Corporate CPR Episode 49: How to Build a Bought-in Culture within Your Workforce

On today’s show, we discuss how to build a bought-in culture within your workforce.

Brandon Seigel is a published author, internationally recognized consultant, and serial entrepreneur. 

Seigel is the CEO of Fly High Business Builders, President of Wellness Works Management Partners, and COO of Every Child Achieves. Seigel brings nearly twenty years of executive leadership experience empowering workforces of all sizes in reaching new levels of engagement, empowerment, and success. Throughout his storied career, Seigel has empowered entrepreneurs throughout the United States to streamline operations, build winning teams, implement effective business models, and ultimately transform new ventures for optimum success. 

Seigel’s passion is working with purpose-driven enterprises in the health, wellness, and education sectors in which he has been featured by CBS, MSNBC, Wallstreet Journal, CEO Biz, and more. 

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The 6 Biggest Challenges to Successful Project Delivery

Coming up with ideas for your business is one thing, but executing those ideas involves challenges of coordinating multiple teams in an effective way. Here are some common project delivery issues that you need to keep in mind when developing a strategy for your business.

The 6 Biggest Challenges to Successful Project Delivery

1. Unclear Goals and Objectives

If the endgame of a project is unclear to the teams involved in executing it, there won’t be a unified vision for people to work towards. This will lead to confusion and a lack of cohesion between team members, impacting the quality of the results you get. Giving everyone an easily-understood goal right from the start of the project helps to keep everybody on the same page.

2. Scope and Budget Creep

Hand-in-hand with the issue of unclear project objectives is the common problem of scope creep. This refers to when the intended goals of a project begin to become broader over time as a result of factors that weren’t taken into account when goals were being set, often leading to a project going over budget. Planning ahead of time to clearly define the scope of a project is essential to avoid these issues.

3. Poor Communication

Very few worthwhile projects can be completed by a single individual, especially in the business world. That’s why coordination and collaboration between and within different teams involved in a project is essential. Providing the right communication infrastructure for your workforce will allow for improved teamwork, fewer misunderstandings, and a more cohesive approach to the project.

4. Conflict Between Team Members

Another aspect of communication issues that can impact a project, conflict within the team carrying out the project can also lead to negative results. This conflict is only natural at times, as projects are important to the people who work so hard on them. Good leadership is required to resolve disputes in a fruitful way, leading to a better end result that takes everybody’s feedback into account.

5. Lack of Contingency Plans

No matter how thorough and well thought-out the plan behind a project is, there are inevitably going to be unexpected variables that come up. Being prepared for these circumstances before they arise will help you resolve issues in a calm manner with no unnecessary panic involved. Developing plans for various ‘what-if’ scenarios in advance will help give your project the flexibility it needs to succeed.

6. Deadline Issues

One often-overlooked factor in the success or failure of a project is the deadline given for the project. A lax deadline will cause a project to fall on the backburner, while an impractically short deadline will lead to corners being cut and substandard results. Figuring out realistic time management for your projects will allow you to give your teams exactly the amount of time they need to thrive while still maintaining high efficiency.

The project implementation tools that we offer will give you everything you need to tackle these issues and any other challenge carrying out your project entails. Contact Project Genetics and see how our management consulting services can benefit your business!

Corporate CPR Episode 48: The Hidden Champions Market

On today’s show, we discuss the hidden champions market, what their success looks like, what makes them successful, and how you can apply those learnings to your organization.

Hermann Simon is the Founder and Honorary Chairman of Simon-Kucher & Partners, today the world’s leading price consultancy with 41 offices and 1600 employees.  From 1995 to 2009 he served as the CEO and is the firm’s Honorary Chairman today.  

He is an expert in strategy, marketing, and pricing, and the only German in the “Thinkers50 Hall of Fame” of the most influential management thinkers in the world. In German-speaking countries he has been continuously voted the most influential living management thinker. The magazine Cicero ranks him in the top 100 of the 500 most important intellectuals.

