Team Leader - formal and informal network

A Manufacturing shop leader, previously known as the manufacturing manager, was having a difficult time getting action from the set-up committee he chaired. Our review first revealed a committee of 15; too much political overtones in this size committee meeting. We then constructed the formal hierarchical structure of the committee (with him at the top) and the informal structure: where the influencing and deciding elements really are in the committee. We discovered that one of the engineers was the key in getting agreement from sub-groups like the set-up team, maintenance group and training coordinators. Now he is observing every committee to discover the informal structure.

Sales coaching - is it worth it?

I have been asked to coach a sales manager that is leading a team selling a commodity level service to commercial and industrial accounts. The skill assessment profile from three of her four sales reps. feel she either needs improvement or is weak in 14 out of 15 skills they deemed very important for a sales manager. She rated her performance in the same areas as competent to strong. My concern is that even if she morphed into a Tom Izzo level coach, they would not be open minded to accept her new behaviors. And my reputation as a coach that gets results could be diminished. A real challenge, will have a conversation with her regional VP about my concerns.

Team leader - leadership on the shop floor

Here is what we are finding in the Tier I & II's of the auto industry. After the downsizing and reduced hours of 2007 - 09, customer demand is picking up, however, hiring for the old jobs is being resisted. Where once was a manufacturing manager, production supervisor and 4 team leaders, now is a production manager and 2 team leaders (one on each shift.) And this effort to get more production with less requires more skills in the "people" side of the business that before.

Relationship Selling Skills

The results of an Internet search on Relationship Selling produced articles and websites that basically described all the traditional steps in a sale as relationship selling. To me, relationship selling is more of creating a mind share inspired by feelings of competency, trust and that you are the "go to" guy for the product or service. This is true especially for commodity type offerings, like financial advice, loans, attorneys and any other services that are highly competitive.

Business acumen - Hospital supervisors

We have been reviewing job descriptions for hospital supervisors (Clinical Lab Supervisor, Nursing Supervisor, Administrative Supervisor, etc) and what we don't find is anything that identifies a supervisor's responsibility of making their unit or team more cost effective. There is language addressing tour assignments but nothing that we can see that rewards supervisors for making good decisions that balance patient care and cost containment.