by: Murat Ergen, ForecastWare.com

Forecasting helps to obtain a good comprehension of the observed data and accurate future predictions based on this comprehension. The main goal, however, is to assist executives with decisive information they absolutely need to make the best possible decisions. Acting on these recommendations can significantly aid in solving problems, gaining new opportunities, and ultimately better business management. Examples of possible uses of forecasting are to reach corporate goals, to plan external economic and competitor impacts, to improve inventory management, to improve customer service, and to increase profit margins.

Key elements in forecasting are Team and Framework. In this article, characteristics of both are mentioned.

A successful forecasting system starts with forming a good team. Essential team members are Business Analyst, Data Analyst, Project Manager, Statistician, and Solution Architect.  Roles and responsibilities each member contributes to organizational direction. Business Analyst makes sure credibility of the business information through careful research. Data Analyst automates historical file extracts, and optimizes the process time and accuracy. Project Manager has a unique position in forecasting projects, because of responsibility of asking details about the system and its sponsors. Statistician is responsible to find what is unknown, the forecasts, by studying the actual numbers and applying internal or external factors. Solution Architect works with system results as well as other available data to create a visualization tool for business leaders to make data driven decisions. With this team in place the following benefits could be expected; collecting business owner needs, and changes in the business, business approval of pre-published numbers, increased timeliness of business decisions, what-if scenarios implementation, short timeline delivery, easy to use custom solution interface, integration of major economic indicators and competitors market share, unnoticed real trends discovery, maximized profit margins opportunity, strategic business portfolio creation, on the spot tactical recommendations, centralized one version of truth, collaboration with other official numbers, automated step by step process, mitigation of known and unknown risks, and institutionalized ongoing maintenance.

The Framework for the forecasting system should include the following phases; Data Gathering, Information Gathering, Modeling, Reporting, and Recommendations. In the data gathering phase, historical data is extracted to be studied in order to gather historical data at the most granular level possible, input missing data points and attributes, structure hierarchy levels, and determine the business focus hierarchy level accuracy is tested. Information gathering phase follows what collected data is to note internal business circumstances, implement structural brake notifications, and detect anomalies and outliers. Modeling phase is where normalizing and transformation of data is taken in to account and studying the relationship between observed data and economic and competitor indicators. It this phase also models are estimated, validated, tested and selected to create forecasts. Reporting phase of the framework helps in both forecasts quality and applicable information selection such as static accuracy testing, dynamic best and worst performance analysis. Recommendation phase where Return On Investment are clearly observed because this phase tells business users where the potential goal gaps are, what resources to be added in business operation, and simply brings various departments to one table to list actionable items.

Some of the items need more emphasis;

• - Such as experienced statistician who has industry knowledge and built dynamic forecasting engines previously
• - The systems results needs to be reviewed regularly, this review includes business expected numbers and model numbers accuracy testing, what is working and what needs to be improved, model attributes
• - Constant Business and Forecasting Team communications
• - Selecting forecast engine tool for the corporate need and building a customized visualization tool for result comparisons such as actual to actual, goal to actual, forecast to goal

In conclusion, this article is about what is essential for a successful forecasting project. It is teamwork with applied framework. As long as these two are in place building, adjusting and maintenance of forecasts for the whole organization is an easy task. ForecastWare.com is built on this fundamental approach.

http://www.ForecastWare.com

You all know the saying that any road will do as long as you don’t know where you are going.  And it is certainly true when it comes to achieving company goals.  If you don’t have stated goals, have them written down, well communicated, and measured, there is a very high probability you’ll never achieve them.  Thus, the importance of having a quantifiable, measurable, well-communicated strategic plan.

Roadmap

Strategic planning is like creating a map for an exciting journey.  A map helps keep you on course, but it isn’t so stringent that you can’t check out a side road along the way.  Each year in the fall I map out where I am, where I want to go, and how I want to get there.  During the year, my plan then becomes my guide as I make business decisions and come upon new opportunities.  It helps me decide if new opportunities and the choices I encounter will get me closer to my goals or are detours to be avoided.  It is critical to at least annually review your plan to accommodate new developments in technology, client requests, the economy, emerging trends, and your own interests.

