The first thing that you need to think about is that these are goals for the organization. They are not goals for the management, or goals for the staff, but rather goals for the overall business, so it is important not to get too caught up in thinking about certain individuals or functions.

Goals need to be realistic. It is good to aim high, but you need to base the goals on past experience. For example, if you are a small producer who has only been making plastic bowls for 3 years, then it is not realistic to set a goal of being the market leader on a global basis within the next two years. Clearly it is not wrong to aim to be the world leader in terms of your market, but you do need to be conscious of staying realistic. What could you realistically achieve within the next 5 years?

Goals should not be plucked from the air, but be some aims that will benefit the organization as a whole, not just one section or department. Everyone will be affected by these goals, so they need to benefit everyone in the company.

It is important to think about this with your management team, after all they need to be involved in identifying the four or five strategic goals that you will be setting for the next year or so. If you don’t involve them then they may not have ‘ownership’ of the goals and it may be harder to achieve them.

One key thing to bear in mind is that you need to set specific targets in terms of improvements, if the goals are to be really effective. Don’t just say that you will improve levels of customer satisfaction; instead you should look to be specific and say that you will increase customer satisfaction from 84% up to 94% at least, over the next year or so.

The goal should also have some indication of how this will be achieved. Whilst you don’t need to develop detailed plans at this stage, consider how the goal will be met. For example it would be unrealistic to develop a goal to “change our ERP system in two weeks”. Consider a schedule or other planning tool

Be inclusive, discuss issues and objectives with the work-force. The workforce can start to influence the goals and also be involved in planning how the goals can be met. This fosters a feeling of ownership and the more that staff feel that they ‘own’ the goals, then the more likely they will be to work hard and ensure that they are achieved rather than merely being dictated “from high” and being unrelated to day-to-day activities.

Thus the process of setting organizational goals is not one that is easy to undertake and it does require a significant amount of time. But when done properly having a clear set of organizational goals can unite and bond each and every member of the workforce to radically improve both performance and the morale of a company.

One of the most fundamental processes for managing underperforming staff is known as progressive discipline, which focuses on helping the employee to know that their performance is not up to the expected standard and helping them be aware, through regular feedback, what is happening with regard to their performance. The feedback acts as a way in which the employee can be made aware of what is going well and where improvements need to be made.

In order for the feedback to be useful it needs to be frequent and not only delivered when the performance standards have not been met. The underperforming staff also need to be told when they are performing well or up to the expected standard.

It is also critical to communicate performance expectations and standards so that staff know exactly what is being expected of them and so when they do not meet these standards, they will be aware that they are underachieving. It is obviously unacceptable to simply retrospectively tell a member of staff that they have not performed according to the standards set; they need to know what these standards are!

The manager should also focus on the reasons for under achievement. Why is the employee not performing well? Are there good personal reasons or even organizational problems that are affecting performance? Once the reasons for underachievement are understood, then they are easier to rectify!

Some organizations believe in coaching, so that an employee is given every opportunity to improve their performance. Sometimes this can be an exceptionally useful management tool because coaching can highlight problems within the organization that the employee has failed to highlight to their manager. Coaching can be labor intensive, but on the other hand it ensures that highly skilled employees can be retained and their performance improved and it can also help management to see how the organization as a whole functions, through coaching and spending time with an employee.

Any good manager will also look at his or her own performance as well. Is the manager managing performance in the right way? Are they able to offer guidance, good communication and a clear understanding of the implications of non-performance. Sometimes the manager can assume that these things have been done, but nonetheless, it is important that they are done and that a record is kept to prove that staff have been equipped with all the information required to be clear about performance standards. There will always be a small minority of employees who feel that they can take liberties, always ling on the edge of what is acceptable, but never going far enough to get the sack. That is why good record keeping is good for everyone involved when it comes to managing performance!

Given that there is no ‘magic bullet’ the management of underperforming staff is really down to different processes and strategies, often dependent on the culture and attitude of different organizations. However, the fundamentals of making sure that all staff are fully aware of what is expected of them are really critical. Until organizations have made performance standards clear and communicated them, it is almost impossible to manage underperforming staff!

1. Ensure that everyone is aware that reducing costs is a collective responsibility that is shared by everyone; not just management.

