Something New: Tell US What Course YOU’D Like Us to Teach
What if we're not offering a course you particularly need? Now you can fill out a quick form and we'll let you know when the course is ready.
IES Blog: Categories
Performance Excellence:
The Hard Truth about ‘Soft Skills’
The title for this blog popped in my head…like a flash of inspiration in response to a recent comment made in my presence about how much easier it must be to instruct soft skills classes and receive positive evaluations (since they involve so many activities and fun) as opposed to technical skills classes.
Strategic Planning Is Messy
Over the last 8 months, I had the privilege of being a member of IES' strategic planning steering committee. I'm not being snarky; I really do consider it a privilege.
Why it was different from the Academy Awards
The ballroom, filled to capacity by suited men and high-heeled women, broke into applause as each award winner was announced. As they came forward to receive the Governor’s Award of Healthcare Excellence, Gov. Beverly Perdue read a list of their accomplishments.
Why Errors Happen
Today I'm over at the SEMS (Society for Engineering and Management Systems) blog talking about why errors happen and using a football example to illustrate my point. How do you avoid errors in your work environment and do you have the systems in place to support you?
‘Training’ is NOT a Bad Word
Let's see if I can get in a little trouble today.
Over the past few months, our unit at the university has been having an internal debate over whether we provide "training" or "education" to our clients.
Multitasking - Are we setting ourselves up for failure?
Many of us feel the pressure to get more done with less time. As a result, there seems to be in our society an expectation that we all be proficient at multitasking, the ability to do more than one task at a time.
Keeping Customers Satisfied Part 2
I wrote my last blog on customer satisfaction and used the Kano Model to help explain different levels of attributes or product features that will delight your customer and keep them coming back. This blog will focus on how those needs, which are the voice of the customer, get translated into actions that your organization should take to sustain customer satisfaction.
Notes from the Shingo Conference
I had the privilege to attend the 23rd Annual International Shingo Conference held in Cincinnati, Ohio during the week of March 28th-May 1st. It is designed to showcase the private companies, public companies and scholars who have subscribed to the Shingo model for operational excellence.
Benchmarking on Steroids
Or, how to get inspired and discouraged at the same time.
I wanted to work for all of them, the seven organizations that told their stories at the 23rd annual Quest for Excellence conference in Washington, DC, last week.
Keeping Customers Satisfied
How do you keep customers satisfied? First you need to understand what motivates your customer. Dr. Nuriaki Kano developed a model to help identify some basic premises of what customers want and need. The "Kano Model" is a simple two axis matrix with "satisfaction" on the vertical axis and "achievement" on the horizontal axis: