Change Management - 4 Key Areas of Concentration

With the speed of change and the rapid pace of the advancement of technology business are required to implement a Change Management (CM) process to stay ahead of the competition. Earlier business models of business CM are outdated and do not fully address the dynamics of the current change model.

Adaptation of technology in the property planning processes is critical to push businesses forward. Responding to business evolution in the property planning world has been brought to a new level with development of BIM technology.

\"change Management\"

Planning for Change:

An effective CM system requires a plan that includes diligent identification of change potential a structured CP(Change Process) and a proficient uses of technology.

Change Process:

Areas with a high potential for change are areas that are impacted the greatest by changes in technology, changes in business objective, retail sales, industry competition etc.

Integration:

Efficient integration is a key factor in the success of a CP. Integration is expedited by effective communication. BIM enables rapid development and communication of change initiatives.

Documentation:

Effective documentation and tracking of a CM directives can be a critical part of a successful CP and can have a big impact on the cost of change.

How do we deal with CM to eliminate waste?

Is it possible to keep up with change?

CM is a fact of doing business. Change is constant in the current business environment and businesses must develop an action plan to deal with change to be competitive.

Work smarter not harder yes, but you must be nimble in the environment.

Have a plan. It will save you time and money.

Change Management - 4 Key Areas of Concentration

Paul DeVetter is a strategic business planning innovator and enthusiast with successful projects throughout the United States. Paul has developed unique planning methodologies that help businesses manage risk, implement change and integrate creativity.

If you would like to learn more about Paul's books and publications please visit his publisher's site at DG-One at http://dg-one.com/

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Chinese Management Style

There are really some cultural difference between Western management and Chinese management. I will be sharing one example of the Chinese management style as the following. Basically I share some ideas of what you should do when you are meeting up with Chinese Businessman.

Te Business Meeting with the Chinese

Management

Preparation

Try and work out the management structure of the Chinese organization. Often the person with the most impressive title is not the one who makes the decisions.
Carry plenty of business cards to distribute.
All documentation should be presented in both Chinese and English.
Language should be kept as straightforward as possible to assist the interpreter.

Using interpreters

An interpreter will be required at most meetings and their role is central to the success of the negotiations.
Ideally a member of your staff should be trained up as he/she will understand the nature of the business under discussion.
An interpreter?s understanding of local dialects (i.e. Shanghaiese) is vital for accurate comprehension.

Before the meeting, check that your interpreter can translate technical or business related words, as well as any numbers which may be mentioned
All documentation should be available to the interpreter.
Agree on signals the interpreter can use to let you know if he/she cannot follow what you are saying.
The process will be slow with an interpreter, so be patient. Take breaks often, as this will allow the interpreter to fully brief any additional remarks made during the conversation.
If your interpreter?s sentences are consistently shorter than yours, take a break to check they fully understand what you are saying.
If your party includes other Chinese members, do not make your interpreter lose face by having the other members openly question their translation, except in moments of serious confusion.
Attempt to make eye contact through the interpretation process.

Gift giving

Corporate gift giving is an expected part of the Chinese business scene. Make sure the gifts take the form of objects and not money. Items like pens or a book from your native country. All gifts should be wrapped, but do not expect them to be unwrapped in your presence.

Chinese Management Style

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The Need For Strategic Thinking Is Critical To Effective Continuous Improvement

Strategic thinking is a mindset or way of thinking about a business or organization. It is a process whereby you learn how to make your business vision a reality by developing your abilities in team work, problem solving, and critical thinking. Strategic thinking is the process whereby you examine the implications of your choices and analyze the options available to you before making a decision.

Strategic thinking is applicable and useful in a wide range of situations, including developing strategies for a company, making a business or personal decision, or just understanding a situation. Strategic thinking is marked by beginning with a focus on the Vision and Objectives for the future and then working backwards to the present situation. Without comprehensive Strategic Thinking the organization risks making quick decisions that lack the creativity and insights derived through a Strategic Thinking process.

\"strategic Management\"

Purpose

The purpose of Strategic Thinking is to create a strategy that is a coherent, unifying, integrative framework for decisions especially about direction of the business and resource utilization. The main purpose of strategic thinking is about how to outmaneuver your competitors in strategic planning.

Strategic thinking is an attempt to think through as many "results" that come from our actions that defeat our actions. Strategic thinking is a process in which significant issues and decisions are considered in a special way. Strategic Thinking is a planning process that applies innovation, strategic planning and operational planning to develop business strategies that have a greater chance for success.

Process

Why is it so much easier to just do and do, manage crises, put out fires, without thinking, planning, and making everyday action purposeful?

If you aspire to improve operational performance, the process of strategic thinking must become second nature to you. Outcome-driven thinking is the process of approaching every interaction with a desired result in mind. It focuses on long term rather than short term, Involves systems thinking, and focusing on the big picture, NOT just the small one Strategic thinking focuses on identifying leverage (how can we use what we have to maximum advantage)

In its highest form, strategic thinking is a distinct perspective that helps you break down complicated processes into easily manageable pieces that can be arranged to present a clear set of alternatives. The purpose of the process is not to have you categorize thoughts you already have, but to organize them in a systematic fashion so that new thoughts can emerge.

Strategy

The word strategy is derived from the Greek strategia, which referred to that which is "general. Strategy is one of the most over-used and yet misunderstood words in business. The military theorist, von Clausewitz (1832), said strategy is "the use of the engagement (a set of actions) for the purpose of the war.

