What You Don't Know About Kaizen Budgeting May Shock You

Do you know the name of the budgetary plan which is used normally in a successful retail outlet industry? If your response is WalMart, then you thought accurately. WalMart makes use of Kaizen budgeting to bring down its expenses and to maximize its earnings. The Kaizen budgeting process helps Wal-Mart to reduce its overhead by maximizing its efficiency and work flow. This is a consequence of steady improvement of their process and work. Wal-Mart is a good example for Kaizen budgeting accounting. There are also a couple of points against it, but in comparison to others, it is a gem of a approach. This helps to increase the productiveness as well as efficiency of employees and the organization.

"Kaizen" is a term in Japanese meaning "continuous improvement ." In the business world the term frequently refers to making small improvements in throughout the organization. Improvements accumulate little by little to make a huge difference. Business, marketing, manufacturing - every part of the company should constantly be seeking ways to improve their work and processes so that they are easier, more profitable, and more efficient. Doing this results in increased revenue and decreased costs, while providing the company the edge on competing companies.

Whilst the concept of Kaizen is very good, the company cannot simply rely on an idea as a driving force. In such a situation, the Kaizen budgeting approach comes into play as a budgetary paradigm to drive the company forward by determining improvement. Kaizen budgeting accounting works by assuming that improvements will be made and thus more funds are allocated earlier. Consequently, the implemented improvements increase efficiency later, meaning the requisite level of funding will be reduced later on, and therefore less money will be allocated to the last period. Allocating less money to the current month also ensures improvements are made or the department’s budget will be exceeded.

All people working for a Kaizen business should have the ability to think differently and look to achieve their objective. The entire team will find it very easy to progress and learn new things as they start making improvements in their lifestyles to suit their and the company's requirements in terms of efficiency and total output. This management process is very similar to that of a growing muscle which cuts fat the more there is. Workers, like muscles, must also be very well maintained and nurtured for the company to progress fast or else it may stop progressing.

The Kaizen benefits include a fund used to reward employees who make significant contributions to the workplace. The fund has the dual purpose of motivating employees to come up with ideas, and helping to identify those employees to are not contributing effectively. The overall effect is to make the company healthier, stronger, and more profitable and efficient.

A big or small business can benefit by using this solid business tool that is the revolutionary technique of innovation. A great example is there in Japan, we can look its successful business sector or at the ever-expanding Wal-Mart Corporation. They increase their profit margins and efficiency, reduce their expenditures and waste, they are motivated and stimulated workers, and they strengthen the company by employing it with their patience, attentiveness, creative spirit etc. It shows a jewel of a strategy and it is not to be missed.

Simple Project Management Certification

The most convoluted applications call for different Gantt or PERT charts or similar project management applications and tools. But many jobs are a lot easier. They involve fewer workers and don't take as much time to complete. When that's so, more basic methods can work: You would need only a few steps, each one following obviously and routinely from the tasks that preceded it. The managers who have to address these projects will have little difficulty managing them.

Project managers may wish to employ a instrument like a Gant diagram for these simple jobs and initiatives. One good example of this type of project might be the implementation and conception of a marketing strategy. A business plan for a a business with single owner could be another case study. The Gantt chart may, in fact, make a painless project more complex than required. Perhaps it's significantly more than required for these fundamental scheduling needs. It's going to be very helpful if these types of techniques were grasped by all employees on a project so as to maintain effective rapport between all parties.

It may be much more useful to simply use a plan of action or rudimentary plan for simple analysis needs. As long as all those involved get their time table and plan things should go smoothly. Members may need to be involved in negotiation of the timeline and the management may want to use calendars or diaries for records.

With the projects being measured and monitored, they will require deadlines and should have milestones. It does not mean that the project will end if the deadline is missed. New time frames can be negotiated and there could be further discussions and assessment by the members in some of the cases. A Gantt chart might be required if the deadline is regularly crossed or in case a project gets too complex, however the members should be well versed with the use of this tool.

To get an outcome or to reach a single goal in a specific project, an action plan with a set of actions and tasks should be used. An action plan is said to be good only when it targets a single goal.The actions can be listed or entered in action calendar so that they cover majority of the goals.

