Why we need processes In any organization we need processes for four main reasons: 1. Increase efficiency; 2. Control quality 3. Ensure the organization is meeting Governance or Compliance requirements 4. Help manage change In early stages of process technology and method development, each reason for using process technology was different. If you have been [...]
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Following skills (the details) Door-openers A door-opener is an non-coercive invitation extended to another to talk. Open-ended questions An open-ended questions is one which allows another to answer in any way or in any depth he or she choses. This kind of question does not invite a “yes” or “no” or a short response. Open-ended [...]
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Following skills (overview) The three biggest barriers to more effective listening are: The listener talks too much The listener doesn’t listen for long enough before starting to talk The listener remains silent and entirely unresponsive All the tendencies make it hard for the other to tell his or her story or opinion. If the listener [...]
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Attending skills Posture The listener usually leans slightly toward the speaker in a relaxed manner. Relaxation is important because tenseness tends to take the focus off the other. An open posture is a sign that the listener is open to what the other has to say. The other should be faced during the conversation. Gestures [...]
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Attending skills (the details) Contact Eye contact is a way of indicated intense interest in the other person because the eyes are of other key modes of communicating. This does not mean that eye contact must be a fixed stare to be effective. If the listener is honestly interested and at ease, he or she [...]
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Attending Skills overview Attending is giving physical and psychological attention to others in a communication situation. Effective attending conveys non-verbally that the listener is interested an is paying careful attention to the other. Effective physical attending takes place when the listener adopts a posture of involvement, including facing the speaker and leaning slightly toward him [...]
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Benefits of reflective listening: Lets the other reaslize he or she is heard, understood and supported and thereby helps the other stay in touch with others on the project. Gives the other feedback on what he or she said and how it came off. Lets the listener check the accuracy in hearing what the other [...]
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Posted in Process Discovery on Nov 10th, 2011
See below TaskMap Capture for Excel automated tutorial. We should have the entire set complete within the next week and on the web site. The toolbar with TaskMap Capture for Excel functions near the left hand side.
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My mother used to chide me “Michael, self praise is no praise at all!”. When I congratulated myself on achieving something as a child; or if the truth be known, also as a adult. Well at the risk of invoking her comments from heaven, I will congratulate the team and myself on our first full [...]
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Towards Perfection Posted in Project Management on Sep 29th, 2011 On occasions, I get to do some volunteer work in Prison. I visit a facility weekly in Massachusetts and have recently been running a Setting Goals program. There are always nuggets of wisdom that I come to expect come from these sessions; and this week [...]
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We have just added a great new resource to the BPM Blog, with over 250 topics and posts out there we thought it would be helpful for you to find topics of interest and not just use the search engine. Here is the link http://taskmap.com/wordpress/bpm-blog-sitemap/ The BPM Blog site Map will help you find topical [...]
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Recently I had an encounter with the word rigor and though the subject was not about processes and process improvement it seemed like a good time to revisit the use of rigor in our processes. The definition I like best for rigor is as follows: The quality of being extremely thorough, exhaustive, or accurate. We [...]
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This week’s summary includes all of the 4 part series on creating org charts in Visio 2010. Have a great Labor Day weekend for those of you in the USA. Creating Organization Charts in Visio-Part 4 Posted in Process Discovery, Project Management, Uncategorized on Aug 31st, 2011 This represents the final post in this [...]
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Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010: FREE Webinar Posted in Process Mapping, Uncategorized on Aug 19th, 2011 Register here Presenter: Scott A. Helmers Thursday, August 25, 2011 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM US Pacific Daylight Time PDT About the webinar Creating attractive, meaningful diagrams is easier in Visio 2010 than in any [...]
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Posted in Process Discovery on Aug 1st, 2011
The list below includes many of the general-purpose questions that are typically asked during the Discovery Phase of a Process Capture project. 1. Who is involved? (brainstorm about all roles involved in the process) 2. Is there any existing documentation for this process? 3. What is the first task? 4. How long does it take? [...]
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After completing a recent setting goals class with men in a local prison, some important points came to light that we sometimes miss in our Process Improvement projects. These were: The importance of short term goals versus longer term ones Goals that support an overall objective should be tied together The interdependencies of goals [...]
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Interesting set of posts this week with a general theme of starting up new projects. Hope you are all enjoying your summer. Mike Cunningham We cannot automate everything Posted in Change Management, Process Analysis on Jul 14th, 2011 In every BPM project, it seems we look continuously for those things that can be automated. [...]
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Process maps have a lifecycle of their own, but is often not recognized by those authoring, reviewing or receiving them. Here is the cycle as we see it. For each step of the Lifecycle you may want to increase or reduce to the amount of information available to the audience involved. For example: Discovery of [...]
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Producing process maps in electronic format can save a lot of time and money. The example below, “How to Buy and Sell on eBay” shows some of those benefits. How to buy and sell on eBay: Background to this process map The "How to buy and sell on Ebay" TaskMap was created to show how [...]
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So what is Active Listening anyway? Active listening is hearing and digesting information so that you prove to the speaker or deliverer of that information you heard and understood what was said. It is important because: Proves that your message is getting across Team members can only act on information if they understand what it [...]
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