Understanding Every Aspect of Your Organization

GET TO KNOW YOUR ORGANIZATION: If you don't understand an aspect of the organization or a procedure within it, ask. If you still don't understand, ask again. Question until you are sure you understand the topic. It's easy to feel your questions aren't sophisticated enough, especially when you work with people who have been doing what they do for years. Start with basic questions like "What does our organization do?" "How does our organization do it?" "Who needs our product?" "Who does what with that product?" "Who are the people who get the work done?" Most long-term employees love to answer questions that make them feel smart, and valuable.

STEPS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WHERE YOU WORK: Aside from asking long-term employees for background information: --Read the backlog of the organization's annual reports. Find out what's really happening where you work. --Read the organization's prospectus. --Attend staff meetings. Learn about the current events in your organization. --Schedule a workshop. Make the focus "What is our organization?" Invite the heads of each department. Don't worry about what your superiors think. You will probably impress them with your desire to learn.

KNOW WEAKNESSES AS WELL AS STRENGTHS: To succeed, you must also know the organization's deficiencies and failures as well as its successes. Ask yourself, and others, key questions you can often figure out what your organization needs by starting with yourself. For instance, are you organized? A disorganized leader often leads a disorganized crew. Do you accomplish goals or do you seem to work on endless projects? Is the staff helping the organization meet its goals or is it slowly sending it to a point of no return? Which department failing while others are reaching their goals? Who is succeeding and why? These types of questions are crucial to analyzing and improving your company?

Copyright AE Schwartz & Associates All rights reserved. For additional presentation materials and resources: ReadySetPresent and for a Free listing as a Trainer, Consultant, Speaker, Vendor/Organization: TrainingConsortium

CEO, A.E. Schwartz & Associates, Boston, MA., a comprehensive organization which offers over 40 skills based management training programs. Mr. Schwartz conducts over 150 programs annually for clients in industry, research, technology, government, Fortune 100/500 companies, and nonprofit organizations worldwide. He is often found at conferences as a key note presenter and/or facilitator. His style is fast-paced, participatory, practical, and humorous. He has authored over 65 books and products, and taught/lectured at over a dozen colleges and universities throughout the United States.



Internal Control - The Why and How

Many retailers do not have good internal controls in place... Read More

Tales From the Corporate Frontlines:The Importance of a Competitive Wage and Benefit Package

This article relates to the Compensation and Benefits competency, commonly... Read More

Want to Manage Your Time? Get Real!

You know the drill - the ridiculous deadlines, the relentless... Read More

How to use NLP for Business?

What is Neuro-Linguistic Programming?Neuro-Linguistic programme is nothing but the study... Read More

Top Ten Tips About Communicating with Your Employees Effectively

Communication is the basis of who you are as a... Read More

Creativity and Innovation Directors, Consultants and Managers

Creativity and Innovation is essential for competitive advantage, yet the... Read More

Safety Policy Sample Outline

Writing a safety manual is a tough job and most... Read More

Organizing The Information

Putting a piece of paper in a file folder is... Read More

Turbo Charge Your Career With The Most Powerful Leadership Tool Of All: The Leadership Talk: Part 2

In Part One, I described the Leadership Talk and how... Read More

Managing Yo-Yo Style

Does being managed by others smack more of "Survivor" than... Read More

11 Strategies on How to Work in An Open Plan Environment

Many work environments now are open plan, with only a... Read More

A Sense of Humor in the Workplace ... Is it Me? Or, was that not funny?

When I was first initiated into Corporate America, I had... Read More

What Cross-cultural Training Can Do for You

International business is more complex than ever before. Success in... Read More

Innovation Management ? Reducing Hierarchy

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Print Buying Consultant

Ten Money Saving Tips for Print ManagersDespite their stated desire... Read More

Write Winning Proposals For Venture Capitalists

You need to secure money for your project. You visit... Read More

Enable Continuous Improvement of IT Services through ITIL

One of the major benefits, if not THE benefit of... Read More

Know Your Client - The First Rule of Business Coaching

Whilst the very best coaches have undertaken independently accredited training... Read More

Align The Enterprise & Make Beautiful Music Together

Q: Why is a great business like a great marching... Read More

5 Ideas To Leverage The 3 Stages Of Career Development In Your Organization

In most industrialized nations, the average age a student graduates... Read More

The Walmart Cult

The CultBecoming a part of the Cult, consists of being... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Human Resources at Work

This article relates to the Human Resource Functions competency, commonly... Read More

How to Reduce Temporary Employee Turnover

The use of temporary services to stock a farm of... Read More

How Bad Communication Can Hold You Back and How to Break Free of It

The reason jobs are often not done right and employees... Read More

Change Management: Avoid Havoc In Very Uncertain Times

Escalating gas prices...tensions and turmoil in the Middle East...a struggling... Read More

If you'd like to keep up-to-date,
please complete the form below and we'll put you on the mailing list
to receive our twice-yearly newsletter for supporters

* Your email address:
* choes your language: