Posts Tagged ‘Strategy’
Monday, February 18th, 2008
I worked for the telecommunications superstar, Lucent Technologies, right before it’s big fall from financial grace. I was fortunate to be in the CIO organization which was lead by a very visionary executive, Earnestine Barnes-Linder. She encouraged us to prepare for the changes that she so wisely foresaw. Earnestine even distributed copies of the book “Who Moved My Cheese?” by Dr. Spencer Johnson. I attended a workshop by the author and was less than impressed. But, when I finally took the time to read the book, it was indeed outstanding. Mr. Johnson is an expert on individual and organizational change. The book gave insight into how to recognize that your cheese or goal had moved and provided suggestions on how to work through the feelings and adjust to change. However, there are other books that provide more substance and detail on stress and change management techniques.
Noble & Associates Consulting and its consultants have years of experience with software and technology implementations. The whole point of any new system is to change or improve some process, capability or results. Since there is always change and people are stressed by change, then change management should always be a consideration in project funding, planning and management.
So what’s the cheese?
- For an individual, it might have been owning a home. The current mortgage crisis may be moving that cheese.
- For others, it might be life long employment with a company paid pension. The economy and corporate mergers, acquisitions and downsizing may have changed that cheese.
- For production managers the cheese may be efficient operations and on-time deliveries. Disruptions in the supply chain, broken processes and quality problems may be crumbling that cheese.
- The corporate executive may have thought that the latest and greatest system or technology was the cheese. However, cost overruns, unrealized functionality and out of sync processes could be slicing away at that cheese.
- For the average employee, the cheese may be to feel like they are competent and even expert at doing the job. The introduction of a new system or technology, and the need to learn new ways of doing things, could be the last straw.
In the final analysis, it doesn’t matter what caused your cheese to change. Change happens. Stress happens. Deal with it.
Consider implementing stress management and change management programs.
Sandra Noble
NOBLE FINANCES
NOBLE & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING, INC
Tags: Atlanta, blog, Business, Business Over 50, businessover50.com, Change, Change Management, Consultant, consulting, Finance, funding, Implementation, Noble & Associates Consulting, Noble Finances, Post Implementation Distress, Process, Process Improvement, project, project management, re-engineering, Sandra Noble, Software, Strategy, Stress, Stress Management, Technology, telecom
Posted in Business, Finance, Process, Requirements, Strategy, Technology | No Comments »
Sunday, February 17th, 2008
GOD, grant me the Serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
and Wisdom to know the difference.
The Serenity Prayer
In software and technology implementation projects, there needs to be something called “Change Control”. And why is this needed? No matter how thorough the business analysis job or how complete the project plan, there’s always something that needs to be changed or added after the fact. Users and potential users of the system or technology change their minds. Or think of something that they absolutely cannot live without. Then from the technical side, the developers, programmers and implementers discover things that are incorrect or just won’t work. Programmers or testers find things called “bugs” – which is techie talk for errors or system glitches. After all, that’s what quality, quality control and testing is supposed to do – Find things that will cause less than desired results.
Testing and quality is key. And it needs to start at the beginning. Once the technology requirements are finalized, you have the basis for test scripts that can be used throughout the implementation process. There will be change. So, there needs to be an orderly process for incorporating changes and corrections / fixes.
One reason is that it helps insure that everyone on the project is in sync. It avoids duplication of effort. And, it’s less disruptive when there are multiple environments (development / test versus live / production) or multiple release versions. It’s an essential piece of the communications plan. Change control is a recipe for success. And, back to the Serenity Prayer: the introduction of new systems, features or functionality is something that can be controlled. And the smart project manager has the courage to mandate a change control process.
What we cannot change is people and how they react to change. Change, even positive change, creates stress – another thing we can’t change. What we can control is the implementation and use of programs and techniques that ease the pain and stress of change. And that’s called Change Management.
Sandra Noble
NOBLE FINANCES
NOBLE & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING, INC
Tags: blog, Business, Business Over 50, businessover50.com, Change, Change Management, Consultant, consulting, Finance, Implementation, Noble & Associates Consulting, Noble Finances, Post Implementation Distress, Process, Process Improvement, project, project management, Quality, re-engineering, Requirements, Sandra Noble, Software, Strategy, Tags: Atlanta, Technology, Testing
Posted in Business, Finance, Process, Process Improvement, Software, Strategy, Technology | No Comments »
Friday, February 15th, 2008
Barack Obama is campaigning on the theme of being the candidate for change. That’s a message which is resonating with many. And then there is Mike Huckabee who is promoting the fair Tax (not the flat tax). That’s one concrete measure, which if implemented, would cause a dramatic change in the United States. It would eliminate the IRS and more importantly put an end to tax code manipulation by Congress. One drawback to the fair tax is that the transition would be painful.
Although people may say they want change, its human nature to resist it. We’re creatures of habit. We like ease and comfort. Many people stay in jobs they hate because of fear of the unknown and fear of change. How many do not stop smoking or shed excess pounds because the process of getting to the goal is uncomfortable, painful, or downright scary.
My good friend, Rev. Angela Harrington Rice, just announced “Life Designs 2008″ which facilitates change and self actualization on a personal level. Angela’s announcements included the statement “Change is good and inevitable”. I think all would agree with the inevitable part, but there may be some debate about how good it is. And, most would agree that there are many things that other people, our country, and the world should change. I love the saying by Mahatma Gandhi “Be the change you want to see”. It puts the onus back on us.
Companies putting in new technology, software or systems would do well to incorporate change management programs. People like to feel like they’re an expert in their jobs. A change in new systems and technology will inevitably require employees to learn new skills or to do things in a different way. So, another consideration when implementing software is business process re-engineering / improvement / management. New systems may have great potential benefits. But if it is not used, circumvented or resisted, companies have wasted time and money to implement. My announcement about the cure for “Post Implementation Distress” service, highlights these issues.
Noble & Associates Consulting, Inc’s cure for “Post Implementation Distress” is an assessment, diagnosis, and remediation service. Key parts of the cure and healing process are change management, process improvement, documentation and training.
If you had good project management and governance (Independent Verification and Validation -IV&V) on the front end, you probably avoid “Post Implementation Distress”. And if you budgeted for resolving people issues at the beginning of the project, there may be some stress, but no “Post Implementation Distress”. However, if you’ve already implemented and things have gone awry, wouldn’t it be prudent for your organization to get the cure for “Post Implementation Distress”? Or, at least incorporate a change management program?
Call Noble & Associates Consulting to the rescue!
Sandra Noble
NOBLE FINANCES
NOBLE & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING, INC
Tags: 2008 presidential election, Atlanta, Barack Obama, Business, Business Over 50, businessover50.com, Change, Change Management, consulting, Fair Tax, Finance, Implementation, Mike Huckabee, Noble & Associates Consulting, Noble Finances, Post Implementation Distress, Process, Process Improvement, re-engineering, Sandra Noble, Software, Strategy, Technology
Posted in Business, Finance, Process, Process Improvement, Strategy, Technology | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
A business acquaintance, Judy Mod, was promoting her former company, CoreSpeed. She was very gracious to spend time educating me about this new community. Or I should say trying to enlighten me. She kept using words like community and conversation. I kept think of it as a typing exercise. Or text messaging, which I don’t do. The mental blocks went up. I didn’t want to learn online community. But, on the other hand, I need to keep up with technology.
I mean I do have an information technology (IT) consulting company, Noble & Associates Consulting. However, I like to say I am a non-techie techie. My company does business analysis, project management, documentation, training, change management, and process improvement / re-engineering. And, we’re the cure for “Post Implementation Distress”. So we deal with business issues related to technology.