In strategy, we are trying to convert information to knowledge to a decision about a course of action in the future. Hence, even during the implementation of strategy, we cannot escape the continuing need for thinking.

Understanding the Situation

Strategic thinkers develop an understanding of what needs to be accomplished by their work teams and strive to influence the way both senior managers and line staff view work priorities. It requires patience and an understanding of organizational dynamics. In its most basic sense, strategic thinking is about analyzing opportunities and problems from a broad perspective and understanding the potential impact your actions might have on others.

Strategic thinking must be used to improve understanding of the environment and the options available to the business. It involves an understanding of how the situation will change over time and the importance of maneuvering for superior position and flexibility to deal with turbulence and to keep ahead of the competition. Gaining employee understanding of how the work they perform links to the realization of the departmental strategies and the corporate strategic plan. Working on strategy is not so very difficult if you focus on understanding what you are trying to achieve.

Conclusion

Strategic thinking is often described as reflective dialogue about the future so that one can avoid pitfalls as well as take advantage of opportunities. Strategic thinking is more about effectiveness and considers transforming change, while strategic planning centers on achieving greater efficiencies through incremental change. Strategic thinking is understood as a deliberate and creative process as well as the resulting state of mind. Strategic Thinking allows proactive thinking beyond your current activities and traditions deals with change positively by responding to it effectively involves making decisions that consider changes or anticipated changes in the environment Strategic Thinking is not a one shot deal a box of tricks or bundle of techniques a quick fix to solve immediate problems Without comprehensive Strategic Thinking the organization risks making quick decisions that lack the creativity and insights derived through a Strategic Thinking process.

The Need For Strategic Thinking Is Critical To Effective Continuous Improvement

For information about the ALERA Group "Strategic Thinking for Operations and Projects" visit the ALERA Group website at http://www.aleragroup.com

Brice Alvord has over thirty years experience as an internal and external performance improvement consultant. He holds a BA in Sociology/Psychology from Central Washington University and an MBA degree from City University of Seattle. He is the author of over two dozen books on continuous improvement and training.

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Anger Management Techniques - 5 Tips to Reduce Anger

What is anger?

Anger is one of the most afflicting ailments to your mind frequently at any time when the individual goes out of moods. It is identified with a deluded mind highly unrealistic causing distress to self image and damaging to others. Angry outbursts are affecting negatively one's relationships with family and neighbours around known or unknown. A person with anger deserves for nothing well of his occupations. As such one is safe with a minimum knowledge of anger management techniques to reduce anger.

\"anger Management\"

Effects of anger:

Just like stress and anxiety, anger has a profound negative effect in the body against maintaining health. Biological description points out that the brain is stimulated to induce pituitary glands for excessive secretion of hormones readily to affect almost every part of the body. The effect of hormonal over secretion continues to surge around the body and develop increased heartbeat, suffocation in the lungs, increased normal glucose levels and hypertension with raised body temperature.

Religion and anger stress management:

Almost all religions emphasize that anger is the first enemy with the individual occupying a hidden place and bursting out in unwarranted situations. Until it is hidden and sleeping at unconscious level, there is no problem. Once it emerges with no reason or for some reason, the individual is liable for suffering with the bad effects. Away from religious bearing, psychological and practical physical inconveniences should be taken into account and necessary precautionary anger reducing steps should be taken.

Anger reducing tips:

1. The prime anger management tool is to retreat and rethink before reacting to say anything so that you are safe from regretting later.
2. Don't grudge with others but try to forgive because it is highly unreasonable to expect everyone to behave positively in your line.
3. Humour is the best of all anger reducing techniques by just imagining yourself in clownish play with anger.
4. Try to respond rather than instantly react to anger triggers and stressors.
5. Leave yourself from the perplexing scene until you choose to respond free from anger. You can better have a reach out to someone you trust for advice.

To put in practice anger management techniques may be difficult at thoughts and may require time and efforts when facing situations sending you in rage. At climax, you may not be for coping with the strategies and follow the tips to reduce anger. The ego supporting your anger should be thrown off and should think much about the peaceful life you're to enjoy by doing so.

There is a philosophy which advocates avoiding anger and making life enjoyable with anger management group activities. Anger is very often triggered to meet bad consequences by the discrepancy arising between what we expect beyond and what we are really worth to achieve. Learning to accommodate with all inconveniences and adjust those expectations-sometimes encouraging positively and other times declining negatively can help you to cope with difficult situations or people or even cope with ourselves.

Having a comprehensive knowledge about the characteristics and disadvantages of anger, we are to keep a keen watch of our mind carefully at all times. We will be then on the safer side to recognize instantly whenever it begins to develop and cause physical as much as mental undesirable consequences which are in general felt torturing.

Anger Management Techniques - 5 Tips to Reduce Anger

To know more about stress in caring for your health you are to visit Stress management tips AND stress management in workplace.

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Strategic Management

Strategic management is the process of specifying an organization's objectives, developing policies and plans to achieve these objectives, and allocating resources so as to implement the plans. It is the highest level of managerial activity. It is not a task, but a rather a set of managerial skills that ought to be exerted throughout the organization, in a wide array of functions.

An organization's strategy must be appropriate for its resources, environmental circumstances, and core objectives. The process involves matching the company's strategic advantages to the business environment the organization faces. One objective of an overall corporate strategy is to put the organization into a position to carry out its mission effectively and efficiently.

\"strategic Management\"

A good corporate strategy should integrate an organization's goals, policies, and tactics into a cohesive whole, and must be based on business realities. Business enterprises can fail despite 'excellent' strategy because the world changes in a way they failed to understand. Strategy must connect with vision, purpose and likely future trends.