Key Components

1. SWOT - The first step is to determine where you are by doing a SWOT analysis – identify your internal Strengths and Weaknesses and your external Opportunities and Threats.  Make a grid and fill in the blanks. Use two columns and two sections. Internally analyze human, financial, technological resources, culture, etc.  Externally examine the economy, political/regulatory, social/demographic, technology, competition, etc. 
2. Vision, Mission and Values - craft a short statement that quickly and easily describes your purpose (Mission) and your ultimate future (Vision).  Who are your clients/customers, what makes you different, how would your customers describe you, what do you offer, how are you unique, what will you be like tomorrow?  Here is a quick template to follow:  “The purpose of ABC Company is to _________________ so that the company and our stakeholders benefit from ____________________________.  This quickly states who you are, why you exist, and what benefits occur as a result of your business.  You can get clever later on, for now get it on paper.  Now list the guiding principles that underpin the behaviors you expect of your self and others in order to achieve results.  Trust, honestly, creative solutions, integrity, customer services, etc., are examples of guiding principle values. 
3. Objectives – identify the key objectives that have to be met in order to achieve your vision and mission and goals for the year.  State them in specific, quantifiable, measurable terms.  They need to be ambitious, but realistic.  Focus on “what not how”.  Your list will grow, but pare it down to the critical 4-5 most important items for advancing your business this year.
4. Action Planning – Now we’ll look at the “how”.  For each objective, create a detailed action plan of how you will meet this goal.  For each objective state:
   • Desired results – what needs to happen or what benefit will occur
   • Potential obstacles/barriers – what might stand in your way or prevent progress
   • Support – what resources, people, tools do you have or need
5. Implementation Process - what steps must be taken – indicate who will do what and by when. I do a quick monthly review to see what is on target, what is falling behind, what follow-up is needed, etc. This gives me a visual update and reminds me of my targets and how I am progressing.  
6. Evaluation and Measurement - how will you know you’ve successfully achieved the objectives (this is why each must be stated so it is specific, quantifiable and measurable). As you get more sophisticated, a set of balanced scorecard measure is an ideal way to track, measure, and communicate your progress, but for now just determine how each objective will be measured.

This seems like a lot of work, but if you’ll map out each objective you will have a clear picture of where you’re going, how to get there, and achieve your goals quicker since you’ll avoid unnecessary, costly detours.  

The simplicity of these steps and descriptions belie the difficulty of this task.  I have facilitated many senior management teams that struggle getting even the first two steps done.  However, if you set aside quiet time with your key colleagues and valued advisors, this need not be a monumental task.  Once you have it in place, the annual process of reviewing, revising and refreshing becomes not only much easier, but very beneficial.  You walk away from this exercise with a sense of direction and satisfaction about how you are going to achieve your business goals with the assurance of avoiding at least some unnecessary, costly detours. 

http://www.peakperformancecorp.com

http://www.joycefriel.blogspot.com

by: Joyce Friel, Peak Performance Consulting

Life is full of early warning signs.  Unfortunately, we all too often overlook them or ignore them altogether until it is too late.  We all know about health indicators which give us warnings, weather forecasters forewarn danger, any number of financial indicators give us warnings, but what warning signs do you have as organizational barometers or warning signals?  This article is about the barometers in your organization.

If you answer ‘No” to any of the questions below, consider these ‘early warning signs’ of potential organizational weaknesses or areas where problems may emerge in the future.  Hopefully you are able to response with a “Yes” to all these statements.  If not, don’t despair.  Select one or two of the items you answered ‘No’ to that are of most importance to your organization and work on closing the gap.  Then work on the next one or two until you’ve made progress.  Exceptional organizations focus on doing a 1,000 things 1% better, not doing 1 thing 1,000% better.  Best of luck on your self-assessment!

WARNING SIGNS

Strategy and Governance

• Do you have a written statement of the organization’s Vision, Mission and Guiding Principles or Values?
• If you have a Vision, Mission and Guiding Principles or Values statements, how do your employees know what these are?   
• Do you have a strategic plan?    
• If you have a strategic plan is it shared with everyone in the organization?
• Do you have stated target goals for this year’s critical performance initiatives?
• Do you have metrics which track organizational performance throughout the year against these targeted goals?
• Are the targeted goals and metrics shared with everyone in the organization?
• Are the organization’s financial goals integrated with internal processes, customer needs and the development and growth of employees?
• Does the organization have a governance policy which the Board and senior manager must follow?

Communication

• Does everyone in the organization know what they have to do to help the organization reach its goals?
• Does the organization have all employee meetings or another method of keeping everyone informed of organizational results and progress, as well as, challenges as they come up throughout the year?
• Does the organization tailor the style, method and frequency of communications to the audience and message content?
• If the organization expects mid-managers and supervisors to communicate information to their units is there a communications strategy and method for ensuring the message gets delivered consistently and to everyone?
• Does the organization have mechanisms and processes for employees to communicate up the channel?
• In the organization does information flow freely both up and down the channel?