2. Ensure staff understand the rationale behind saving costs and they can relate it to their function/role.

3. Develop your means of communication! Often those at the front line can see where money is being wasted, but the messages never filter upwards.

4. Encourage staff to think both green and mean. Green in the sense of saving energy and mean in the sense of being mean with money.

5. Think up how to incentivize employees for suggesting ideas that can be implemented.

6. Consider the use of consultants carefully. Where organizations are looking to save money utilizing consultants can impact staff morale – where they are used ensure that the workforce fully understand why!

7. Develop a plan/schedule to show when/how ideas will be implemented.

8. Lead by example. If you can be seen to be implementing cost cuttings, then this will foster a culture where people do actively think about reducing costs and it becomes part of the culture of the organization, not something added on later!

9. Some organizations find it useful to have an Energy Champion who will work with staff and management to try to reduce costs.

10. Finally ensure that you keep staff updated with what savings have been made and how much money was saved. This will ensure that their interest is retained and more money is saved in the future.

Encouraging staff to save costs in the workplace is not easy, but it can and should be done, in order to ensure that the workplace is cost effective and uses as few resources as possible.

1. Remember that you are developing a business plan, you are not setting anything down in tablets of stone. The business plan will change and evolve as time goes on. It will not remain the same and it will soon seem a little different, simply because you are outlining your goals, challenges and where you want to be in 5 years time. But the plan can be updated and can be made more fitting to different economic circumstances etc. So don’t panic about getting it exactly relevant to 5 years in the future. Instead concentrate on doing the best you can.

2. Some people can get caught up on the length of their business plan. They think that unless a business plan is say 25 pages long, that it is not of any worth. This is wrong; the business plan can be as long or as short as it has to be. Don’t pad out the plan with unnecessary words or items that really don’t need to be there. Keep it short and fairly punchy. It doesn’t need to be long and turgid.

3. Write the outline for your executive summary now. This needs to be fairly succinct and to enable readers to know what the business is, what you do, what the business aims to do and the objectives that you want to meet. You should include your mission statement in the executive summary but if you don’t have one, then simply write a mission statement, to include as the mission for your business.

4. The business plan may be a way of attracting funding, so you need to be able to showcase your senior personnel; sell them to potential investors. Tell potential investors about the senior management team. Why are they so good? Why do they deserve funding?

5. Give a good analysis of the market. For this you need to analyze the people who want to buy your goods or services, analyze your competition, then look at the buying behavior of target markets. Be thorough in this section and do not simply assume that you have created a market that is failsafe for your product. All markets are vulnerable, you simply need to show that you can survive and keep afloat when times get tough.

6. Marketing needs to be included. You will need to show that you can sell your product and that you have thought about marketing and understand the principles of marketing.

7. It is important to include some kind of analysis that looks at your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats: namely a SWOT analysis. This should be honest and open but above all demonstrate that you have thought everything through and that you are methodical in your approach.

8. Consider the schedule and timings of your plan – don’t be overly optimistic (or too prudent either) set realistic and achievable milestones.

9. You are now coming to the fine detail of the business plan and you will need to ensure that you have included a very methodical 5-year plan projecting where you will be financially in 5 years time. Note that this has to be based on your past financial performance and needs to be accurate. All costs need to be included, such as rent, any payroll, insurances, operating costs and so on.

10. The final point is to simply include all relevant data such as bank statements, excel spreadsheets etc.

These points should be viewed as building blocks, enabling you to get to the end result in a way that is achievable and makes the whole process a whole lot less daunting. Breaking it down in to ‘do-able’ chunks is really the key to writing any business plan!

1. First it is necessary to think about ‘fantastic’. In this sense ‘fantastic’ does not (necessarily) mean fantastic for the employee. Nor indeed is it (necessarily) referring to fantastic for the manager. It is about being fantastic for the company or organization by clarifying objectives and goals, reviewing issues (on both sides!) and setting support plans (i.e. training) in place where required. The result offers real benefit for the company which should then have the added benefit of being pretty good for both the employee and the manager!

2. The employee appraisal needs to be constructive, if not then it risks alienating the employee. Although there may be a need to have some degree of negative feedback, this has to be done constructively if it is to be effective.

3. The appraisal also needs to be as objective as possible. Employees should not be afraid that you either like them or you do not like them. To a large extent, unless you actually own the company, this is irrelevant. What matters is whether or not the company or organization is happy with that employee’s work. It is not personal to you or to the employee.

