Saturday, February 26, 2011

(On Delay) Day 2

Today we finished up the SWAT and put together our recomendations. Some things that need work on are standard, like communication and team. Others had to do with moving the people around on the bus and matching talent with the right areas of the company.

One thing that tends to ring true across many of these SWATs are that everyone knows the problem people and areas. Many time the management does not realize the damage that is being done by ignoring the situations that need taken care of.

Our presentation went well and I feel like will really give positive growth to itSynergy. I look forard to hearing from them in the next year to see when the growth starts and how the changes take ahold.

Dinner was good. Some Chicken Fried Steak. One of the guys that went to dinner with us ordered it because everyone else did. He made the comment that it didnt look like chicken! I explained it was actually beef. It goes to show that where you are in the country may have some dictation on the experiences you have.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Ended in a headache (On delay)

Out to get to business today. With one of the major area's needing addressed being sales this is where I come in. After a day of discovery my I have a solid headache. Not one of those can't move headaches, just a general pain. I am not used to being this engaged for so long.

This is my third one of these and it is interesting to see how much is similar yet how much is very different. One thing different about this SWOT is it is being recorded by a professional video crew. I can't count how many times I forgot I was tied to a microphone and got my chain yanked! I will post the site where the episode will be when it is out. I quickly forgot the cameras were around (Except for the 100 degree temperatures that the lights put out) It will be interesting to see what is in the video versus what I saw. It would be very difficult to put a video together that is only a 1/2 hour long yet filmed over two days!

It was very refreshing to see a company with the processes in place. It was amazing how much easier it is to evaluate a company when they document what they do. However the perfection that created the processes also caused some road blocks. In the pursuit of perfection came some degradation of production. Clearly there needs to be a good balance of both.

I also really gained a respect of Lyf and his unique insites into the technical side of the business. He quickly identified some areas of leakage and even faster identified the possible areas that were the main areas of concern.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

(On Delay) Trip to Phoenix

Taking a trip to Phoenix today. Never been there before so I am looking forward to a new town and the forecasted 70 degree temperatures. In addition to these good things, I get to catch up with Arlin from HTS/HTG and Lyf from Mytech what a great opportunity to learn from the best in the IT field. We are going down to itSynergy where they want to grow and are asking for a SWOT to identify the things that can help them go to the next level.

The flight out of Hays was on time and good. I never understand how a flight can be rough even though the skies are clear. It was one of the rougher flights I have been on. When you use your seat belt to keep you in the seat it is quite the ride. The rest of the trip was good also. All three of us landed around the same time.

I look forward to the next two days and what is to come.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

I remember getting into management groups

And them talking quite a bit about process. You must build processes and then scale. Now to be a bit honest, many that gave that advice did not follow it. However one thing that is becoming more and more clear to me is that most successful businesses have solid processes. Base lines to measure most things in the business. These processes are documented and followed.

Sure, these processes are modified as the company grows and as technology changes. The other side of processes are the ability to realize that everything has an exception. A time when you do the right thing based on something that could not have been foreseen.

Do not get lost in the exceptions, start with processes. Document and measure.