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| Think about it! |
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"Let us leave the beautiful women to men with no imagination."
The imperfections and difficulties in life are what present us with excitement and challenge.
It is more satisfying if we have to strive for perfection than if things are perfect already.
So if you can see faults in your job or the organisation you work for, don't wish them away. Instead, be grateful for the challenge and think of what you can do to change things |
| Online Excellence Calculator |
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Do you want to see how your organisation might perform if assessed against the EFQM Excellence model?
There are many types of self assessment available to organisations wishing to use this widely used excellence framework.
By following this link you can experience just one method of assessing your organisation in a short 10 minute matrix based assessment. |
| Newsletter Archive |
| To view our previous newsletters in our archive please click the link above |
Did you know?
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that there is a worldwide standard - ISO 8601 in fact - for specifying dates.
This sets out an internationally agreed way of expressing dates in the Gregorian calendar i.e. the dating system that we and most of the developed world use.
At its most basic, ISO 8601 stipulates that date and time information is written with the most significant (or greater time period) first and least significant last.
So the order would be millennium, century, decade, year, month, day, hour, minute, second, tenths of a second and so on.
We already write time on digital clocks, watches etc. like this, so everyone is aware that 15:12:32 means 12 minutes and 32 seconds past 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
If we used ISO 8601 for dates, then today's date would be expressed as 2009-16-09.
If every country used this, it might take some getting used to, but at least it would reduce the risk of turning up on the wrong day for flights from overseas airports! |
| Featured Tool
PGP
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If you have documents, files or e-mails you need to keep private and protected, there is no shortage of software available, but PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) is the most widely used non-specialist encryption software.
It has been described as "the closest you're likely to get to military grade encryption" and uses encryption techniques that are in theory breakable, but only after centuries of work using the world's fastest computers.
More information and free downloadable software can be found using the above link
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If you found this issue interesting and believe a friend or colleague would find the articles useful please click on the button above to send it to them.
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| Newsletter - September 2009 |
Greetings!
Have you ever said the wrong thing to the wrong person at exactly the wrong time? I know I have. The scenario is an all too common one, whether in the public or private sector. It can even be serious enough to cost someone their reputation, their career or their company. Who does not remember Edwina Curry and the famous salmonella egg scandal, Gerald Ratner and his "crxx" jewellery or, more recently, David Cameron and "too many twits make a twxx".
I sincerely hope you have never been in quite such a predicament, but when there is a crisis on at work and everyone is screaming to know what is going on, including, if we are really unlucky, the media, then it is frighteningly easy to say or do the wrong thing under all the pressure. Or, to put it another way, it is often difficult to find just the right thing to say or do.
To have the chance to consider this type of scenario in a safe setting and to get some tips from business experts in handling the media is what '"I never said that!" - Communicating in a Crisis' is all about. This is an event being run by the British Quality Foundation's Business Continuity Networking Group, of which I am vice chair. Having to communicate with the media in a crisis has become more common in the recent hard economic times and I expect it to be a very popular event.
As a group, we are very aware that handling the media is not something that only politicians, celebrities and large conglomerates have to deal with, but that dramatic headlines and unwanted attention can just as easily apply to SME's (small to medium sized enterprises), who will not have specially dedicated experts or press offices to help them. This is why a key part of the event is an interactive workshop that considers both internal and external communication from the SME perspective.
It is taking place in London on 30 September - from 10.00 till 13.00, followed by a sandwich lunch.
More details, including speakers, full programme and booking information can be found on the British Quality Foundation's website under Networking Events. Just follow this link.
I am greatly looking forward to it and fully expect to learn some valuable pointers for my own business |
New version of the EFQM Excellence Model
The EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) Excellence Model, first introduced in 1992, is a framework for assessing performance and improving organisations. Widely used throughout Europe, it is the assessment framework for both the UK Excellence Award and European Excellence Award. A review of the Excellence Model is currently being undertaken and the new version will be launched at the end of September. For those of you already familiar with and/or using this to help you manage your business, you need to be aware that, although the shape of the Model with its nine criteria will not change, except for possibly very slight changes to some criteria names, there will be significant changes to the criterion parts, to The Fundamental Concepts and to RADAR. Our next newsletter will cover these changes in more detail.