4. Take a little bit of time in the appraisal to get to know the person, their interests and plans. Sometimes this can be done at the start of the appraisal, by way of an introduction

5. Allow enough time for the appraisal. Often bosses try to rush the appraisal and this results in the employee feeling as if they are not valued at all. Taking sufficient time to have a good chat, means that the employee will feel more valued and therefore will be more happy with the appraisal.

6. Never, never, never come into an appraisal with your notes already written. This is such a bad idea, but many bosses do this because they think that it saves time. Well it might, but you may as well tell the employee that you really don’t give a jot about them, because you can’t spare them any time.

7. You should try to use the appraisal to elicit feedback about any team related issues. Then you can use the feedback to try and prevent any tension within the team and instead the appraisals are a time for consolidating the team and fostering a sense of the team going forward together.

8. During an appraisal an employee may be looking for an indication as to whether or not you think that they may be eligible for promotion. This should be handled delicately; if you think they are not, then go through with them why you hold this opinion. Remember you may be dashing their hopes, so it is best to do this gently.

9. You should foster an atmosphere where the employee is able to give you feedback about your performance and how they feel about work. This is important to the company, so you should try to elicit as much feedback as possible.

10. It is important to act on the feedback you receive. You will use the appraisal to set goals for the employee, but goals in terms of acting on the feedback can be equally as important.

Although these 10 tips are not earth shattering or very difficult, they can indeed transform the appraisal process and make the whole exercise one that really is ‘fantastic’ for the company or organization and as such, benefits both the employee and the boss!

1. The first step to great performance management is considering how it is deployed across the organization. As a discipline it can be deployed across the company, across a function or across key processes – whilst it could be argued that it works most effectively across the entire organization avoiding a scatter gun approach and taking time to consider in what areas and how it will be deployed will pay dividends later.

2. Performance management can be extremely effective in an integrated approach. It can help unify and join together different departments and teams, as well as individuals, so it should not be seen as simply about the workforce or about the production staff.

3. In order to be effective there needs to be a desire and capability to improve which has reliance on change management. If there is no development of both teams and individuals, then there is no real capacity for performance to increase.

4. In order to improve performance it is also important to manage behaviour. This means that staff need to be encouraged to act and behave in a way that fosters better performance.

5. The whole process of performance management should be viewed as something that never starts, nor does it end. It is instead a continuous cycle that will never end, but rather will continue forever.

6. Training and learning is important to ensuring that performance is managed appropriately. Without training and learning, there is little incentive for staff to develop and therefore performance will not be improved.

7. To ascertain training needs and to encourage a culture whereby people feel that they want to grow and develop, employee development or performance reviews are important. These need to be undertaken on a top-down basis, with everyone participating in the process. No one should be too grand for an employee review process.

8. In order to manage performance, there has to be clear goals and performance aims that are set down, understood and agreed by staff and management. The employee review can then see whether or not these aims have been met. These targets need to be achievable, but also really seek to improve performance.

9. The targets that are set down also need to be measurable. They should not be nebulous or something that cannot be ascertained. It is vital that they can be measured or else there is a danger that the targets become much less respected and they are manipulated by staff to their own ends.

10. 360 degree feedback can create be the foundation of performance management. Creating a culture of effective communication can be difficult but when carried out correctly it helps staff feel more valued and part of the process.

Performance management can impact efficiency, competiveness and profits. As such its value is critical, simply because if one organization fails to use a strategic performance management policy, another will adopt it and use it to enhance their performance.

1. Know the extent of your problem. It is easy to assume that communication is reasonable, standard or even poor, but instead it may be terrible, fundamentally flawed and exceptionally poor. So before you try to improve communication know where your organization truly stands. Then you start off from a realistic position, rather than an assumed position.

2. Ensure that managers and top executives, in fact everyone, communicate using as much personal contact as possible. Emails are very useful, but staff can often resent just being told things by email. Instead, having people gather together just for a few minutes can ensure that they feel part of the team. So limit electronic mails.

3. Establish if people understand the directions you are giving them. When you send an email it can be easy for staff to misunderstand some aspects of the directions or instructions. When you meet with staff or the management team, simply ask if you have been clear and if people actually understand. Then you can rest assured that what you want is actually going to be implemented.

