tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43103466736885126212012-01-29T13:53:41.360-05:00Training. Education. Management Development. Connecticut. Rhode Island. Massachusetts. New England. New York. Supervisors. Middle Managers Executives. Managing People. Leadership Skills. Managing For Results. Proactive Leadership. Team Building. Participative Management. Problem Solving. Continuous Improvement. Delegation. Making Changes. Communications. Working together. Understanding the Bottom Line. Practical advice for managers with a focus on supervisors and other first line managers.Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.comBlogger2301100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-7738813986448629902011-11-14T08:27:00.001-05:002011-11-14T08:33:31.632-05:00

As we begin our last set of classes for 2011, I thought I'd take a moment to remind everyone of our severe weather policy. We make every effort to meet all of our scheduled class dates. The reason is two fold. First, since virtually all of our participants are currently employed, we've discovered that a postponed class doesn't take participants off the road --they drive through the inclement

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-34687199275532345372011-02-20T14:48:00.003-05:002011-02-20T15:12:01.788-05:00

A manager had a low self-esteem. In working towards increasing his self-esteem, he analyzed the impact of low self-esteem on himself as well as on his employees. He found that low self-esteem created a sense of self-doubt that limited his ability to make firm decisions on a timely basis. In turn, he believed that diminished his employee's confidence in him as well as their confidence in the work

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-87861376128603500852011-02-19T14:16:00.000-05:002011-02-20T14:46:23.025-05:00

Have you ever been in a situation where you truly believed your idea or position was the best way to go but faced people who had strong opposing views? Here's a thought that might help:Getting others to buy-in to your ideas or to come around to your point-of-view doesn't mean that you have to diminish or downplay your strong beliefs to reach a watered down compromise (although there are times

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-83649118230503041042011-01-25T17:41:00.003-05:002011-01-25T18:03:51.195-05:00

What a new year this has been so far. I've been getting a good workout with both the snow blower and the snow shovel. With our 2011 programs getting underway next week, I thought I'd take a moment to remind everyone of our severe weather policy.We make every effort to meet all of our scheduled class dates. The reason is two fold. First, since virtually all of our participants are currently

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-51661696342740837232010-01-29T14:00:00.004-05:002010-01-29T14:10:34.748-05:00

Still not much time for blogging. But saw an article in The Wall Street Journal last Monday (January 25, 2010) that you may find interesting. It deals with the subject of "where process improvement projects go wrong." My professional career has involved a lifetime of special projects and this article confirms my long standing beliefs, not only about continuous improvement efforts, but about any

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-91877597398553064872010-01-21T01:00:00.001-05:002010-01-21T01:00:06.925-05:00

I was reviewing goal statements, part of the homework requirements in our "Managing for Results" program, when I ran across a goal involved with reducing production losses (to increase yield). The goal statement was fairly good as was the specific measure of performance. But my eyebrows went up when I saw the frequency of performance measure: quarterly!The purpose of work effort performance

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-26873894198354980662010-01-20T13:27:00.003-05:002010-01-20T13:47:16.245-05:00

Hi to everyone --Its been a busy time since last October, but a productive one for me. Three of the five supervision series programs underwent some major changes in format as well as an upgrade in content. The changes were tentative, but so far the overall reaction of participants has been good. I plan to continue the fine tuning during 2010, and may expand the effort to the other two programs in

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-44343247096023093652009-10-21T11:54:00.004-04:002009-10-21T12:06:07.315-04:00

Here's a post from a person who wishes to remain anonymous. It is part of a homework assignment in our Leadership Skills program where she was examining an area for improvement in her leadership skills. It is reprinted with permission."The trait that causes me the most difficulty in performing my job is the ability to cope well with organizational politics. I have never been good at this one. I

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-10227600874883217132009-10-20T12:06:00.000-04:002009-10-21T12:03:29.744-04:00

I've held the line as long as I could. My last price increase for the supervision series programs was in January, 2002. Nearly eight years ago! Effective October 15, 2009 the price for each of our 16-hour open enrollment supervisory management development programs was increased from $345.00 to $395.00 (less than 15%).If you compare the content and format of my programs with those offered by

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-64530687505172223772009-10-16T12:20:00.000-04:002009-10-16T12:21:13.236-04:00

It's a truism in human nature - most people do not like to make changes and will resist change whenever they possibly can. And that's true even for people who make their living making changes.For may years I was a management consultant. Recommending and implementing change is pretty much what consultants do. Yet, even though they are agents of change, consultants are also prone to avoiding

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-5691721650640771682009-09-24T14:26:00.005-04:002009-09-24T14:52:52.607-04:00

Yesterday, September 23, was the first time there was no post on a weekday since we started on January 21. All of the September posts up until then were written in July and August and were automatically being posted as I was in Italy and Croatia until just a few days before. Since returning I have been making major format changes (and some content upgrades) to Leadership Skills, Managing People

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-20463568485511928692009-09-22T01:00:00.000-04:002009-09-22T01:00:03.681-04:00