It's a challenge to put a off-schedule project back on the track. In the event a worker falls behind schedule and motivation is urgently needed, the leadership might have to make some compromises to recover the overall goal. Reassignment of the resources might be needed. Either the order of tasks might be affected or there might be alterations in the specified scope of the specific tasks.

Even the best project managers have to deal with conflict management. This is one of the first challenges to be overcome by managers once they discover that there are not enough resources or tasks. Then, it becomes necessary to focus on critical tasks and provide them with resources originally assigned to other less important taxes. In addition, those resources no longer required for some tasks can be used for more difficult tasks. It may also be detected that a planned task is not needed anymore.

Changing the sequences of tasks is required to face the challenges sometimes. It will look good when we substitute some tasks and leave more difficult tasks for later. The tasks can be rearranged so that multitasking can be enabled when the things are behind.

Gantt charts can be useful in planning for the possible roadblocks a project may run into. When a manager can see the whole plan laid out before them it may help them to see where problems may arise or where time and resources may be better used. This can help to avoid problems before they arise.

 

"Wagon-Team" Up for Success in Business World

Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, the world of business has changed dramatically. The modern worker now has an increasingly specialized, isolating, and impersonal job. While technology has succeeded in making human productivity increase, effective human motivation collaboration is most definitely needed for any long-term business success.

There are technological substitutes for having a team sit together in the same place. However, these solutions are limited in their effectiveness. The connection with someone who is just a name on an e-mail mailing list or a disembodied voice on a conference call is far weaker. The advantages of teleconferencing tools don't come close to approaching the team development and cohesiveness that face-to-face contact provides. Employees feel more like a team and unite for a greater sense of shared goals if they get together in person.

We are in a highly competitive market place, where business must have a creative, and flexible plan in order to keep up with the rapid changes. Smart companies should consider leveraging team development activities. Utilizing skills developed at these off sites, people are comfortable working in a team environment and able to problem-solve together. Until this solidarity forms, a company will remain inert while everyone is pulling and pushing in different directions.

During the growth of a company things becomes more complex. There are many businesses that have looked to pioneering settlers, and the military throughout history for their inspiration. Seeing that people faced logistical and physical changes built quick bonds, developing problem-solving abilities that are critical to a team. Thus people become more motivated to strive for group success.

The business world has taken examples from these models to promote team building opportunities. Covered wagon building and driving is one of these entertaining methods. Groups of 8-12 people are formed to complete a series of group tasks with themes from the trials of the Old West.

Every team should design and build a closed wagon as specified in the technical specification. All the teams can buy the necessary supplies required to build the wagon from the budget allotted to them. They also work together to create there own team flag and camp song. Once the teams have completed constructing there wagon they should compete in a race using it.

While doing so, team members must practice communicating, risk taking, exercising leadership, and working in tandem. They all get to practice problem solving in a structured group setting. People get a safe opportunity to learn to trust their teammates as they define roles and responsibilities to accomplish group challenges. The accompanying adrenaline rush from the exertion and novelty of testing physical limits in that manner is also chemically conducive to feelings of group camaraderie.

Team building events tend to take individuals out of their comfort zones. The goal is to help them overcome self-limiting fears, and mental barriers. These exercises are a fun, safe, and exciting way for companies to initiate effective project teams. Team building helps companies become more effectively interdependent. Once this happens things progress internally, and externally much smoother. Everyone involved feels highly motivated and comfortable working towards their goals.

Bookmarx 10/14/2011

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  tags: PMP PDU's project management

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Critical Professional Abilities: Managing Projects

Every field requires that you have skills of controlling projects properly and proficiently. It is really not a business specific issue, but rather a work mentality. There are plenty of benefits to being a great project manager. Excellent project management knowledge are seen as the trick to achieve goals proficiently. Project management education is a vital course to be taken by every hopeful project manager in addition to sound Information technology classes (to get things done fast and presentably). Making a project a success is mostly about following a number of essential principles, a few of which include things like:

Sticking with the handful of pointers discussed below should allow somebody to develop into a prosperous project manager:

