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    Yes - You CAN Compete with Offshore - Part II
    IN PART 1 of this two part article, we looked at Quality of the Product and Friendliness of the Service. In Part 2 we will consider alignment to particular requirements, responsiveness to needs, ability to deliver to schedule, and cost to the purchaser. Let’s get started.ALIGNMENT TO REQUIREMENTSA big part of competitiveness is found in the alignment of the product to the customer’s requirements -- if it does what it’s supposed to do, they’re gonna consider buying it. This was discussed back in Quality of the Product, but it also means that you, as the producer, have to consider needs that the customer has in keeping his/her own costs down. You will
    igned this senior group, you can then cascade it down a level at a time. The process of cascading continues until all employees understand what results they are expected to produce and how they are aligned interdependently with the rest of the company.

    Step 3: Achievement Individuals usually experience immediate value from the clarity of their business bargain provided by this process. The Alignment of individuals who know what is expected of them and who know what they want in return creates a powerful force for corporate success.

    About the Accountability/Alignment Process:

    The process we've outlined above has been consistently successful with our clients. We've made this process available to the public through our books Accountability: getting a grip on results, and Aligned like a laser, and have recently made our online tool (AlignOnline) available to organizations and consultants who wish to use it in their consulting practice. Visit us at The History of Sales: Dale Carnegie is Still with Us
    I've recently been hearing sales companies talk about how they are 'helping their buyers buy' with a system that is the 'next thing' after Consultative Selling. After becoming familiar with their concepts and methods, I've come to believe they are correct: they are definitely on to the next iteration. But of what?The next iteration of How to Win Friends and Influence People.Interestingly, Dale Carnegie's beliefs and sales models continue to capture the mainstream audience for sales professionals, complete with the beliefs and behaviors he put into place in 1937.Let me take a moment and enumerate them:1. Although the buyer has input, the se

    We all agree Strategic Planning is a critical part of a company's success. All too often, however, strategic plans stall before they ever make it to execution - or they gradually lose momentum. The organization is then left in a vulnerable and uncomfortable position of continuing to go about its business with good intentions but no focused direction or aligned action. Move intention into action using this three step remedy.

    Step 1. Accountability - Get a grip on Results

    Get a grip on results by having each member clearly articulate the end results rather than just activities. We use an Accountability Agreement to accomplish this (see www.AlignOnline.com). An Accountability Agreement defines the business outcomes an individual is promising to deliver, and outlines the resources and support that he or she needs from others in order to deliver these results. An Accountability Agreement is broken down into seven areas:

    Business Focus Statement - Understand your company and your role within it.

    No employee should sit on the sidelines as a casual observer of an organization's success. This area focuses on the business of the company and the unique value each member brings to the organization. In short, why does the job exist and what do you bring to the table? This is then related to the role each person plays in the execution of the strategic plan.

    Operational Accountabilities - Outline the end results you are accountable for achieving.

    The strategic plan serves as a template to outline who is accountable for bringing about various end results of the strategic plan. Focusing Accountability for various parts of the strategic plan that the individual can significantly influence and achieve is the key to clearly articulating who is accountable for producing specific end-results.

    Leadership Accountabilities - Set the tone and culture.

    Integrating the leadership style into your strategic plan sets a tone throughout the organization. Leaders successfully execute the plan by focusing on the people side of their role and how they expect people to work together. Leadership accountabilities set the tone for the leadership style, and introduces the notion that "leaders model the way".

    Goals- Your road markers.

    Goals are specific milestones that are derived directly from your accountabilities. Goals can be described as SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Based.

    Support Requirements- Identify the support and resources you need.

    Success in organizations demands a significant level of teamwork and reciprocity. The individual is accountable for achieving end results in a context of mutual support. No one gets anything done alone. The alignment meeting described below creates a conversation where this interdependence is made visible and negotiated.

    Sustainment Plan- Plan to keep it alive.

    This describes how to keep accountabilities up-to-date and focused on business results as circumstances change. As things change, agreements must be adapted, renewed and revitalized.

    Positive Consequences

    A job is a business bargain between an individual and an organization. To get beyond the parent/child or master/servant relationship, effective individuals bargain for what they want, and can realistically expect, through a fair and reasonable exchange.

    Step 2: Alignment- Align like a laser

    When all members of a workgroup have completed their individual Accountability Agreements as described above, hold an alignment meeting. This process makes difficult issues discussable. Gaps and overlaps in individual accountabilities and goals are resolved and interdependencies and mutual support is agreed upon. At the end of an alignment meeting you can revise Accountability Agreements and realign on a regular basis as circumstances change or memories of agreements fade.

    Gaining traction for your strategic plan ideally begins with your senior management team. Once you've identified who's accountable, made commitments and aligned this senior group, you can then cascade it down a level at a time. The process of cascading continues until all employees understand what results they are expected to produce and how they are aligned interdependently with the rest of the company.

