The Six Ninjas

The world of business has changed over the last decade,  not because of the recession but in a weird and naturally balancing way, the recession has helped.  I keep rattling on about SMEs and the way they will eventually take over the world but stay with me for a few minutes because Im about to explain why Im of this opinion.

The world of business has always strived to build the biggest and largest companies, with size comes power and with enough power you get a monopoly.

The changing economy is forcing organisations to look at further cost efficiencies and to identify those areas of the business that can be outsourced.  It’s a hard choice, on the one hand, the internal teams have the business knowledge but are considered an expensive luxury and on the other hand outsourcing brings it’s own dangers and organisations tend not to be structured to manage external teams as effectively as those in-house

Making outsourcing decisions on cost alone are short-sighted and can cause long term damage so here are a few things that will help you make the right decisions for the right reasons.

One of the biggest problems businesses face is that the corporate strategy does not successfully ripple down to the workers and when it does, it’s so watered down the meaning and more importantly, the direction is lost.

So to all you CEOs, MDs and CTOs out there…..

There is an old saying which has many variations but the one I like best is “treat your customers like they own you, because they do”.  This is not rocket science but so many companies forget the simple fact that they continue to be a company because they have customers, no customer, no company….  It’s that simple.

Today’s topic is all about handling the dreaded customer complaint.

Many companies undertake outsouring in one form or another whether it be a simple matter of using a hosting provider for your website or outsourcing a business function such as software development or call centre.  Before venturing into an outsourced relationship you need to carefully consider the risks in order to objectively determine whether outsourcing is right for you. 

On another day when the UK’s FTSE rallied up by 2% and the US ecomony closing higher at 2.8% too is there a glimmer of light at the end of the long tunnel called recession ?

There is a long way to go before we can place the dreaded ‘R’ word back to the anals of history but an ever so feint but definitely audible buzz can be heard from the most unexpected of places.

Not all companies have grasped the concept of homeworking, and indeed the concept is not practical for many.  But if like our company you tend to work in a distributed or Noded way then it really is worth considering. The benefits are not only the lifestyle benefits for the employee but

There is an old saying ‘the first mouse never gets the cheese’ the concept is used in business when launching a new product to market. 

We have all been there, looking out of the window watching the world go by when all of a sudden it hits you.  An idea has just popped into your head with no warning,  you play about with it, juggling it from side to side and bounce it off the wall and after about 5 minutes or so, it’s not only still in one piece, it’s a perfectly formed idea and ready to take on the world, it’s at this point you re-focus on the two family members starting at you with bemused expressions of concern.

The idea is indeed born….

No I am not about to give you a lecture on the good or bad of six sigma, you either think it works or you don’t.  I have worked with so many companies over the years, each advocating the perfect (sometimes hybrid) methodology that I realise there is a place and moe importantly a reason for each process based methology.  But I am struggling with my own dual personality at the moment, all caused by the strive for efficiency.  Let me explain a little further and hopefully things will be a little clearer….