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Posts Tagged ‘text’

High performance is very critical to the survival of any organisation or individual. And when we talk about organisational performance, teams (human beings) are catalysts for its realisation. I have decided to review this text entitled “Ten Commitments for Building High Performance Teams” as a guide on how to achieve organisational performance through effective teams. It is written by Dr. Tom Massey, a corporate leadership trainer and coach with about 20-year experience in optimising individual and organisational performance.

Team performance, according to Massey, is only as strong as the collective performance of members. This consultant says when committed, collaborative individuals with complementary skills work together, a synergistic effect takes place because total performance is greater than the sum of the individual parts. Massey adds that in other words, one-plus-one no longer equals two; instead, it equals three or even more in a high performance team environment.

He says the ten commitments outlined in this text will help you get the right people in the right positions to develop a focused, values-driven, high performing team. The author advises you to learn how to get every member to take personal ownership of your team’s success by creating shared purpose, values and strategic goals.

Massey says through this text, you will be able to gain insights into how to set up profit-sharing, establish work standards and correct performance problems in addition to creating a learning organisation that is able to adapt to the challenges of the next century.

He adds that through this text, you will be better informed on how to build a team environment where people have fun and play to win. Massey submits that you will also be able to build a team environment with increased employee retention, job satisfaction, commitment and productivity that will propel your team to championship performance.

This text is segmented into ten chapters. Chapter one is entitled “Commit to getting the right people ‘on the bus’ “. According to the author, when you have the right people on the bus, with the right skills and a high-level commitment, regardless of whether you are a business manager or coach of a sports team, you will be successful. Massey says the first thing to start when picking the right people for your team is to develop job descriptions based on factors of success for each position.

One of the ways to excel in life is to know how to effectively position, sell or market yourself in every situation. And communication is very critical to success in this area. That is why I want us to examine this text entitled “How to Sell Yourself”, with the subtitle “Winning Techniques for Selling Yourself…Your Ideas…Your Message”.

It is written by Arch Lustberg, a communication expert whose client list contains a who’s who of business leaders, association executives, elected officials and top professionals in every field.

Lustberg taught Speech and Drama at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. for 10 years. He co-produced the Tony Award-nominated musical “Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope” and also produced and directed many record albums in the days of the LP, most notably Grammy Award-winning “Gallant Men” by the late Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen. He directed the United States Chamber of Commerce Communicator Workshops, prior to opening his own business, Arch Lustberg Communications.

Lustberg says communication implies the transfer of information from one mind to another mind, or to a group of other minds. He adds that it can be in the form of an idea, a fact, an image, an emotion, or a story, stressing that it can be written, spoken, drawn or danced, sung or mimed.

This communicator says whatever the medium employed, if the message does not reach the other person, there is no communication, or there is miscommunication. This author then submits that the premise of this book is therefore to stress that every time you open your mouth, in order for communication to happen, you have to sell yourself. Lustberg asserts that if you do not sell yourself, communication is nearly impossible and if you do, your message will get across.

According to him, we think of selling as being product-oriented. He educates that this is just one aspect of selling. In the case of product sale, the factors are usually the salesperson and the price, adds Lustberg.

He says even when there is a slight price difference, we rarely buy any big-ticket item from someone we really dislike. Lustberg stresses that ideas are not much different, especially that the only time we pay close attention to an idea being communicated by someone we do not like is when we have a heavy personal or emotional investment in the subject.

It is said that anybody that fails to plan is definitely planning to fail. Planning is critical to success in any endeavour, especially business. Beyond everything, the plan must also be result-oriented, which is the focus of this text entitled “Writing Business Plans That Get Results” with the subtitle “A Step-by-Step Guide” written by Michael O’Donnell. O’Donnell is a business consultant with the Promersberger Company in Fargo, North Dakota and specialises in developing marketing plans for the firm’s clients.

As a staff member of the Centre for Innovation and Business Development at the University of North Dakota, he worked with inventors and entrepreneurs on a daily basis.

According to O’Donnell, this text will show you how to create a business plan that works. He adds that the text will guide you on what to include in each section of your plan, the most efficient ways to evaluate your company’s products or services, marketing strategies, organisational structure, plans to achieve goals, competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, etc.

The author says since a business plan is used for many purposes, that is, as a development tool, a management and planning guide, a mission statement, a sales document, etc., and is read by several different audiences, you need to tailor each part to the various needs of bankers, venture capitalists, partners, suppliers, accountants, etc.

O’Donnell stresses that you should structure and arrange the components of your plan for greatest impact; anticipate all questions that business plan reviewers will ask; and critique and package your business plan for winning results.

According to him, you need to feel comfortable with why you must go through the exercise of writing a business plan. He says if you do not understand the reasons for it and the benefits it will bring, in all likelihood you will do a less-than-adequate job and thus defeat your purpose before you ever get started.

O’Donnell adds that to be sure, writing a business plan is one of those hoops you must jump through. He stresses that your plan must reflect your ultimate goal and be able to accomplish many things for you and your proposed venture. O’Donnell educates that it is not prudent to try to make it all things to all people.