 Leadership Development and Training

• Does each employee receive a performance review at least annually?
• Does each employee have a personal development plan which is reviewed at least annually with their supervisor?
• Do employees receive training each year which is specific to their current job or a position they are preparing for in the future?
• Does the organization track the results of training so that what is learned gets applied on the job?
• Does the organization have both supervisory and management training for people in these roles?
• Does the organization have a succession planning process which identifies key positions and emerging leaders?
• Do those individuals in the succession plan get specific mentoring, coaching and development in order to be able to step into key roles when needed?
• Does the organization have a specific methodology for leading significant change?
• Does the organization spend intentional time developing the ability of the senior leadership team to work effectively together?

Accountability

• Do employees (including managers and supervisors) take responsibility for issues when they come up or is it “someone else’s” problem?
• Does the organization have job expectations and standards for all positions?
• Are people held accountable for achieving results?
• Are employees rewarded and recognized for work well done and coached when they fall short?
• Does the organization proactively eliminate those employees who infect others with negative attitudes and who don’t contribute?
• Do those employees who truly are exemplary get the recognition and promotion they deserve?

Certainly the above list is not exhaustive. There are hundreds of things that can be warning signs of impending peril.  However, if you were able to honestly answer ‘Yes” to the vast majority of these statements, you are well out of harms way and likely doing much better than your competition.  Congratulations!  If you had a lot of ‘No’ responses, what are the one or two items that are most important to your organization?  What actions are you going to take very soon to eliminate these potential dangers?

http://www.peakperformancecorp.com

http://www.joycefriel.blogspot.com

by: Joyce Friel, Peak Performance Consulting

“I just wanted to ask you, which way I ought to go?”   “Well, that depends on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.   “It really doesn’t matter…” said Alice.   “Then it really doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.                                                                                               

From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

 A movie and a fairy tale both point out the importance of having a plan.   Just like Alice in Wonderland I can’t tell you if a plane or train or an automobile is best for you until you tell me where you want to go.  If you want to get there from here, you gotta’ have a plan. 

 Where do YOU want to go?  Where Do You Want To Take Your Business?

I know as a business owner or manager you could describe to me what you want to achieve.  I also know that if you have a business loan, you likely have prepared a financial plan for your banker.  Great!  You’ve had to think through your financial goals, your needs and how you plan to repay that loan. 

This is a good start, but what about all the other aspects of your business.  Finances are one very critical piece of business success, but they are only one piece and your financial goals will never be achieved if you don’t also think about and plan for all the aspects of your business that support achieving financial success.  What about your marketing plan? Sales Plan? Employee Development and Satisfaction?  Stakeholder Satisfaction?

It is just amazing how many businesses do not have a comprehensive strategic plan and then they wonder someplace down the road why they aren’t able to achieve their goals.  (That’s when they call me in a panic!)  Much like Alice they often seek advise of which way to go, but haven’t determined where ‘there’ is or how they want to get there. 

So what are the benefits of having a strategic plan?    Simply put, a strategic plan…

• guides the decisions you make along the way
• becomes the yardstick for measuring progress
• is a communications vehicle for gaining support and commitment from your banker, employees and all other stakeholders
• allows you to keep in mind your goal while focusing the selection of informed choices along the way

But wouldn’t having a strategic plan mean I’ll be limited and have to follow it strictly?  No, it means you have a good guide and like any guide you can deviate from it as needed as you move along your journey toward your goal.  Just like driving across the city, you think you’ll take one route to your destination, but when you come upon a detour you deviate, but still keep the destination in mind.

http://www.peakperformancecorp.com

http://www.joycefriel.blogspot.com

by: Joyce Friel, Peak Performance Consulting

In my career as a leadership strategist and organizational consultant, I have often been asked to conduct organizational assessments.  I get this request for a variety of reasons, but often it is to discover what the obstacles are within an organization that may be preventing it from achieving its goals or breaking through to the next level.  What I find is always instructive for the organizational leadership and generally serves as the foundation for future change initiatives. 