4. Don’t shirk away by using time as an excuse. Some managers feel that they don’t have time to meet with staff or that gathering staff together will take up too much time. Time will be saved ultimately by clear communication, so invest your time and the time of your staff in ensuring that communication is improved.

5. Give feedback but also get feedback. This is critical because it has to be a two-way process. The feedback cannot be a one-way street if it is to be meaningful, so ensure that staff can feedback to you as much as you feedback to them. This can take some getting used to, but it is definitely worth the time that it takes.

6. Build communication into the infrastructure of the organization. The organization needs to have communication built in so that it is a fundamentally important part of the company. So the infrastructure needs to accommodate communication; if not then it will always be difficult to communicate effectively.

7. Communicate the good and the bad! Often there is a tendency to try and shield staff from the bad news and to ensure that any potential risks are ignored. This is a mistake because not communicating about the bad things simply gives way to rumors that fly around, with staff imagining the worst case scenario; this impacts significantly on morale!

8. Tell employees that they are valued and tell them in such a way that they know that this is true. They don’t automatically think that they are important and valued and may in fact often feel as if they are invisible or simply replaceable. Helping them to feel an integral part of the team is important and this will help communication in general.

9. Always ensure that communication is seen as important throughout the organization; it should not be the responsibility of one team, but needs to be regarded as something that everyone is responsible for and everyone needs to assume that responsibility.

10. Learn to listen as well as speak. Communication is often assumed to be about speaking, but in fact, listening is as important.

Communication within any organization can be improved, no matter how big or small. It is such a key business enabler, but one that is complex to get right and is as much dependant on the business culture than the tools utilized – however, ignore it at your peril!!

1. Risk cannot be underestimated. Risk management is so integral to project management that it needs to underpin each and every activity, so there is a need to repeatedly undergo risk management, at every stage of a project.

2. Ensure that the management team have an understanding of the fundamentals of project management. When they do, then they are more ready to accept the advice of the project manager and perhaps more importantly, they are less willing to interfere and will simply rely on the project manager as opposed to trying to impose their own suggestions.

3. Understand the dependency of different tasks. This may sound basic, but it is often ignored. The dependency is important because it ensures that the project can flow. If task B is dependent on task A being completed, then B is obviously dependent on A. This inter-dependence needs to be highlighted and there has to be an understanding of the dependency if the project is to be successful.

4. Be aware of all the external influences or dependencies that may come into the picture. These can often drag a project down and have a negative impact. Being aware of these means that you can plan to take action if required. External dependencies cannot be ignored and need to be addressed.

5. Communication is key to project management. Communication is important to ensure that the project manager is aware of what tasks have successfully been completed and which are still ongoing. Without this being communicated throughout the team, risks are still not being managed effectively.

6. Software applications need to be used to ensure that time is managed effectively. Without using software applications time will be taken up doing lots of mundane tasks obtaining information. Often projects can get bogged down in the minutiae of detail, so use software to do the boring bits!

7. Know your schedule! Where are you, where should you be what problems do you have and how does that impact your project. The current reality may be very different from your plan and if so what actions need to take place (rescheduling, refinancing for example.)

8. Once the current reality has to be assessed then resources may well have to be re-allocated to ensure that any potential shortfalls are addressed. This may often be unpalatable, but is necessary to safeguard against problems arising in the future.

9. Take shortcuts at your peril. Sometimes it can be extremely tempting to take shortcuts, but these are not always successful in the longer term, so if shortcuts undermine the methodology that is being used, then they should be avoided or the project can run into unforeseen risks.

10. The final point with regard to better project manager is simply to ensure that enough time is devoted to the project. Lack of time is a risk that is often underestimated within the process, so it needs to be addressed and acknowledged. Ignoring the problem that time constraints can pose is a mistake that is made far too often when it comes to project management!

These steps will not ‘risk proof’ projects but will actually ensure that the project flows more easily and is less risky than if they are simply ignored or shoved under the carpet! Successful project management is always thorough project management.

1. The first mistake is perhaps the most common. That is to ensure that risk is managed effectively. All project managers think that they will be able to manage risk and they think that they are doing this simply by maintaining a risk log. It is obviously important to manage risk but this requires more than a risk register but must include mitigation steps and actions. This may be stressed in all project management books and guidelines, but it cannot be overemphasized. Failure to manage risk one of the key reasons behind cost and schedule over-run.