Revised ISO 9004
A revision is also taking place to ISO 9004. The more familiar ISO 9001 (revised last year to become ISO 9001:2008) is the standard that provides a set of requirements for the introduction and maintenance of a generic quality management system for any type of organization. Part of the same "ISO 9000 family", ISO 9004 provides guidance on how organizations can continually improve their quality management system. Last revised in 2000, when it was titled "Quality management systems - Guidelines for performance improvements", a new revision was agreed at this year's annual forum of the ISO, held in Tokyo in February.
Now titled "Managing for the sustained success of an organization - A quality management approach", there has been focus on supporting documents such as a brochure on quality for senior managers and a guide on the use of the ISO 9004 Self-assessment tool. The revision is now at the final draft stage and should be published in the near future.
Watch this space! |
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Are you an e-mail slave?
Do you find you are -
- spending more and more time dealing with e-mail when you need to be getting on with other priorities?
- regularly dealing with your e-mails over breakfast /late at night/at weekends/on holiday/during social functions?
- feel you are a slave to your laptop/BlackBerry?
Then read on -
the following tips could well free up valuable time, reduce your stress levels and help preserve your sanity.
The down side of modern communications technology is that we can now take our office with us wherever we go. Although there is something comforting about knowing our colleagues or customers can easily reach us if it is essential, the problem is it very rarely is, yet we find ourselves responding to their communications, whatever the time or situation.
Send: The How, Why, When and When Not of E-mail by David Shipley and Will Schwalbe (Cannongate Books) contains some very valuable advice on how to avoid this problem. Here are some examples.
Only use four folders
Search functions on most computers are so powerful that all you really need are: inbox, follow-up, archive and trash
Don't check your emails, process them
When you first open an email, if you can act on it immediately, do so. If you can't, move it to the follow-up folder and tackle later. If no action is required, move to archive or trash. Time spent just flicking through e-mails you have already read is time wasted - potentially 30 minutes of work time per day.
Don't check for new e-mails more frequently than necessary
The amount of times you check your inbox really depends on the nature of your job and your office culture, so there is no hard and fast rule for this. However, studies have shown that every time you're interrupted in a task, it takes half an hour to return to the same level of focus. So don't check when you don't need to and switch off the new message alert function unless this is really crucial. When you sit down to answer e-mails, if you switch to offline mode, then you won't get distracted by responding to new incoming messages. That's why you get so much done when you take your laptop on a plane!
Remember the phrase "No reply necessary"
Put it on the end of every appropriate e-mail - it will cut down your inbox by 25 percent. And when incoming e-mails devolve to one word (e.g. thanks, perfect, fine), it's a sign the conversation is over.
For BlackBerries etc. follow the "crossword puzzle rule"
If you are in a place where you could do a crossword without seeming rude - on a train, say - then you can use your BlackBerry or whatever. If you wouldn't do a crossword at a family dinner, then don't start e-mailing either.
Beware of the time
Try to keep business e-mailing between 9am and 6pm. However, if you really cannot relax or go to bed until you have dealt with your e-mails, or you find yourself waking up at 4am feeling absolutely compelled to deal with them then, you should save any outgoing messages as drafts and send them after 9am. Then people won't think they can e-mail you at any time of the day or night and expect an instant response.
Jokes on e-mail can unintentionally cause offence
E-mail is so toneless that jokes or teasing, especially in a business environment, are a really bad idea for anybody. There are gender and cultural differences in the way people react to jokes, some of these very subtle. In fact, if anything gets confused, complicated or emotional on e-mail, break off and deal with it in real life. And remember, using bold or red font, multiple exclamation marks and upper case to stress what you are saying is the e-mail equivalent of SHOUTING!!!!!! |
ley hill solutions aims to be one of Europe's most innovative consultancy organisations specialising in the tools and methods to improve the way your business works and performs. We use internationally recognised standards and frameworks such as ISO9001 and the EFQM Excellence Model to develop solutions that are right for your business.
Please contact us at ley hill solutions if we can be of any assistance.
Sincerely,
Graham Hull
ley hill solutions limited | |
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The information provided in this newsletter and on our website is as correct and up to date as we can make it. no warranty, express or implied, is given regarding its accuracy. We do not accept any liability for errors or omissions. We shall not be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, damage for loss of business or loss of profits) arising from the use of, or inability to use, this site or any information contained it it, or from any action or decision taken as a result of using this site, or any such information. |
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