The Corvallis Business Ecosystem

How do you get politicians, business owners, programmers, and staff members on the same page? How do you help them mobilize, focus energy, and commit to real action in order to grow a region’s economy?

Economic Development Director of the Corvallis Benton Chamber Coalition John Sechrest faced just this challenge in Corvallis, Oregon several years ago. He was responsible for spurring economic development in Benton County. As he says, “[we needed to] create flow in the economic system, to increase the number of jobs and companies in the region.” The area couldn’t compete with New York or South Carolina by giving incentives to new companies. It needed another way to develop economically.

Corvallis’ major assets were a large university (Oregon State) and Hewlett Packard. The combination of IT strength, creativity, and brainpower created a ripe environment for start-up organizations. To help those start-ups survive, however, cross-sector commitment was needed.

With designer Becky Clarkson, Sechrest developed a one-page visual to describe the Corvallis start-up business ecosystem. He explains: “I was trying to bring politicians, staff workers, business owners, and programmers into the same conversation. I had to create a central metaphor.” That central metaphor was the harvest, which tied into another local industry, wine growing. Chambers seeded the diagram with Corvallis landmarks, like the Business Enterprise Center (depicted just below Acceleration).

The Corvallis Business Ecosystem map shows the elements of the start-up ecosystem. It depicts activities as a progression from outreach (in the top left corner) to facilitation, funding, acceleration, and cluster development (groups of self-reinforcing companies).

What difference did the diagram actually make? Here’s what Sechrest says:

The ecosystem diagram allowed us to communicate the different parts of the system and to show that we had to do more things than just one project. [It] helped us to cross organizational boundaries and to bring more people to the table. It also made it possible for people to engage more heavily in one project knowing that other projects were being addressed by other parts of the ecosystem. It created a focus for the development work.

eBay Ecosystem

The online auction giant lives in a complex, multi-layered ecosystem. But this map provides high-level insight into how eBay generates considerable value for people outside the organization.

eBay engages with buyers who receive bidding opportunities for objects they desire and a fun auction environment. In exchange, buyers’ money flows through eBay and bolster quality through seller ratings. On the flip side, sellers gain a site for listing salable items and build reputations through eBay. In exchange, eBay provides a simplified auction process and provides support for a fee.

Buyers and sellers aren’t the only ones who profit from eBay. Volunteer user groups share technical knowledge and contribute to eBay’s growth.

Verna Allee, who designed this map, writes: “What makes eBay especially interesting is how it demonstrates the potential for a value network to expand prosperity. Because of eBay, quite a number of people who had not been able to earn income suddenly had a way to participate in the economy. Others found a hobby could be leveraged to create additional income.” (According to AC Nielsen  724,000 people earned their primary livelihood through eBay in July 2005.)

Technology Business Ecosystem

When people think of Baltimore, they often think Orioles, soft shell crabs, and maybe Hairspray. They don’t usually think about technology. Dave Troy, a technology entrepreneur in Baltimore, and others are trying to change that. Troy developed a simple ecosystem map to show the critical points in the ecosystem he hopes will develop in Baltimore. Modeled after the systems that make Silicon Valley, Boston, Austin, and New York work, this map shows the basics:

1. Ways to engage (at the bottom of the map) – Venues for new participants, entrepreneurs, investors, hackers, and others to come together and innovate. Explains Troy, “By ‘venues’ I am talking about spaces that offer opportunities for daily, ongoing interaction between individuals. They’re ‘high touch’ while being ‘low risk.’ Think coworking, hackerspaces, regular café co-working, incubators and accelerators, and educational institutions.”
2. New business creation (at left) – Troy explains that “With the prolonged exposure made possible by the ‘mix’ phase [participation in venues], entrepreneurs can make more informed decisions about who to go into business with and have likely had more time to refine their ideas before ever beginning. This means a lower failure rate for new startups than in a less-developed ecosystem.”
3. Growth of product and service companies (at top) – Through the process of incubation and investment, some companies will naturally grow and thrive. As they do, entrepreneurs and equity holders will leave the organizations (at right) and, hopefully, reinsert themselves in the cycle by starting new conversations and supporting new ideas.

