A4B Notes

PEAK Teamwork at Answers 4 Business

On October 28th I introduced the PEAK Teamwork management system and committed that we'd be implementing it fully for the purpose of strengthening our own business.  We've been at it for a first month (not full-time, of course) and its impact is beginning to be felt.  Preliminary results are quite positive and I'll describe some of the things that work differently around here so far (and we have just begun - it's at the senior management level so far).

1)  We have a much better understanding of where our own business has been.  As we introduced and gathered simple yet powerful measures for ourselves, it has become more apparent where the source of our success is, and we can easily adjust to build upon these strengths.  Intuition is helpful, but hard data is more compelling.

2)  We are developing and communicating a stronger collective team vision for the enterprise (both current and future states) and are having active dialogues about not only what is possible, but how to get there.

3)  The attitude and atmosphere within the organization has become more positive.  Any leader of any team knows how useful this is.

4)  We are investing in the business and ourselves with a higher degree of purpose and team commitment.

I don't think it's too early to say the the PEAK Teamwork concepts work for us - and I expect to continue to see benefits as we roll out the concepts at more layers in the organization.

Some things to consider about your commercial business system when times are tough.

It seems that maintenance fee just sits out there - untouchable, rising, and not delivering business benefit.  As budgets get tight, there must be SOMETHING we can do to affect it somehow.  There may be.  Here are two things to consider as the budget needs to be scrutinized.

1)  Understand what is deployed.  Is there un-deployed (or under-deployed) functionality in your larger packages that could be used to displace some of your stand-alone software or remove a home-grown solution you need to maintain.  Maintenance software, quality management, contact management, service management, etc. are all places to look where you may be paying maintenance fees, but not yet utilizing the software.  If you can get these functions addressed with no or minimal increase to your maintenance fees, your value equation can improve.

2)  Know your users.  There are methods for tracking exactly who is using what processes and how.  Quite often, more users may be licensed than are using the software (we call that shelf-ware) or the types of users may be lighter (and cheaper) than you are licenced for.  It may take a little negotiating, but  this information can usually lead to a maintenance fee reduction.

There are other items that can be considered, of course, and opportunity on the hardware side as well, but the above is usually a good place to start.   If you need a hand going into the next fiscal budget, give us a call.

Our markets and our 6-month mission

Our team at Answers 4 Business recently met to bring our market approach together and we were able to come out with a 3-pronged approach to solidifying and growing our professional services delivery capabilities.  We will take a direct focus on Ontario's mid-market companies (less than $500 million in annual revenues) as our primary market.  Firms larger than that or in other geographies will remain on as our secondary market.  Our 3 areas of delivery focus will be:

1)  Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Supply Chain Management (SCM) services with a special mention around SAP.  This is a market we've been in for quite some time and we have long-standing clients who consider us their" go-to" partners for training, implementation, sustainment and continuous improvement.  We believe SAP to be well-positioned to take a strong position in this market as an ERP of choice due to the robust functionality of its Business All-in-One software and the recent improvements in their templated approach - drastically reducing implementation time and cost.  As an Extended Business Partner to SAP, through our strong partnership with Contax, we provide sales, implementation, training and on-going support to our customers and prospective customers.  For customers who already have an existing ERP, we provide process improvement services, with specific knowledge of certain other ERP packages (including JD Edwards and Microsoft Dynamics-AX).

2)  Customer Relationship Management (CRM) services.  We will assist with selection, design, training and implementation of business processes around CRM software packages and the related business processes.

3)  PEAK Teamwork management system deployment.  Through the relationship I mentioned in my blog entry of October 28, 2009, we will assist mid-market organizations in undertanding the benefits of adopting a fully-contained management system to improve bottom-line results through implementing excellence of business practices, people, and through continuous improvement.  We will work closely with Ernie Reynolds, developer of this system, to deploy it and its components for clients in a manner that rings true to the principles of the system and help our clients realize it's many benefits.

Having a plan, and a unified, strengthening team is a very good place for us to start.  We'll review our market position regularly, but thoroughly every 6 months (where we can adjust or re-do based on what is working and what is not).  Our growing number of associates will help us achieve success against this plan and our clients can look forward to improved value through more focused offerings. 

Next step, plan execution.

PEAK Teamwork - Management Method, Book and Tools available.

I've had the pleasure of working with a former manager of mine as he has developed and communicated his considerable experience into a book that he now has available through limited release.  Ernie's management process is very people-centric and creates a trusted environment from which businesses can win. 