Here's a thought that sounds a note of caution whenever we believe our opinion, our position, our approach or our decision is right."We routinely disqualify testimony that would plead for further extenuation. That is, we are so persuaded of the righteousness of our judgment as to invalidate evidence that does not confirm us in it. Nothing that deserves to be called truth could ever be arrived at

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-11919557799923092652009-09-21T01:00:00.002-04:002009-09-21T01:00:05.140-04:00

Not all resistance to change is bad. That's because not all changes are good. People who resist change serve a useful purpose by raising questions and objections that cause us to take a hard look to make sure our changes are useful, cost effective and beneficial. It's possible the end result of the resister's challenge may be an improved change as potential problems are identified and removed

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-33271370460841066432009-09-18T01:00:00.001-04:002009-09-18T01:00:03.995-04:00

I’m sure you are familiar with the concept of “talking out of school;” the idea of discussing something in the presence of others who really shouldn't be allowed to hear the comments. “Talking out of school” is generally not a good thing to do in any situation. When you are on the management team of a company “talking out of school” can get you into serious trouble.I encourage managers to be

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-64926702048037000822009-09-17T01:00:00.003-04:002009-09-17T01:00:02.108-04:00

Some managers delegate work only to later discover the work isn't getting done on time, or the employee is hesitant about what to do, or there are errors, missing pieces or less than satisfactory progress. Some managers then take the assignment back and do it themselves, and often reminding themselves that this is exactly why they don't like to delegate work. What they fail to realize is that

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-79082706150323089422009-09-16T01:00:00.003-04:002009-09-16T01:00:00.341-04:00

Within a set of guidelines or boundaries, most companies empower employees to make certain operating decisions on their own. Decisions beyond those boundaries are typically referred to the manager who then makes a decision (up to her or his authorization level of course).Most managers are good at making these decisions at their level of authority. What many managers fail to do however is to

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-77693486538128365632009-09-15T01:00:00.003-04:002009-09-15T01:00:02.891-04:00

You'll enjoy this post better if you read yesterday's post "You Never Know Until You Try" first.As a teenager dad flew an airplane. As a teenager I raced a stock car. In one of my first races, the car popped out of gear in turn three. Let me tell you that situation gets your attention real fast.The track where I normally raced was very high-banked. You normally had the gas pedal to the floor on

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-75287496465488468292009-09-14T01:00:00.002-04:002009-09-14T01:00:01.577-04:00

I love creativity. Innovations. New ideas. And I love hearing about things people try to do to solve problems, things that range from the deceptively simple to the Rube Goldberg contraptions. Some that work. Some that don't. Here's one that seemed logically simple, but in practice didn't work out.In 1929 my dad was the youngest person in New Jersey to earn a private pilot's license. He was just

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-87634258921127400642009-09-11T01:00:00.007-04:002009-09-11T01:00:03.161-04:00

I've started to write this post many times. Then I get angry, frustrated and upset about how we have responded to this day. And how little we have accomplished. Osama Bin Laden -- still out there. The Freedom Tower (now renamed 1 World Trade Center for some politically correct reason) -- still not done. The War on Terror (oh right, we can't call it that anymore; as if that makes the terrorism

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-9001706623003839222009-09-10T01:00:00.003-04:002009-09-10T01:00:03.672-04:00

I was called to a company to do a program in "Team-Oriented Problem Solving." The request for training in this subject area came about because of a quality error involving hundreds of thousands of parts and tens of thousands in dollars.The eighteen hour problem solving program spans a nine week period with a two-hour class each week. Part of each class session is devoted to problem solving

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-68673707487463543722009-09-09T01:00:00.002-04:002009-09-09T01:00:05.477-04:00

As part of a customer visit, I was charged with arranging a tour through our facilities. As we toured the shop, the person actually conducting the tour was pointing out various operations and introducing our guest to some of the employees. But we bypassed a work area where an employee was polishing jewelry, a very messy operation involving water and compounds. The employee had to wear an apron to

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-68406854397935693042009-09-08T01:00:00.004-04:002009-09-08T01:00:00.423-04:00

My first job out of high school was in a machine shop. Being paid piecework, we hustled all day. But the work was routine, repetitious and boring. As factory workers we lived by the time clock, and were pretty much faceless entities, a pair of hands to feed a machine. My primary job required 15 different hand movements every 17 seconds. (See "The Room" for a more profound description of factory

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-65186841461420962009-09-07T01:00:00.002-04:002009-09-07T01:00:05.710-04:00

Some companies have a great way of preventing quality errors from being passed on person to person as a job travels downstream. What they do is charge each operation with checking the quality of work incoming from preceding operations. Any defective work they catch can be returned to the previous operation for correction. But once they pass the work on to the next operation, they now are

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-84271514032022220992009-09-04T01:00:00.003-04:002009-09-04T01:00:02.251-04:00

Aren't these talking devices just wonderful. My car talks to me. One of my pc printers talks to me. And the other day, after avoiding it for some time, I finally got on my electronic scale. It said just four words: "Get off of me."Hmmmm. Just what we need - electronic nags.Seriously, my visit to the scale prompted me to visit another long lost friend, the treadmill. Amazing how dusty its become

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-22045196214987234562009-09-03T01:00:00.002-04:002009-09-03T01:00:01.182-04:00

