One of the quickest ways for university leaders to understand the effectiveness of their services is to study demand. When done right, such studies will provide a student perspective that can act as a sophisticated way to reframe student services. Studying demand in a university As a consultant I conducted a demand analysis (adapted to meet constraints and to fit within … [Read more...] about To understand effectiveness university leaders should study demand
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Consulting advice is serious business
Despite widespread humour about business consultants giving advice, it is a serious endeavour. Bad advice harms companies and livelihoods. I wanted to illustrate the mechanics of advice-giving with an example from internal consulting practice. A CIO asks for an opinion A Chief Information Officer (CIO) asked for advice during an IT development freeze. One team had … [Read more...] about Consulting advice is serious business
Seeing distance learning module production as a system
Recently a department responsible for the digital design and build of distance learning modules asked me to assess the feasibility of introducing new technology and agile. A quick-look identified that an expanded study was necessary. Excavating the system It can take some time for a module to progress from initial idea, through the process of design, content creation and … [Read more...] about Seeing distance learning module production as a system
One customer’s experience in telecoms – a cartoon
This cartoon strip depicts my recent experience of trying to resolve some simple problems with a broadband and phone service provider. The organisation has been applying Lean Six Sigma (an approach that originated in manufacturing) to their services operations for over a decade and more recently agile. I haven't named the company. My purpose for calling I have had … [Read more...] about One customer’s experience in telecoms – a cartoon
Mind the strategy-operations gap
If you don’t understand your business operations from the customer’s point of view, you may as well throw your strategy in the bin. And if you think that this is a harsh assessment then consider the number of corporate strategy failures and company survival rates. The truth of it is, that whenever leaders and planners learn to profoundly reconnect with operations they are … [Read more...] about Mind the strategy-operations gap