1. Organizing team workload is a capacity you should implement in a working environment. Organizing capacity is not simply mental accomplishment of work schedule, it should be reflected in the practical application of the work plan i.e. in the preparation of work schedule in paper as well as in practical. A work charter prepared and followed in the right order is sure to land you as a renowned organizer in the business.
2. One needs to group the project into easily workable parts and give proper attention to each division of work so that it is completed perfectly. This way, an entire project can be completed successfully in time to produce desired results.
3. Knowledge of and comfort with a variety of hardware and software is generally more effective and preferred. Work performance, time management and efficiency are heavily determined by the skilled use of computers, the web and digital formats.
4. Leadership is not a skill you are born with. With the fast evolving management styles, it is a requirement nowadays that managers should take regular training to update and enhance their skills. Good management includes hard work and up-to-date training not just recruiting those who know what you need them to.
5. One should never feel shy of asking for help at the time of need. No one becomes inferior when he is unable to handle a specific task, but can accomplish everything by seeking help from other experienced people. One can politely ask for advice from his superiors to complete the projects successfully.

Preparedness of mind and proper planning are important factors, apart from the rules of thumb elucidated above. The final result of any project carried out by an individual is always decided by the planning that he followed - which is the most important aspect of project management. Everything will be in a confused state if planning is not done properly as there won't be a clear way to understand things.

For younger individuals, it is imperative to go for training to manage projects, as they do not bear any experience in what they are supposed to do. However, working constantly and over a period of time infuses that experience which always proves helpful in future tasks and projects. Make sure to get training in usage of computers and IT which will speed up the work being done.

Critical Professional Abilities: Project Management

Every business sector requires that you have capabilities of managing people and projects proficiently and efficiently. It's not at all an industry specific issue, but instead a work ethic. There are a number of benefits to being a first-rate project manager. Outstanding project management abilities are regarded as the true secret to arrive at objectives quickly and easily. Project management coaching is an essential study course to be completed by every aspirant in addition to sound computer coursework (to get things executed rapidly and presentably).

There are certain essential guidelines to make a project successful, they include:

1. A person needs to be incredibly organized to guarantee sufficient oversight of workload. Structure shouldn't only be mental, it has to exhibit from the employee's desk as well that is one should keep the paperwork tidy. An important aspect of being organized is to always chalk out steps and perform them in order.

2. To complete a project in time, one can divide the project into parts. Once the division is done, the duration of each part should be defined and the same be followed to complete each one of them.

3. Knowledge of and comfort with a variety of hardware and software is generally more effective and preferred. Work performance, time management and efficiency are heavily determined by the skilled use of computers, the web and digital formats.

4. Leadership is not a skill you are born with. With the fast evolving management styles, it is a requirement nowadays that managers should take project management training to update and enhance their skills. Good management includes hard work and up-to-date training.

5. If you are in dire need of help from somebody due to pressing demands, you are free to take help from people you have access to. You should not feel bad about involving other people within your workplace in some demanding situations. If your requirements are extreme and you are just unable to handle it all alone, a request to your superior or colleague can be done in a polite manner.

Apart from obeying the basic principles in project management, the most important factor is planning. Only project planning guides a person in the correct goals that a person wants to achieve. Planning and the output obtained are directly proportional, which means good planning gives good output, or success. On the other hand, poor planning gives failure.

The training in the field of project management is recommended to people of the younger generation as they are inexperienced and will be in a position to grasp the contents of the training, regarding of your strong matrix organization . But whereas they can be subjected to regular exposure to such management tasks that will make them well versed in the field and get themselves experienced for projects in the future. To be more effective and successful in the field of management, they can be taught about the knowledge of computers and get trained in IT management courses.

Cause and Effect -- Secrets of Success

All natural forces are countered by an opposite. You cannot have Yin without Yang, light without darkness, or Vader without Obi Wan.

Each action we take carries with it an outcome, which may or may not be known to us when the initial action takes place. It is expected that if you take out a financial loan, you will need to pay that loan. Lack of payment of that particular loan will result in the lien holder confiscating your collateral, which you used as surety. In order to change an unpleasant outcome, you must change your initial action which triggered it. In the event that you have made a wrong decision that you are now unable to change, such as that one year you failed to mail your tax return certified mail we need to learn from our mistakes to avoid making a similar unpleasant decision in the future. Keeping track of actions and outcomes is a means of taking charge of one's future. This very law is the basis of the "post mortem" or "lessons learned" stages in project management.