Professor Simon has published over 40 books in 30 languages, including world bestsellers on Hidden Champions and price management. His most recent book is True Profit! No Company Ever Went Broke from Turning a Profit. His new book Hidden Champions in the Chinese Century: Ascent and Transformation will be published this spring. 

Simon holds honorary doctorates from IEDC Business School of Bled (Slovenia), from the University of Siegen (Germany) and from Kozminski University Warsaw (Poland). He is a honorary professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. In China, the “Hermann Simon Business School” is named after him.

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Why Is Technical Project Management Important?

The success of your business doesn’t happen by chance. It requires precise planning and having the right people in the right positions working to make those goals come to fruition. The world we live in is technologically advanced, and that’s not going to change any time soon. To ensure your business is using technology to its advantage, it’s important to understand why having technical project management is so important.

The Importance of Technical Project Management

The people you hire to work for your company bring a specific set of expertise that is invaluable, but when it comes to technology, this is a field that is changing rapidly. Not everyone in your company is going to have the skills and experience necessary to keep your business operating optimally. They could learn, but how much time and effort is that going to take? Don’t you need them focused on the job you hired them for?

If you and your employees aren’t on top of the latest developments, your business might be falling behind. You have to be flexible and adaptable to make it in the ever-evolving world of business. When it comes to the importance of project management and technology and what it can do for you, here are some questions you need to consider:

Do You Have Experience With Hardware and Software Installation?

It takes more than just having computers in your office building to keep your company running. You need the right programs and systems to take care of business. If you don’t know what those are (or how they may change over time), then you might find yourself lagging behind your competition.

Do You Know How to Get Your Business in Front of Customers Online?

Not only do you need the right technology to keep your business running efficiently, but you also need to use technology to attract and retain customers. It’s not enough to have a website online anymore: you need a presence. With the right project management, finding and keeping customers will be a breeze.

Are You Familiar With Trends and Upcoming Changes in Technology?

Technology continues to advance, and if you aren’t keeping up with the latest trends and changes, you’re getting left behind. You have a lot on your plate when it comes to your responsibilities at work, and trying to stay on top of technological advancements is a full-time job.

With the right project management for technology, your business will stay on top of the latest technology trends and changes to keep you relevant, and you won’t have to add more tasks and duties to your plate or anyone else’s. You and your employees will be able to focus on what you do best.

Technology has been both a blessing and a curse when it comes to your business. In many ways, it has made it easier to get your product offerings in front of customers, but since it changes so rapidly, without the right expertise and education, keeping up can be challenging. Finding the right technical project management is essential, and if you’re ready to work with the best, contact Project Genetics today.

How to Stay Flexible and Efficient When It Comes to Your Workforce Management

When it comes to a workforce management system, the goal is efficiency. Efficiency and organization go hand in hand and together help lead a business towards success. WFM is a crucial component for many businesses, which is why WFM systems produce such incredible results. However, it’s essential that companies who implement these systems also remain flexible to maintain efficiency when dealing with schedules, people, data, and workflow.

How To Stay Flexible and Efficient When It Comes to Your Workforce Management

Consider the Human Element

Even after implementing a system designed to streamline business operations, schedules, data, and employees, it’s important that you remain flexible because, at the end of the day, you are still dealing with people, not robots. For example, even with seemingly perfect planning, there may be times when employees aren’t able to cover certain shifts, resulting in delays, which may cause temporary frustration.

Knowing this potential situation in advance and understanding that your technology is still managing human beings will allow you to pivot, redirect, and adjust as needed without feeling like the system has failed you or that you’ve failed in your role managing the system.

Employ the Right Overseers

The best way to ensure efficiency in this realm of your business is to find the right employee or employees to run or oversee your WFM system. A skilled, experienced, detail-oriented individual with a background in WFM systems will be able to allocate the right people at the right time to fill the necessary roles and meet the deadlines.

They will also understand the human element, create schedules and shifts that take the lives of the employees into account, and ensure that no one is overworking to the point that it’s negatively impacting their ability to produce results. Doing so will help ensure organization, a streamlined process, and overall business success.