On May 10 I blogged about some of the recognition I've received and cherished in the past. ( Click here if you would like to read that blog post titled "Long Distance Participants.") Today's post deals with a quite unique form of personal recognition.I did a program on "Work Team Participation Skills" for a company in Milford, NH. The program involved several sections of employees with each

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-92095725742803177002009-09-02T01:00:00.004-04:002009-09-02T01:00:05.858-04:00

Any person skilled in quality control disciplines knows that checking cannot prevent quality problems. Checking only catches quality problems after they've happened. When the error is caught we still have to fix it or re-do it and that costs time and money.Quality problems can only be prevented at the time the original work is done. So the only person who can prevent a quality problem from

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-73249987173485166022009-09-01T01:00:00.001-04:002009-09-01T01:00:03.655-04:00

Over the past many months I've been making changes to the way I do things here at Dan Pelley Educational Services. I've discontinued my rarely used in-bound toll free number and expanded my on line presence. I parted company with my primary e-mail provider and added a more user friendly one. I've begun to accept ACH transfers as payments from customers. I'm also re-evaluating our use of fax,

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-67133161127825841612009-08-31T01:00:00.004-04:002009-08-31T07:55:22.657-04:00

I'm becoming less and less pleased with Microsoft Windows. Software that is difficult to use. Constant updates to patch yet another glitch. Lack of forthright support (try help in Microsoft paint to see how to change the color of a portion of a picture for example). A browser that can be so problematic that some IT professionals will suggest you use other browsers such as Mozilla's Firefox. And,

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-6487725977821949892009-08-28T01:00:00.001-04:002009-08-28T01:00:00.946-04:00

Yesterday's post contained the thoughts of Matt McLaughlin as he focused on a personal negative trait. Today's post was written by a manufacturing operations manager who wishes to remain anonymous. Like Matt she is focusing on a personal negative trait and I reprint her work with permission."The trait that I feel causes me the most difficulty in performing my job is 'Does what he/she says they

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-87977772262491596492009-08-27T01:00:00.003-04:002009-08-27T07:00:24.236-04:00

Today's post was written by Matthew McLaughlin, Regional Incentive Clerk at United Natural Foods in Dayville, CT. Matt talks about something that most people would view as a positive trait. In doing a homework assignment in our "Managing People" program Matt illustrates how overdoing a positive trait can actually result in the trait being negative.Here's Matt's work reprinted with permission."

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-61151095221881973052009-08-26T01:00:00.004-04:002009-08-26T01:00:02.912-04:00

This is the final installment of a conversation I recently had with a friend; a manager who has some issues regarding remote employees. You may want to read the post for yesterday and the day before first."You know," said my friend, "It's not just the remote employees that are a problem. It's the on site people too. They see the off site employees coming and going, sometimes here, often not, and

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-82510444352505230702009-08-25T01:00:00.002-04:002009-08-25T01:00:01.511-04:00

Yesterday's post was my first on dealing with remote (off site) employees. You may want to read that post first.My friend, the manager we looked at yesterday, continued to lament his problems with remote employees. "For instance," he said, "I have an employee who is a stay-at home parent. I understand our telephone conversations occasionally get disrupted. I understand sometimes my employee is

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-49457677346597141302009-08-24T01:00:00.004-04:002009-08-24T01:00:01.022-04:00

There are two topics that I have been wrestling with lately. One is the issue of how to manage millennial employees. As you may know from prior blog posts, I find that issue to be both interesting and disconcerting.The other topic, which has just recently come to the forefront for me, is how to manage remote (off site) employees. That topic is less interesting to me as I fail to see anything

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-45516251063349353552009-08-21T01:00:00.001-04:002009-08-21T01:00:03.171-04:00

Last March we posted three reasons for not interrupting. Click here to see that post.Today we'll add another reason to that list. When an issue is sensitive, touchy, delicate, troublesome, you-name-it; when a speaker really finds it difficult to talk about something because they don't want to hurt or offend you; when the speaker is trying to "talk around" a situation to avoid self-incrimination,

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-53444000770243939152009-08-20T01:00:00.005-04:002009-08-20T01:00:01.506-04:00

I must admit I've gotten away a bit from my efforts to learn more about the millennial generation; who they are, what they think and what motivates them. Yesterday I came across a great resource to help better understand the perspective of people born between 1980 and 1991, a perspective developed by Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin.According to the college website, "Each August since 1998,

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-65107465888687170372009-08-19T01:00:00.003-04:002010-12-08T07:56:25.577-05:00

Yesterday's post dealt with the idea of tackling big projects and/or huge backlogs of work by chipping away at them for just ten minutes a day. Unfortunately that approach seems in conflict with a time management technique that suggests the most efficient way to do any job is to work it straight through from start to finish. To do otherwise seems quite inefficient. Click here to see our March 1

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-72893920767210188302009-08-18T01:00:00.004-04:002009-08-18T01:00:01.418-04:00

As part of the homework requirements in our "Proactive Leadership" program, participants are encouraged to try the "Go Process" (click here to see post on that topic) and report back on what worked and what didn't as well as what they liked and didn't like about the disciplines of the "Go Process."One person reported that he got the best results by tackling the bigger piles of backlogged work in

