mastercraft workbook for achieving business excellence by john spence

Understanding The Pattern of Business Success

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Achieving Business Excellence


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THE 4 I’S

The Formula for Business Success: (T+C+ECF) x DE = Success

How to Avoid the 4 I’s (1-10)

______ Aggressive external market focus.

______ Ridiculously high level of customer focus.

______ Keep the “Main Things” the main things.

______ Bullish on knowledge sharing and learning.

______ Teamwork is mandatory – not optional

______ Passion and commitment at all levels.

______ Foster a healthy paranoia.

______ Revel in change

P P P P


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ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS AUDIT Answer the following questions as honestly as possible using this 1-10 point scale:

1 = Strongly Disagree 3 = Disagree Somewhat 5 = Not Sure

7 = Agree Somewhat 10 = Strongly Agree

1. We have a clear and detailed vision for the direction of our company that is very well communicated

throughout the entire organization: ________

2. Every employee has clear / quantifiable / observable performance objectives: ________

3. There is a high level of very open and honest communication throughout the organization: ________

4. I have a high level of trust in the skills, abilities, and integrity of my co-workers: ________

5. There is a high sense of urgency within the organization to get things done: ________

6. We have only the best, highly competent people in all areas of the organization: ________

7. We focus very intently on the needs of our customers: ________

8. There is no politics, rumor-mongering or finger-pointing within our organization: ________

9. Our key leaders operate as a highly-effective team: ________

10. There is a high level of both personal and mutual accountability within the organization: _______

11. People display a positive, enthusiastic attitude throughout the organization: _______

12. We are superb at collecting and using feedback from our customers: _______

13. Our organization displays great discipline in pursuing our focused business objectives: _______

14. I am very pleased with where our organization is in the marketplace today: _______


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Orange Revolution: 4 + 1

Clear, specific, measurable and binary goals _______

High levels of trust across the entire organization _______

Free flow of all pertinent information across the entire organization _______

High levels of both personal and mutual accountability _______

A focus on catching people doing things right and rewarding them _______

Wow — No Surprises — Celebrate

The Four Cs of Trust:

You must Consistently Communicate that you are Competent and you Care

Based on: ”Results Rule! “ by Pennington


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WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT TO DELIVER SUPERIOR CUSTOMER SERVICE? It is a proven business fact: The combination of quality products and services, with very high levels of customer satisfaction — directly drives significantly higher profitability.

In other words, it should be spelled Customer $ervice — with a big capital $.

Financial Performance

Highest Quality Products / Services

& Excellent

Customer Relationships

Employee Satisfaction

Empowerment High Standards

Long-term Orientation

Enthusiasm, Commitment,

Respect

Training & Development

Fair Compensation

CR=104.12

CR= .404

CR=.334

CR=.277

CR=.275 CR=.249

CR=.280 Coaching

CR=.285 CR=.371 CR=.365 CR=.191 CR=.247

What this chart shows: According to this massive research study, by going from an average of “Somewhat Agree” to “Agree” on the Quality and Customer Relationship scores (in the eyes of the staff) the average company would more than double (104%) its financial performance! As another example: If you improve the average rating on Employee Satisfaction by 10 –15% (again going from “Somewhat Agree” to “Agree”) it will cause a 42% improvement in financial performance, including both profitability and growth.

CR = Causal Relationship

T

N

L

Based on: “ Practice What You Preach” by Maister


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HERE IS THE LIST OF THE TOP FACTORS THAT DROVE THESE COMPANIES TO BRING IN FINANCIAL RETURNS THAT WERE OFTEN 20 TIMES LARGER THAN THEIR COMPETITORS... 1 = Strongly Disagree 3 = Disagree Somewhat 5= Not Sure 7= Agree Somewhat 10 = Strongly Agree We have an uncompromising determination to achieve excellence in everything we do: ________

We have a real commitment to high-quality work, and tolerate nothing less: ________

We have a real commitment to high levels of customer service, and tolerate nothing else: ________

In this company we set and enforce very high standards for performance: ________

Management gets the best work out of everybody in the company: ________

The quality of the work performed by our group is consistently high: ________

We keep customers informed on issues affecting their business: ________

We make our customers feel as though they are very important to us: ________

Customer satisfaction is a top priority in our company: ________

We listen well to what the customer has to say: ________

We are extremely good at building long-term customer relationships: ________

The people in our company do “whatever it takes” to do a good job for the customer: ________

We do a good job of resolving customer problems when they occur: _________

The level of quality service delivered by my group / team is consistently high: ________

READ THAT LIST AGAIN… AND AGAIN!!!!! THIS IS CRITICAL TO YOUR SUCCESS


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HEDGEHOG CONCEPT

From a twice weekly survey for five years of 2,000+ senior managers and executives at:

IBM

GE

Morgan Stanley

Merck

3M

AT&T

Microsoft

CIGNA

Heineken

Master Card

Fidelity Investments

SAP

Motorola

Ikon

American Express

Progressive Insurance

Bank of America

Borders Books

Keys to Effective Management

Communicate Clearly—internally and externally, honesty, transparency , candor ________

Force the Hard Decisions — core values drive fast, effective decision making ________

Focus Relentlessly on Key Results —- outcomes not effort , clear metrics, binary ________

Remain Flexible to Change — be agile, adaptable and nimble, embrace change ________

Prove Your Value to the Customer — every day, in every interaction ________

Force Collaboration — teamwork is mandatory, not optional , no Prima Donnas! ________

Rigorous but Not Ruthless — set high standards and hold people 100% accountable ________

Based on: “ Tough Management” by Martin

K N L


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WEB OF VALUE = VOC + MOT + WOM

WHAT ARE ALL THE WAYS YOU CURRENTLY LISTEN TO THE VOC?

WHAT NEW WAYS COULD YOU ADD?

MOT WORKSHOP: WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE ARE THE TOP 3 MOT FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS?

DO YOU HAVE A ROBUST AND THUROUGH PROCESS FOR EACH TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE DELIVERED FLAWLESSLY

EVERY TIME?


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WOM… DO YOU HAVE A PROCESS TO GENERATE CONSISTENT QUALITY REFERRALS?

IDEAL CUSTOMER PRFILE:

HOW DO YOU GET THEM TO...

FIND YOU:

LIKE YOU:

TRUST YOU:

TRY YOUR PRODUCTS / SERVICES:

REPEAT BUY:

BECOME A CUSTOMER EVANGELIST AND REFER YOU TO OTHER IDEAL CUSTOMERS:


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THE 4 + 2 FORMULA The Four Primary Management Practices 1 = Not at all 3 = Poor 5 = Fair 7 = Good 10 = Superior /Excellent 1. Strategy: Devise and maintain a clearly stated, focused strategy: ________ Whatever your strategy, it will only work if it is sharply defined, clearly communicated, and well understood by employees, customers, partners, and investors. 2. Execution: Develop and maintain flawless operational execution: ________ You might not always delight every customer, but make sure that you never disappoint them. Winners consistently meet the expectations of their customers by delivering on their value proposition. Bad quality surely will hurt. 3. Culture: Develop and maintain a performance-oriented culture: ________ One of the best indicators of being performance-oriented is the way you deal with your own poor performers. It is easy to reward good performers. What matters is whether you have the courage to get rid of poor performers. 4. Structure: Build and maintain a fast, flexible, flat organization: ________ What really counts is whether structure reduces bureaucracy and simplifies work. Simpler and faster - such are the best goals for all organizations. The Four Secondary Management Practices 1. Talent: Hold on to talented employees and find more: ________ Winning organizations pay great attention to finding, growing, developing, and rewarding very talented people. 2. Leadership: Key leaders are truly committed to the business: ________ The research data clearly showed that the leadership effectiveness of the top executives, on average, influenced 15% of the variance in corporate performance, for better or for worse. 3. Innovation: Make innovations that are industry transforming: ________ Agile companies that were highly innovative and able to anticipate rather than react to disruptive events in the marketplace, were always the winner. 4. Mergers and Partnerships: Make growth happen with mergers, alliances, and partnerships: _________ Internally generated growth is essential, but companies that can also master mergers and partnerships are much more likely to be winners.

Based on: “ What (Really) Works” by Joyce


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DISCIPLINED EXECUTION 1 = Strongly Disagree 3 = Disagree Somewhat 5= Not Sure 7= Agree Somewhat 10 = Strongly Agree

We have a clear vision for exactly where we are trying to take our organization _______ We have a detailed and specific plan to accomplish the key objectives we are trying to execute _______ Our senior leaders are all 100% committed to executing the key objectives _______ The key leaders/employees in our organization are all superb at execution ______ All of the major objectives we are pursuing are fully aligned and mutually reinforcing _______ We have excellent systems and processes in place to ensure consistently superb execution ______ There is continuous and transparent communication throughout he entire organization about exactly where we stand on executing on our key objectives _______ Every employee has all of the training, support, equipment and resources they need to deliver the results required of them _______ We are superb at adjusting and adapting our strategy and objectives when truly necessary _____ We do a great job of celebrating both small and big wins and praising great performance _______ We refuse to tolerate mediocrity or lack of accountability and deal decisively with people who are not able to meet the clear standards of performance in our organization _______


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WORKSHOP: IDEAS INTO ACTION Go back page-by-page and carefully look through the book. Compare and contrast your scores on the various audits and re-read any notes you wrote. What are the themes that emerge… the patterns? Look for any scores below a 7 as an area that needs improvement and anything in the 1-5 range as a serious problem that needs attention. The goal here is to really dig into these topics so you can take an honest look at the actual current state of your organization. This is a rare opportunity to take a critical look at how well your organization is truly operating and specifically what must be done to improve it. Take this exercise very seriously and push yourself to really understand what these scores and everything you learned today about world-class organizations could mean to your business. Here are three major questions to keep in mind: What does this mean to our business? How can I make these ideas work in our company? What can I do right away to improve our success? 1. Strengths What was the pattern of high scores? In what major areas did you seem to have as strengths, where you scored an 8 or higher across all of the workshops? 2. Weaknesses What was the pattern of low scores? In what major areas did you seem to have as weaknesses, where you scored a 6 or lower across all of the workshops?


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3. Key Strategies for Success Based on everything you have learned here today and your own personal business experience, what do you believe are the top strategies your organization must focus on to build and sustain success? What are the 4—6 most important ideas that will drive your organization’s future? (Please describe these in detail. You might lead off with a single word or short phrase, but then you’ll need to give a definition and description to exactly what you mean. It must be clear precisely what each ideas means and how you will pursue it.)


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4. Organizational Action Steps Please list at least 4 specific, clear and measurable action steps that your organization can take to implement the ideas you learned today. Based on the list you just created, as well as the strengths and weaknesses you identified, what can be done right away to take the lessons of this class and put them into positive action for your organization?

1. 2. 3. 4.


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It is my sincere hope that you have enjoyed this class and found it extremely valuable. The challenge now is to take everything you have learned and apply it in your business. Even the best ideas in the world are useless without massive action behind them. If you did find this class of value, I also hope that you will enthusiastically refer me to any colleagues or companies that you think would find value in the sort of programs I offer. 99.9% of all of my business comes from happy clients telling their friends and colleagues about my programs, and I thank you very much for taking a moment to let lots of people know about my work. If there is anything you need from me please do not hesitate to send a note or call, I’m here to assist you in any way I’m able.

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