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Success Factors For Getting the Work Done

In Today's Corporate Environment


Background
InfoWorks’ research over the past five years has focused on the question: “What competencies are
required for corporate personnel to be successful in today’s corporate environment?”
We have asked this question of over 1500 persons – from line supervisors to CEO’s in diverse
industries including financial, manufacturing, retail, and ****. Data collection strategies included
one-on-one interviews, focus groups and mailed surveys.
As we analyzed this information with our customers, often for the purposes of strategic planning or
curriculum development, it became useful to classify a number of these success factors into two
broad and somewhat overlapping strategies for getting things done, as illustrated in figure 1:

Ability to lead Ability to work


& coordinate in with & through
project or team others without
environments direct control

Figure 1: Key success factors may be classified into two groups of


overlapping skills

Leading and coordinating the efforts of others in a project or team environment includes skills useful
in planning and implementing short-term as well as long-term projects, whether in the context of
small work teams or a large group efforts.
Working with and through people without having direct control over work processes or the final
outcome includes the one-on-one consultative skills used to collaborate on goals, strategies and
outcomes.
Our research has shown that the increased importance of these two skill sets are directly related to
the emergence of a flatter, more efficient, results-oriented corporate environment. The following
survey describes these skill sets in detail.
Instructions
1. Decide whether you are going to assess a single work group, a department or your entire
organization.
2. Complete the survey twice. The first time rating the importance of each of the skills to the
success of your organization; the second time rating the proficiency of your people in each
skill area. Use the following coding scheme:
Importance to Success Proficiency of Employees
4 = Critical 4 = Consistently demonstrate high performance
3 = Very important 3 = Skills usually meet or exceed job requirements
2 = Somewhat important 2 = Skills often do not meet job requirements
1 = Not important 1 = Rarely demonstrate proficiency
3. Analyze the results as described on the last page of this assessment.

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Success factors related to working with and through people Importance Proficiency

Note: The Term “customer”, as used below, refers to either external or internal
customers
• Identify and communicate the “value-added” one can contribute to an ____ ____
internal or external customer.
• Establish and maintain trusting, open, and honest relationships with ____ ____
customers.
• Understand and respond to the personal and professional “hot buttons” ____ ____
of customers.
• Help customers articulate their perspective of the current situation and ____ ____
their vision and goals for the future.
• Uncover the underlying feelings and beliefs that support and explain a ____ ____
customer’s perspective of the present or future.
• Clearly communicate one’s own perspective of the current situation and ____ ____
a vision for the future
• Assess the degree to which customers are open to outside help and ____ ____
support
• Discuss differences of opinions with customers in a way that ____ ____
demonstrates acceptance and respect for different points of view
• Identify "common ground" where differences of opinion exist between the ____ ____
employee and the customer.
• Specify concrete goals of a planned change or improvement, in ____ ____
collaboration with the customer.
• Gain commitment to a change or improvement from those who must ____ ____
implement and/or support the change
• Evaluate whether those who must implement a change or improvement ____ ____
have the necessary knowledge, skills, and resources to ensure success
• Identify and eliminate potential barriers to a desired change or ____ ____
improvement before trying to implement it
• Assess the readiness of customers to make a change by evaluating ____ ____
motivation, clarity of vision and the capability to implement the change
• Anticipate problems that may be encountered in a planned change or ____ ____
improvement
• Provide positive and negative feedback to customers about collaborative ____ ____
efforts.
• Collect and analyze information on an ongoing basis to support customer ____ ____
decisions.
• Help customers to make decisions on the basis of factual information and ____ ____
objective analysis
• Solicit feedback from others on how one’s own efforts might be improved ____ ____

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Success factors related to leading & coordinating the efforts of others Importance Proficiency

• Clearly define project or work effort goals and objectives ____ ____

• Define and articulate the purpose of a project or work effort and a ____ ____
project's scope and boundaries
• Identify key constituents of a project including project sponsor, primary ____ ____
and secondary customers, and project team members
• Develop a consensus early in the project among project constituents ____ ____
about key project specifications
• Estimate costs and benefits of a project in or work effort in the absence ____ ____
of complete information about project design and implementation
• Create specifications that focus and document the expectations of those ____ ____
involved in or impacted by a project or work effort
• Determine the capabilities of a project team and determine appropriate ____ ____
roles based on these capabilities
• Develop and articulate a detailed project or work effort plan, including ____ ____
activities, tasks, sub tasks, timelines, budget, and other non-financial
resource requirements
• Negotiate deliverables and time frames, as needed ____ ____

• Identify and limit risks to project or work effort success using problem- ____ ____
solving strategies.
• Differentiate among high and low priority project or work effort concerns ____ ____
and issues
• Conduct effective meetings, including preparation and follow-up, in both ____ ____
formal and informal settings
• Identify potential problems and resolution strategies ____ ____

• Provide effective feedback to project team members and clients ____ ____

• Monitor progress of the project plan and make mid-course adjustments ____ ____

• Ensure a smooth transfer of responsibility for support and maintenance ____ ____
of project outcomes to ongoing corporate operations
• Complete the project effectively, including arranging for training of new ____ ____
personnel, job aids, technical support, archiving of records, etc
• Analyze and plan communication strategies throughout the project based ____ ____
on specific information needs of the various project constituents
• Maintain and facilitate communications about the nature and purpose of ____ ____
the project among all project customers
• Determine political / organizational climate and develop coping strategies ____ ____

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Analyzing the results
Use the following steps for analyzing the results of your assessment:
1. Review your responses, comparing your ratings of importance and proficiency, and
place a check next to those success factors that may require remedial action.
Consider the following as you make your judgments:
• Any success factor rated ‘4’ in importance that isn’t also rated ‘4’ in proficiency
probably deserves relatively immediate attention.
• Any success factor rated ‘3’ in importance that isn’t rated a ‘3’ or ‘4’ in proficiency
probably deserves relatively immediate attention.
• Success factors rated ‘2’ in importance and rated ‘2’ or ‘1’ in proficiency should be
considered for possible attention, but should probably be considered less of a
priority.
2. Review the items that you have checked and consider appropriate remedial actions.
Ask yourself the following questions as you do so:
• Are there important clusters of items that seem to point to a similar opportunity for
improvement?
• Do certain groups of individuals face a greater opportunity for improvement than
others?
• Is it more cost-effective to take remedial action through one-on-one coaching
activities, or would it be more effective to use a formal training program?
• Are the identified opportunities for improvement generally recognized by the
managers of those in need of improvement, or do these managers themselves
also need additional support with these success factors?
3. Prioritize the potential actions based on the political and logistical realities of your
environment, focusing on those individuals and groups likely to provide the greatest
leverage in meeting key goals.

Action Items

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