People Focus

Education in Enterprise Excellence

Attitude

Knowledge Through Communication

Although some of the PEAK concepts are already present within Answers 4 Business, and some of the core tools are current consulting offerings from us, we have begun an exciting internal project to adopt and deploy this managerial system.  It will take some time, but it is our belief that strong teamwork and permanent superior performance can be delivered for any business adopting the system.  To learn more about PEAK Teamwork, you can contact me.

How to Develop and Retain "Super-Duper Users"

"Super-Duper users" - the unsung heroes of successfully-implemented business systems (such as ERP, CRM, SCM, etc.).

By other names, we call them power uses, super-users or, in some organizations, business process owners (although that definition usually entails a little more).  These are the people who know the business needs extremely well (because they work in it on a daily basis) and know the capabilities of the implemented business system (often in better detail than many of the so-called "experts" or "consultants").  With knowledge being power, they are naturally sought out by peers, managers and subordinates for guidance and advice on how to get the job done.  And also, for tips on what improvements can be made to make the business system and the business fit together better, or to adjust to a change in the business needs.  As often as not - they are the first sought out.

So - how do you find them, develop them and retain them?  There is no magic formula, but here are a few tips that can help.

1. Identify and recognize them.  Very few people have "super-user", "power user" or "super-duper user" on their business cards - and we don't need to go there - but recognizing the tasks and responsibilities associated with the usually-informal role is a key first step.  This recognition is, ideally, a mix of qualitative (for example, the occasional "attaboy", an e-mail note of thank you, or an entry on an informal support organization chart) and quantitative (an evaluated and compensated part of a role definition).
2. Train them.  This can go to the point of "over-training" them (whatever that means) and still be useful.  They already know a lot about how the business system works - teach them more.  And let their interests and current challenges blend to guide them on what they need to learn about.  Additionally, they already know a lot about how the business works - teach them more about that, too!  The motivation for this is mostly selfish for the business - these people are your informal front-line on making things happen in the systematic, repeatable ways you are hoping for in your business - and they are the "go-to" people for the others in your organization - what could be a better investment than keeping them fully-informed?
3. Certify them.  This ties points 1 and 2 together nicely.  This gives you the comfort that they really know what they are doing (as well as the certifying body needs them to anyway - which is usually a good start) and it gives you a very good excuse to recognize them again.  Beyond that, it allows them to act as an example for others in your organization to aspire toward - and that can only strengthen the overall level of engagement and thus, useful adoption of the business system.
4. Challenge them.  You will undoubtedly be improving your business over time - tweaking the business system, implementing new functions, adjusting processes.  Super-duper users want to be involved in that.  They may be as good at the day-to-day business as anybody (often better) but that is precisely the reason you want them engaged in the improvement process as well -  you'll get faster and better results.

So, that's a start - I am interested in your comments and other tips you may have for developing this important asset.  I will also borrow and possibly paraphrase a very catchy statement on the training aspect of the above:

"The only thing worse than training your people and having them leave, is not training them and having them stay".

 

My Humber beginnings - teaching process mapping using SAP

Answers 4 Business has been a training partner to both SAP Canada and SAP America for several years now - we deliver a number of their public and corporate training courses.  Last year, I had occasion to teach the 2-week overview course (TERP10) at Humber College.  It was my first time teaching full-time students vs. corporate and I really liked it.  As a result of that work and the continuing relationship, I will be teaching 2 separate courses at Humber College for the January to April semester.  I'll be teaching process mapping and design using SAP as the information systems tool.  Additionally, I'll be supervising and facilitating the independent study course which has students work with industry on a jointly-beneficial supply chain research project.  I do really enjoy teaching (especially motivated students, of course). 

Why does Answers 4 Business want to blog?

We love the work we do - helping businesses get a return on their investments in process and information technology.  We see a lot of things during our work days that we can share (without breaking client confidences, of course) with our other clients, our own employees and associates and other interested parties.  We recognize that being in the professional services arena, we are active learners and teachers first and foremost.  Yes, we acquire and market certain skills and experience that are unique to us, but we improve those skills by giving them away to others through our training, consulting, coaching and mentoring activities.  As we give away knowledge we acquire knowledge -that's how it works. 

We are hoping this forum can serve as a medium whereby we can bring topics and knowledge to the stakeholders listed above and other interested parties.  We welcome your comments at any time.  For more about us, you can visit our homepage at www.answers4business.com.