2. The second most common mistake that project managers make is to fail to communicate. The project is a team effort and it is the role of the project manager to ensure that everyone in the team is aware of what is going on aware of the time schedule and so on. Communication should instead be regarded as being critical.

3. The definitive end result of the project needs to be established right at the beginning of the project. This may seem obvious, but in reality the end result can often be rather nebulous and ill defined. Clearly agreeing the results of the project will help to ensure that everyone knows what is expected and what needs to be delivered. Project Managers must be able to clearly answer – “How do I know I’m finished?”

4. Failure to adopt an agreed methodology for a project can result in lots of time being wasted as different methods are tried and tested. So the methodology is key to a successful project.

5. Project management is about effective delegation and task/stage control. PM’s often assume that no one else is capable of doing tasks, apart from them. This is dangerous because the project can simply fail because the project manager would not delegate. The role of a Project Manager is not someone that will execute all the tasks!

6. Failing to pay attention to the details of tasks is also another big problem that project managers can experience, usually to the detriment of the project. It is necessary to ensure that all details are dealt with to effectively manage risk.

7. Project managers can fail to keep a tight rein on the budget. Without good financial awareness projects are at risk from failure. The budget should be firmly managed or projects are definitely vulnerable.

8. Project managers need to be realistic about resource requirements to ensure projects are delivered against the schedule. If understaffed the project will be at risk of schedule slippage or in worst cases complete failure.

9. Often project managers fail to be realistic about how long things will take. Project managers need to be completely up to speed about how long things will take and what the risks are in terms of time. Time can really kill a project if the project suddenly demands more time than is available.

10. Finally project managers need to maintain the right records and documentation. It is fine to think that a project manager can retain information ‘in their heads’ but if they are incapacitated suddenly or taken ill, then the information will be inaccessible to the rest of the project team. If good records are kept, then this is not an issue. Consider the usage of PID’s, Schedules, risk logs, task/activity breakdowns etc.

These mistakes are common but they are avoidable. Project managers need to remember that they are human and that there are risks associated with every step of a project. Then avoidable mistakes don’t happen and the project is successful!

1. The most fundamental change management practice has to be the principle that change management affects everyone. It is not simply about staff, nor is it simply about process or indeed the management, instead it is about everyone.

2. The change management strategy needs to be a strategy that is honest, open and accessible to all within the workplace so that people can read it and absorb it at their own pace.

3. The overall aim of the change management process is to help the business adapt to change and survive with as little disruption as possible. It should not detract from this aim and needs to be impartial when achieving this goal.

4. Best practice with regard to change management also dictates that there has to be clear, open and honest communication that will happen as a two way process. Staff can expect management to be honest and open, but in turn they also have to be honest and open.

5. The whole process of change management has to be proactive, rather than waiting for things to happen and then reacting, change management has to get in there first and anticipate the events and ensure that people embrace them throughout the organization.

6. The change manager has to be a strong person who is able to identify with people and be empathetic, but be detached enough to persuade them to come on board and embrace the changes. This sounds simple, but in fact requires a strong skill set!

7. The change manager also has a duty to make sure that everyone understands what will happen if change does not happen. This is difficult to achieve without frightening staff. For example, it is almost easy to say that without change everyone will lose their jobs. But this does little for team morale or embracing change. So the change manager has to work hard to ensure that staff understand the implications of no change, but they are not simply accepting change through fear.

8. Often as change happens, decisions are taken that affect the change and things can change dramatically; so when staff have been encouraged to accept change that will result in situation A developing, as the change happens B may develop. So change management has to be flexible if it is to achieve best practice.

9. In order to effectively manage change, best practice requires those involved to be aware of what they can and cannot control. For example, there is always a risk from external factors that cannot be controlled by an organization. This needs to be addressed in the change management strategy.

10. Finally change management has to be involved in managing risk from the first day of action until the end of the change transition period. This is critical because risks do vary and fluctuate, so assessing risks has to be a continuous process.

Implementing change in any organization is difficult and at times the risks can seem insurmountable, but best practice with regard to change management can help reduce the risks and smooth over the period of change, so that everyone concerned is at ease with the process.