Strategic management can be seen as a combination of strategy formulation and strategy implementation, but strategy must be closely aligned with purpose.

Strategy formulation involves doing a situation analysis: both internal and external, both micro-environmental and macro-environmental; setting objectives--crafting vision statements (long term view of a possible future), mission statements (the role that the organization gives itself in society), overall corporate objectives (both financial and strategic), strategic business unit objectives (both financial and strategic), and tactical objectives; and planning. This three-step strategy formulation process is sometimes described as determining where you are now, determining where you want to go, and then determining how to get there. These are the essence of strategic planning.

Strategy implementation involves allocation of sufficient resources (financial, personnel, time, technology support); establishing a chain of command or some alternative structure (such as cross functional teams); assigning responsibility of specific tasks or processes to specific individuals or groups; managing the process--monitoring results, comparing to benchmarks and best practices, evaluating the efficacy and efficiency of the process, controlling for variances, and making adjustments to the process as necessary. When implementing specific programs, this involves acquiring the requisite resources, developing the process, training, process testing, documentation, and integration with legacy processes.

Strategy formulation and implementation is an on-going, never-ending, integrated process requiring continuous reassessment and reformation. Strategic management is dynamic. It involves a complex pattern of actions and reactions. It is partially planned and partially unplanned. Strategy is both planned and emergent, dynamic, and interactive.

For strategic management to be a success, organizations must not fail to follow the plan. They should be guided by the set of objectives that they have formulated, envisioning a prosperous business. They should strive to understand customers more thoroughly. Over-estimation of resource competence and under-estimation of time requirements should be avoided. Employee and senior management commitment should be obtained through keeping communication channels open and healthy. Most crucially, the management should acquire the ability to predict environmental reaction and manage change.

Copyright 2007 Ismael D. Tabije

Strategic Management

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Role Of Customer Service In Success Of Business

Business success is dependent on a variety of factors -

a realistic business idea, a well thought-out business plan, an appropriate marketing strategy and great customer service are amongst the top ones. While customer service is a part of marketing, it can be segregated as a separate field on its own. It's important to define the term customer service before we proceed. Customer service includes all aspects of interaction with a customer and speaks to the organization's image in the mind of a customer.

\"strategic Management\"

A customer provides an organization with that most organic of all advertising tools -

word of mouth advertising. A happy and satisfied customer is much more likely to send more customers your way. Further, there is the potential for repeat business, which is the backbone of many businesses. It is obvious that a customer who has been provided with a product or service that he or she desired in the ideal way, would build a relationship with the seller.

Further customer relationship management teaches the business where there are flaws in the system and provides valuable customer feedback. When a business receives feedback, it is able to see the customer's image of the organization and the impression of its services. This tool is invaluable in correcting systems as well as image management for the business. It is also an outsider's perspective, which provides the business owner or management a unique insight.

Additionally, a satisfied customer would be more likely to participate in activities that help to generate customer preference data. This data goes back to the marketing function in assisting the organization to better target and attract it potential customers.

In fact, it would not be a stretch to say that without good customer service, a business would not survive. The old adage 'The customer is always right' has been the foundation of many an organization and what it really means is that keeping customers happy is the foremost principle of any business. The reason for the survival of many small businesses in a tough and competitive market is their ability to provide personalized customer service. It is the human touch that warms and enlivens an organization in the customer's mind and goes towards building a relationship. This relationship is the basis of future growth for a business.

Regular and sustained interaction with a customer ensures that the customer feels connected with the business. For instance, a small pub owner who chats with his customers and knows them by name builds a relationship with them. Further, when he makes sure that their regular bartender makes their drinks and the food is fresh and hot, he is providing customer service. The customers have a good experience and feel that the establishment treated them well. Once an organization grows or goes online, there is less potential for this face-to-face interaction and then the business must find creative ways to ensure customer satisfaction.

The role of customer service to a business, online or offline, is essential to its growth and survival.

Role Of Customer Service In Success Of Business

William King is the director of Wholesalers & Drop Shipping Trade Suppliers, Trade Wholesale Suppliers Directory, and Drop Shippers & Wholesale Drop Shipping Products Directory. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.

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Socio-Technical Systems and Organizational Values

Modern organizations define themselves using statements of vision. They state their vision in terms of human resources and technology, a socio-technical view. Modern organizations also define themselves in terms of values. New employees entering the organization learn the value system from employees with longevity in it. How organizations incorporate socio-technical systems as a reinforcement tool of their value system is the focus of this paper.

Values

\"strategic Management\"

In business, small and large, values determine course the business sets for itself. Yukl (2006) defines values as key statements of an organization. The value statement is ideological, what the organization considers important. Many values find their way into organizations including customer service, innovation, satisfaction of internal and external constituents, and excellence. Yulk’s view of values suggests something deeper. Organizational values and value creation are the soul of competitive edge, competitive advantage.

Hill and Jones (1998) write of management values as statements of how managers will conduct themselves and how they will do business. Managers in high performing businesses conduct themselves with stakeholders in mind. Winston (2002) suggests that high performing leaders accept the values of the organization as being of higher consequence and importance.

Systems

Values of an organization (customer service, innovation, satisfaction) imply an organization is a system. Senge (1990) tells us that organizations are organic systems of interconnected and interrelated sub-groups. This suggests more than brick and mortar structures, it suggests organizations of people, technology, and social interaction. Technology, according to Davis (1996), is a “conceptual bridge” between science and economics. This link gives form to how organizations manage. Conversely, Wren (2005) presents the view of technological change being disturbing to the social system of an organization. Socio-technical systems offer leverage to dispel the disturbing nature of change.