It’s a simple model that helps people have a clear and productive conversation about the elements that make a successful technology ecosystem.

Found a unique ecosystem map? Please share!

See here for more on how to map and analyze your company’s business ecosystem.

Visions of Business Ecosystems is an original post from Maya Townsend, founder and lead consultant: Partnering Resources - Align. Adapt. Achieve. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Maya on Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+.

Wild Horses. Image by cone_dmn on flickr

Jazzed about doing your first network analysis? Hold your horses! It’s important to do no harm when conducting a network analysis. Make sure to read these important caveats before you begin.

Identify Your Goal

Determine what you want to learn as a result of conducting a network analysis. Do you want to identify influencers (critical connectors) in order to engage them in change initiatives? Do you want to understand how information flows through the organization? Do you want to create a plan to help new employees build their networks during the on-boarding process? The questions you choose will shape the results you receive, so be clear up front.

Determine What Kind of Help You Need

It is possible to do a simple project yourself, especially if you’re working with a small group (fewer than 25 participants) and using the analysis for discussion about team collaboration. If you’re using the analysis for assessment or succession planning, I highly recommend getting help. That could take the form of phone coaching, survey development and analysis outsourcing, or consulting.

Plan How to Manage Data

Think through how you’re going to share and act on the data with the project team before you begin. One option is to explain that the entire process will be open. You’ll gather the information, share it with everyone, and interpret it together. A second option is to explain that the entire process will be anonymous and confidential. You will be the only one who will see the results. You will report on what you learned from the data (without mentioning names) and what you plan to do as a result of the data. A great resource on the ethics of conducting a network analysis is this article by Steve Borgatti.

Help People Interpret Accurately

Your job is to ask questions that help people make meaning out of the data collected. You’ll also need to educate them. Remember that if someone has few connections, it does not mean that the person is anti-social, unliked, or incompetent. Be sure to stress this since people can misinterpret the results. Most often, people with few connections have recently joined the team, work in another location or functional area, have a job that doesn’t require interaction, or are quiet innovators busy on skunk works that they don’t want to get shut down.

What other advice would you give to people beginning their first network analysis?

Think Before You Assess: Tips for Your First Network Analysis is an original post from Maya Townsend, founder and lead consultant: Partnering Resources - Align. Adapt. Achieve. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Maya on Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+.

The Forest and the Trees: Managing Business Ecosystems

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do was to hike with my parents. We would romp through forests, looking at interesting lizards and trees, finding animal tracks, and admiring the sounds of bird calls. We would arrive at our destination, usually the top of some peak. We’d get to look at the entire forest — the trails we followed, the lakes we missed, the cloud formations — and we’d feel awed and satisfied. We had been in that forest, but now we could see it from above.

Today, it’s time for us to spend a little less time looking at the animal tracks in our organizations and a little more time looking at the forest as a whole. It’s time for us to pay attention to our business ecosystems.

What is a business ecosystem?

Business ecosystems are formed by the dynamic interplay between interconnected organizations that depend on one another for mutual survival. OK, that’s a mouthful. It means companies are constantly influenced by those around them. More than that, their success is dependent on others.

In the olden days, businesses competed against one or maybe a few specific rivals. The Pepsi vs. Coke taste test is a great example. Competing head to head for marketshare is an easy game to play. You just have to outsmart the competitor to gain more customers.

Today the cola wars and their business ecosystems are more complicated. Pepsi and Coke aren’t just competing against each other. They’re battling with Rockstar Energy Drink, Odwalla, Sobe, and Naked Juice. By the way, Coke owns the first two, and Pepsi owns the second two. That makes things a little more complicated, because the companies are competing with themselves. Then add spring water, coconut water, smart waters, and energy drinks like Red Bull, and the picture gets even more complicated.