The interaction with people other than yourself is called human dynamics. Your actions and thoughts dictate how you present yourself. People are attracted to one another due to the other person's actions and mindset being compatible to them. Similarly, if two people's attitudes are very different and every interaction is rife with conflict, then those two will have a strong dislike of one another. Like all cause and effect situations, a person's decisions lead to their ability to get along with another. In today's interconnected age, someone who is highly incompatible with many people will have a hard time finding success. In order to succeed, that person must learn what it is about them that repels others and find a way to work through it or modify it. In order to control your destiny and fate, one must be able to adapt themselves to succeed.

The means by which an act is carried out is a combination of the cause and effect. If fondness or dislike for something is expressed with respect, then the people present at the occasion are aware of these means of expression of feelings of the concerned person. The audience may be reluctant to share the inner feelings of the person which is based on his individual opinion; but if the feelings are expressed respectfully, the audience welcomes it warmly. Positive outlook should be exchanged even if the concerned people do not agree on the related issue. One must try and achieve expertise as far as cause and effects are concerned since it leads to the path of success, even if not many people are aware of the phenomenon. If one starts manipulating the causes such as his or her own behavior, then the direct effect is that the public opinion about that person also gets manipulated.

There is a lot of similarity in the pattern of people who are flourishing. They lead to the creation of self-reliance by being convinced and well-informed. They play a part in the generation of support as well as reward by offering it themselves to different people. Since they model their personal attitude following the prototype of positive communication, they pave the way for their own success. Basically, success does not come accidentally; it is the rational outcome of logical actions.

Failure is also the logical result of logical events. The choices a person makes affect the choices others make, and if those choices are bad then the results will be too. Who a person associates with himself is an extension of who that person is. If you are not attracting the kind of people you want to attract, then it is up to you to discover what it is that would attract them then decide if you are prepared to make that change. The person you are today is the product of who you chose to be when you were younger, and who you will be tomorrow is a product of who you choose to become today.

If you find your projects are always suffering an unpleasant fate and there no "logical" reason for their failure, look deeper -- there may be more to the situation than you're aware of. Perhaps the company is suffering its own repercussions generated at a level of the organization you're not in touch with. Or, perhaps your actions are unwittingly causing ripple effects on the projects you touch.

The Benefits of a Gantt Chart in Project Management

Complex tasks require fantastic project management software in addition to tools meant for scheduling such as PERT and Gantt charts, however scores of less demanding projects that necessitate few personnel in a short time period can also indicate a less demanding methodology to achieve. This indicates that, more often than not, a straightforward undertaking will merely use a handful of steps. These work elements will frequently be dependent on every one of the other steps that come before them. They might furthermore be rather effortless to manage for the leadership in charge of these tasks.

A Gantt chart is a tool currently in use by project managers for tasks which are not overly complex and also on other projects. An example of such an activity could be creating and executing an advertising and marketing plan. A sole owner business could make a plan using the Gantt chart. However, it should be noted a Gantt chart could make a simple project more complicated. It is possible that using the Gantt chart would be overkill for a simple planning job.

All the project members should thoroughly understand a tool like a Gantt chart so that good communication is maintained with involved parties. It may be much more useful to simply use an action plan or a time timetable for simple planning needs. As long as all those involved get their time table and plan things should go smoothly. Members may need to be involved in motivating the project stakeholders to adjust the time table and the management may want to use calendars or diaries for records.

With the projects being measured and monitored than they will be requiring deadlines and will have control points. It does not mean that the project will end if the deadline is missed. New time frames can be negotiated and there could be further discussions and assessment by the members in some of the cases. A Gantt Chart might be required if the deadline is regularly crossed or in case a project gets too complex, however the workforce should be well versed with the use of this tool.

A list of actions and tasks, such as an action plan, can be used to reach a single goal or outcome such as a specific project. Good action plans will focus on reaching one goal. The actions may be put into a to-do list or action calendar, though such lists may also cover more many goals.

Getting a project on track once it has been derailed can be quite complicated. When a task has fallen behind or a worker has quit then management may need to make compromises to recover the overall goal. The reassigning of resources may be required. The order of tasks may be affected or the specified scope of specific tasks altered.