The toughest situations are those times when the primary obstacle is the leader himself/herself.  When this is the case, there is very little win/win in the organization currently.  Organizational performance is sub-optimized, employees are usually frustrated, the leader is not as effective as they could be and the messenger runs the risk of being shot.  In these cases, everyone says they want improvement, but very frequently the leader is not made aware of the dynamics and impact of his/her actions.  So what do you do to make this a win/win situation? Here are some positive steps to consider:

As an employee you can…

• Be the example you want others to be
• Provide honest input when asked through an employee survey or a 360 assessment process
• Realize you can only control you own behaviors – you do not own the actions of others

As a management peer/friend you can…

• Help the leader see how much the organization cares about and depends on their continued ability to be a strong leader
• Encourage the use of a 360 assessment process if it is not currently used so the leader gets honest, anonymous input from multiple perspectives
• Ask the leader to mentor you so that as a protégé you have the opportunity to show them a mirror image of what you wish they were and are in a position to discuss a wide variety of situations with them privately

As a consultant you can …

• Help the leadership team see the value of using 360 assessment processes including providing coaching for the participants
• Have the courage to be honest with the leader in a tactful, kind, caring manner
• Use a variety of instruments and/or processes to help not only the leader, but also the leadership team deal with the challenges of effective leadership
• Develop a coaching rather than a consulting relationship with the leader and/or the whole leadership team

As the leader being confronted you can…

• Recognize you have both a personal and an enterprise responsibility to be a strong leader; and now that you are aware of the responsibility you are accountable to lead change
• Realize your management peer/friends, many of your employees and your consultant are allies in your effort
• Initiate a leadership development and growth process for the entire leadership team
• Demonstrate the courage it takes to confront change both personally and as the primary change leader for the enterprise

http://www.peakperformancecorp.com

http://www.joycefriel.blogspot.com

by: Joyce Friel, Peak Performance Consulting

You know ‘stuckness’. It’s when you’re at that point where you feel immobilized, confused, uncertain, stymied, numb, powerless, not in control, tired. It happens when you lose your job, lose a big contract, didn’t get the promotion you expected, find out you have to move, get a divorce, are very ill, or some one you care about is very ill. You know, you’ve been there.Know what? It also happens when you get married (Oh, this is what its like!), have a child (My gosh, will this kid ever sleep through the night?), get a promotion or a big new responsibility (Oh dear, can I do this?), or your child graduates (Yippee, but will they move back in?). Getting ‘stuck’ happens both when sad and happy occasions occur.

Stuckness can be good if you hit on a process or method that really works for you and you work it for maximum return. But it isn’t cool when you get to end of that good run and haven’t thought through your options. It can mean you don’t know how to change, stop learning, are helpless to help yourself because you keep doing things the same way you’ve always done them. But luckily we all have the choice to change from stuck to luck (catch the rhyme) with minimal risk of things getting worse and maximum potential for them to get better.

Good News and Bad News
You don’t think you’ve ever been there? Just wait!
Haven’t been there in a while? Good!
You’re there now? Welcome to the club – it happens to all of us!
Guess what? It will happen to you again (and again, and again).
Yep, that’s right. It happens to all of us…multiple times. Some of you move through the physical, emotional, and psychological roller coaster of change quickly and for others it takes time. The key is to not get STUCK in the quagmire.

Warning Signs!
Fortunately, there are warning signs and if you heed them you’ll become more resilient and get out of ‘stuckness’ more quickly. Some of these signs are:

• A body part – you know which part it is. It will get sore, start to ache, act up.
• Breathing – holding your breathe or breathing too quickly – slow down, take deep breaths
• Pace – faster than usual. You’re rushing to get to some place, but you don’t even know where.
• Sleeping pattern – either insomnia or wanting to sleep all the time, yet you are still tired.

When you see any of these warning signs, they are clear signals that you need to take stock, reflect, review your plan for getting life back in order, and if necessary, get help.

So what can I do to move on…get myself out of ‘stuckness’ when it happens to me?

Here are a few TIPS…

• NORMAL and NECESSARY – stages of change happen to everyone – accept it as a fact
• STEAM VALVES – find an outlet for frustration, anger, confusion
• SUPPORT SYSTEM – accept the help and understanding of your friends and family
• YOU – take care of yourself – maintain exercise, eat right, get rest
• PLAN – reexamine, reflect and plan for how you can take steps to move forward

http://www.peakperformancecorp.com
http://joycefriel.blogspot.com

by: Joyce Friel, Peak Performance Consulting

Yep, that’s right! You gotta’ give it away to get it back. Sounds kind of like reverse logic and it is in some ways, but many things in life compound themselves many fold only after you give them away.

• Love
• Trust
• Friendship
• Wisdom
• Knowledge
• Service

These and many more things must be given away before you get them back!