I don’t work for Pepsi, so why should I care?

The short answer: What you learned in business school didn’t prepare you for this new world (unless, of course, you had professors like James F. Moore, the founder of the business ecosystem theory).

In this complex world, management by objectives doesn’t cut it. By the time you’ve set objectives, they’re already obsolete, since the underlying assumptions have been disproven or changed radically. And that assumes you can get agreement in the first place across the various time zones, languages, and priorities within your organization. There are also changing regulations, market newcomers, and all sorts of surprises that make traditional planning difficult, if not impossible.

It’s time to think broad, not just narrow. It’s time to look at the forest and the trees. How do you do this?

• Get allies. Make sure you have people in your network who can help you think about your future, your company’s future, and your industry’s future. Keep your eyes on what’s coming, because nothing remains stable for long these days. Keep in touch with trends and shifts, so you’re not unpleasantly surprised. Great organizations like the World Futurist Society and the Institute for the Future can help you with this.
• Think differently. Learn new ways of thinking about organizations and ecosystems. Look for articles and people talking about things like ecosystems, strategy in the new world, networks, and complexity.
• Get outside the forest. Go to conferences and workshops that talk about the big picture, not the details. What do people really need? What are people excited about? Who’s doing related work? Where is there innovation? Who’s entering the industry? What’s happening in related industries? Don’t have travel funds? Try reading magazines like Wired.
• Experiment. Try some new tools like a vulnerability matrix, a strategy canvas, or a health diagnostic.
• Keep a sense of humor. Goodness knows we’re all going to need it in this crazy, changing world.

Originally published on Future of Work Enabled, 10/29/2012.

The Forest and the Trees: Managing in Business Ecosystems is an original post from Maya Townsend, founder and lead consultant: Partnering Resources - Align. Adapt. Achieve. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Maya on Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+.

A fellow blogger, Charlotte Erdmann, recently wrote that the future of work will be more flexible and more networked. She’s right on.

What caught my eye in her article was the word “trust.” Charlotte mentioned it three times. No wonder: In a world in which information flows much more freely and people collaborate more frequently than in the past, trust is essential.

Unfortunately, trust is also elusive. Over the past several years, I’ve worked with a variety of clients on issues such as strategy, change, and leadership. It doesn’t matter what I’m overtly doing with the client. Trust always comes up.

One client said that business units don’t trust each other and work at cross purposes. Another said that individual contributors don’t trust the leadership team. A third fretted that so many inconsistent messages were being sent by the organization that trust in the company had eroded. Different situations, different challenges, all related to trust.

Why do we have such a difficult time with trust at work?

There are three reasons, I think. First, your colleagues reflect on you in a much deeper and more intimate way than in the past. It’s no longer just your name associated with a project or initiative. It’s your name plus a list of collaborators. If they don’t carry their weight, you are in trouble. To address that, in some companies, like Microsoft, people are appraised on their ability to work with colleagues.

Second, we’re not used to thinking about trust, as this article, “The Four Trust Principles,” explains. We’re used to putting our heads down and getting the work done. Who has time for the slow work of building a relationship when there’s a report to write?

Third, we’re not used to being trustworthy on such a large scale. These days, we’re beholden not just to our bosses, but to a complex network of individuals. We need to think, not just about making our boss look good, but about making sure our coworkers, partners, customers, and other members of our business ecosystems get what they need to be successful.

Trust in the Digital World

These days, we have to build relationships with people we have never seen, and and work via email, conference call, and shared work spaces. There’s no water cooler. We don’t get the cues we usually rely on, like body language, hallway conversations, and information from others, to help us gauge a person’s trustworthiness.

