Monday, May 11, 2015

Business Acumen, pt 6



Flexible

While it is necessary to be decisive with KPIs, they must not be static. Flexibility is necessary in every aspect of business, including KPIs. They must change as the goals change. It is important to remember that KPIs can be improved even when they are successful, which means that they need to be reviewed and altered accordingly.

KPIs are often driven from the top down, and they are less effective when the initiative is inflexible. Allow the different departments to adjust KPIs according to their needs, and give them the authority to time implementing the KPIs so that their employees understand and embrace them. Employee buy in is essential to the KPI success. Additionally, coordinating the KPIs on a large scale can cause confusion. It is better to allow different role out times to avoid mistakes.

Strong Initiative

Showing initiative is having the ability take charge over a new or unknown situation. Having initiative is a way for employees to be more automatous in their day to day tasks. It will lead to and produce better problem solving skills. Mistakes will happen, but do not treat them as mistakes or errors, use them as learning events. Taking the responsibility to look after an issue or event by finding the answer, is what having a strong initiative is about.
Developing initiative:
·         Recognize spots for improvement.
·         Show some confidence, if you have an idea share it.
·         Look for solutions, not problems.
·         Offer to fill in when gaps occur.
·         Don’t focus on or get discouraged by mistakes, learn from them.



For the full 6 hour online course, visit: Networx Business Solutions
40% off discount code: Networx2015

Tina Oliver, M.Ed.
Networx LLC
http://www.networxbiz.net

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Business Acumen, pt 5



KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)


Understanding when goals are reached is a necessary aspect of business acumen. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are metrics that show when goals are met. Each company will have a different set of KPIs, depending on individual business needs. Creating and managing KPIs will improve the success of your business as well as your own business acumen.

Decisiveness

KPIs need to be developed decisively. This requires an understanding of which performances need to be measured and how they should be measured. Creating random metrics will not help gauge the effectiveness of your organization.

Decisive KPIs


·         Define areas to monitor: Determine which areas are successful and which ones need improvement.

·         Identify criteria: Brainstorm ideas, and use them to create criteria that need to be monitored. For example, criteria would include customer conversion or units per transaction,

·         Define the measurements: Create specific SMART goals to monitor. An example would be an average of three units per transaction.

Once you have decided the type of KPIs you want, you need the buy in of the stakeholders. Communicate the information decisively and make sure that everyone understands the purpose.


For the full 6 hour online course, visit: Networx Business Solutions
40% off discount code: Networx2015

Tina Oliver, M.Ed.
Networx LLC
http://www.networxbiz.net