Noble & Associates Consulting also provides ERP (enterprise resource planning) and other enterprise wide software system implementation services from a functional perspective. We bring business background and knowledge, and we can write technical specifications. In order to do that, we must have the ability to understand and coalesce both business speak and computer programmer / developer speak.
I heard one of the gurus of social networking, Sherry Heyl, speak on Web 2.0 at a Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) event. Had I not already been investigating the subject, I really would have been lost. But I accepted her invitation to connect on Linkedin anyway.
Then I attended SoCono8, this past weekend. It was organized by Sherry Heyl, CEO and Idealist of What a Concept! Community, Jeff Haynie, co-founder /CEO of Appcelerator, and Leonard Witt, Kennesaw State University’s Fowler Distinguished Chair. I did finally get clarity on what an “RSS feed” was and what a “tag” was. Then there is something called a “tag cloud”, which I would probably never use. To the uninformed, it looks very unprofessional and looks like garbage.
My take away from that was that social networking was just another method for connecting, developing relations and finding out the interests of prospect and with people in general. There were people of all ages at the SoCon08 un-conference. The twenty-somethings were definitely represented, but there also a good number of grey hairs. The were lots of people with business –to-business (B2B) companies. And back to Judy Mod: She did say one of the ways in which folks are using community is for pre-credentialing their company prior to RFP release for public sector projects. So that relates to business-to-government (B2G). I found I knew some of the SoCon08 attendees from other business / technology networking groups and events. I even met a lady looking for someone to do a SAP (ERP) interface!
OK, so I’m beginning to like this community.
Sandra Noble
NOBLE FINANCES
NOBLE & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING, INC
Tags: Atlanta, blog. consulting, Business, Business Over 50, businessover50.com, Finance, Linkedin, Marketing, Noble & Associates Consulting, Noble Finances, Sandra Noble, Software, Strategy, Technology
Posted in Business, Marketing, Software, Technology | 2 Comments »
Monday, February 11th, 2008
As I mentioned previously, I’m currently on Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, Plaxo Pulse, TAG TEAM Marketing, DirectMatches, and CollectiveX (BDPA). If you happen to want to find me, try sannoble.
Once again I made an attempt to actually use the networks. My initial experience with DirectMatches was horrendous. I got all these emails saying “I’m just introducing myself” and by the way, they had an eBook to sell. This network also has a network marketing flavor to it. I was told by my “upline” that there were people out there with real businesses. I’m interested in business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) business prospects. Preferably with annual gross revenues of at least $200k. Don’t have time for DirectMatches training on how to use the network.
The assumption is that the network is composed of like minded people. Many are consulting their social networks for advice and recommendations. I was hoping that joining network would somehow save me time and/or facilitate marketing and closing deals. Am I misguided?
Sandra Noble
NOBLE FINANCES
NOBLE & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING, INC
Tags: Atlanta, Business, Business Over 50, businessover50.com, CollectiveX, consulting, DirectMatches, Facebook, Finance, Linkedin, Marketing, MySpace, Noble & Associates Consulting, Noble Finances, Plaxo Pulse, Sandra Noble, Software, Strategy, TagTeamMarketing, Technology
Posted in Business, Finance, Marketing | No Comments »
Friday, February 8th, 2008
When I asked about a social network, I meant an online one. I’m in a couple but I’m not sure why. “They” say it’s a way to get known and somehow get a boost in website page rankings. So you can find me on Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, Plaxo Pulse, Tag Team Marketing, DirectMatches, CollectiveX (BDPA), Meetup, not to mention various yahoo groups.
After one person’s rave reviews about the usefulness of Linkedin, I did try to actually do targeted searches. So, I decided to reach out to business people from my college – Albright College in Reading, PA. I questioned why a couple of my colleagues even on Linkedin. I told them about my ideal clients for both my IT consulting business and for my receivables financing business. It did not occur to them to provide reciprocal information on their own companies until I asked. Anyway, since there was a limit to the free queries, that’s the end of that. Since then, Albright has established their own social network. I believe it’s for alumni. At some point I may investigate that
I notice that the Linkedin “invitation to connect” e-mails has gotten shorter. It used to be a couple of paragraphs. Now it’s just: I’d like to add you to my connection. I guess, as online social networking and connecting becomes more commonplace, it requires less explanation.