It’s a challenge that digital entrepreneurs have taken up enthusiastically. Companies like TrustCloud now offer services that measure people’s trustworthiness online. They take into account things like longevity (how long you’ve been online) and endorsements (what people say about you) to create a trust score. The higher the trust score, the more trustworthy, according to TrustCloud.

I’m not sure that this will do the trick (even though TrustCloud flatters me with a good score). Sure, TrustCloud will tell you whether I’ve reneged on an eBay purchase, but will it tell you whether I’ll do a good job? Watch your back? Act as a partner and not a competitor? Tell you the truth without spin?

TrustCloud and its peers might work for online transactions like purchasing, house swapping, and bartering. But I don’t think it cracks the trust code for those of us who need to work closely with and depend on others.

What do you think it takes to build trust in the wired world?

Originally published on Future of Work Enabled, 10/3/2012.

I’ve Got Your Back: Trust at Work is an original post from Maya Townsend, founder and lead consultant: Partnering Resources - Align. Adapt. Achieve. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Maya on Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+.

Walking the Line between Networking & Advertising. Image by Ian Sane (flickr).

Several weeks ago, I fell into a network trap. I asked someone for her business card without getting to know her first. We were at a networking event so it wasn’t rude or unexpected. She gave the card to me although I could tell she wasn’t thrilled with me or my request.

People do this all the time. They exchange cards with acquaintances and then go back to the office and file them. Perhaps they add them to their emailing list and then they congratulate themselves: “Wow! I’m up to 1000 people on my email list. I’m hot stuff!”

The problem is that there is a big difference between developing genuine networks and advertising. When I send out a tweet about a new report I’ve created, I’m advertising. I’m also advertising when I send an e-zine to my list. Of course, I have received permission from those who receive these messages to send them, so I’m not doing anything wrong. However, it would be a mistake to think of this as networking.

Real Connections

Networks require real connections. What does that mean? I’ll be specific.

A real connection is active, reciprocal, and personal.

Active. You don’t passively watch your contacts’ activity on a Facebook wall or through a LinkedIn update. Instead, you have ongoing, active interactions with these people online, in person, or both.

Reciprocal. Sending email news blasts or Twitter updates to a group doesn’t signify a reciprocal relationship. However, if an individual responds to an email newsletter and you engage in a dialogue, then you’re exchanging ideas in a reciprocal relationship. Two-way relationships are key to real connections.

Personal. You have information about the person beyond what a passer-by on the street might observe. You might know that they collect Velvet Elvis art, they can’t sleep unless they’ve checked Cute Overload that day, or that they’ve had a large hole in their basement for years from an unfinished DIY whirlpool project (all facts about real people who will remain unidentified for sake of their dignity). By the way, what you know about the person doesn’t have to be embarrassing; it’s just more entertaining to list slightly dubious facts in a blog post.

The implications are critical. It’s not enough to collect cards, we have to know people. Of course, we can’t keep up with the 2000 people we can recognize when we look at their pictures. So what gives? The answer is coming in an upcoming post. Stay tuned for more networking tips… (and subscribe, if you haven’t already, to find the answer).

Networking or Marketing: How to Escape the Advertising Trap and Get Real is an original post from Maya Townsend, founder and lead consultant: Partnering Resources - Align. Adapt. Achieve. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Maya on Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+.

Mind the Talent Gaps. Image by limaoscarjuliet on flickr.

People have been predicting boomer brain drain for years. In 2008, a SHRM / AARP study warned about the impending brain drain. Yet, companies haven’t been too worried, partially because the economy has made it impossible for people to leave.

It might be time for that relaxed attitude to change.

Recently, one of my clients was surprised to learn that 28% of their workforce would be eligible to walk out the door with full benefits within the next two years. That’s a lot of people and a lot of institutional knowledge. With the market in recovery, they decided it was time to act.

If your company is in a similar position, here are some points to consider.

