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“Feedback” is a loaded term. Not only do you tighten up when you ask for “feedback,” so does the feedback giver. Swapping it out for “advice” is more inviting and indicates you value your colleague’s counsel. Instead of saying “Can I have some feedback on what I could have done better?” say “Do you have any advice on how I can improve on X?”

Content: Quotation | Author: Shivani Berry | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Career, Management, Personal Development

Companies clearly need a better way to manage complexity. In our work with clients and in our research, we believe, we’ve found a different and far more effective approach. It does not involve attempting to impose formal guidelines and processes on frontline employees; rather, it entails creating an environment in which employees can work with one another to develop creative solutions to complex challenges. This … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Yves Morieux | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

While post-completion audits for large projects are common in many companies, the feedback into decision making typically happens only sporadically. Advanced companies review not only projects but also past decisions. The head of corporate strategy at a large industrial conglomerate puts it this way: “We made our biggest losses from moves not made. So we also explicitly review opportunity cost mistakes.”

Content: Quotation | Authors: Sebastian Stange, Ulrich Pidun | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subjects: Management, Project Management

Understanding the underlying risks should be a particular focus in project selection. Research has shown time and again that human beings are weak at risk assessment, but some techniques can help. A good starting point can be to frame the discussion in terms of a base question: What do we need to believe in to make this an attractive investment? This framing can help uncover … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Sebastian Stange, Ulrich Pidun | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subjects: Management, Project Management, Risk Management

Much of the work done at Google, and in many organizations, is done collaboratively by teams. The team is the molecular unit where real production happens, where innovative ideas are conceived and tested, and where employees experience most of their work. But it’s also where interpersonal issues, ill-suited skill sets, and unclear group goals can hinder productivity and cause friction.

Following the success of Google’s … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: re:Work | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior, Teamwork

People generally need two types of information to achieve top performance. The first is clear direction: What is the target, and why is it important? (In other words, the What’s Important Now) The second is performance feedback: Am I hitting the target? Am I doing it right?

Content: Quotation | Author: Liz Wiseman | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior

The best leaders cultivate a climate that is both comfortable and intense. They remove fear and provide the security that invites people to do their best thinking. At the same time, they establish an energizing, intense environment that demands people’s best efforts.

What occurs when you create only one of these conditions? What happens when you stretch people without first building a foundation of safety, trust, … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Liz Wiseman | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior

A business ecosystem is a dynamic group of largely independent economic players that create products or services that together constitute a coherent solution.

This definition implies that each ecosystem can be characterized by a specific value proposition (the desired solution) and by a clearly defined, albeit changing, group of actors with different roles (such as producer, supplier, orchestrator, complementor). The definition excludes some of the more … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Martin Reeves, Maximilian Schüssler, Ulrich Pidun | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subjects: Business Model, General, Management, Organizational Behavior, Strategy

To do it right, let go of your company’s “evolutionary past” and take a granular look at where your profitability comes from today—it might surprise you.

Content: Article | Author: Jonathan Byrnes | Source: Chief Executive | Subjects: Finance, Management

The purpose of structure is to distribute decision-rights in a rational way. A good structure reflects the hierarchy of the main tasks the organization has to carry out, and there is clear accountability for decision-making at each level. Good processes ensure that everyone knows how the organization works, so that they can devote their energies to dealing with the chaos on the outside. To deal … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Stephen Bungay | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Leading and managing do not describe the activities of different people, but are different roles carried out by the same people. All executives have both to manage resources judiciously and to lead their people to motivate them. Some are better at one than the other, but every organization needs both.

Content: Quotation | Author: Stephen Bungay | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Leadership, Management

Businesses … should use the information … measures provide wisely. But they should not mistake the measures for wisdom. Creating a strategy is about setting direction. A set of measures is a just control system that helps you to understand whether or not you are heading in the direction you set.

Content: Quotation | Author: Stephen Bungay | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Management, Measurement

In science the key question is, “Is it true?” In management the key question is “Does it work?” Here, context is critical. Many of the ideas developed by management thinkers are helpful in a particular context. The problem comes when these ideas start being treated as if they were universal truths. It is then that they turn into myths, and myths can lead us astray. … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Stephen Bungay | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subject: Management

No two marketplaces are created equal. But they all share some common characteristics. This article delves into those and highlights some of the KPIs that every entrepreneur intent on building a world class marketplace should be able to rattle off the top of their head!

Content: Article | Author: Andrei Brasoveanu | Source: Medium | Subject: Management

The folks at Version One have put together a basic KPI template for marketplaces. The dashboard is separated into three dimensions to measure the efficacy of your business: 1) overall marketplace metrics; 2) seller/supplier metrics; and 3) buyer metrics.

Content: Article | Author: Angela Tran | Source: Version One | Subject: Management

Inflation is painful, for firms, customers, employees, and society. But careful study of periods of “hyperinflation” point to ways that firms can adapt. In particular, companies need to think about how to change prices regularly and cheaply — because constant price changes can ultimately be very, very expensive. And they should consider how to communicate those price changes to customers. Providing clarity and predictability can … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Daniel Levy, Mark E. Bergen, Rose Semenov, Thomas Bergen | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Management, Marketing / Sales, Pricing

People don’t want to volunteer feedback, but asking “What do I need to get better at?” over and over and over again signals that you’re serious about getting better. You could ask your executive team, or folks one or two levels down. It’s also good to ask people who have been with the company a long time — if they were there when it was … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Alisa Cohn | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Management, Personal Development

Managers have three jobs. One is to do their own work, and there’s a lot to do today. The second is to develop people, and they want to be developed, they want challenging assignments, they want coaching, they want someone to help them, so they’re not just left out there, sink or swim. Then the third job of a leader and a manager is to … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Chief Executive | Subject: Management

When people claim they have survey fatigue, they’re not tired of you asking them. They’re upset about you not doing anything with it.

Content: Quotation | Author: Bill Schaninger | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

If you want a test-and-learn environment, you have to make it OK to share failure, so that not only can I learn from failure but others can learn from my failure, and they don’t have to make the same mistakes I made.

Content: Quotation | Author: Aaron De Smet | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior, Success / Failure