MANAGING UP: An Architecture for Input

Transcription

1 MANAGING UP: An Architecture for Input

2 Lucas Brown 16 Years in Collections and Recovery Operations 12 Years in Business Strategy Management 8 Years in Business Intelligence and Analytics Key Roles Managing First Party and Third Party Healthcare Billing and Recovery Services Business Strategy and Application Consultant Currently Analytics Manager, US Bank St Louis City Resident, Weekend Outdoors, Anthony Bourdain, Music, Politics, Bleed Blue, Go Cards!

3 What is Managing Up? It means being the most effective employee you can be, creating value for your boss and your company. That's why the best path to a healthy relationship begins and ends with doing your job, and doing it well. It means you Dana Rousmaniere, Harvard Business Review (Jan 2015) want to solve problems and drive innovation in your organization. understand value comes from all areas and levels. have good ideas to share. know if you wait for someone else to make it happen it never does. maintain credibility and trust with colleagues and leaders. can think like a business owner.

4 The Idea Culture A culture of idea sharing can be created across an organization, a department, a team, or even a peer group of individuals. Create the culture: What is the dream? What is the buy-in? Approach all ideas objectively and with curiosity. Be an explorer. Advocate outside of the box. Welcome risktakers. Mistakes matter AND they are valuable. All input and feedback is useful even when its wrong. Develop authentic relationships. Reward effort no matter what.

5 Idea Cultivation GROW A FARM! Much like a farmer plants seeds to start a crop, ideas are the seeds which can grow a business. With an idea culture for support you can begin to realize a consistent flow of new ideas. Its important to capture them into a process so they are not lost in the work day. Idea Farming: Create an intake process for ideas. Document the idea, its objective, and estimated impact. Prioritize ideas for follow-up. Schedule regular time to work on researching, vetting, and assembling necessary data for ideas. Know when to hold em. Know when to fold em. Archive all idea documentation so it can be easily located in the future.

6 Strategic Partnership Strategic Partnerships are created frequently in between businesses themselves. However, the same approach can be quite valuable in the workplace itself. By using the same concepts but applying them to internal people and resources you can create opportunities otherwise lost. Use a Strategic Partner to Assist in assembling required data. Obtain subject matter expertise. Preview and assess idea proposals. Champion support for progressing ideas. Navigate obstacles. Receive mentorship.

7 Finding a Partner When identifying strategic partnership opportunities you can follow some of the same concepts businesses use to assess each other. As you evaluate your potential partners its important to keep a few things in mind. Here are some attributes to consider: Mutual vision and alignment. Each has strengths to contribute. Partnership goes both ways. Must be able to provide help in addition to receive it. Look for specific skills or experience you don t have. Seek diverse perspectives different than yours. Knowledge and access to the executive level. Time to participate and engage.

8 Gather and Build Data When you have an idea you want to move forward its vital to gather and build data as soon as possible. An idea is just an opinion until facts can back it up. You must use data to add credibility to your proposal and demonstrate a need. Gathering and building data can be accomplished using many different resources. Interviews / Questionnaires Manual data entry Software logs Existing reports Data exports Custom reports

9 Validate the Data "Torture the data, and it will confess to anything. Ronald Coase Bad data can not only wreck a project but also your credibility. Its important to validate the data ESPECIALLY when it says what you want. When validating data Prove the problem exists. Identify the opportunity. Use independent data to compare. Manually review data variables on their own. Look for mismatched data and data types. Multiple reviews from knowledgeable sources. Document pro s and con s of what the data shows. Call out assumptions.

10 Preparing the Pitch You ve identified a great idea, you have the data to back it up. Now its time to get ready for the proposal. Often decision makers have very limited time for topics not already on their radar and agenda. Be prepared to communicate the problem, the solution, and the impacts to the business very quickly and with few words. Organize details in three levels ahead of time: documentation (highly detailed), meeting bullets, quick pitch (least detailed). Know your target. Its important to understand when and where to approach your boss or other leadership. Prepare the follow-up. Draft an in advance which you can quickly send right after the initial pitch.

11 Fire Away! We know conversations, even quick ones, last more than a few seconds. Its still important to keep the timing in mind and be concise with the delivery. These steps can be useful in organizing the delivery: 1. Quickly connect and gain attention. 2. State the problem or opportunity. 3. Offer the solution and your vision. 4. WIIFM 5. Explain how the solution will work. 6. Ask for support and communicate next steps. 7. Follow-Up

12 Navigate the Obstacles After delivering the proposal its important to obtain transparent feedback. If progress is possible now is the time to determine what stands in the way. Identify key areas of concern. Gather and assemble additional data. Obtain feedback from partners and peers. If progress is not possible know how to gracefully, professionally, and respectfully fail. Thank everyone who reviewed and listened. Document after thoughts and reason idea could not move forward. Identify and retain knowledge gained.

13 Get the Green Light CONGRATULATIONS! Your idea blossomed into real project. Don t get too comfortable, now is when the rubber hits the road. If poorly executed the idea can still fail. It was your idea so it is likely you will play a key role in the project execution. In general, a successful project should include: Requirements documentation. Design documentation. Change management. Outline of specific responsibilities. Detailed timeline with deliverables due. Recurring meetings or communication. Testing documentation. Post implementation measurement and validation.

14 Ready, Set, Measure! The most important output of an idea is the RESULT. Create measurements as part of the project design to verify the impact of change. If changes are not monitored and measured they can quickly turn into new problems or be forgotten about. When measurements are documented the changes are also memorialized. Maintain a schedule for conducting and reviewing measurements. Its important to review regularly and retain trends. Share the results good OR bad. Transparency is key and if the idea reached this level responsibility is shared. Do not get too attached to ideas and follow the data. It is important to adjust if negative trends are identified.

15 Open Discussion / Q & A