Knowledge Is Important…

Every organization has internal experts in programming languages, systems, product lines, business units, and so on. What SMEs know they know and can teach others is important. But what’s more important is their tacit knowledge: all of those conclusions, impressions, tricks, and techniques they’ve learned over the years and adopted into their work so they don’t even pay attention to them anymore.

…Capabilities Are Also Important

Knowledge about Java or the insurance business is useless if you can’t apply it on the job. This is the standard ivory tower predicament: an academic might know a lot about marketing, but could she successfully market a new product?

Much of what we know is learned on the job and fine-tuned through experience. These practical abilities, unfortunately, are hard to teach since they’re so context-specific. Training classes won’t cut it. To gain capabilities, people need on-the-job mentoring from people in the know.

Networks Trump Everything

As important as knowledge and capabilities are networks. Organization network expert Patti Anklam writes that “It’s not who you know. It’s who knows you and what you know about them, and what they know about you, and what you are learning, together, and how you work at that.” In other words, relationships are what make it possible to get things done. Without those relationships, we’re just talking to ourselves. And, while that might be amusing, it won’t get the job done.

What can organizations do to get ahead of the curve and anticipate impending talent gaps?

Start with the Data

First, start by getting a reality-based picture of your challenge. HR should have data on age and years to retirement. Do you have a big problem: over 15% of your workforce nearing retirement? Or is it a small problem? The extent of the challenge should dictate the extent of your efforts.

Focus

There’s a lot that you could do. It’s important, however, to focus your efforts on high value, high return activities. To identify these activities, ask:

• What are the critical roles and capabilities in your organization?
• If you took away X role or capability, would your business collapse or suffer?
• Confirm your choices by asking staff, customers, and partners: who do you rely on in the organization? Who couldn’t you do without?

These are the roles and capabilities to focus on during the workforce planning process.

Mine

Identify your up-and-comers in the next generation. They’re the people who like to learn, and who are high potentials or solid performers. Don’t forget to tap those already well-connected to or knowledgeable about your critical roles and or capabilities.

Mentor

Set up mentoring programs between critical roles and your up-and-comers. Often, these programs are particularly welcome for people nearing retirement since they help them leave a legacy where they’ve worked. And it’s a win for the mentees as well, since they gain a cheerleader and confidant as they learn new skills and abilities.

In fact, mentoring is such a positive force in many organizations, perhaps you should consider it even if you aren’t facing the boomer brain drain.

What do you think?

Originally published on Future of Work Enabled, 6/26/2012.

Getting Ahead of the Curve: Workforce Planning to Anticipate Talent Gaps is an original post from Maya Townsend, founder and lead consultant: Partnering Resources - Align. Adapt. Achieve. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Maya on Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+.

Here’s the thing, though. You’re shooting yourselves in the foot with the heroics. Yes, it’s fun to play Superman or Superwoman and fly in at the 11th hour to save the day. You get that adrenaline high, and you feel like the company couldn’t survive without you. Indeed, it can’t.

That is, of course, why it’s time to change.

There is simply too much at risk for companies to let so much depend on the project managers. Leaders have to be realistic. You could hit the lottery, retire to the Alps, and realize your lifelong yodeling dream. Leaders know that (except the part about the yodeling). If they lose you, they’re out of luck. So they are doing their best to make sure things don’t depend only on you. They do this by putting processes in place like CMMI, PRINCE2, or agile development.

How, then, do you keep your job?

Become a PM Rock Star

All it takes is a little shift. Instead of being a superhero, it’s time to be a rock star. Rock stars are part of a band. They don’t appear suddenly 10 minutes before a concert. They work with others over time to rehearse, solve problems, and find that special hook that sticks in your brain for hours.

They also work within parameters. Every time they sit down to compose a song, they’re working with scales and time signatures that have existed for centuries. Those scales serve as boundaries, and working within them fuels the creative juices. The very limitations of the form can spur innovation. When rock stars transgress, they do so knowingly and with great power and impact.

