Radar Charts for Managing Critcal Issues

RADAR CHART/SPIDER CHART

What it is:

A radar chart graphically shows the size of the gaps among five to ten organizational performance areas. The chart displays the important categories of performance and makes visible concentrations of strengths and weaknesses.

When to use it:

A radar chart shows how a team has evaluated a number of organizational performance areas. It is therefore essential that the initial evaluation include varied perspectives to provide an overall realistic and useful picture of performance.

How to use it:

Create categories. Use headers from an affinity diagram or brainstorm major categories of organizational performance to be plotted. A radar chart can normally include five to ten categories.

Standardize performance definitions. Have all evaluators agree to use standardized definitions of both full performance and non-performance in each category so that ratings are performed consistently. Define the scoring range (e.g., 0 to 5 with 5 being full performance).

Rate each performance category. Each evaluator rates each category individually, and the team then develops an average or consensus score for each category. Alternatively, the team as a whole may initially develop an average or consensus score for each category.

Construct the chart.

1. Draw a large circle and insert as many spokes or radii as there are performance categories.
2. Around the perimeter of the circle, label each spoke with the title of a performance category.
3. Subdivide each spoke into the number of increments established in the rating scale. Label the center of the circle where spokes join as 0 (no performance) and place the highest rating number (full or exceptional performance) at the end of the spoke at the outer ring. (You may want to draw additional concentric circles linking equal values on each spoke.)

Plot the ratings. For each performance category, plot on the chart the associated rating. Then connect the plotted points on all the spokes. Highlight the enclosed central shape as necessary for ease in viewing.

Interpret and use the results. The resulting radar chart will graphically show areas of relative strength and relative weakness, as well as depicting general overall performance.

Team Development

Dr Bruce Tuckman published his Forming Storming Norming Performing model in 1965. He added a fifth stage, Adjourning, in the 1970's. The Forming Storming Norming Performing theory is an elegant and helpful explanation of team development and behaviour. Similarities can be seen with other models, such as Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum and especially with Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership® model, developed about the same time.

Tuckman's model explains that as the team develops maturity and ability, relationships establish, and the leader changes leadership style. Beginning with a directing style, moving through coaching, then participating, finishing delegating and almost detached. At this point the team may produce a successor leader and the previous leader can move on to develop a new team. This progression of team behaviour and leadership style can be seen clearly in the Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum - the authority and freedom extended by the leader to the team increases while the control of the leader reduces. In Tuckman's Forming Storming Norming Performing model, Hersey's and Blanchard's Situational Leadership® model and in Tannenbaum and Schmidt's Continuum, we see the same effect, represented in three ways.

tuckman's forming storming norming performing model - original model

The progression is:

forming
storming
norming
performing
Features of each phase:

forming - stage 1

High dependence on leader for guidance and direction. Little agreement on team aims other than received from leader. Individual roles and responsibilities are unclear. Leader must be prepared to answer lots of questions about the team's purpose, objectives and external relationships. Processes are often ignored. Members test tolerance of system and leader. Leader directs (similar to Situational Leadership® 'Telling' mode).

storming - stage 2

Decisions don't come easily within group. Team members vie for position as they attempt to establish themselves in relation to other team members and the leader, who might receive challenges from team members. Clarity of purpose increases but plenty of uncertainties persist. Cliques and factions form and there may be power struggles. The team needs to be focused on its goals to avoid becoming distracted by relationships and emotional issues. Compromises may be required to enable progress. Leader coaches (similar to Situational Leadership® 'Selling' mode).

norming - stage 3

Agreement and consensus is largely forms among team, who respond well to facilitation by leader. Roles and responsibilities are clear and accepted. Big decisions are made by group agreement. Smaller decisions may be delegated to individuals or small teams within group. Commitment and unity is strong. The team may engage in fun and social activities. The team discusses and develops its processes and working style. There is general respect for the leader and some of leadership is more shared by the team. Leader facilitates and enables (similar to the Situational Leadership® 'Participating' mode).

performing - stage 4

The team is more strategically aware; the team knows clearly why it is doing what it is doing. The team has a shared vision and is able to stand on its own feet with no interference or participation from the leader. There is a focus on over-achieving goals, and the team makes most of the decisions against criteria agreed with the leader. The team has a high degree of autonomy. Disagreements occur but now they are resolved within the team positively and necessary changes to processes and structure are made by the team. The team is able to work towards achieving the goal, and also to attend to relationship, style and process issues along the way. team members look after each other. The team requires delegated tasks and projects from the leader. The team does not need to be instructed or assisted. Team members might ask for assistance from the leader with personal and interpersonal development. Leader delegates and oversees (similar to the Situational Leadership® 'Delegating' mode).

Tuckman's fifth stage - Adjourning

Bruce Tuckman refined his theory around 1975 and added a fifth stage to the Forming Storming Norming Performing model - he called it Adjourning, which is also referred to as Deforming and Mourning. Adjourning is arguably more of an adjunct to the original four stage model rather than an extension - it views the group from a perspective beyond the purpose of the first four stages. The Adjourning phase is certainly very relevant to the people in the group and their well-being, but not to the main task of managing and developing a team, which is clearly central to the original four stages.

adjourning - stage 5

Tuckman's fifth stage, Adjourning, is the break-up of the group, hopefully when the task is completed successfully, its purpose fulfilled; everyone can move on to new things, feeling good about what's been achieved. From an organizational perspective, recognition of and sensitivity to people's vulnerabilities in Tuckman's fifth stage is helpful, particularly if members of the group have been closely bonded and feel a sense of insecurity or threat from this change. Feelings of insecurity would be natural for people with high 'steadiness' attributes (as regards the 'four temperaments' or DISC model) and with strong routine and empathy style (as regards the Benziger thinking styles model, right and left basal brain dominance).

Hersey's and Blanchard's Situational Leadership® model

The classic Situational Leadership® model of management and leadership style also illustrates the ideal development of a team from immaturity (stage 1) through to maturity (stage 4) during which management an leadership style progressively develops from relatively detached task-directing (1), through the more managerially-involved stages of explanation (2) and participation (3), to the final stage of relatively detached delegation (4), at which time ideally the team is largely self-managing, and hopefully contains at least one potential management/leadership successor.

The aim of the leader or manager is therefore to develop the team through the four stages, and then to move on to another role.

Ironically this outcome is feared by many managers. However, good organisations place an extremely high value on leaders and managers who can achieve this.

The model also illustrates four main leadership and management styles, which a good leader is able to switch between, depending on the sitution (ie., the team's maturity relating to a particular task, project or challenge.)

Situational Leadership® is a trademark of the Center for Leadership Studies, which represents the interests and products of Dr Paul Hersey. Ken Blanchard (who incidentally wrote 'The One Minute Manager') went on to develop the Situational Leadership® system into what he called Situational Leadership II®, and which now covers a range of products marketed by his organization, The Ken Blanchard Companies.

Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business

Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business

Many of the titles I recommend in Executive Insider focus on the talent marketplace from the perspective of the candidate. Other titles address leadership, innovation and knowledge that will help you advance in your career. Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business provides job candidates with insight into the talent market today and it has an important message for business leaders about talent management. As coauthor Hank Stringer says, "The true competitive difference for all companies is the talent that pushes the business forward."

Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business, by Stringer and fellow executive Rusty Rueff, explores how to locate, attract, and retain high quality talent in a global economy that makes it more difficult — and more important than ever — to have the best people contributing to the growth of your company.

The character of the job seeker has changed. Today's best people have radically new expectations and approaches to work. Rueff and Stringer reveal how competition, technology, retiring Baby Boomers and overseas outsourcing are changing the ways that both individuals and companies approach the talent market.

Candidates know at least as much about the companies they interview as the companies interviewing them — today it's all on the Internet. Employers need to be much more creative and comprehensive when looking for talent. Discover how candidates are using technology to evaluate opportunities, benchmark their compensation, and create new back channels of communication about work life at your company — and your competitors.

The authors recognize that it's no longer enough to have a "work force": you need a high-impact TALENT FORCE. As they note in their book, "At every level in the organization, finding, hiring and retaining Q-Talent (quality talent) is a huge challenge, fraught with intangibles — and critical to success. The Q-Talent imperative will never go away and those who tap into TALENT FORCE and make the effort, get it right and win in the marketplace."

Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business is an ExecuNet recommended resource available through the ExecuNet Career Management Bookshelf.

The Changing Face of Human Resource Management Systems

The Changing Face of Human Resource Management Systems by Tuesday Knight

Most businesses that run HRMS already understand how crucial it can be for streamlining human resource department functions. In the days before HRMS, managing human resources on a large scale was a daunting task marked by inefficiency and a paper trail that made file cabinet manufacturers an extremely happy lot. International businesses often had no central HR administration as the sharing of information, employee records, banking and payroll were only incorporated during first quarter tax assessment of the company as whole. Even some U.S. businesses with multiple offices or locations ran completely separate HR departments, with reconciliation of company expenditures related to personnel never coming to fruition. Fortunately, HRMS have made all of these problems a thing of the past.

Over the last fifteen years, HRMS have made their mark on the corporate landscape. Stiff, unyielding in nature and low on functionality, the first HRMS applications were resource consuming monstrosities that required an advanced degree in computer science to implement and operate. Company personnel would have to request HRMS data from administrators hired specifically to run the system. Instead of empowering HR departments, the earliest HRMS were more of a detriment to them. Thankfully, the technology behind HRMS improved rapidly, giving way to the indispensable tools we are accustomed to today. HRMS have evolved to contain multiple, highly specialized tools for a variety of HR tasks. The ability to manage several aspects of human resources, from time and attendance to payroll and labor distribution from one application has proven to be a valuable commodity in the business world.

One of the best developments in HRMS over the last several years has been modular packaging. At one time, HRMS were only available as a singular software entity, not a suite or series of applications. Small businesses were relegated to using the same HRMS that large businesses used, with pricing and functionality that certainly favored the latter. Today, most HRMS offer scalable modules, allowing businesses to only purchase and implement the applications they need. This reduces not only the cost of the HRMS, but keeps system resources from having to deal with larger applications that run despite only a portion of their functions being utilized.

HRMS have become a standard application in the business community, and as more companies large and small discover the inherent value of the software, the competition among developers is likely to increase. HRMS are already some of the most functional and practical of all business software solutions, but as most developers will tell you, the best is yet to come.

About the Author
To learn more about HR software go to our site http://www.tutservices.com/hr_abra_software.htm

To learn more about Sage software visit our site http://www.tutservices.com/

Hiring Exceptional People

Why is it so important to hire exceptional people? by Arnold Nadler

The people we hire for our business become our goodwill ambassadors. We, as owners, are sometimes predisposed, and the people we employee represent the image of our business, the brand we are developing, and the standards our business is based on.

As business people, we need to protect ourselves and incorporate security measures regardless who we hire. We will be able to track any theft in money or merchandise. That's just good business!!

The snag might be that we can't always check all the time if our customers are being served properly, or standards are being kept in place during our absence. Just think how nice it would be at times to have exceptional people watching the shop, making money for us, while we are having some enjoyable time away. This means we should not ignore our business every day; by owning a business, at times we take advantage of that freedom. So, by hiring exceptional people with the right work ethic, we might reduce some of what we might refer to as the slack factor.

How do we choose the right person?

Do we pick someone because we like him or her? They're funny, and, even though they only have a few of the desired characteristics, we probably could be great friends.

Let's keep in mind this is a working relationship. Clearly defined, we are employers and therefore must keep personal feeling out, and criteria in. This should not mean we do not care about and like the people who work for us.

In a business forum their confidence will come from us, a good, fair, and firm employer that they can trust to do what we promise. To accomplish this, it is vital to pick our employees based on the characteristics we have put in place for exceptional people.

We need to review their resume, look again how they answered the interview questions, and how they would fit in with our other employees. Remember, everyone has a unique and different personality. By putting criteria in place, we can choose our employees fairly and without prejudice.

It is important to remember that if someone should not meet our criteria we must let them down gently and with respect. The same applies when firing. Besides, these people could even become loyal customers in the future. Hire right, or manage hard!!!

About the Author
Arnold Nadler is a long-time entrepreneur and founder of The Startup Business Doctor, a private company specializing in helping new and small businesses get their company off the ground. Programs include professional coaching, franchise opportunities and inexpensive advertising packages. You can get more information at StartUpBusinessDoctor.com

Coming Factors report

Content is currently under development and due to be released this quarter. To be notified of content publishing please email JRounds@jayderagon.com and please add "Human Resource Factors" to the subject matter line