Even the best project managers have to deal with reallocating resources. This is one of the first challenges to be overcome by managers once they discover that there are not enough resources or tasks. Then, it becomes necessary to focus on critical tasks and provide them with resources originally assigned to other less important tasks. In addition, those resources no longer required for some tasks can be used for more difficult tasks. It may also be detected that a planned task is not needed anymore.

When faced with challenges changing the sequence of tasks may be needed. It may be easier to substitute some tasks currently and leave the more challenging ones for a later time. It may also be possible to rearrange tasks to enable multitasking when things are behind. A Gantt chart can be useful in planning for the possible roadblocks a project may run into. When a manager can see the whole plan laid out before them it may help them to see where problems may arise or where time and resources may be better used. This can help to avoid problems before they arise. 

Continuous Improvement - Using Kaizen to Your Advantage

What is Kaizen?

Toyota's Production System is established on Continuous Improvement. This fresh strategy is actually just the Western version of the Kaizen scorecard. Kaizen, interpreted from Japanese, means quite literally "Good Change". In English, people employ this to indicate continuous improvement, flawlessness, and continual expansion. Essentially, Kaizen is an improvement program for any work area. To assist Japan's devastated post-war economy, The War Department's "Training Within Industry" program contacted expert statisticians to improve their chances in the global market.

Toyota Motor Corporation has taken process improvement methods that arose in the fifties and then introduced its own technique called the Toyota Production System. Juran's statistical approach, Deming's Shewart cycle, and Kaizen are only three illustrations of developments Toyota Motor Corporation based its method on. Although past strategies relied on instruction and education of their employees, Toyota Motor Corporation journeyed many degrees further by demanding production lines to be shut down if a defect had been discovered. Once that transpires at Toyota, the line laborers, executives and the employees having administrative responsibilities work together to discover and overcome the reasons why production needed to be stopped.

Kaizen is a great way to save on spending in manufacturing. Kaizen is being used more and more around the world. By using this program, less proficient tactics will be weeded out, leading to increased employee morale, reduced waste and increased productivity. The advantages will not only benefit the owners but also the employees as well as the stockholders. The Kaizen concept can be implemented on a large, small or personal level.

Why Kaizen Fails

Putting this strategy into place requires evaluating every level of production. One of the first tasks is to time the entire process from start to finish, allowing executives to see what part of the production process is taking longer than it should. Improved time management by cutting delays and slowed actions delivers bottom line efficiency results. The Kaizen system streamlines communication at all levels, which also results in better efficiency. Until every bit of extra time and wasted effort has been pulled from the process, the strategy cannot be called a success. However, once you have, you can be sure you've created a first class production process.

For the purpose of supervision and administration, it is very necessary to use a Kaizen Scorecard, which indicates the implementation of continuous improvement in day to day work of the company. Since Kaizen is expanding continuously, review and adjustment when required are essential. Eventually, Kaizen can increase productivity, cash flow, workmanship and total success.

Recruiting for Excellence - Mind your Maslow

The Maslow hierarchy of needs transcends nearly all aspects of life, however none more so than the business world. Staff members are at such staggered stages of living that the odds for tension are of significant concern in business. Even as a boss may well have reached the self-actualization point with a spouse and kids, an entry-level employee might barely be hoping to obtain her first residence.

The considerable difference among workers of different stages of Maslow's theory is most quickly shown with the prior case in point. The stress intensity of somebody who is barely getting by, having anxiety with their physiological as well as safety requirements is of immense concern. Somebody experiencing that much strain can have their job start to suffer.

If a person has their basic needs met such as a place to live, a rewarding family experience, and financial stability, they are more likely to excel in the workplace. It is hard to focus on the job at hand, especially if you don't have the ability to focus. When you are able to focus you are more efficient and effective at work.

This is why a wise business owner puts prospective employees through a thorough interviewing process. Through interviews it's easy to identify those with stable environments. In Maslow's terms, smart supervisors want to recruit employees in the self-actualization and esteem stages. Both of these stages usually take other people into account when working.

Workplace competition generates a higher quality of product and promotes employee cohesion. Esteem stage employees make a great fit for your business due to their more competitive need to excel, combined with their need for attention and the respect of their coworkers. Esteem stage employees are better at maintaining excellent interpersonal workplace relationships and can provide your business with quality work.