That’s your new inspiration. Be the rock star.

Here’s how you can rock your projects.

• Stop resisting project management methodology. Yes, it’s a pain to create meeting minutes. But the methodology is there for a reason: to prevent you from reinventing the basics, such as catching up every person on what happened at the last meeting, so you can focus your attention on innovating where it matters. Let the methodology do its work for you, and focus on the freedom of creating within set boundaries.
• Get creative within the methodology. Use the constraints as a challenge. How can you make something extraordinary happen while honoring the process? PMs are nothing if not excellent problem solvers.
• Challenge rules that don’t make sense. Rules are there to be helpful. If they’re not, challenge them formally. Request a meeting with the project management office to talk about the specific rule, how it gets in the way, and some alternatives. Don’t simply stop following the rule. That’s being a rogue, not a rock star.
• Break rules with finesse. There will be times when you will break the rules. When you do, make sure you’re breaking them in the interest of what’s best for your project. And make sure not to do it all the time. Break the rules infrequently but brilliantly.

Now go rock those projects!

Originally posted on Future of Work Enabled, 8/30/2012.

An Open Letter to Project Managers, the New Rock Stars is an original post from Maya Townsend, founder and lead consultant: Partnering Resources - Align. Adapt. Achieve. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Maya on Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+.

According to ManpowerGroup’s annual survey, 52 percent of employers in the US are struggling to fill mission-critical positions. The number of employers experiencing difficulties is at an all-time high, despite a high unemployment rate.

So, what should a CIO do? Keep searching as current employees become more frustrated because they’re overloaded trying to cover extra work? There’s another way.

Get the Kinks Out of the Acquisition Cycle

The first thing to do is to sharpen the acquisition process. Talent acquisition is a notoriously leaky process. Companies lose money through slow screening, ineffective matching, and incorrect selection processes.

Improving administrative process efficiency can net company gains up to 41 percent of the total acquisition process, according to HR software company Taleo. Tackling hiring manager efficiency issues can yield gains up to 80 percent. Start by getting clear on your company’s sourcing strategy so everyone knows how to go about finding job candidates and you don’t have to reinvent the wheel with every open position.

Spend More Time Building Than Buying

Sometimes companies have to bring in external talent to fill a rare skill gap. However, companies can often build what they need internally through development. As an added benefit, internal candidates are already proven and they don’t need to spend time learning the business or the organization culture.

Make the “Build” Strategy Work

There are three keys to making the “build” strategy work. First, design experiences that take into account how people learn. According to the Center for Creative Leadership, 34 percent of pivotal learning occurs from hardships in which people handle difficult situations. Another 27 percent comes from challenging assignments, while 22 percent happens through learning from others. That leaves a small percentage of learning that comes from training, education, coaching, and so on. Use this knowledge to create experiences that challenge people and allow them to learn from others.

Second, make the challenges appropriate. Stretch goals excite and engage. Impossible goals frustrate and demotivate.

Third, give people advocates during the development process. They will need someone by their side as they take risks, experience setbacks, and persevere despite adversity. Their advocates are valuable mentors and cheerleaders.

Mine the Talent That You Have

Current employees have many untapped skills and abilities. Often, people realize all they know. Their skills become tacit, just part of the air they breathe, and not something they can describe. Luckily, their peers can see those abilities. In fact, peers can usually describe those skills better than leaders can.

A colleague in a multi-billion dollar global information business wanted to identify the movers and shakers in her organization. Before conducting the study, she asked leaders: “Who do you think are the top 30 in our organization?” Then she conducted an organization network analysis in which peers identified who they go to in order to solve problems, innovate, and make ad hoc decisions. She identified the top 30 identified in the study. The results: only five overlaps between the two lists. After looking at the leaders’ list, she realized why. Their top 30 included only people they knew personally. The leaders were blind to the employees two to three degrees away who had hidden, and impressive, skills.