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-88905351600059157812009-08-17T01:00:00.000-04:002009-08-17T01:00:03.142-04:00

I had a tour of a manufacturing company with equipment organized in long rows consistent with the nature of much of its process. Soon I noted a plastic bucket on the floor at the end of each row. Most buckets held one or more tools while a few were empty. Being my usual nosey self, I asked the Plant Manager about them.It seems this was an attempt to have a common tool set available for set-ups,

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-73348567951013201722009-08-14T01:00:00.003-04:002009-08-14T08:04:05.543-04:00

Did you ever do a thorough cleaning and organizing of a spare room? Your garage? Or attic? Only to look back several months later to see the mess, clutter and disorganization creep back in.At work, have you ever done a 5-S project, Kaizen Event or just an intensive effort to clean-up and organize your workplace, only to see the sparkling results diminish back to dirt, clutter and piles of junk?

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-5358585702083355862009-08-13T01:00:00.007-04:002009-08-13T01:00:02.469-04:00

Today's post continues the insights presented yesterday by anonymous as she discussed a personal characteristic that she views as a deficiency. Yesterday she discussed coping with change. Today she looks at another personal difficulty involving respecting differences of opinion. Here's her thoughts for today, reprinted with permission."I have a very hard time listening to other people’s opinions.

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-12985581885991848772009-08-12T01:00:00.000-04:002009-08-12T01:00:01.231-04:00

Yesterday's post was written by anonymous. Today's post is written by a different person who also wishes to remain anonymous as she is discussing a personal characteristic that she views as a deficiency. She submitted this material some time ago in a program on leadership skills, and I haven't re-read it since I obtained her reprint permission until just now. It turns out that she actually

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-28639858726238287592009-08-11T01:00:00.002-04:002009-08-11T01:00:00.252-04:00

Today’s post was written by an author who wishes to remain anonymous. It was originally given to me as part of a homework assignment where she was focusing on one of her personal strengths, “the ability to accept and live up to responsibilities.” Her work is reprinted with permission.Anonymous prefaced her work by stating “A company can take on the most qualified experienced candidates, but if

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-24183148943353892972009-08-10T01:00:00.003-04:002009-08-10T01:00:02.091-04:00

I'm taking registrations for the next "Participative Management" program in Lincoln, RI starting now and wanted to get the word out as I've just learned of a date change. Originally scheduled to start on Thursday October 1, 2009, the program start date has been moved up one week to Thursday September 24, 2009. October 1 will be a skip date. The complete schedule for the four class sessions are

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-89035407361652674682009-08-07T01:00:00.001-04:002009-08-07T01:00:00.439-04:00

Do you ever get frustrated or angry tripping over company policies and systems that make buying very difficult? I have spent much of my free time in the past two weeks trying to engineer a rework of a odd-size cooktop to replace an obsolete cartridge. (Yes, I am a do-it-yourselfer whenever I can be. And when I can't be I like to have a pretty good idea of what I'm talking about so I don't get

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-62615534506475416992009-08-06T01:00:00.001-04:002009-08-06T07:46:34.478-04:00

Effective leaders learn to use different styles of interaction depending on the situation they face and the individual employees they must deal with. In today's post, Bill Gilmore, Senior Planner at Whitcraft LLC in Eastford CT, provides a very good example of using different styles of interaction. His company was in the processing of creating manufacturing cells and he knew that three people

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-65948775956921114292009-08-05T01:00:00.001-04:002009-08-05T01:00:03.623-04:00

Yesterday's post considered that often times the people who work for us have good ideas; ideas that can be useful to us if we'll take the time to listen to them, explore them, and think about how we can use them. Today's post provides another example of that concept.There was once a legendary retailer from Shrewsbury, MA who people knew by his nickname, "Spag." His wonderful retail store served

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-52356368588385695392009-08-04T01:00:00.005-04:002009-08-04T01:00:04.843-04:00

I have a friend who is a jewelry designer. Her job is to study fashion trends and design product to meet those trends. She has many years experience as a designer, yet she knows that each design is a guess, and most initial designs will be abandoned as the market chooses the right guesses.She also told me that she doesn't try to make all the guesses herself. Experience has taught that her

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-22582067195355499572009-08-03T01:00:00.001-04:002009-08-03T01:00:00.436-04:00

I don't know about you, but I think our government's approach to health care reform is asinine. Trying to change one-sixth of our economy in 1000 pages or more of government gobbledy gook that has so tight a deadline that very few of our esteemed "leaders" have read it and fewer still understand it. Our "leaders" tell us that "doing nothing is not acceptable." I would tell you that putting water

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-7207760597913128312009-07-31T01:00:00.002-04:002009-07-31T01:00:04.869-04:00

I just finished reading a homework assignment focused on an employee whose lifestyle balance between home and work is skewed toward home. "It seems she is so happy to leave work to go home that she rushes through her work and takes no joy in doing her job." While the actual work effort is adequate, this employee has little actual interest in her work and has less than adequate working

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-1261625664020482642009-07-30T01:00:00.002-04:002009-07-30T01:00:00.864-04:00

