|
Who's on First, What's on
Second??
Abbott and Costello immortalized the question,
"Who's on First." Yet, in many companies, large and small,
that question comes up every day. Particularly after companies downsized
to weather the recession and are still trying to catch up with the hiring
curve to handle the recovery.
I hear it in Chief
Executive Boards International meetings all the time -- something fell
through a crack because it wasn't clear who was supposed to have (or catch)
the ball.
A member recently shared a dirt-simple, collaborative exercise
that a small company (or a department in a larger company) can use to sort out
"Who's
on First, What's on Second?" Read on.......
Management Owns the
System
Employees Own the Work
Here's question recently posed as a survey on Yahoo
Finance: "Do you think it's fair for companies to "claw
back" payment from employees who lose money for the company?"
Upon voting, I was astonished to discover that the crowdsourced response was
almost 2 to 1 "Yes" vs. "No".
I actually recently heard a business owner ask, "Should I dock
someone's pay for the cost of their stupid mistakes?" Thinking he
was only half kidding, I put on my Dr. Phil hat and asked, "And how do
you think that'll work for you?" I think this
question was prompted by the recent JP Morgan trading loss of (estimates vary)
somewhere between $4.4 billion and $9 billion. Can you imagine? Estimates in tenths
of billions of dollars? Most of us would be happy with that roundoff
error as net worth.
Here's
why I think Yahoo's crowdsource audience got this answer wrong by 2 to
1.....
4 Easy Steps to Sharing Your
PC Screen - for Free
We
don't usually review or suggest PC or smartphone applications. In this
case, we're making an exception.
How
many times have you been on the phone with someone where you wanted to show them
something? A photo, a drawing, a document, a website, etc.? For me,
it happens a lot, and it's usually something I have on my PC that I wish
we were looking at together. Wouldn't it be great to have them
looking over your shoulder or in a conference room with a projector?
Yes,
you can email it, then describe it over the phone. What if you could just
share your screen with the other person on the phone, keep driving yourself, and
use your mouse pointer to direct the discussion?
Think
of it as your own instant, personal, impromptu webinar.
Here's
a slick, easy and free application to do that...
What Have You Done for Me
Lately?
Do you have customers who just don't
appreciate the things you do for them? They don't see the problem you
averted when your order entry department noticed they'd ordered a wrong
part. They don't see the time you noticed a piece of equipment was
failing and fixed it before it broke down.
And so it goes, unless you do something to put those behind-the-scenes,
heroic diving catches in front of them. Here's a way to do
that. Read
on.....
And, as always, we're
interested in your ideas for newsletter articles. Would you perhaps write
a guest Editorial? Please let us know
if you have ideas or material you'd be willing to share with others.
Thanks,
Terry Weaver
CEO
Chief Executive Boards International
TerryWeaver@ChiefExecutiveBoards.com
864 527-5917
www.chiefexecutiveboards.com
www.chiefexecutiveblog.com
|
Upcoming
Events
 |
|
| Leadership
Mindset Workshop |
Aug.
1-3, 2012 |
| Charlotte
LB |
Aug.
17, 2012 |
| Detroit
LB |
Aug.
22, 2012 |
| Chicago
LB |
Aug.
23, 2012 |
| Chicago
Lakefront LB |
Aug.
24, 2012 |
| Dayton
LB |
Aug.
28, 2012 |
| Cincinnati
LB |
Aug.
29, 2012 |
| Greenville
LB |
Sept.
6, 2012 |
| Tampa/Orlando
LB |
Sept.
11, 2012 |
| Cleveland
LB |
Sept.
12, 2012 |
| Columbus
LB |
Sept.
13, 2012 |
| Columbus
II LB |
Sept.
14, 2012 |
| Fall
Retreat |
Sept.
23-25, 2012 |
| Fall
Summit |
Oct.
25-26, 2012 |
|
*
LB = Local Board Meeting |
Listing
of all
2011-12 Local Board Dates
In
Case You
Missed It
Growth has a price. It can be really expensive
(potentially fatal) if you don't have a good financial model of what your
company is supposed to look like as it grows. Growth
has a voracious appetite for cash -- inventory, accounts receivable, WIP,
fixed assets, etc. It also has a profit hit, as
you bring on staff to support it. Of course, reduced profitability
reduces available cash, as well. One CEBI member
recently said, "We grew ourselves down to breakeven." Here's
how....
5
Reasons
a Spreadsheet
Is Not a CRM
Do you have a Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) system? If you're like most closely-held businesses, the
answer is "No". Or the answer may be "we have a
spreadsheet". News
flash -- a spreadsheet is not a CRM. Despite the things you can do
with spreadsheets, they're simply incapable of doing the things you need from a
CRM. Specifically, they
don't support multiple simultaneous users. If you're reviewing call
reports, you don't want someone else locked out of entering one, do
you? That's not all --
here are
5
Reasons a Spreadsheet is Not a CRM....
Nominate
a Member
CEBI members are
continuing to nominate business associates as new members.
Would you do someone else the favor of introducing them to
CEBI?
Just use this Nomination
Form, and we'll contact you to decide the best
way to approach your nominee.
|
Miss a CEBI
Newsletter?
Archives
are available here
|
|
