SMART

 

SMART is a methodology used to define goals and set tasks. The inventor of the SMART scheme is George T. Doran. He described this approach in the article ‘There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives’ for the magazine Management Review in 1981.

There are various ways to decipher the abbreviation SMART. The most well-known interpretations:

SMART is Specific, Measurable, Achievable/Assignable, Relevant/Realistic, and Time-bound/Time-limited.

There are also extended versions of this model, for example, SMARTER, in this case, two more criteria are added, which are interpreted variously in different sources. You may encounter the following options: Evaluated and Reviewed, Evaluate consistently and Recognize mastery, Exciting and Recorded, and others. Each criterion in SMART has its characteristic. Let’s see what they mean.

Specific

At this stage, you should answer the questions that begin with What? Who? Where? You must set a goal so that it is clear not only to you but also to everyone else who will participate in the process of achieving it. You can ask questions such as:

What do we want to achieve? What exactly do you need to do for this? Who will do it? Where will you do it?

You must plainly understand the result of your actions. Unambiguously formulate the goal, so that there is no temptation to interpret it differently.

Measurable

Here we are talking about indicators. It is necessary to set some value that we need to achieve. As a rule, it is expressed in quantitative terms (pieces, percent, money, etc.), but qualitative indicators can also be used. Everyone chooses the right one for themselves, the main thing is that these selected metrics can be tracked and compared. It is with the help of this data that we will be able to see the progress, as well as understand whether the goal has been achieved or not.

Achievable

We all dream about something, we want something, but we need to clearly understand which of our dreams are real, that is, feasible, and which are not. The same applies to goals. If you set a goal that is not achievable for objective reasons, then you will at least waste your time and effort. You will only be left with a sense of frustration, and this is certainly not what we are aiming for. Therefore, set achievable goals, to assess the situation and the resources that you have.

Relevant

Before you set a goal, you must understand its necessity. Is the chosen objective important? There are cases where even when you reach some goals, you do not get what you expected, because, in the end, your goal does not relate to the overall direction of the activity. This can be seen especially clearly in the business sector. Your specific goal should correspond to the company’s mission, its overall development, and relate to other tasks. If you notice contradictions after the analysis, then you should think again about your goal.

Time-Bound

The time frame is also very significant, if you do not limit yourself, then the whole process can be delayed for an indefinite period. Your goal may lose its relevance when you complete it. You can set intermediate values, each period will correspond to the steps to achieve your goal, and then track whether you are investing in the schedule. There must also be a deadline by which you must reach your goal.

So, we looked at five criteria for setting a goal using the SMART methodology. All five criteria have the same meaning, it is by adhering to all five points that you will be able to correctly formulate the objective.

This methodology is suitable for various fields of activity. Let’s look at it on the example of marketing.

SMART Marketing

The company XXX has designed a development strategy, according to which the management would like to see a strong and recognizable brand. To do this, it is proposed to prepare a plan of marketing activities that will be aimed at achieving strategic goals. For each event, an objective must be set in accordance with the SMART methodology. For example, increase the company’s brand awareness by 10% among subscribers of print industry media in Western Europe through advertising by the beginning of Q4 2021.

This objective matches the five criteria, it is clearly defined and understood, measurable (10%), achievable (we chose the real figure and the real deadline), corresponds to the strategic goals, and has a specific deadline (by the beginning of Q4 2021).

SMART helps you set a goal correctly, and when you have a distinct objective, it will be much easier for you to reach it.

https://www.marketing-psycho.com/

COVID-19 Tracker: Remote Working – Time and Productivity Gains Mean More Opportunity to Focus on Creative Thinking and Complex Tasks

 

by Taylor Wray

As businesses begin formulating return to office strategies, how concerned are they about current productivity levels? And what downsides and potential upsides have they seen since making the shift to remote working? In this latest article we find that while there have been plenty of productivity challenges, many businesses are seeing some interesting opportunities arising from remote working.

Productivity Currently a Top Concern for Businesses

Data from our latest wave of research shows worries over ability to cope with flexible working and with productivity of colleagues and employees topping the list of concerns for businesses around the globe. More than four in 10 business decision-makers are very or extremely concerned about these issues, placing them at first and second, respectively, among all operational concerns we’ve asked about since the second week of May:

While productivity is a pressing concern for all businesses right now, the burden of ensuring that workers remain active and industrious are not shared equally across different regions: Concern over productivity of colleagues and employees seems especially high among organizations based in the Asia-Pacific region, where 53% are “very” or “extremely” worried about the issue. By contrast, organizations in the Americas seem significantly less troubled, as only one-third (33%) rated it very or extremely concerning.