Socio-Technical Systems

Lee (2000) explains social of the socio-technical systems as the habitual attitudes of people. He includes the relationships between people with their values and behavioral styles. He also describes it as the formal power structure identified using traditional organizational charts. However, he continues with the aspect of an informal power structure based on influence and knowledge. The technical system makes up second part of the dyad. This system, according to Lee (2000), is “machinery, processes, procedures and a physical arrangement.”

A socio-technical system, abbreviated STS for the remainder of this paper, is people and technology blended. Yet, this is a much too simple definition. Some elements of STS are closely interrelated; therefore, it is not easy to distinguished items within a STS as purely technical or purely social. Aldridge (2004) explains STS as approaching organizational work groups as social systems and macro social systems. A third level of work observed is primary work systems. The primary work system according to Aldridge is one or more work units involved in face-to-face work. Work units collaborate jointly and have support of management, relevant technology, resources, and workplace specialists. Aldridge includes the writings of Trist (1981) when defining macro social systems, “…macro social systems include systems in communities and entire business sectors as well as societal institutions” (Trist, 1981, pg. 11). The STS design in work groups is increasing productivity of the group and increasing job satisfaction through optimization of social factors and integration with technical factors.

Elements of STS

According to an anonymous article on STS, the author explains some of the components integrated into a functional socio-technical system. Explained separately, each component has its own character; however, it is clear how closely linked each is and overlaps the others.

• Hardware is computers and computing peripherals, the classic technology of modern business. Organizations today do not exist without some kind of computing network, connecting wires, routers, and individual workstations.

• Software includes operating systems (Windows, UNIX, Apple, etc). As technology advances, it is increasingly difficult to separate hardware and software. Software varies based on organizational needs; yet software allows companies to create data for storage on hardware devices. The software often runs from the same hardware devices used for storage. Software facilitates social interaction by allowing distantly remote people an opportunity to message each other in almost real-time.

• Physical surroundings (physical setting) help establish the social and technical rules of engagement. Building with an open floor plan and open desk arrangement allows open social interaction among workers. Buildings with offices separating workers reduce interaction. Managers with an inner sanctum guarded by a secretary’s office establish a hierarchy of power.

• People, by name and by title, make up an integral part of any organization culture, social environment. Within an organization people have roles they play, positions they work in, and ancillary roles they exercise. Within their roles, they use their surrounds with hardware and software to support their roles.

• Procedures define operational procedures in an organization. Procedures are statements of rules and norms formally written. Outside the formal written procedural statements are unofficial ties to data flow and reporting relationships. Procedures attempt to define culture in a STS but the informal norms and behaviors are equally important to understand when developing a STS model.

• Laws and regulations are similar to procedures but impose stronger public sanctions when violated.

• Data and data structures in STS involve collection and storage of an organization’s information. Additionally, this element explains data use, retrieval, or presentation for use.

An organization’s socio-technical system supports the business as a great place to work. More than that, STS is a key factor to supporting leadership initiatives, vision, and values. Observed in 1949 in Great Britain, researchers developed socio-technical systems in South Yorkshire coalmines. They saw the technical improvements in mining coal combined with highly motivated work groups who self-regulated and collaborated closely became more productive than traditional work groups with the same technological improvements. Another observation was the self-regulated and collaborative teams were more cooperative among themselves, performing multiple tasks rather than one man one job, and committed to Ortgeist (spirit of the place) (Aldridge, 2004).

STS Applied Organizationally

A recent Internet search found the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration Logistic Center’s statement of beliefs and commitments. Not all cited here; however, these selected ones reinforce concepts of socio-technical systems.

• Results Oriented – The Logistics Center constantly drives for results and success. We drive issues to closure, persist despite obstacles and opposition, and maintain a high energy level. Our employees readily put in the needed time and effort to achieve results.

• Innovation – The future of the Logistics Center is assured only as long as it welcomes and rewards innovation, creativity, and resourcefulness. We recognize “trial and error” as being elements of innovation and continuous improvement. Innovation has been the cause of success for the Logistics Center.

• Quality – We provide the best quality in all of our products and services. Our goal is to exceed industry benchmarks.

• People – People are our most important resource. We respect the individual’s dignity and value their contributions. We invest in training and education to give our employees the tools to make the Logistics Center a world-class organization.

• Teamwork and Collaboration – The Logistics Center provides a positive and challenging environment that supports the achievement of mission goals and fosters team spirit. We are partners with our customers, stakeholders, suppliers, and are committed to union/management partnerships.

• Integrity and Openness – The Logistics Center values trust, sincerity, honesty, and candor in relationships both personally and organizationally. We encourage our employees to express ideas, opinions, and thoughts in an honest and genuine manner.

• Corporate Citizenship – The Logistics Center values a positive corporate image and is sensitive to our corporate responsibilities to the community. We actively participate and support community involvement.
In post-industrial organizations, STS helps leaders create constructs that are enabling, empowering, in turn, enabling and empowering accelerates communication, and learning and knowledge. Within the context of knowledge building and knowledge, sharing, STS, through collaboration, allows work groups’ flexibility to develop original work patterns and competitive advantage.