Ever notice when you smile at someone they generally smile back. When you speak first, the recipient responds. When you do a kindly deed, one will come back to you. I have a good friend, Silver Rose, who speaks on the Law of Attraction and another friend, Arlene Rosenberg, who develops leading achievers based on this same principle. You get what you focus on. So when we give love, trust others, bestow friendship, share wisdom, share our knowledge, and provide service it comes right back like a boomerang.

I use this same strategy to grow my business. I’ll bet it would work for you too, but you have to be willing to ‘give before you get’. Let me give you an example of giving away $10,000 dollars in service to a client in order to get back monthly billing for the last 7 years. I had a break even point in four months. Would you make that kind of investment?

A few years ago, I decided the best way I could grow my business was by meeting members of Boards of Directors. My logic was they were the kind of people who owned businesses and could afford to hire me. So I volunteered to design and facilitate the Board retreats for a major employer in our area. I knew I’d have to give away service, but I hoped in return I would meet potential clients and be able to influence their decision to use my services. After several conversations with the President of the organization, it was clear there was long-term interest in using my services not for the Board, but for the organization it governed. I am still working with this client and they provide me wonderful referrals to other potential clients.

I just did it again. I just offered pro bono services too one of the clients they referred me to. Yet again, I believe if I give it away, I’ll get it back. I can’t be a philanthropist of money, but I can be a philanthropist of talent and service and, sure enough, I get paid back in friendship, a larger, richer community, and growth of my business.

What I focus on is identifying who are good prospects. Who are the business leaders who believe in returning value for value given? Who believes in the law of attraction and have something I need in return.

Try it! I guarantee the more you give away wisdom, friendship, love, trust, knowledge and service you will most assuredly get it back.

http://www.peakperformancecorp.com
http://www.joycefriel.blogspot.com

by: Joyce Friel, Peak Performance Consulting

All too often in the news we hear only the events which cause our opinion of top business leaders to be diminished.  Granted, leading any size corporation isn’t easy and the lives of those at the top of the largest organizations are extremely public.  In many ways this only serves to heighten the responsibility these leaders have to not only themselves and their corporations, but to the public at-large.

 I recently read a book full of wisdom which I highly recommend.  It is about life and leadership lessons and my copy is now messy with underlines, notes in the margins and dog-eared pages.  Tough Choices by Carly Fiorina is a memoir of her life including her very public departure from HP.  Whether you personally approve of her actions or not, there is much to be learned from her experiences.  While I strongly advise you read the entire book, below I am sharing with you some of what I believe are the highlights.  Enjoy!

LEADERSHIP

• Character is made up of candor (speaking the truth and speaking up and out), integrity (preserving your principles and acting on them), and authenticity (knowing what you believe, being who you are and standing up for both).
• Life is about the journey, not the destination. The steps along the way are what make us who we are.
• People like to be asked about themselves. This is a great management tool. You get smart fast by listening.
• A boss’s confidence in an employee is a powerful motivator. When they see potential in you, you begin to look for it in yourself. Believing in someone else, so they can believe in themselves, is a small but hugely significant act of leadership.
• Each time I overcame my own fear, I was stronger. A leader’s job is to help people overcome their fear.
• Live your life in a way that makes you happy and proud. If you sell your soul, no one can pay you back.
• Strategy should be ennobling. An organization’s effort must be sustained through worthy purpose.
• Change can only begin if its force is greater than the weight of history and the power of the status quo.

ACCOUNTABILITY FOR CHOICES

• If we cannot choose our circumstances, we can always choose our response to them. If we cannot choose who we are, we can always choose to become something more. We cannot always choose the hurdles we must overcome, but we can choose how we overcome them. To stop choosing is to start dying.
• We can only be diminished if we choose to allow it.
• Value isn’t measured by title or position, but by what someone is made of and how they choose to use it.

OFFICE POLITICS

• Office politics is based on power – who has it, who lost it, who wants it. You have to learn to play the game and see it as a game to be successful.
• Like it or not, seniority and familiarity could and do sometimes trump results. Looking and acting the part sometimes wins.
• Gender alone sometimes denies the presumption of competence. I had to work harder and be better prepared than anyone else to gain credibility. To do so I had to convince people I knew what I was talking about in the first few minutes. Only then would they listen to what I had to say.

