Before actually reaching out to Gen Y, companies must first spend time listening and learning what’s important to them, how they think, and what they like (or dislike!)

Many methods have emerged over the years that are hailed as the greatest and latest way to deliver a project. A good example would be the “scrum” method for delivering IT projects. The scrum concept is implemented in a number of ways, one of which could be to pick groups of requirements which are delivered …

Benefits of Consulting and/or Project Teams Occasionally, a client will specify that they want a team of consultants on the project because the project requires substantial expertise and resources. While there can be many frustrations for consultants working in effective project teams, there are also major benefits. The team can provide a wide variety of …

Our firm gets 4-5 calls/month from people wanting to know how to start or grow a consulting practice. Obviously, there’s no standardized procedure for that. It depends on the nature of the service you’d offer as a consultant. If you’re selling services to develop job descriptions for rural electric co-ops in Kansas, well your service …

Responsible planning, in any economy, involves identifying sources of funding sufficient to ensure continuation/survival of the programs that satisfy the needs of the people and the communities you serve. Ensuring the funding of your programs requires that you minimize the risk of (again?) losing a large percentage of your income. According to “Giving USA 2010,” …

Just wanted to mention a listserv devoted exclusively to social enterprise. Its focus is learning more about how organizations can develop successful social enterprise strategies to generate earned income to pursue mission, build capacity and achieve greater sustainability. If you’re interested, you’re invited to join the 7500-subscriber npEnterprise Forum listserv, the official listserv partner of …

In order for us to express our spirit in the work that we do, we must carve out the time to do it. At the date of publishing this blog post, it’s the first week of the New Year. I don’t know about you, but I’m carefully deliberating how I’m going to best spend my …

Customer Service Training: Disaster Prevention & Accountability We all know the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is engaged in the important work to prevent customer service disasters involving extreme loss of life, and because its job is so important to us, the TSA as the big dog in charge has been getting the brunt of the …

Three Sub-Systems This post is the third in a series on Leading in Complex Human Systems. In my last two posts, we began our review of The Butterfly Model of Human Systems. The Model suggests that larger world of  human systems are composed of three major subsystems: The Face-to-Face System–what happens “in the room,” in …

Do you have great ideas but can’t seem to get people to listen? A recent email from a frustrated manager who, like many of us, has great ideas but finds it difficult getting them accepted and implemented. Perhaps a boss is too busy putting out fires to pay attention. Or, in the give and take …