Today's post was written by Carrie Norris, Supervisor-in-training at Staples Distribution Center in Wauregan, CT. She lives in Dayville and attends our Certificate Programs in Supervisory Management at Quinebaug Valley Community College in Danielson. Her post deals with communicating effectively and in a timely fashion and is reprinted with permission."I have always taken pride in being an

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-89502759180156267202009-07-29T01:00:00.005-04:002009-07-29T01:00:03.334-04:00

"My employees don't work as fast as I do." "My employees aren't as interested in their jobs as I am." "My employees just don't have the same eye for quality as I do." "My employees don't have my strong work ethic." "I don't delegate because I can do the work faster and better than my employees." "I don't have confidence in my employees because they don't work like I do." "I don't trust my

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-73480216370201822752009-07-28T01:00:00.006-04:002009-07-28T01:00:01.120-04:00

Yesterday's post focused on staying current with trends in your industry, trends in your vocation, and trends in science and technology. Our emphasis was on enhancing creative skills. Since most readers of this blog are first-line managers, today I will recast the list with a different focus.Being creative is one thing. Keeping your job is another. Times change. The world changes. Technology

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-47972454808143118922009-07-27T01:00:00.005-04:002009-07-27T01:00:03.268-04:00

Some people are always coming up with new things to do and new ways to do them. Their inquisitiveness is refreshing and their ability to see things in a different light can be astounding. Do they have a natural tendency to be creative? Perhaps so. Do they cultivate that creativity by seeking innovation? Probably so. Just as I am fairly sure that people who are naturally creative are quite

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-5853620583058098082009-07-24T01:00:00.006-04:002009-07-24T01:00:06.510-04:00

Here's an article written by a participant in our "Certificate in Supervisory Management" programs. The article is reprinted with permission, but the author has asked to remain anonymous. Here, then is some food for thought."One factor that helps make a significant contribution to my job is my creativity. This manifests itself in a number of ways, for example:"Having experience in numerous

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-25981705555785205502009-07-23T01:00:00.005-04:002009-07-23T01:00:01.191-04:00

Millennials are the workforce of the future and I've been blogging this week on the new ways millennials communicate. Texting, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, etc. My focus was on issues that may arise when employees use these mechanisms and how to deal with them. In short, companies need to be aware of these issues, decide what is appropriate and what is not in their workplace, and then

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-57986191118934928942009-07-22T01:00:00.009-04:002009-07-22T01:00:00.723-04:00

Today's post continues our look at "millennial employee issues," the subject matter of the last two days. You may want to read those posts first.Should an employee use personal communications devices to perform personal tasks at work? We dealt with that on Monday. What if one employee texts a derogatory remark to another employee? We dealt with that yesterday. What if an employee makes negative

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-61312776888541272142009-07-21T01:00:00.006-04:002009-07-21T01:00:03.101-04:00

Yesterday's post looked at some of the issues associated with the ways millennials communicate. Texting. Twitter. Facebook. You may want to read that post first.As part of the source conversation for yesterday's post, someone mentioned that the nature of fast-paced texting could result in people making caustic or derogatory remarks to others, statements that they probably wouldn't make face to

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-80890893607209836212009-07-20T01:00:00.004-04:002009-07-20T15:41:22.745-04:00

Had another interesting conversation regarding millennial employees. One of the issues the company mentioned were the new ways that millennials communicate. Texting. Twitter. Facebook. Should employees be allowed to text at work? Should the company get involved with Twitter? What happens when an employee makes derogatory comments about their company on Facebook?It seems to me that these are

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-22110085713649414112009-07-17T01:00:00.001-04:002009-07-17T01:00:01.408-04:00

Uncle Mel was a skilled machinist and a master mechanic. One of those people who could build or fix most anything. The kind of person who, in his prime, experienced a rear axle failure in his rear wheel drive car on a country road. He hitched a ride to town, got the parts he needed and a ride back to his car. By the side of the road he jacked it up, replaced the axle and continued on his

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-69410111068748243612009-07-16T01:00:00.000-04:002009-07-16T01:00:03.151-04:00

What an awful experience. My refrigerator has a recall - seems some of them have a tendency to catch on fire. After checking my model number and serial number to confirm that my unit was in the recall group, I called the toll-free number to schedule a service appointment to have the manufacturer correct the problem. My call was answered by a pleasant-voiced automated system that was totally cold

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-26647218025333765152009-07-15T01:00:00.002-04:002009-07-15T01:00:03.134-04:00

The purpose of discipline to resolve an issue, correct a problem and/or to turn a bad situation around. If done properly it should be a positive experience, done in such a way that the employee understands that we want them to be successful and we have confidence in their ability to benefit from a lesson to be learned. That's the essence of today's blog post written by L'deniece Whitfield, HR

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-87859663292172384582009-07-14T01:00:00.003-04:002009-07-14T01:00:02.117-04:00

Yesterday's post dealt with a difficult employee who was an uncooperative insubordinate poor performer. It's amazing to me how I continue to hear such stories in this dismal economy with its severe unemployment. I have difficulty understanding why any company accepts such behavior. Especially since so many good people wish they had a job.Now is the time to cut the baloney. Weed out the poor