This reflects the different stages of the pandemic that these regions are at right now – with Asia-Pacific significantly further through its initial phase of the crisis. What this suggests is that productivity may remain a persistent issue as we move toward recovery.

Reasons to Worry: Negative Impacts on Productivity

To understand the reasons behind these significant concerns over productivity, we asked businesses about a range of negative impacts they have seen to their business since early May, as well as how significant or extreme each of these impacts has been over this timeframe:

The results above indicate that productivity concerns are driven by a range of perceived problems. Altogether, 95% of concerned decision-makers indicated that at least one of the productivity problems listed above has impacted their business to some extent. Enterprises (those with 250 or more employees) generally register significantly higher proportions that have seen any impact from these challenges on their business, versus SMEs (<250 employees).

So what have the main issues been?

Top Challenges to Productivity

1. Motivation – Problems with staff morale and motivation top the list in terms of prevalence and impact, with nearly 8 in 10 (78%) citing this problem. Given the duress many have endured in balancing professional responsibilities with striving to protect themselves and loved ones from health impacts of COVID-19, it would be a surprise not to see morale as an issue. Job security created by economic uncertainty is also likely to be part of these worries.

   The fact that this issue tops the list of productivity challenges should serve as a stark reminder to organizations that they are only as strong as their people: Making employees’ mental wellbeing a top priority is likely to become an even bigger focus in future in the context of productivity.

   This need to focus and support employee mental health may, in part, be addressed by a growing array of mobile mental health and therapy apps that companies can encourage their employees to use. This includes apps such as Kite and Talkspace, as well as other mental health tools and resources. A further example of this is the free “Innen Leben” downloadable flashcard set recently developed and made available for free by a psychologist and psychiatrist in Germany.

2. Utilization – Simply having enough work to keep all employees occupied throughout the workday is problem for around two-thirds (66%) of businesses with concerns about productivity. And 3 in 10 see this as exerting a major negative impact.

   Initiatives based around shortened working hours have started to be considered by some companies and governments. New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, recently floated the idea of a national 4-day workweek aimed at both helping to bolster domestic tourism and also helping employees strike better, healthier work/life balance as the global crisis continues.

3. Distraction – “Difficulties balancing work and childcare commitments” and “general distractions at home” are significant, and linked, issues. The melding of work and home lives brings with it everyday distractions that impinge on working time. Whether it’s deliveryman ringing doorbells, construction workers jackhammering nearby or furry familiars leaping across keyboards, virtually everyone has a harder time staying focused and engaged when removed from their regular business environment. Given the diversity of home settings of employees, it has been challenging for many firms to devise an overarching strategy to mitigate this problem.

4. Supervision – The inability to monitor and manage employees represents the fourth and final major drawback for productivity that the working world has had to grapple with. This obstacle can make it difficult for managers to effectively delegate to and checking on their direct reports. It also directly exacerbates the two previously discussed issues of distraction and (lack of) utilization, since managers can no longer “catch” and refocus distracted employees, nor optimally allocate workloads across their various reports. Now more than ever, managers must be able to trust the initiative of employees.

Other Struggles with Productivity

5. Sub-optimal Setups – One less severe, but common issue with productivity is the issue of sub-optimal working environments – i.e. a lack of suitable workspaces and/or equipment. This issue has had a major impact on only around one-fifth of firms with productivity problems, although around 6 in 10 have seen it have some negative impact. While firms can do little to provide for a better room or space in which their employees can work remotely, they can certainly help in the form of better technology, tools and equipment. This is especially so if working from home is likely to continue for a significant while longer, as expected in many economies.

6. Time Management – The final challenge is individual and collective time management. Around 55% of firms to have seen their productivity negatively impacted report a surfeit of meetings that take up too much time and/or long working hours impinging on individual productivity. With so many organizations operating with reduced staff or reduced hours, being careful not to overload those employees becomes a priority. However, this is a difficult balance to strike given the pressures many firms face.

Looking on the Bright Side: Positive Impacts on Productivity

As ominous as the commercial horizon has become, business decision-makers still recognized a range of positive impacts on productivity across their organizations in recent weeks.

• Extra Time Means More Time for Reflection and Creativity: First, workers have had the benefit of extra time to get their jobs done, not least in terms of time saved on business travel and commuting to work. Less time spent commuting has had a major positive impact on more than 4 in 10 organizations (42%), and some positive impact on around three-quarters (74%).