Leaders Role in STS

Davis (1996) urges successful leaders to lead as if the future is now. Accomplishing this means seeing the final product rather than the processes of the product. STS employs the right people and the right technology at the right time within a structure that supports organizational values.
In an environment of rapid change, having a competitive advantage allows organizational foresight. However, foresight requires maintaining core values. Socio-technical systems support organizational values by maintaining organizational memory and shared experiences. Memory and shared experiences provide views of where the organization was while keeping everyone tracking toward future vision. An organization with strong STS standards uses their technology to preserve history, create performance benchmarks, and develop knowledge and learning environments. Strong quality systems demonstrate teams’ abilities to eliminate obsolete practices while staying within the framework of original values.

Conclusion

Stated earlier, organizations are systems of interrelated parts with differing skills and skill levels. STS, working within an organizations value system promotes wisely those with skills, knowledge, and ability. Additionally, STS, working with the value system, provides workers with the tools needed to grow in the skills, knowledge, and abilities so they, too, can be promoted. Members of self-directed teams seek new or improved skills from within the STS and through their interconnection with team members.
Self-directed teams improved productivity and commitment to the team and organization in English coalmines in 1949 and self-directed teams continue being productive and committed. Therefore, an organization employing socio-technical systems can grow into the future, yet hold fast to its historical past and the values making the group viable.

References

Aldridge, J. W. (2004). aboutChange Solutions. Encyclopedia of Distributed Learning (ISBN 0-7619-2451-5). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Anonymous, (no date). Why a Social-Technical System? Retrieved online January 12, 2006 from [http://www.computingcases.org/general_tools/sia/socio_tech_systems.html].

Anonymous, (1996 – May-June). Maintaining Organizational Memories. TQM/CCI News. Retrieved January 22, 2006 from [http://www.grafix9000.com/documents/ccinews_organizational-memory.pdf].

Davis, S. (1996). Future Perfect. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Hill, C. W. L. & Jones, G. R. (1998). Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Lee, Q., (2000). Quality in the Balance: Six-Sigma – A Socio-Technical System. Retrieved online January 12, 2006 from [http://www.sixsigma.com/library/content/c020902a.asp].

Senge, P. M. (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The art & practice of the learning organization. New York, NY: Currency and Doubleday.

Trist, E. L. (1981). The evolution of socio-technical systems: A conceptual framework and an action research program. Ontario Quality of Working Life Center, Occasional Paper no. 2.

U. S. Federal Aviation Administration – Logistics Center. Organizational Values. Retrieved online January 22, 2006 from [http://www.logistics.faa.gov/StratPlan/values.htm].

Winston, B. (2002). Be a Leader for God’s Sake. Virginia Beach, VA: Regent University, School of Leadership Studies.

Wren, D. A. (2005). The History of Management Thought (5th Ed.) Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Wren, J. T. (1995). The Leader’s Companion: Insights on Leadership Through the Ages. New York, NY: The Free Press.

Yukl, G. (2006). Leadership in Organizations (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Socio-Technical Systems and Organizational Values

Paul Hoffman is a student at Regent University studying toward a Doctor of Strategic Leadership, holds a MA, Leadership and BS, Organizational Communication. He is an adjunct at Bellevue University and Metropolitan Community College teaching Leadership, Business Communication, and Speech. Paul is a military veteran of almost 22 years, has ten years retail management experience, and six years academic and teaching experience.

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What Causes Anger?

Anger is a strong emotion of displeasure caused by some type of grievance that is either real or perceived to be real by a person. The cognitive behavior theory attributes anger to several factors such as past experiences, behavior learned from others, genetic predispositions, and a lack of problem-solving ability. To put it more simply, anger is caused by a combination of two factors: an irrational perception of reality ("It has to be done my way") and a low frustration point ("It's my way or no way"). Anger is an internal reaction that is perceived to have a external cause. Angry people almost always blame their reactions on some person or some event, but rarely do they realize that the reason they are angry is because of their irrational perception of the world. Angry people have a certain perception and expectation of the world that they live in and when that reality does not meet their expectation of it, then they become angry.

It is important to understand that not all anger is unhealthy. Anger is one of our most primitive defense mechanisms that protects and motivates us from being dominated or manipulated by others. It gives us the added strength, courage, and motivation needed to combat injustice done against us or to others that we love. However, if anger is left uncontrolled and free to take over the mind and body at any time, then anger becomes destructive.

\"anger Management\"

Why We Need to Control Anger

Just like a person who is under the control of a street drug---a person under the influence of anger cannot rationalize, comprehend, or make good decisions because anger distorts logical reasoning into blind emotion. You become unable to think clearly and your emotions take control of your actions. Physiologically speaking, anger enacts the fight or flight response in our brain, which increases our blood pressure and releases adrenaline into our bloodstream, thereby increasing our strength and pain threshold. Anger makes us think of only two things: (1) Defend, or (2) Attack. Neither of these options facilitates a good negotiation.

Internal Sources of Anger

Our internal sources of anger come from our irrational perceptions of reality. Psychologists have identified four types of thinking that contribute to anger.

1. Emotional reasoning. People who reason emotionally misinterpret normal events and things that other people say as being directly threatening to their needs and goals. People who use emotional reasoning tend to become irritated at something innocent that other people tell them because they perceive it as an attack on themselves. Emotional reasoning can lead to dysfunctional anger in the long run.

2. Low frustration tolerance. All of us at some point have experienced a time where our tolerance for frustration was low. Often stress-related anxiety lowers our tolerance for frustration and we begin to perceive normal things as threats to our well-being or threats to our ego.