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-57066162025001819982009-07-13T01:00:00.001-04:002009-07-13T01:00:03.275-04:00

A supervisor told me of a customer service representative trainee who appears to be a lost cause. She has a cold personality and comes across to customers as being uncaring, distant and aloof. She views her job as a means to a paycheck and nothing more. Her attitude toward helping other CSRs is "what's in it for me?" The supervisor recites that her training is not going well as she refuses to

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-34065836879333873152009-07-10T01:00:00.002-04:002009-07-10T01:00:02.514-04:00

Sometimes an employee's personal life follows them to work, creating a negative influence on job performance. While these outside factors have many different forms which lead to a wide variety of on-the-job issues, today's post deals with an employee who is unhappy at home. Essentially, at this point in her life, the employee's home life is just not what she hoped it would be, and her unhappiness

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-84229391239122536222009-07-09T01:00:00.002-04:002009-07-09T01:00:12.798-04:00

I went to the post office yesterday to mail a package. Thankfully there was no line although each of the clerks on duty were serving a customer when I arrived. As I waited I couldn't help noticing that one clerk was busy weighing, labeling and otherwise attending to his customer, while the other was obviously gossiping away with a customer she knew. And gossiping. And gossiping.Finally the other

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-49200284878359690302009-07-08T01:00:00.004-04:002009-07-08T06:40:20.549-04:00

How are you doing on your annual goals? We've just crossed the halfway mark for the year and hopefully you've taken a good look at your progress to date. Are you ahead? Good job! On target? Congratulations. A bit behind? Not a problem as you still have six months to go. Way behind? Well that does happen - but it shouldn't.Although most managers have a set of annual goals, the trouble with those

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-15974261154153652952009-07-07T01:00:00.004-04:002009-07-24T14:17:07.622-04:00

Today's post was written by Lindsey Bousquet who lives in Putnam and works in Pomfret, CT. This article was part of a homework assignment in out "Leadership Skills" program where Lindsey focused on a leadership strength. Her work is reprinted here with permission."I feel that my best strength is that I build trusting relationships with people at all levels. This is very important for many reasons

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-43990551574925693622009-07-06T01:00:00.003-04:002009-07-06T01:00:17.679-04:00

These first two weeks of July are among the most popular vacation weeks. Indeed, some industries and many individual companies are now shut down for well deserved vacations. Other companies are encouraging people to take their vacations now since business is so very slow. Much to the chagrin of some employees, some companies that previously allowed employees to keep working and swap their

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-62203293635969962422009-07-03T01:00:00.002-04:002009-07-03T01:00:20.340-04:00

We've been looking at the role of the team recorder in the last two days. You may want to read those posts first.Today we'll look at a technique and a ground rule for getting a recorder when no one wants to volunteer. When I'm leading a meeting, I first ask if someone will volunteer to be our recorder. If no one volunteers I then look someone in the eye and ask them directly: "'Sam', would you be

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-72118802375131051562009-07-02T01:00:00.003-04:002009-07-02T01:00:08.712-04:00

Being a team recorder can be quite the chore, so it's no surprise that many team members try to avoid it. However, some people don't mind doing it, are good at it, and will either offer to do it or accept the role if asked. If your team is lucky enough to have a volunteer recorder, please remember to thank them profusely and frequently for their efforts. And it wouldn't hurt to get them a coffee,

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-88368989948885881892009-07-01T01:00:00.005-04:002009-07-01T01:00:04.877-04:00

The job of the recorder is to keep accurate records of team activities at the level of documentation that the team requires. Some teams want written documentation of all team discussions. Other teams only want to record and document points of agreement and/or action items. Some teams want details. Others want summaries.When it comes to documentation, the team can generally decide how much

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-80110727211753145082009-06-30T01:00:00.005-04:002009-06-30T01:00:25.570-04:00

What's the single biggest barrier to solving problems, making improvements, finding better ways and moving forward? Four words: "It can't be done." People who use this phrase are doomed to failure. If they believe something can't be done they certainly have no reason to try hard to do it.Too many employees have also learned to use "it can't be done" to avoid difficult problem solving and

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-36318557066262901912009-06-29T01:00:00.004-04:002009-06-29T01:00:23.606-04:00

Sometimes employees come to us with an idea for solving a problem or making an improvement to the department. They ask us what we think of the idea, hoping of course that we think it's great and will use it. With credit to them of course.But many managers find that accepting the suggestion out-of-hand is difficult to do. Sometimes the idea triggers a different approach to the situation in the

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-41093156117179569242009-06-26T01:00:00.002-04:002009-06-26T01:00:27.037-04:00

Had a conversation the other day about people who are good team players. One person told us of a person he knew who was a caring helpful person with a great attitude. Whether external customers or internal associates, she would go out of her way to be as helpful as she could be. If a co-worker needed information, assistance, a favor or a ride home she was there to help. Although other associates

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-46169272557184714582009-06-25T01:00:00.002-04:002009-06-25T01:00:19.254-04:00