  Having this extra time and space to themselves has allowed workers to put more thought and creativity into their outputs and deliverables. Around 3 in 10 (29%) reported major positive benefits here, with around two-thirds (68%) of companies surveyed saying this has had at least some impact. More time doesn’t always lead to more productivity, of course – However, gaining a significant chunk of extra time at the start and end of the working day, in particular, has likely helped in this regard.

• Extra Flexibility: Many workers have recently gained additional flexibility to work preferred hours and patterns. Around a third (34%) of our sample cited this as a major positive impact, and even more (39%), cited it as having a minor positive impact on their business over the past few weeks. The closely related issue of changing routines was also cited as a major benefit by 25%.

• Extra Responsibilities: A third and distinct benefit that more than half (56%) cited as exerting some positive impact on productivity is that of extra experience – i.e. employees being asked to do a wider variety of tasks than normal. Theoretically, if a given organization can accomplish a wider variety of things with the same or fewer resources, productivity will increase. One caveat here is that asking individuals to learn new processes or take on additional responsibilities may still have a time and productivity cost: They’ll need additional time to learn these new skills and even then may not be as efficient as those that previously specialized in these tasks.

• Extra Intensity & Room to Focus on Complexity: The fourth and final productivity benefit since the advent of COVID-19 has been that of extra intensity or focus. For many roles, having solitary workspace away from the distractions of the usual, bustling workplace appears to have improved focus for some. While this benefit was only seen as having a major positive impact by around one-fifth of organizations, this was significantly higher in technology firms – here, 33% stated there had been major positive impacts. This aligns closely with software development or coding tasks.

Taken together, these results portray a complex and double-edged array of impacts to organizational productivity during COVID-19 so far. The ability of organizations to get work done has been hampered by issues of motivation, occupation, distraction, and supervision. At the same time, companies have seen many gains in productivity due to their workforces utilizing the benefits of extra time, flexibility, experience, and intensity.

These enforced changes to working patterns are, however, likely to provide strong pointers for businesses and policy-makers in helping to crack the “productivity puzzle” that many firms in mature economies had encountered even prior to the pandemic.

https://cutt.ly/C9AIbeJ

Task Prioritisation Hack using MoSCoW Method

 Today we are discussing MoSCow Prioritisation method. You can use the MoSCoW method to prioritise any tasks, personal or professional. If you are a student, you can too use the MoSCoW method to prioritise your tasks and study.

Prioritisation can be applied to requirements, tasks, products, use cases, user stories, acceptance criteria and tests.

A rule of thumb often used is that Must Have requirements do not exceed 60% of the effort and the remaining 40% of the effort should be split about evenly between Should Have and Could Have/Contingency planning.

The MoSCoW Rules

Must Haves provide the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) of requirements which the project guarantees to deliver. This may be defined using some of the following items:

•    These are non-negotiables
•    Can't deliver on target date without this
•    Not legal without it
•    Unsafe without it
•    Can't deliver the business case without it

Ask the question, “what happens if this requirement is not met?” If the answer is “cancel the project – there is no point in implementing a solution that does not meet this requirement” then it is a Must Have requirement. If there is some way around it, even if it is a manual workaround, then it will be a Should Have or a Could Have requirement. Downgrading a requirement to a Should Have or Could Have does not mean it won’t be delivered, simply that delivery is not guaranteed.

Should Haves are;  

• Important but not vital
• May be painful to leave out, but the solution is still viable
• May need some kind of workaround, e.g. management of expectations, some inefficiency, an existing solution, or a little extra paperwork etc.

A Should Have may be differentiated from a Could Have by reviewing the degree of pain caused by it not being met, in terms of business value or numbers of people affected.  

Could Haves

• Wanted or desirable but less important
• Less impact if left out (compared with a Should Have)

Won't Haves this time at all

• These are the requirements which the project team has agreed it will not deliver. They are recorded in the Prioritised Requirements List where they help clarify the scope of the project and to avoid being reintroduced ‘via the back door’ at a later date. This helps to manage expectations that some requirements will simply not make it into the delivered solution, at least not this time around.

These priorities should always be under review even during the project. If or any new work arises during the project priorities can be upgraded or downgraded as per the requirement.