Employees in the self-actualization stage are also useful employees. These employees are focused on the task at hand. They have a calmer demeanor, knowing their self-worth and not having the lesser of life's struggles bearing down on them. Also, since people do not stay in a single stage, and my slide back down the pyramid, it is better to have someone who is still high enough on the pyramid, even with a backslide, who will still be a confident, efficient worker.

The business world can benefit from a Maslow-like overhaul of its practices. If carefully studied, we'll see that employees with greater focus and competency mean a more successful business. It naturally follows that the quickest and most efficient route to success is to recruit members from the top tier of Maslow's hierarchy.

Bookmarx 09/25/2011

• Project Manager Career Path

  tags: project management Career PMHut

  • Before embarking on a project manager career path, you need to ask yourself whether or not you have a passion and aptitude for this type of work. If you’re up to the challenge overseeing the contributions of a diverse team and managing the expectations of key stakeholders, this may be the position for you. A project manager career path requires strong communication and organizational skills, the ability to juggle multiple tasks simultaneously and an understanding of the functional roles of departments throughout the organization.
  • The first step in becoming a project manager is to get the right education. You don’t necessarily need a degree in project management, but you do need to have specialized training. Industry certification will give you an even greater edge in securing the best positions.
  • you do need to have specialized training
  • When evaluating your training options, consider what will make your résumé stand apart from the competition. A masters degree from an accredited university shows that you are serious about a project manager career path. The good news is that with the widespread availability of online programs, location is no longer a limitation. Those who prove themselves on the job and demonstrate a commitment to continuous learning have excellent advancement potential.
    

Bookmarx 09/24/2011

• Project Management Course
  Take one, learn project management, get certified, get paid.
  

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Abraham Maslow's Workforce Motivation Wizardry

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs was written as he tried to convey the basics of human concern and desire. He based his research on the more intellectual people of his era. Abraham Maslow's Needs Hierarchy has five different tiers. Included in these five tiers are Physiological, Safety, Love and Belonging, Esteem, and Self Actualization. In his theory, Maslow says that lower tiers must be reached before one can attend to the higher levels. It's important to know where your team sits as a whole, as well as knowing the placement of each person in the group.

The lowest level is a human's physiological concerns. In order to survive, we must feed ourselves, quench our thirst, breath, use the bathroom, and procreate. If we did not do these things, then we could not survive. A leader must make sure that his employee's basic concerns and comforts are met in order for them to reach their full potential. For example, if an employee is freezing cold in the work place, then she will not work as quickly and efficiently as if she were in a comfortable environment.

Safety and security occupy the second tier of needs that humans have to fulfill in Maslow's Needs Hierarchy. For adults, safety is achieved by having employment and monetary security. At work, employers should create a secure environment for the workers. Employees who fear layoffs or termination will not invest as much care or effort as they could. Without job security, employees might do sub-par work. Even worse, insecure employees might resort to causing harm to the company as a form of revenge.

The third step covers a person's desire to belong and feel loved. By helping employees establish friendships with one another, an employer can help create an environment in which employees enjoy working. Scheduling social events or pairing compatible individuals on tasks are ways an employer can provide bonding opportunities.

The fourth level involves a person's esteem. Humans have the desire to feel as though they are part of a group. In group situations, we have the ability to feel emotions of achievement and confidence. We start to gain the respect of others which in return boosts our self esteem. An employer can create activities outside of work to help engage his employees. Whether it is a team sport or relay picnic event, co-workers can bond over the activities, have a great time, and boost their confidence in themselves.

Self-actualization is the last level of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. This level includes our ability to solve problems, reach moral decisions, and use our creativity. This tier cannot be reached until all of the previously summarized levels have been accomplished. Once we have achieved self-actualization, we become fully mature adults.

Motivation, McGregor, and Management

When I'm asked about the topic of employee motivation, I describe the nature of work and human nature and share my belief that people don't come to work so that they can fail. While this may seem odd, I have worked with managers and leaders who don't fully believe this statement. Applying Douglas McGregor's theory of motivation, these folks belong to the Theory X camp which asserts that the average worker dislikes work and will avoid it at any price. Theory X managers aren't positive thinkers. Based on my life experiences, I have reason to believe in Theory Y and my perspective is that that no one wakes up saying, "Gosh, I hope to fail miserably today," or "Let's hope I perform with overwhelming mediocrity." Everyone wants happiness, success and meaning in their lives.