3. Unreasonable expectations. When people make demands, they see things as how they should be and not as they really are. This lowers their frustration tolerance because people who have unreasonable expectations expect others to act a certain way, or for uncontrollable events to behave in a predictable manner. When these things do not go their way, then anger, frustration, and eventually depression set in.

4. People-rating. People-rating is an anger-causing type of thinking where the person applies a derogatory label on someone else. By rating someone as a "bitch" or a "bastard," it dehumanizes them and makes it easier for them to become angry at the person.

External Sources Of Anger

There are a hundreds of internal and external events that can make us angry, but given the parameters of a negotiating situation, we can narrow these factors down to four general events.

1. The person makes personal attacks against us. The other side attacks you along with the problem in the form of verbal abuse.

2. The person attacks our ideas. The other side chops down our ideas, opinions, and options.

3. The person threatens our needs. The person threatens to take away a basic need of ours if they do not get their way i.e. "I'll make sure you'll never work in this city again."

4. We get frustrated. Our tolerance level for getting things done might be low or affected by any number of environmental factors in our lives.

Factors That Lower Our Frustration Tolerance

1. Stress / Anxiety. When our stress-level increases, our tolerance for frustration decreases. This is why there are so many domestic disputes and divorces over financial problems.

2. Pain. Physical and emotional pain lowers our frustration tolerance. This is because we are so focused on taking care of our survival needs, that we do not have time for anything or anyone else.

3. Drugs / Alcohol. Drugs and alcohol affect how our brain processes information and can make a person more irritable or bring forward repressed emotions or memories that can trigger anger.

4. Recent irritations. Recent irritations can also be called "having a bad day." It's the little irritations that add up during the course of the day that lower our tolerance for frustration. Recent irritations can be: stepping in a puddle, spilling coffee on your shirt, being late for work, being stuck in a traffic jam, having a flat tire.

Recognizing the Physiological Signs of Anger

By recognizing the physiological signs of anger, we can attune ourselves to know when it is time to take measures to make sure that our level of anger does not get out of control. Here are some symptoms of anger:

1. Unconscious tensing of muscles, especially in the face and neck.

2. Teeth grinding

3. Breathing rate increases dramatically

4. Face turns red and veins start to become visible due to an increase in blood pressure

5. Face turns pale

6. Sweating

7. Feeling hot or cold

8. Shaking in the hands

9. Goosebumps

10. Heart rate increases

11. Adrenaline is released into your system creating a surge of power.

Am I Right to be Angry?

Damn right you are. You have your own perception and expectation of the world that you live in and when the reality that you live in fails to meet your expectations, then yes you have the right to be angry. Afterall, if everyone thought alike, then the world would be a pretty dull place to live. You are going to run into situations that you don't enjoy. You are going to run into people who don't respect your views and ideas. The feeling of anger is totally justified according to your beliefs and so don't repress or deny those feelings.

Having to right to feel angry does not mean that you have the right to lash out in anger by attacking the other person. You can't change the views of other people to conform to your own because, like you, they have their own right to uphold their view of the world. The best thing you can do is recognize your anger and focus it on the problem instead of your counterpart.

Key Points

Being angry or frustrated is just like being under the influence of a drug. It prevents you from rationalizing and thinking logically.

Anger is caused by a combination of an irrational perception of reality and a low frustration point.

Anger is a natural response and you have every right to be angry, but you must learn to keep that anger in check during a negotiation because once you react in any negotiation, then you lose the agreement.

What Causes Anger?

Tristan J. Loo is an experienced negotiator and an expert in conflict resolution. He uses his law enforcement experience to train others in the prinicples of defusing conflict and reaching agreements. Visit the Street Negotiation website at http://www.streetnegotiation.com or contact tristan at: tristan@streetnegotiation.com

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Risk Management

What is Risk Management?

Without referring to the millions of websites and documents knocking about that talk about Risk Management, I want to try and give a simple view from the perspective of someone who has to manage risk day to day across major projects. This is real risk management, hands on.

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Of course, "Risk" and "Risk Management" will have variations of the same general meaning depending on the circumstances or context to which it is applied, but in principal, all risk management will follow more or less the same process.

So, what is a Risk? A risk can be any influence on an expected or planned outcome that changes that outcome. In child-talk, it's anything that could stop you getting what you want or expect.

Here's an important note: Risk hasn't happened yet. If the outcome has already changed as a result of a risk "happening" then it's no longer a Risk, it's an Issue and has to be managed differently.

So basically - A risk is something, anything, that could happen that will impact or change a desired or planned outcome. There are so many different ways to state this that, as simple as the concept is, it can easily get confusing. Let me give you an example;

"If it rains today then the field trip has to be cancelled" - the risk is that it may rain. The impact is that the planned trip will have to be cancelled. Risk Management is recognizing the risk potential analyzing the probability and impact and either mitigating it or preparing alternative options that will allow the original plan to succeed.

Risk Management 101

On some of my projects in Asia I've had to seriously consider the impact of rain on project outcomes. I was on one job in Korea, Seoul, where we had a limited time to move a banks' trading office from an old building that had been sold off, to a new building. The old building owner declared bankruptcy and sold off the office block. The new owner, the government, kicked everyone out on short notice. We had 3 months to find a new building, fit it out and move 200 staff including 120 trading positions.

This really tested my teams Risk Management ability. This was a working business, the only window to move the 200 staff was over a weekend - after trading stopped on Friday evening and before it started on Monday Morning. Guess what, we had a Typhoon heading in, and for those that don't know how things work in Asia - Typhoons are given warning signals as they approach by the local authorities.