The lesson: Don’t rely solely your own knowledge. Reach out to the people who know — the people who work with employees every day — to find the hidden riches in your workforce. Maybe, you will find the right candidate to fill that elusive job.

Tell us where you are finding talent.

Originally published on Future of Work Enabled, 5/23/2012.

I Can’t Fill This Job!: Filling IT Talent Gaps is an original post from Maya Townsend, founder and lead consultant: Partnering Resources - Align. Adapt. Achieve. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Maya on Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+.

Good-Bye Manager, Hello Individual Contributor

The most obvious answer is to shift poor people managers into individual contributor roles. With this solution, people aren’t forced to do something they can’t do well. At the same time, the company doesn’t lose their knowledge and experience.

There are two problems, however. The first has to do with ego. For some managers, being shifted to an individual contributor role feels like a demotion. It’s hard to stay engaged if you feel like you’re being slapped in the face. If this is the problem in your organization, skip down to “It’s the Project, Not the Position” to learn what you can do.

The second problem is that, despite a lack of people skills, some managers are so good at parts of their jobs that it’s hard to shift them. A manager who’s hopeless at team leadership might have built such strong customer relationships that customers would be furious if she were to move. Or someone who can’t develop people might be great at managing workflow across departments. If this is your problem, skip to “Let Managers Do What They Do Best.”

It’s the Project, Not the Position

One way to get around the ego issue is to build what’s called an “assignment-based organization.” In these organizations, prestige is associated with the projects people are chosen for, not the roles they play. Rather than proceed up a hierarchical ladder, people move from project to project and gain greater experience, adaptability, and value to the organization.

This approach is a great benefit to companies that need more innovation, adaptability, and collaboration. Rotations help employees build important skills such as adaptability, flexibility, critical thinking, and problem solving, which were rated among the highest needs in “Critical Needs and Resources for the Changing Workforce,” a SHRM / Wall Street Journal report. By rotating projects, people are forced to continuously learn, adapt, and collaborate in new ways. It’s a benefit for them and a benefit for the organization.

Let Technology Leaders Do What They Do Best

In some organizations, managers can’t be moved for good reasons: they’re simply too good in their positions to sacrifice despite their people problems.

An alternative is to take a page from the business process reengineering (BPR) handbook. BPR introduced the concept of embedded coaches into organizations. Their job is to work alongside the manager and focus on increasing human capability while the manager makes sure the end-to-end process is humming.

Today, I see more practice center leaders than coaches in organizations. The practice leader role combines the best of the coach role while also overseeing the growth and development of the profession across the organization. Project management, business analysis, and software development are some of the areas that can thrive under a practice leader who sees to their growth—while their technical managers see to their effectiveness.

Have you seen an assignment-based organization or a practice center structure work? How did they work?

Originally published on Future of Work Enabled, 5/29/2012.

IT Talent: Technology Leaders with People Problems is an original post from Maya Townsend, founder and lead consultant: Partnering Resources - Align. Adapt. Achieve. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Maya on Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+.

Change Leadership Checklist

It’s a holiday week in the US so, for this blog post, here’s a gift: a downloadable checklist to help you think through your next change effort. Happy holidays!

So much needs to be done when planning a change—and that’s just the work around creating the new product, process, or solution. Organizations that wish to be successful must deal with the human aspects of change leadership and help people make the transition from the old to the new. Change leaders need to answer key questions in each phase before moving on to the next. Use this simple checklist to see if you’ve answered the important questions about your next change initiative.

One clarification: It might sound as if this checklist is for people at the top who are imposing a change on the rest of the organization. Not so! It’s intended to be used by a cross-level, cross-functional steering committee that’s charged with planning and implementing the change within the organization.

What additional, important questions would you add to this checklist?

Change Leadership Checklist is an original post from Maya Townsend, founder and lead consultant: Partnering Resources - Align. Adapt. Achieve. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Maya on Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+.