"If we lived in a perfect world, there would not be a need for managers."
- Bryce's Law

"Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don't interfere."
- Ronald Reagan (1986)

Over the years there has been a lot of discussion about Theories X, Y, and Z in management; whereas "Theory X" is autocratic, "Theory Y" is more of a "carrot and stick" mentality and "Theory Z" promotes individual participation. Remarkably, despite the many years of promoting the rights of the worker, today we primarily live in a Theory X world. Employees are told what to do and when to do it, without any interest in their input. Today, this is commonly referred to as "micromanagement." With this approach, even though the work will get done eventually, there is no company loyalty from the worker, mistakes are made and quality suffers, and productivity slides since there is no personal sense of pride by the employee. In other words, the company works, but certainly not like a well-oiled machine.

The people that run many non-profit groups have the best intentions, but they seldom know how to actually manage. Sadly, some people get involved with such organizations to satisfy a petty power trip they are on. Consequently, they have little regard for organization and adherence to existing policies and rules. Instead, they try to micromanage everything. People, particularly volunteers, have a natural aversion to micromanagement and quickly lose interest in their work.

Some of the most productive organizations are those where management succeeded in aligning the individual workers with the running of the company. While management is still in control, they have stimulated employee interests by encouraging their participation and feedback.

Even in this model, management still has some top-down responsibilities, including:

1. Delegate - prioritize and assign tasks to qualified employees.
2. Control work environment - minimize staff interferences and provide a suitable workplace to operate with the proper tools to perform the work.
3. Review progress - study employee reports and take corrective action where necessary.

Determining the current situation of the organization, the current status of the employees, and the organizational cultures are just a few additional responsibilities of a leader. Changes in cultural and organizational structures have caused every organization to change their management styles every now and then. Some prefer to use the authoritarian style which focuses on the concept of teamwork and empowerment of employees and there are some who uses the managerial style which focuses on technical aspects of the leader who controls all the activities within the organization.

Complex Organizational Structures

The Family & Children's Services division of the San Francisco Human Services Agency is a complex organization, but it can be easily understood through the Bolman and Deal's four frames.

Bolman and Deal's Structural Frame involves these core assumptions:

1. Organizations exist to achieve specified goals and objectives.
2. Organizations use specialization and a clear division of labor to increase efficiency and improve performance.
3. Coordination and control make sure that the diverse efforts of individuals and units align.
4. Organizations work most effectively when rationality wins over personal preferences and external pressures.
5. Structures must be designed to fit an organization's circumstances (including its goals, technology, workforce, and environment).
6. Problems and performance gaps arise as a result of structural deficiencies and are best remedied through root cause analysis of these deficiencies and restructuring appropriately.
   

FCS exists to achieve established goals and objectives. Some of these goals, for example, are to protect San Francisco's children at risk of neglect and abuse, preserving their families through assistance via a wide range of services. This is achieved through investigations of child abuse and, in some situations, by putting children in foster care.

FCS has internal specialization and a clear division of labor. For example, the emergency response units are trained to interview children, parents, and others to determine if child abuse allegations are true, whereas the specialized teen units are trained to work with adolescents in foster care to stabilize placement and prepare the teenagers for successful adulthood.

Coordination and control of the agency's various activities is provided by the presence of managers at various levels, who supervise all the employees and all the projects.

Rationality prevails - For example, workers must be objective and put aside personal perspectives when reporting to the courts, which operate under rational laws, policies, and procedures. Furthermore, decisions about how to deal with families, including whether or not to remove children from their homes, are made collectively by the agency, not by individuals, who may have personal motives at stake.

The organizational structure at FCS is designed to fit the organization's circumstances, in the sense that the agency recognizes that its budget and workforce are limited, and so it cannot propose goals that are beyond its means. For example, the agency cannot investigate every home about which a complaint is made. The truthfulness of the complainant must be taken into account, as well as the seriousness of the charges.