    Step 3: Achievement Individuals usually experience immediate value from the clarity of their business bargain provided by this process. The Alignment of individuals who know what is expected of them and who know what they want in return creates a powerful force for corporate success.

    About the Accountability/Alignment Process:

    The process we've outlined above has been consistently successful with our clients. We've made this process available to the public through our books Accountability: getting a grip on results, and Aligned like a laser, and have recently made our online tool (AlignOnline) available to organizations and consultants who wish to use it in their consulting practice. Visit us at Keeping Focused in Online Business is Key!
    Whenever you are starting a new business online one of the toughest things to do is to focus all of your attention on that one business. Alot of people find themselves jumping from business to business because the results don't come quick enough. Actually the truth in what you are doing is really just jumping from idea to idea. You truly aren't actually running a business but just filling your time and distracting yourself from being successful. Creating and making a business successful takes 1. Time. 2. Effort. 3. And finally it requires you not to dump it and stop working on it just because a month after launch you have not made as many sales as you would have like

    No employee should sit on the sidelines as a casual observer of an organization's success. This area focuses on the business of the company and the unique value each member brings to the organization. In short, why does the job exist and what do you bring to the table? This is then related to the role each person plays in the execution of the strategic plan.

    Operational Accountabilities - Outline the end results you are accountable for achieving.

    The strategic plan serves as a template to outline who is accountable for bringing about various end results of the strategic plan. Focusing Accountability for various parts of the strategic plan that the individual can significantly influence and achieve is the key to clearly articulating who is accountable for producing specific end-results.

    Leadership Accountabilities - Set the tone and culture.

    Integrating the leadership style into your strategic plan sets a tone throughout the organization. Leaders successfully execute the plan by focusing on the people side of their role and how they expect people to work together. Leadership accountabilities set the tone for the leadership style, and introduces the notion that "leaders model the way".

    Goals- Your road markers.

    Goals are specific milestones that are derived directly from your accountabilities. Goals can be described as SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Based.

    Support Requirements- Identify the support and resources you need.

    Success in organizations demands a significant level of teamwork and reciprocity. The individual is accountable for achieving end results in a context of mutual support. No one gets anything done alone. The alignment meeting described below creates a conversation where this interdependence is made visible and negotiated.

    Sustainment Plan- Plan to keep it alive.

    This describes how to keep accountabilities up-to-date and focused on business results as circumstances change. As things change, agreements must be adapted, renewed and revitalized.

    Positive Consequences

    A job is a business bargain between an individual and an organization. To get beyond the parent/child or master/servant relationship, effective individuals bargain for what they want, and can realistically expect, through a fair and reasonable exchange.

    Step 2: Alignment- Align like a laser

    When all members of a workgroup have completed their individual Accountability Agreements as described above, hold an alignment meeting. This process makes difficult issues discussable. Gaps and overlaps in individual accountabilities and goals are resolved and interdependencies and mutual support is agreed upon. At the end of an alignment meeting you can revise Accountability Agreements and realign on a regular basis as circumstances change or memories of agreements fade.

    Gaining traction for your strategic plan ideally begins with your senior management team. Once you've identified who's accountable, made commitments and aligned this senior group, you can then cascade it down a level at a time. The process of cascading continues until all employees understand what results they are expected to produce and how they are aligned interdependently with the rest of the company.

    Step 3: Achievement Individuals usually experience immediate value from the clarity of their business bargain provided by this process. The Alignment of individuals who know what is expected of them and who know what they want in return creates a powerful force for corporate success.

    About the Accountability/Alignment Process:

    The process we've outlined above has been consistently successful with our clients. We've made this process available to the public through our books Accountability: getting a grip on results, and Aligned like a laser, and have recently made our online tool (AlignOnline) available to organizations and consultants who wish to use it in their consulting practice. Visit us at 1,000,001 Reasons To Connect With Your Audience
    Eye contact is mandatory when giving a public presentation.The goal of public speaking is to connect with your audience. Visit with your audience. Have a conversation. When you are making eye contact with one person, when you are having a conversation with one person in the audience, the entire audience feels as if you speaking directly to them individually.If you do not make eye contact with anyone, your credibility and trust factor plummets to less than ZERO!Have you ever had a conversation with a person who wouldn’t look at you? They may have been staring at their shoes or looking over your shoulder. How did you feel? Did you feel uneasyfocusing on the people side of their role and how they expect people to work together. Leadership accountabilities set the tone for the leadership style, and introduces the notion that "leaders model the way".

    Goals- Your road markers.

    Goals are specific milestones that are derived directly from your accountabilities. Goals can be described as SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Based.

    Support Requirements- Identify the support and resources you need.

    Success in organizations demands a significant level of teamwork and reciprocity. The individual is accountable for achieving end results in a context of mutual support. No one gets anything done alone. The alignment meeting described below creates a conversation where this interdependence is made visible and negotiated.