Hire a Consultant

If your business needs a WFM system to ensure the successful outcome of one or more projects, the best way to ensure that your project is successful, stays within the budget parameters, and meets deadlines is by hiring consultants who specialize in WFM systems. A qualified consultant specializing in this aspect of business will take all of the guesswork out of this process for you and ensure that your project is successful.

Both smaller and larger businesses can benefit from hiring a consultant to handle this aspect of their business because they can trust that the management of that project, from the scheduling to the budget and everything in between, will be carefully monitored and directed in such a way that only leads to a positive and profitable and successful outcome.

At Project Genetics, we know that a successful outcome begins with a proven process. We understand the varying needs of larger and smaller businesses and different project demands. Whether you’re walking through a merger or acquisition or your project requires a quick turnaround, our team can help ensure flexibility and efficiency. Contact us today at Project Genetics to learn more about our WFM experience and how it can transform your next project and promote the ultimate success of your business.

Corporate CPR Episode 47: Navigating the Culture Wars with Jim Terry

On today’s show, we discuss how to best navigate the culture wars in your organization.

Jim Terry is a Strategic Communications Executive with nearly three decades of experience working in the state, local, and federal politics – including serving as the Political Director for the US Presidential campaign. A veteran of Capitol Hill, Jim has a special knack for helping businesses and organizations navigate the turbulence at the intersection of business and politics. From taxes to the culture wars, Jim has a unique approach to communicating in today’s outrage-driven environment, including the 5 opportunities most businesses are missing. Jim has appeared on Fox News, CNN, and countless talk radio show across the country and has testified before Congress on multiple occasions.

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4 Signs It’s Time to Rethink Your Enterprise Project Management System

Any business is only as good as its ability to execute its goals and objectives. One of the key components of successful execution is an effective enterprise project management system. But what happens when your current project management system isn’t cutting it? If you’re experiencing any of the following signs, it may be time to rethink your system.

4 Signs It’s Time to Rethink Your Enterprise Project Management System

1. Inefficiencies Working Cross-Department

In any large organization, it’s inevitable that departments will need to work together on projects from time to time. However, when inefficiencies start to crop up in the way that these departments communicate and collaborate, it’s a sign that something is wrong with the current project management system.

In order to avoid these problems, it’s crucial to have a system in place that is designed for cross-departmental collaboration. An effective system will make it easy for team members to stay informed about the latest developments on a project, share files and documents, and coordinate their efforts.

2. Downtime

With the increase in data processing and storage needs, the proliferation of new devices and platforms, and the rise of cloud-based applications, enterprises are finding that their project management systems are struggling to keep up. This is leading to increased downtime, which can have a serious impact on productivity and profitability.

When businesses are faced with these challenges, it’s time to rethink their management systems. By switching to a system that is designed for the modern business landscape, enterprises can avoid the costly delays and disruptions that can occur when critical information is scattered across different departments or disparate systems.

3. Multiple Delivery Methodologies

There are a number of reasons why multiple delivery methodologies have become more prevalent in recent years. First, the nature of work has changed. Projects are now more likely to be distributed across multiple locations and involve a greater degree of collaboration. Second, the pace of change has increased. Projects need to be completed faster and there is less time for planning and reporting the traditional way.

The result of all this is that executives and project managers are under increasing pressure to deliver results. One way to meet this challenge is to adopt a system that can support multiple delivery methodologies.

4. Siloed Teams

In today’s business landscape, the old model of siloed teams with little to no cross-functionality is no longer viable. With the rapid pace of change and the ever-increasing complexity of projects, businesses need a more holistic, collaborative approach to keep up with the competition.

By breaking down silos and encouraging cross-functional collaboration, businesses can tap into the collective knowledge and expertise of their employees. This will lead to improved project execution, increased problem-solving abilities, and overall better business results.

It can be difficult to know when it’s time to switch project management systems, but if you’re experiencing any of the four signs above, you need to make a change. Contact us today at Project Genetics to learn more about our project implementation solutions and how we can help your business make the switch to a better system that will save you time and money in the long run.