There are problems and performance gaps in the agency that arise from structural deficiencies and can be remedied through analysis and restructuring. For example, recent studies have shown that the agency places a disproportionate number of African-American children in foster homes. Some people would argue that this is connected to the fact that most social workers in FC are, as are most social workers in the US, Caucasian women. The federal government has taken an interest in this situation, and has recommended, among other things, that there be fewer removals of children from homes and more assistance to homes in the way of services.

Human Resources - According to Abraham Maslow (1954), humans must first satisfy their needs for well-being, including food and shelter, and only then can they address their higher needs, such as belongingness, self-esteem, and self-actualization. To Maslow's hierarchy of needs, McGregor (1960) added two notions, which he called Theory X and Theory Y, that apply to organizational contexts. According to Theory X, most organizational managers assume that their subordinates are, in the words of Bolman and Deal, "passive and lazy, have little ambition, prefer to be led, and resist change".

According to McGregor's Theory Y, a managers essential task "is to arrange organizational conditions so that people can achieve their own goals best by directing their efforts toward organizational rewards".

Maslow's ideas and McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y play out heavily. The administrators make sure that each employee is provided with his or her basic needs-a workspace, office supplies, and office equipment-so that they can meet their potential in delivering services to clients. However, many of the managers operate out of the assumption that workers are lazy, lack ambition, and do not favor change (Theory X). This is manifested in micro-management actions as section managers require workers and supervisors to submit compliance logs and weekly reports to make sure the work is being done. At times, the actual acts and times of completing these reports prevent quality contact with families. On the other hand, Theory Y is played out at FCS in various ways, such as when an employee is cited as "employee of the month" for outstanding service.

The political frame is also apparent at FCS. Within this framework, organizations are seen as political arenas that host a complex web of players and interests. In this context, coalitions are established, people fight for scarce resources, and decisions are made by bargaining and jockeying for position.

At FCS, it is easy to see the complex web of players and interests. Beside its organizational structure, with administrators and employees fighting for resources and jockeying for position, there is the court system that the agency has to deal with, sometimes antagonistically, and the families that the agency serves, also sometimes with resistance. The agency has a union, which fights for the employees' rights, and many staff members belong to various professional associations. In addition, many of the foster parents belong to a foster parents association. The conflicts among all of these players serve as a check and balance system to protect the needs of society at large and all the various individuals involved.

The symbolic framework clearly applies to FCS, for this agency, like every other social agency in the country, is dedicated to noble causes: in this case, protecting children from harm and helping families to survive and prosper. The agency does these things literally, but there is a sense in which everyone in the agency is united under the symbol of doing good in the world.

Leadership Hijinx: Theory X with a Kaizen Concealer

Looks like Kaizen, but it's not...

It seems like a straightforward, harmless theory. We should transform labor into a type of frolic. Subsequently, the team will appreciate this effort and thus perform harder. This is nothing but X Theory in a fancy disguise.

The term Theory X was originally created by Douglas McGregor in 1960. The construct driving the X Theory is that management believes laborers are naturally lazy, tending to sidestep tasks if they can, and that they fundamentally loathe employment. The latest alternative is the belief that folks fundamentally loathe employment and require trickery to have a good time at the office with a strategy which transforms work (which usually is difficult) into fun (which is nice).

Workers can surely have an enjoyable experience at work without having the hoopla or the pinatas. This is real, since I've heard these people talk about "the good old days when it had been great to come to their job." Quite a few addressed the quality of "fun" plus they weren’t talking about a specific program, they were speaking of regular effort.

Workers will have a ball at work if they're engaging in vital tasks with people that they like. They need objectives and goals that are specific as well as fair combined with continual insight in order to learn how they're doing. Ultimately, the staff must be regarded justly.

Those actions are merely what it takes for solid guidance. First-rate leaders create the variety of workplace in which people are effective and morale is increased, the sort where folks have fun.

Strengthen the standard of one's supervision and folks will likely have a lot of fun in the office. They will likely enjoy those impressive intrinsic rewards that you have read or heard a lot about.

When you've solidified the characteristics of an effective leader, one could bolster it with elegant encouragement and award plans which build on the daily positive results your staff already encounters. These kind of motivation systems are a wonderful supplement to superb management, not a replacement.

Theory X Takeaway - Chief's Main Point

Once one constructs an effective operating condition for one's organization, the workers are going to be productive while individuals enjoy the implicit benefits that make the effort exciting.