PLAYING TO WIN

• If you can’t play to win, you may as well not play.
• We did change goals because they turned out to be tougher than we anticipated. We did not think about how we might lose. We thought about how we could win. We won because we chose to.
• All triumphs are made of the same stuff: the right support, the right team, the determination to achieve the goal, lots of really hard work. Triumphs are much more about choices than about chance.
• People will always behave relationally based upon their own self-interest. They behave irrationally simply because they believe someone else is going to.
• If only one part or parameter of a complex problem is understood or acted upon, the problem cannot be solved. Only by comprehending the whole system – its interactions, dependencies, constraints and pressures – can a real, sustainable improvement be made.

 http://www.peakperformancecorp.com

http://joycefriel.blogspot.com

Have you ever had two reports of “the same” data land on your desk and wonder why the bottom line is different?  If you don’t trust the data in your company, whether in a report, a database, or an email, you are not alone.  In fact, the problem is so pervasive that companies waste millions (insert exorbitant dollar figure here) building redundant islands of data in order to access and control data they trust.

As a society we are comfortable finding and relying upon information provided by others without explicitly knowing the origin of or without directly controlling that data; think how many times you Google something and rely upon that information.   So, why don’t we trust the data within our own companies?  Myriad reasons come to mind and the problems can certainly be many fold, first and foremost are differences in the definition of a piece of seemingly identical data, especially in large organizations with multiple, disparate systems that generate and process data.

Don’t despair.  There is hope.  And you don’t have to be technically savvy to save your budget dollars, help contain the problem, maintain control over the data, and (bottom line) trust readily available data. 

Before embarking down a path to build your own data island, first understand the definition of the available data.  While there are a few lucky ones with an easily accessible repository of data definitions that you can quickly reference (like Wikipedia for your company data), the rest of us need to ask a few key questions, because you won’t get the complete answer if you just ask for “the definition”.

Here are the important points to review with your technical partners to get the whole definition and business relevant context and to maintain control and trust in the data. 

Data Definition and Context (also known as metadata):

• Understand whether you are getting data from the transactional source system directly or from a database that takes snapshots of the transactional source system data and stores it.
• Find the source of the data. Know the system name, the screen name, and the exact field on the screen that produces this data.
• Understand the source of the source. Example; human data entry (free text, multiple choice), automated entry (date/time stamp), calculated system entry (sales tax), or system reference entry (zip code = city and state)
• Know the possible, valid, or system allowed values Example; Yes/No, Married/Single/Other, Alphanumeric 16 characters.
• Ask about any transformation rules. If the data from your source moves was it changed or filtered in anyway. Sometimes these can be rule based, for example customers with California zip code in the primary mailing address are assigned to the Pacific Sales Region. Other times these can be converted to make database storage more manageable. Example; Yes/No was converted to Y/N, a check box was converted to Y/N, or First Name, Middle Name, Last Name was combined into Name.
• If there are transformation rules, find the administrator of the rule. You’d be surprised (or maybe you wouldn’t) to find that many times these rules are created by the programmers or analysts that move or manipulate the data and there is no formal change management or notification. To control the data, you need to control these rules so find the person or team who implements these rules and enforce your change management and change notification criteria.
• Understand the update frequency of the data (how often is a snapshot of the data taken and stored)
• Persistence (part 1) Understand the historical transaction record. Does more recent data overwrite older data or is every snap shot stored?
• Persistence (part 2). How long is the data stored? What happens when it reaches “end of life”? Is it deleted permanently or stored offsite? For how long?

It is critical to understand the context and definition used to describe data, and unfortunately terms like metadata are thrown around without a business based understanding of how it can be relevant to sales, marketing, or operations.  Asking these questions about your data can help you take control of your data destiny while maintain shareable data the greater organization can leverage as well.  Resist the temptation to build a data island and know that the grass is not always greener on the other side (or on your own island).

Few things in business are as difficult as executing change.  In fact the only thing more difficult than the change itself is making it stick.  Change can be frustrating, especially when it doesn’t become permanent and a company reverts back to its traditional ways, leaving change advocates feeling a bit like Sisyphus, ceaselessly pushing the same boulder up the same hill, only to have it roll back down again.

How can you create lasting change and prevent a change from becoming a fad or “flavor of the day”?  Change is a process and like all processes contains several phases.  To create successful and lasting change, managers and leaders must do the following:

• Create a sense of urgency
• Recruit senior level support
• Develop a clear and practical vision
• Maintain frequent and consistent communication of the vision
• Eliminate obstacles that block the vision
• Celebrate short term wins
• Do not declare victory too early
• Change the corporate culture