    Sustainment Plan- Plan to keep it alive.

    This describes how to keep accountabilities up-to-date and focused on business results as circumstances change. As things change, agreements must be adapted, renewed and revitalized.

    Positive Consequences

    A job is a business bargain between an individual and an organization. To get beyond the parent/child or master/servant relationship, effective individuals bargain for what they want, and can realistically expect, through a fair and reasonable exchange.

    Step 2: Alignment- Align like a laser

    When all members of a workgroup have completed their individual Accountability Agreements as described above, hold an alignment meeting. This process makes difficult issues discussable. Gaps and overlaps in individual accountabilities and goals are resolved and interdependencies and mutual support is agreed upon. At the end of an alignment meeting you can revise Accountability Agreements and realign on a regular basis as circumstances change or memories of agreements fade.

    Gaining traction for your strategic plan ideally begins with your senior management team. Once you've identified who's accountable, made commitments and aligned this senior group, you can then cascade it down a level at a time. The process of cascading continues until all employees understand what results they are expected to produce and how they are aligned interdependently with the rest of the company.

    Step 3: Achievement Individuals usually experience immediate value from the clarity of their business bargain provided by this process. The Alignment of individuals who know what is expected of them and who know what they want in return creates a powerful force for corporate success.

    About the Accountability/Alignment Process:

    The process we've outlined above has been consistently successful with our clients. We've made this process available to the public through our books Accountability: getting a grip on results, and Aligned like a laser, and have recently made our online tool (AlignOnline) available to organizations and consultants who wish to use it in their consulting practice. Visit us at Being Successful by Committing to Constant Growth
    I've always had trouble fathoming those that own businesses in low growth industries. I'm not being pious, or looking down on anybody--this is just my own thought processes--but whoever got rich running a gas station, sandwich deli, low-priced hair salon, mini-mart, or any number of other such businesses? I'm not talking about the few that buy up multiples of such types of stores as an investment. That I get. But those that become content in an industry where they know it will never make them considerably more financially well off I don't get whatsoever. Almost any place I go I'm thinking about the financial prospects of such a business, thinking about overhge, agreements must be adapted, renewed and revitalized.

    Positive Consequences

    A job is a business bargain between an individual and an organization. To get beyond the parent/child or master/servant relationship, effective individuals bargain for what they want, and can realistically expect, through a fair and reasonable exchange.

    Step 2: Alignment- Align like a laser

    When all members of a workgroup have completed their individual Accountability Agreements as described above, hold an alignment meeting. This process makes difficult issues discussable. Gaps and overlaps in individual accountabilities and goals are resolved and interdependencies and mutual support is agreed upon. At the end of an alignment meeting you can revise Accountability Agreements and realign on a regular basis as circumstances change or memories of agreements fade.

    Gaining traction for your strategic plan ideally begins with your senior management team. Once you've identified who's accountable, made commitments and aligned this senior group, you can then cascade it down a level at a time. The process of cascading continues until all employees understand what results they are expected to produce and how they are aligned interdependently with the rest of the company.

    Step 3: Achievement Individuals usually experience immediate value from the clarity of their business bargain provided by this process. The Alignment of individuals who know what is expected of them and who know what they want in return creates a powerful force for corporate success.

    About the Accountability/Alignment Process:

    The process we've outlined above has been consistently successful with our clients. We've made this process available to the public through our books Accountability: getting a grip on results, and Aligned like a laser, and have recently made our online tool (AlignOnline) available to organizations and consultants who wish to use it in their consulting practice. Visit us at Cost Effective Solution - Outsourcing
    Outsourcing is done to save money, improve quality, or free company resources for other activities. Outsourcing was first done in the data-processing industry and has spread to areas, including call centers. Outsourcing is the wave of the future. The decision to outsource is often made in the interest of lowering firm costs, redirecting or conserving energy directed at the competencies of a particular business, or to make more efficient use of worldwide labor, capital, technology and resources. Call centers are considered as one of the most common outsourced task for companies. In fact, it is also regarded as the first tasks to be outsourced. Peter Ryan, an analyst figned this senior group, you can then cascade it down a level at a time. The process of cascading continues until all employees understand what results they are expected to produce and how they are aligned interdependently with the rest of the company.

    Step 3: Achievement Individuals usually experience immediate value from the clarity of their business bargain provided by this process. The Alignment of individuals who know what is expected of them and who know what they want in return creates a powerful force for corporate success.

    About the Accountability/Alignment Process:

    The process we've outlined above has been consistently successful with our clients. We've made this process available to the public through our books Accountability: getting a grip on results, and Aligned like a laser, and have recently made our online tool (AlignOnline) available to organizations and consultants who wish to use it in their consulting practice. Visit us at www.AlignOnline.com for more articles on Strategic Planning, Accountability, and Alignment and information on our books and online Accountability tool.

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