The day before yesterday, our post discussed the non-participating team member from the perspective of finding the cause of the trouble before we go to work on the cure. In exploring those causes we may discover that the non-contributor simply doesn't value the team's work, and/or its importance, and/or may simply have other priorities to attend to. If the non-contributor's participation is

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-77413517436681532722009-06-24T01:00:00.005-04:002009-06-24T18:51:19.460-04:00

Here's some thoughts on making the workplace fun contributed by Dawn M. Coyer who works at Citizen's National Bank; reprinted with permission."Being a teller can be very a serious and stressful position. I have found by using humor (the joke of the day) and creativity with props (when a teller is balanced they ring a bell and all the other tellers clap for them) in the everyday job gives all

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-30162386808956108132009-06-23T01:00:00.006-04:002009-07-30T13:45:34.901-04:00

A team member who fails to participate, to attend team meetings, to make suggestions, to do their share of the work, to support and encourage the team effort, and/or to truly be an active member of the team certainly detracts from the team effort. And since most teams are small, that detraction can be significant indeed. Think about it this way: If you have a five person team and one person is

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-52494923462326653602009-06-22T01:00:00.003-04:002009-06-22T15:00:34.838-04:00

Back in January I posted an article dealing with things to do when business is slow. Click here to see it if you wish.Last weekend I reviewed a homework assignment from a manager who talked about the difficult economy and how people now seemed to be more receptive to learning new skills and working more independently. His focus was on upgrading technical skills so people could operate more

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-73225968869356077602009-06-21T01:00:00.000-04:002009-06-21T19:34:04.610-04:00

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads and Granddads out there from this Dad (Bryan, Shannon, Lauren) and Granddad (Alex, Nicky and Mason).No blogging today.Yesterday marked the completion of five months of daily posting (7 days a week) and I've decided to eliminate the weekend posting as our statistics show very few visitors on the weekends. I will attempt to continue daily blogging Monday through

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-29556440303509155232009-06-20T01:00:00.003-04:002009-06-21T19:58:54.411-04:00

My March 21, 2009 post concerned a letter I received from Renee Holder that touched me deeply. Renee has Multiple Sclerosis and her letter talked about the challenges she faces daily. You may want to click here to read that post first.A few weeks ago I received an update from Renee and reprint here with permission.Dear Friends and Family,Thank you so much for supporting my recent Walk MS 2009.

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-82069887379425041462009-06-19T01:00:00.004-04:002009-06-19T16:29:07.733-04:00

Most of my homework assignments contain a key question focused on making something better. For example. an assignment in my "Participative Management (Building High Performance Teams)" program looks at a weaker team player and asks what the manager will do going forward (as a coach and mentor) to strengthen the weaker team player.All too often the answer involves generalities such as "I can give

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-72910245425673247522009-06-18T01:00:00.004-04:002009-06-18T01:00:03.526-04:00

Ever have the disappointment of coming up with a great idea to solve a problem or make an improvement only to have your boss shoot you down because"it costs too much" or "we can't afford it." If you know how to do a payback analysis you'll have a pretty good understanding, even before you go to your boss, of the financial feasibility of your idea.Payback is a financial tool that tells you how

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-24692773408665848542009-06-17T01:00:00.004-04:002009-06-17T01:00:00.900-04:00

I think you'll get more out of this post if you read yesterday's post "Hit Any Key to Continue."After reading my rant yesterday embodying some of my strong frustrations with aggravating computer systems, maybe you wonder why I didn't hit the damn thing with a mallet. Yes, I know my wife locked them up. But that's a solvable problem. Worst case, the hammer and mallet stores were open.Many, many,

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-27932793104598694242009-06-16T01:00:00.004-04:002009-06-16T01:00:00.178-04:00

Have you seen that cartoon? The version I saw had a duck standing in front of a computer with a grimace on his face and a rather large mallet raised over his head. The tag line said "Hit any key to continue." That's how I felt yesterday and why I am way behind today.Saturday night I got a message from Microsoft asking me to download their newest version of Explorer. Seems like I get these update

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-71886375882368997062009-06-15T01:00:00.009-04:002009-06-15T01:00:00.419-04:00

I've just finished reviewing homework assignments in my "Participative Management (Building High Performance Teams)" program. The assignment looks at the manager's expectations of the team, descriptions of stronger and weaker team players, and what the manager will do going forward to strengthen the weaker team player.As usual, several people noted that their weakest team player was labeled that

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-72391752683686838502009-06-14T01:00:00.001-04:002009-06-14T01:00:00.686-04:00

I've written a fair number of case studies over the years. Although I do my very best to make them perfect when first published, they sometimes have errors or omissions or little glitches that cause difficulty for users. Thankfully people alert me to the defects so I can correct them. Over time then, the cases become "tried and true."Still, some people argue about a "tried and true" case. That

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-61478745008081158892009-06-13T01:00:00.005-04:002009-06-15T15:10:32.976-04:00

16 month old Mason was visiting one day and, like all little boys, was busy investigating and getting into everything. In the kitchen he found a small metal whisk that suited his fancy and carried it along with him. Shortly thereafter he came upon a bird house sitting on a stool in a corner of the kitchen. His grandmother "GiGi" (the name our grandchildren call my wife) loves unique bird houses