MoSCoW method is also a great way to form conversations with your clients and discover what they want and what's the most important and least important item 

According to Agile Business Consortium tips for assigning priorities are as follows:

1. Start all requirements as Won’t Haves and then justify why they need to be given a higher priority.
2. For each requirement that is proposed as a Must Have, ask: “What happens if this requirement is not met?” If the answer is “Cancel the project. There is no point in implementing a solution that does not meet this requirement,” then it is a Must Have requirement.
3. Ask: “I come to you the night before deployment and tell you there is a problem with a Must Have requirement and that we can’t deploy it – will you stop the deployment?” If the answer is “yes” then this is a Must Have requirement.
4. Is there a workaround, even if it is manual? If there is, then it is not a Must Have requirement. Compare the cost of the workaround with the cost of delivering it, including the cost of any associated delays.
5. Ask why is the requirement needed – for this project and this increment.
6. If there is a Business Case in sufficient detail, can it be used to justify the intended priority? If not, create one.
7. Is there more than one requirement implied in a single statement? Are they of the same priority? Decompose the requirement!
8. Is this requirement dependent on any others being fulfilled? A Must Have cannot depend on the delivery of anything other than a Must Have because of the risk of it not being there.
9. Allow different priorities for levels of acceptability of a requirement. For example. “The current back-up procedures will be followed to ensure that the service can be restored as quickly as possible.” How quick is that? Given enough time and money, that could be within seconds. They may say that it Should happen within four hours, but it Must happen within 24 hours, for example.
10. Can this requirement be decomposed? Is it necessary to deliver each of those components to fulfil the requirement? Are the decomposed elements of the same priority as each other?
11. Tie the requirement to a project objective. If the objective is not a Must Have, then probably neither is the requirement relating to it.
12. Remember that team members may cause scope creep by working on the fun things rather than the important things. MoSCoW can help avoid this.
13. Does the priority change with time? For example, for an initial phase, it is a Should Have but it will be a Must Have for the second increment. 
14. Prioritise defects/bugs, using MoSCoW.
15. Prioritise testing, using MoSCoW.
16. Use MoSCoW to prioritise your To Do list. It can be used for activities as well as requirements.

MoSCoW was developed by Dai Clegg of Oracle UK in 1994 and has been made popular by exponents of the Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM).

Sources:
https://www.agilebusiness.org/content/moscow-prioritisation-0
https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/moscow-method.php
https://www.projectmanager.com/training/prioritize-moscow-technique

https://bit.ly/31MLNgu

Managing a business

What do managers do?


All organizations have managers. They can come by the name of director, headmaster, etc... but they all perform similar tasks. These tasks are:

Planning: 

Planning for the future involves setting goals for a business. These goals give the business a sense of direction and purpose. Now the whole business will have something to work towards. Managers also need to plan for resources which will be needed. These are only two strategies managers use to keep the business running.



Organising: 

A manager cannot do everything by himself. Therefore, jobs must be delegated to employees. Employees need sufficient resources to complete their job, so managers need to organise people and resources effectively.


Co-ordinating:


Managers need to bring people together in a business for it to succeed. This is called co-ordination. If different functional departments do not co-ordinate, they could be doing completely different things which does not follow any common plan. Managers could co-ordinate the departments by holding regular meetings or setting up a project team with different members from different departments.


Commanding:


Commanding refers to guiding, leading and guiding subordinates which is very important in any organisation. Managers need to make sure that all subordinates are following targets and deadlines. It is the responsibility of the manager to ensure that all tasks are completed and therefore instruction and guidance must be provided to employees so that they can do so.


Controlling:


Controlling means evaluating the performance of subordinates, so that corrective action can be carried out if the subordinates are not sticking to goals.

To sum up, this is what management gives to any organisation:

• a sense of control and direction.
• co-ordination between departments, preventing wastage of efforts.
• control of employees.
• making the most out of resources (organisation)

What makes a good manager?

There are different views of why some managers are better than others. Some say that managers are born that way, while others say good managers are trained. However, good managers do have these distinct characteristics:

• intelligence: to understand difficult ideas and deal with different issues.
• initiative: to be able to think of solutions and take control of situations.
• self-confidence: to be willing to lead others and be a model image.
• assertiveness and determination: to be able to take command of others and take ideas and solutions to the end.
• communication skills: to be able to inform subordinates in a clear way so that they will respond positively.
• energy and enthusiasm: to work with high effort and involvement so that others will follow.

Styles of leadership:

Different managers use different styles of leadership, and each one makes subordinates react in a certain way. It is important for the managers to choose the appropriate leadership style for the right situation. These styles will be discussed in Chapter 13: Motivation at work.

Management involves taking risks: 

All managers need to make decisions in what they do, whether it is planning, organising, co-ordinating, ect. All as you know, all decisions involve some sort of risk.

Are all decisions as important as each other?