Each signal indicates a level of "threat" and or probability of a direct strike. As the signal rises in strength the threat (and danger to life and property) becomes imminent and public services shut down. People are told to go home or stay off the streets and, for several hours to several days, everything grinds to a halt.

I had a stressful time managing risk by the hour. The decision to roll back the move to the old office or proceed and hope we got everything in before the typhoon hit was a 15 minute review, every 15 minutes for the first half of the weekend. That was Risk Management like I never had to manage before. Risk Management is critically important to project work.

What is Risk Management?

So, the meaning of "What is a Risk" should, I hope, be graphically clear now..? Risk Management is the process of managing risk as it relates to specific circumstances. The techniques, tools and processes used to manage risk are quite pragmatic and common-sense. But we all know that there's no such thing as "Common Sense" so the best way to get a consistent framework around managing risk is to learn some best practices based on industry proven templates and methodologies.

I'm not here to push one methodology or best practice against another. I have my personal preferences based on my industry and experience but I know and have seen many other project managers use varying techniques and tools in Risk Management, all valid and most of them effective at doing the job.

In a follow up article I will talk more specifically about Project Risk Management. I'll share some templates and examples and hopefully stir up some discussions too. There's no one right way to do Risk Management but there is a consistent framework that should be followed and there are some very good industry standards in Risk Management space.

Risk Management

Peter invites you to comment on the article you have just read. Please help by leaving constructive feedback to help improve the quality and content on Change Management for the benefit of interested readers. Please do subscribe to our monthly Newsletter and receive monthly updates on developments and activities around IT Project Management in Singapore.

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Organizational Structures In Project Management

One aspect of project management that used to receive quite a bit of attention in the 1950s and 1960s was the project organizational structures. A myriad of new organizational structures have appeared on the scene in the last couple of decades but they still lack many of the desirable qualities in the traditional methods. Ultimately, project management directors seek organizational methods that facilitate teamwork, can maximize the use of limited resources, efficiency and quality in the way a project is completed and how goals and objectives are achieved. This article will examine the three main traditional organizational structures for project management. These three structures are functional organization, project organization and matrix organization.

Functional Organization This structure is by far the oldest of the organizational methods but remains one of the most successful. This method performs best when used for routine work functions and the upholding of quality and work standards. Functional Organization structures assign projects in two different ways. One way involves the project being assigned to a specific functional manager who then coordinates with the other departments for them to each contribute. Alternatively, projects can be shuffled around to different departments where each department manager ensures that their parts of the work have been completed.

\"project Management\"

This method does not work very effectively when used in facilitating complex projects. One of the major criticisms of this organizational structure is the lack of built-in employee recognition, measurement and reward for project performance. Similarly, there is very little individual accountability for any project management tasks that need to be performed.

Project Organization Project Organization is a structure that is specifically designed for executing projects. It is specifically tailored to meet the demands of complex projects by isolating unique work and maintaining a strong focus on completing the project. Once the project is completed, this structure disbands. This structure is effective in maintaining dedicated resources throughout the life of the project.

The major criticism of this structure is that it is inefficient in transferring technology and the use of resources. Also, by the time the members actually begin acting as a cohesive team, the project is over and the organization dissolves. Since this project has dedicated resources throughout its life, major inefficiency ensues when there are underutilized employees during certain parts of the project.

Matrix Organization Matrix Organization is a project management structure that evolved from the recognition of inherent flaws in the Functional Organization and Project Organization structures. Created in the 1970s, this structure combined the best components of these two structures. This model functions very well when there are multiple projects being coordinated at once. The functional managers oversee the staffing, training, job assignment and evaluation of the project's personnel. The functional specialists are assigned one or more projects and oversee that these individualized projects' achieve their objectives are completed through maximum resource efficiency.

Despite its recognition and avoidance of the flaws involved in other structure, Matrix Organization still does have some problems of its own. Individual employees report to at least two managers which can often lead to ambiguity and conflict. These problems can be avoided through good communication and solid leadership between managers.

This article simply provided an overview of several project management organizational structures. Functional Organization, Project Organization and Matrix Organization are the three most traditional project management structures that are still used today because of their effectiveness. However, do keep in mind that there are plenty of other methods available that may better suit your firm's situation. Nevertheless, the type of organizational structure that should be chosen by your firm depends on the type of project as well as the objectives and goals that it ultimately aims to achieve.

Organizational Structures In Project Management

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Project Management

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Change Management - Coping With Change

Change Management is one of the most common reasons why organisations from the Private or Public Sectors approach Impact Executives for interim managers, who are skilled at handling the most complex of change management programmes, sometimes across different geographies.

Change can occur for lots of different reasons, from the challenges of growth that an organisation is facing, changing global markets, changes in strategy, technological change, competitive processes including M&A, customer pressures or shifting markets.

Management

Research shows that organizations are undergoing major change on average every 3 years, whilst smaller changes are occurring almost continually, and there are certainly no signs in the current economic climate that this will alter. Whilst each change is unique, Interim Managers can introduce different models; the two frequently adopted are either Lewin and Beer or Shaw's model.

Using an interim change manager
But at the end of the day an interim manager has seen it all before and can draw on their immense change management experience, bringing with them sound programme and project management experience. They will understand how to pre-empt stakeholder concerns and possess the leadership skills to effectively communicate, facilitate and coach those resistant to change. Hand-holding those who require it to cope with change, together with all the issues surrounding re-alignment, performance management and motivation. Above all, they will remember that everyone reacts differently to change and has differing fundamental needs that have to be met. Change often involves a loss and people go through a 'loss curve' where expectations need to be managed realistically and fears need to be addressed.

Change management will often involve interim managers playing a leading role in introducing new structures and systems. Above all a seasoned Interim Manager will deliver a change management programme on time and on budget.

Change Management - Coping With Change

Impact Executives

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How to Build Trust and Get Referrals Through LinkedIn

If you're not a member of the social networking site LinkedIn, you should be. Although not as big as Facebook or Twitter in terms of members, LinkedIn is growing. More importantly unlike the other two social networking sites it is less a "social" site and more of a "networking" site. This is a site designed for professionals to "connect" or "link."

There are over 120 million registered users on LinkedIn, making it the largest networking site for professionals to share ideas, connect on potential projects and garner recommendations. In other words, LinkedIn is the one major site on the Internet where you can build trust in terms of being a professional.

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Building Trust

There are various ways to build trust on LinkedIn. The site, which is reminiscent of other social networking sites, allows you to create a professional presence and profile. The key here is to ensure everything that you post on this site is done in a professional manner. This is essential. Do not take this site lightly if you expect to use it to create business connections and opportunities.

Basics include the following:

1. Creating a professional profile with an appropriate picture.
2. Including an up to date resume.
3. Joining appropriate groups.
4. Posting professional updates.
5. Gather recommendations.
6. Creating professional contacts.

Creating contacts may be listed sixth and last, but it is not the least important. It is one major way for you to get recommendations on LinkedIn that you can use to create even more trust.

Referrals

You can get referrals in various ways on this networking site. One way is to create contacts amongst people with whom you have worked or done business. This will then help generate other possible connections with whom you can link. Each person who you connect with will have other connections. In viewing those connections, you may opt to try to link with someone of interest on their list.

Although you can gather recommendations from those you have done business or worked with whenever you want, it's a very good idea to get a recommendation if you're trying to connect with someone on their list who might be an advantageous link for you. The fact that that common person is already a part of your network and the other party's certainly helps. A recommendation puts you a few steps higher, building more trust.

You may even want to ask a present link to be connector between you and another person. You can certainly request that someone on your contact list directly write to the person you're interested in linking to or working with. There's nothing like a personal recommendation or referral for building trust.

Making it Work

The key to building trust on LinkedIn is to always present yourself in a professional manner. Update your profile often, keep you connections fresh and expand your network. Most people don't take the time to work the lines on LinkedIn. Allot some time every day or every other day to do just that. The more established you are on the site, the more trust you'll build and the better your chances will be of getting the kind of referrals you can use to generate more business.

How to Build Trust and Get Referrals Through LinkedIn

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Advantages of Using SharePoint for Your Business

For any business, running day to day events like web content and document management, administrative tasks, managing collaborative workspaces etc need a lot to be done in quick time and without errors. In case you have been looking for a solution to meet your common business needs, you can check out how the collaboration software of SharePoint can come to your rescue.

To begin with, SharePoint can help you to access and use unstructured information in quick time. Remember that when it comes to information related to your business processes, a mere 20% of it is structured. The remaining 80% includes unstructured information that lies scattered in documents, letters, e-mails etc. Since most business application systems are designed to manage only the structured information, retrieving, managing and working with the unstructured information often proves to be a cause of big concern. However, by using SharePoint, you can integrate both the structured and unstructured information systems so that you can access the latter without much hassle. Since the unstructured information is most valuable when you can directly access it in its related (structured) context, SharePoint can prove to be a big boon for the task.

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For business processes that need collaboration, SharePoint can offer a lot of help. For instance, in case members of team are working on a single document, you can keep a tab on who did what by using SharePoint. What's more, you can even link projects to relevant documents. You may also restore earlier versions of any project in case the worker doing the job is prone to making too many mistakes and you want to keep the original document handy in case you need to rework on it from the scratch. Assigning jobs to team members also becomes a cakewalk as SharePoint will send them notifications as and when they are assigned a new task. Thus, you no longer need to buy expensive project management solutions as you can easily manage all projects for your entire organization or team, that too without wasting much of your time.

Apart from helping you with your digital document management tasks so that you can meet industry and government compliance standards, SharePoint also provides the benefit of a central location where you can store and work on the documents, which can significantly reduce duplicated work and emails in an organization. The new DM features of version 2010 can even help you to solve the toughest challenges related to information governance.

Apart from managing jobs related to the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) area, business applications like ERP, CRM can also be simplified with this collaboration software. For example, you can insert and update (new) supplier/customer data, insert purchase/sales orders in your ERP system by means of a solitary SharePoint screen rather than using several ERP screens, and approve new suppliers/customers via SharePoint workflows instead of routing the request forms by mail or fax to reach the approvers. You can even use the SharePoint portal for decentralized time entries in the ERP system rather than doing the job via excel sheets, which are sent to a central person to be entered into ERP.

Some native functionality of this collaboration software can provide you a rich environment to manage sales and service objectives, define relationships, as well as scale, extend, personalize and configure them to fit your business processes.

Thus, SharePoint can help you to bring down the process elapse time, improve communication, enhance quality of data in your business applications, enable quick access to information which helps in faster decision making, and bring user-friendliness, which in turn will improve user satisfaction. So, if you haven't yet used it, it's time to check how this collaboration software can help your business.

Advantages of Using SharePoint for Your Business

Article produced Cathy, Professional writer for otssolutions.com provides information on sharepoint application development, sharepoint development services and more.

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