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-81209015676343600682009-06-12T01:00:00.000-04:002009-06-12T01:00:01.021-04:00

In a recent homework assignment. a new supervisor examined the issue of motivating employees to improve accuracy, take on more responsibility and work with less supervision. The supervisor's approach was to "evaluate staff regarding job knowledge," and "research motivators for each staff member." Good things to do of course, but much too formal from my perspective.I advised the new supervisor to

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-71080729539035975152009-06-11T01:00:00.001-04:002009-06-11T01:00:00.299-04:00

Criticism should always be constructive. And since it's often associated with discipline, criticism is usually best done in private.When giving criticism you should always believe that it is necessary and warranted under the circumstances; i.e., that the criticism was justified. But never criticize from a self-righteous perspective. Be humane and show some empathy when you give criticism. When

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-51087525325512049722009-06-10T01:00:00.004-04:002009-07-24T13:52:46.226-04:00

I had occasion to read the Quality Mission Statement of a local company the other day. There were four major points:1. Conformance with the requirements of the Quality Management System.2. Zero defects to the customer. (Great! I was expecting that one).3. Zero late deliveries. ( Also great; but something I don't usually see).4. Continuously reduce the cost of quality. (How very interesting.

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-10107645007870712792009-06-09T01:00:00.001-04:002009-06-10T14:57:58.790-04:00

If you're a good leader you should be able to coach and teach your people to set goals for themselves as individuals, and goals for their department as a group or a team. If you can successfully do that you'll gain two very powerful results:1. Studies have shown that people who are allowed to set their own goals tend to set those goals higher than the boss would have set for them.2. People who

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-28509005296209307172009-06-08T01:00:00.006-04:002009-06-08T19:44:03.194-04:00

We were out the other evening for a dinner celebrating a special occasion. So we went to an expensive white tablecloth linen napkins kind of place. (Although every time we do, we end up wondering why as you can generally count on half the food at twice the price with service that's often mediocre and sometimes the food isn't all that special or even tasty - but that's a story for another time).

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-15935856972029910882009-06-07T01:00:00.000-04:002009-06-07T01:00:00.300-04:00

I took a day off recently to catch up on some things around the house. Yard work mostly. I had the day all planned out. Exactly what I was going to do and the order in which I was going to do it. I scheduled the late morning to power vac the heavy accumulation of lawn clippings resulting from finally mowing the overgrown lawn the day before. As soon as the morning dew dried I would get to it.

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-76519767336210203192009-06-06T01:00:00.007-04:002009-06-06T01:00:00.182-04:00

Yesterday's post looked at the importance of knowing the technical requirements of the work your people do. But just how technical must you be?Obviously, the more technical skills you have the better you will understand the work. But you also may be more prone to doing the work rather than managing it. You also may become too involved with how people do their jobs (their style) rather than

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-5185501526448608752009-06-05T01:00:00.003-04:002009-06-05T17:50:16.735-04:00

One of the characteristics of a good leader is a thorough knowledge of the technical requirements of the jobs your employees do. Indeed, because good workers are often promoted into first-line management positions, that characteristic is one most supervisors have. But what if you don't? Just how important is it for the manager to know? That's the question I was asked yesterday.My response: it is

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When developing an action plan you must first decide what you are trying to do (the goal), how you are going to do it (the action steps), how long each action step will take (person-hours), when the action step should start and when it should be completed (target dates) and who will perform each of the action steps (scheduling; that is, assigning people to the task).Another parameter to be

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Counseling is the positive side of discipline. Unlike sanctions and punishments, counseling gives you an opportunity to work with the employee to correct the problem or difficulty. To keep things on a positive note, try to avoid "you" statements in your counseling sessions. You statements point the finger at the other person and tends to put them on the defensive. On the other hand, "I"

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-78399092484892563622009-06-02T01:00:00.002-04:002009-06-02T01:00:00.149-04:00

Yesterday's post pointed out that leaders are not found in the back row. And while that is almost universally true, there is a very special kind of leader who chooses to sit in the back row for a very special reason. These rare individuals tend to be very strong leaders who have no trouble speaking up, speaking out, taking a position and/or making a decision. Over time they've come to understand

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-2234433974033315482009-06-01T01:00:00.006-04:002009-06-01T01:00:00.866-04:00

I've been teaching supervisors and other first line managers for many years and, while I've never taken a formal survey on the question, I'll bet most of them view themselves a leaders. So why do so many of them sit in the back row in classes and seminars? Why do so many of them remain silent throughout the discussions? Why is it when we seek someone to be a meeting leader or volunteer, most of

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310346673688512621.post-56769285651134979662009-05-31T01:00:00.001-04:002009-05-31T01:00:00.948-04:00

During the energy crisis of the 80's, our manufacturing company had our maintenance person put together a program of how to save energy and thus help save money. Ray had many suggestions, but one in particular stuck with me. Ray suggested we simply learn to turn off the water while shaving and brushing our teeth. I've long forgotten the average savings figures Ray told us, and I'm sure the

Dan Pelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05366421193899874335noreply@blogger.com0