| Tip of the
Month |
If you are not
interested in the sometimes controversial topics to the right, click
here for the best of our prior technical
topics. |
| Quick Links |
ISO TC 108 -
Mechanical vibration, shock and condition
monitoring
ISO TC 108/SC
3 - Use and calibration of vibration and shock measuring
instruments
NCSLi -
Providence, RI (July 25-29)
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| Newsletter
Archive |
listed alphabetically by topic
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To rank or
not to rank... |
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 It seems here, in the USA, we love to rank
EVERYTHING. This includes lists from David
Letterman's TV Late Show Top 10, to the top athletes (Golf to NASCAR), to
the way our companies and departments hand out bonuses. Often
these lists are used as a proxy for understanding the complex
topic of performance. Whether we are in charge of innovation,
getting test data, product design or even the results of an entire
team, performance management is an important topic. The
problem is that for simplification in administration and reward of
performance, many companies use a "forced ranking" system to a
"normal curve" that requires 70 percent of the performers to be
average or below. I know that's not the way we structure
our hiring system! Furthermore, this form of
distribution creates an unhealthy competition among employees (who
at the same time are told that they are working on the SAME
team!). Read on for a short article from Quality Digest on improving the
design and management of work (rather than assuming that
performance problems are often due to a lack of training
or the poor design of a work system, they are instead
attributed to the poor execution or suspect motives of the team
members)...and if you are really interested in making a difference
at your company, I recommend picking up a copy of my vote for the
best business/ management/ family/ parenting/ life book on the topic
of performance - Bringing out the
Best in People, by Aubrey C. Daniels. Chapters 19 and 20
are a good start for this topic.
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Whose job is
it "to get it right with the
customer"?... |
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 One thing is for sure. Nothing is
getting easier. We have more complex products (tried to fix
your own car lately?), more complex services and intricate
interactions between people, teams, departments, suppliers and
sometimes even related companies! In the end, our customers
want to be satisfied...or even happy. With so much of our day
focused on introverted (company oriented) processes, measures and
problems, we can forget that it's the customer and the voice of the
customer that really matters. The quality of product or service
matters, as does the expectations we set with our customers, as does
the manner/ skill/ disposition/ timeliness with which we deliver
it. Read this
article if you believe your company should walk the walk, in
addition to talking the talk. After reading the short
article, if you care about the voice of the customer, I highly
suggest studying the feedback system described in The Ultimate
Question, by Fred Reichheld. Pages 120-135 do a
phenomenal job of describing the concept of sorting your revenues
into "good profits" which build value for your customers and "bad
profits" where you may be making good money (think bank fees,
airline change fees, expedite fees, etc.) but you are likely
creating a negative relationship with your customer. And if you are
in a role that puts you in charge of leading and managing other
people, see the Aubrey Daniels
book cited above to understand why we often create human and
business systems that are destined to give poor results by
design.
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To
buy and do good at the same time... Purchase any of
the books mentioned above and donate to a worthy cause at the same
time, a purchase made from one of the participating retailers made
through the website www.nicebuy.org is a painless way to make a
donation without costing you a cent. Now that's getting it
right !!! And as a reminder, 2010 marks our 20th
Anniversary. Become a fan of our Facebook
page and see pictures of "Modal Shoppers" (and maybe some of
your colleagues) from our past conferences, applications and
celebrations. As you'll see in the pictures, we're here to
serve you with all your dynamic sensor and calibration
needs.
Sincerely, |
 Michael J. Lally A PCB Group Company
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