companies that you think would find value in the sort of programs I offer. 99.9% of all of my business comes from happy clients telling their friends and colleagues about my programs, and I thank you very much for taking a moment to let lots of people know about my work.
If there is anything you need from me please do not hesitate to send a note or call, I’m here to assist you in any way I’m able.
If you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to send a note or call.
My email address is: [email protected]
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