There are three types of decisions which has their type of importance and the length of time that is is going to affect the business. They are:

• Strategic: These are very important decisions that will affect the overall success of an organisation. They are long-term decisions such as company goals or growth. They are usually taken by the top management.
• Tactical: These are decisions that are less important decisions that are taken more frequently. They can include: new ways to train staff, new transportation routes used, advertising methods, etc... They are usually taken by the middle management.
• Operational: They are day-to-day decisions taken by the lower management. They tend to be repetitive and previous experience could be used to help making these decisions. They can be: inventory/stock levels, ordering goods, dealing with customers.

All of these decisions involve risk. Since they all cost time, money and opportunity cost one should think well before making a decision. 

In business, decisions need to be made and the risks need to be accepted. People like sole traders who have unlimited liability risk loosing all that they own by setting up a business are called entrepreneurs. As we already know they are the managers and risk-takers of a company. Managers in a limited company are not "real" entrepreneurs, because they are not risking their assets but the capital of the shareholders.

How can managers reduce risks when taking decisions?

Risks are the results of failure. Risks cannot be eliminated, but they can be reduced by the process of making decisions. Here are the steps:

• Set goals: It is impossible to make decisions if the aims are not clear.
• Identify and analyse the problem: Managers all make decisions to solve a problem. This problem might be how to use your salary in the most efficient way possible, how to spend the rest of your life, etc... It is imperative that you must understand the problem before finding a solution for it. Otherwise, you might make the wrong decision.
• Collect data on all possible alternative solutions: It is always important to analyse all possible solutions to find which one is the best. The data collected should also contain constraints and limitations on the possible decisions (e.g. the law).
• Make the final decisions and put it into effect: This is called implementing the decision. This means that the manager must see to it that the decision is carried out and is working to plan.
• Review and evaluation of decision: This is looking back at the decision to identify pros and cons of a decision so that the experience can be used in the future. This is often hard to do especially when the wrong decision is made. It is nevertheless necessary.

Here is a decision-making flow chart from the book that will help you visualise the process:

Management responsibilities in departments:

Human resources department:

• Forecasting staffing needs.
• Recruiting staff.
• Preparing the job descriptions and job specifications.
• Planning and implementing staff training programmes.
• Interviewing and selecting staff.
• Negotiating with worker representatives, such as union leaders, on wages and working conditions.
• Keeping staff records.
• Disciplining staff

The role of this department is becoming more and more important as the cost of hiring staff rises, so that it is crucial for the HR department to manage people firmly and fairly. An unsuccessful HR department results in a high staff turnover(people leaving the business early). The department must also make sure that the business and staff comply with all employment laws.

Marketing department:

• Market research for:
• New products.
• New markets.
• New opportunities.
• Planning the release of new products, often working with the Production and R&D departments.
• Decide on the best marketing mix (discussed later) for a product and implementing it.
• Keeping track of products so extension strategies can be used or to take the product off the market.

The marketing department is crucial for the business to keep in touch with its customers. No business can survive without this kind of function.

Accounting and finance department:

• Recording all financial transactions.
• Collecting all the data and presenting it as the regular accounts.
• Preparing all budgets.
• Analysing the profitability of new projects.
• Deciding on which source of finance to use.
• Keeping control over business cash flow.

Production department/Operations management:

• Ordering stock/inventory of materials and resources used for producing goods.
• Developing and designing new products.
• Locating in the most cost-effective place possible.
• Deciding on the methods of production and machinery. Purchase of new machinery will involve the Finance department.
• Controlling production to maintain high levels of efficiency.
• Maintaining the efficiency of machines.
• Keeping the quality high to meet the standards of the consumers. All staff will need to co-operate because poor quality is normally blamed on bad staff. 

Administration department:

The responsibilities of the Administration department varies with the business it is in. For example, in smaller businesses, the administration department would be the same as the Accounts and Finance department. A larger business will have more specialized administrative department. These are what the the department does:

• Clerical and office support services: Ensure the smooth running of all other departments.
• Sorting of incoming mail and sorting and franking of outgoing mail.
• Reception will greet visitors, answer calls, and schedule rooms for meetings.
• Office tasks will include filing all records. e.g. visitors and calls.
• Information and data processing.
• Responsibility for the IT system:
• The IT department is part of the Administration department.
• Allows information to be delivered between departments accurately.
• Provides managers with data to help in decision making.
• Cleaning, maintenance and security:
• Vital for safe and healthy working conditions.
• Failure to maintain equipment and the building (e.g. air conditioner) will result in reduced efficiency.

The widespread use of computers means that many workers in all departments can do some of these tasks by themselves (clerical and support services), reducing the function of the Administration department and make them less common in businesses.