Wednesday, March 12, 2008
A Plan Comes Together
After months of writing and preparation, today the plan came together with ease and accuracy. A colleague (Lori Glander) and I are in the midst of writing a book on critical thinking skills, and created a 1-day workshop to support our Model and solicit feedback from participants. Today was the day of the workshop.
Our philosophy is that the Model phases can be used at any organizational level. It also is effective when interacting with family, friends, and neighbors. Today’s workshop was geared toward our peers - corporate trainers.
What does this have to do with team leadership (my favorite topic)? Well, it wasn’t the workshop itself—it was getting ready for the workshop.
You have more control over managing the performance of your internal team which was no different in our case. But, that’s not usually where issues arise that would cause your customers pain. Nope - it’s usually from something delegated to an external supplier. To pull our workshop together we relied on a printer, book store, UPS, US Post Office, office store, and Target to name just a few suppliers. There were a few glitches which prompted this short list of tips.
3 Strategies For Supplier Performance
1. Create a project timeline working backwards from the “delivery” date.
Log every single detail! If tiny details are not your strength, then find someone who is task-driven to help you. For example, giving away a book to each participant sounds easy. Remember, if you order it online and ship it to your office you still need to transport it to the workshop location. The details are endless and important.
2. Make a phone call if you are unsure.
It will save you time to make a phone call asking for more information before showing up at the supplier only to find out you needed to bring something. For example, who knew the printer wanted the workbook digitally? (I showed up with a hard copy version.)
3. Assign one person to coordinate the project plan.
You’ve heard the saying, “Too many cooks in the kitchen.”? The same applies here—one person should be assigned to manage the project. They could easily see if your team is duplicating efforts or forgetting key tasks.
The most important thing, however, happens after the project is completed. Gather your team together ASAP and conduct a debrief of the project. While it’s still fresh in your memory, create two lists - (1) Things that went well and we would do again and (2) Things that we never want to repeat again.
Have your team decide if the supplier performance was satisfactory to continue using them for future projects. Not only will you be showing the team you value their opinion, but it gives them a greater sense of project ownership.
Until next time...live like you mean it!
Marjorie