I have accepted numerous invitations to connect. Just cleaned up a couple of unanswered connection requests which dated back to 2004. Obviously, I’m not on top of things.
Sandra Noble
NOBLE FINANCES
NOBLE & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING, INC
Tags: Atlanta, Business, Business Over 50, businessover50.com, CollectiveX, DirectMatches, Facebook, Finance, Linkedin, MySpace, Noble & Associates Consulting, Noble Finances, Plaxo Pulse, Sandra Noble, Software, Strategy, TagTeamMarketing, Technology
Posted in Business, Finance, Marketing, Technology | 2 Comments »
Thursday, February 7th, 2008
Super Tuesday has come and gone, and those of us in Georgia got to take part. Being a good citizen, I voted. But I have to admit I don’t always make an informed decision. For example – the judges. On what do I base my decision? I could safely vote for the unopposed candidates. When I had no clue, I used to randomly pick women or non-incumbents or anyone from my party of choice. However, in more recent years, I decided to just leave those positions un-checked.
Even more basic than that, I have trouble keeping track of what districts I’m in. And on any given day I couldn’t give you a list of who my representatives were. There’s a Congressional information website that I now keep handy. This site allows me to enter my zip code and get the applicable district numbers and elected official names.
I’ was much better informed about the 2008 US presidential candidates. I found a couple of websites which were invaluable for supporting my desire to make educated choices: WQAD candidate selection quiz and vote chooser quiz. I got different results from the two quizzes. And, recently my results for the one quiz were different from taking that same quiz a couple of months ago. So, I guess I’m being influenced by the media. I found that my heart wanted to do one thing but my head (based on quiz results) wanted to do another. Which should win?
I see an analogy here for selecting software and vendors. There’s lots of interesting choices in the 2008 election – a black African American, a woman, a Mormon, a preacher. But in the United States’ democratic system of government, the impact of electing a Republican versus a Democrat is relatively small. We have our checks and balances. But the wrong software selection could be costly: #1 in terms of your organization wasting money and #2 in terms of your personal well being. Often technology projects gone bad results in job loss or demotion. Not to mention the cost of non-compliance with SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Act) or other regulations which your system or technology was supposed to address. You could go to jail!
So how to make intelligent decisions in the realm of vendor / software / technology / system selection? Noble & Associates Consulting Inc provides evaluation and selection assistance. The above mentioned candidate selection questionnaires are based on the assumption that the most important issues have been addressed. And the two quizzes differ in that respect. Similarly, before any evaluation process it’s imperative that you clarify what you’re trying to accomplish and what’s important.
We suggest a five step process:
1. Clarify goals and strategic direction
2. Understand and document requirements
3. Prioritize and rank requirements, and develop a scoring strategy
4. Map vendor/software/technology capabilities to requirements.
5. Evaluate and select.
Sandra Noble
NOBLE FINANCES
NOBLE & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING, INC
Tags: 2008 presidential election, Atlanta, Business, Business Over 50, businessover50.com, consulting, Evaluation, Finance, Noble & Associates Consulting, Noble Finances, Process, Sandra Noble, Software, Software Selection, Strategy, Technology, Vendor
Posted in Business, Process, Requirements, Software, Strategy, Technology | No Comments »
Monday, February 4th, 2008
Tags: Atlanta, blog, Business, Business Over 50, businessover50.com, Finance, Noble & Associates Consulting, Noble Finances, over 50, Sandra Noble, Senior citizen, Software, Strategy, Technology
Posted in Business, Business People Over 50 - Who are we?, Finance, Strategy, Technology | No Comments »
