Hi Lui sieh

I always beleive person behind the product is more important than the product. So i mean the right processes or cultural values or anything let it be, the person behind this is more important. he/she should be clear first in understanding and then delivering. have a S.M.A.R.T review always and accordiangly plan, execute and deliver.
To Plan - understand the Need and wants
To execute - understand your strength of people you have, or make the people very much clear on your plans which you wanted to implement where they can achieve the success easily by your plans.
Deliver - if you need to deliver your plans then motivation,recogination, S.M.A.R.T analysis is very important to the people you have, to get the best delivery of your plans from them.
if any person suceed in this he stands executional excellence in an organization because taking people in right direction for achieveing the success is leader. Leaders should guide people on a journey to success.

posted December 29, 2007

Management of anything but the smallest organization cannot achieve executional excellence alone; this can only be accomplished in partnership with the individuals creating the work product (i.e. if all of the workers stop working, management itself cannot complete the task). The main responsibility of management is to establish work environments that enable employees to behave in ways that positively impact the organization. After that is accomplished, then employing individuals who work individually and together to complete organizational tasks is next. The final step is to have management that is not afraid to let the organization work without constant interference. Nothing is more destructive to an organization's execution then to have executive management constantly requiring on the fly analysis from the organization.

The key question every manager should ask is - what do I need to do as a manager to make my employees success inevitable?

posted December 29, 2007

As a starting place, consider the following:

1. Strategy - Does the organization have one? has it been communicated to all?

2. Goals - Does everyone in the organization have goals? have the goals been aligned to the strategy?

3. Communication - Is every employee in the organization speaking on a regular basis with their immediate manager about where the organization is going (strategy) and how the employee can contribute to getting there?

4. Training - Is everyone in the organization receiving training? Are Managers being trained on the 3 points above, as well as on how to coach for high performance?

Also read the book Execution by Bossidy & Charan.

Terry

posted December 29, 2007

I see many of these points covered in the other answers, so if I were to capture them concisely, I would suggest the following guidelines :
(a) Clarify your vision, communicate the mission clearly, and lead by example.
(b) Support employees career goals to bring out their innate abilities and maximize their potential to contribute.
(c) Create teams appropriate to the stage of the project, and modify the teams to include the right functions as projects evolve.
(d) Set up systems for communication, project management metrics and decision-points. However, make sure they are followed in spirit, not just in letter.
(e) Be flexible and willing to experiment to get to the goal. If a particular strategy is not working, try a different one. If the mission needs to be rethought, redefine it. Seek direct input from all levels of employees on what improvements they could suggest. Make sure your leadership provides every opportunity for success.
(e) Recognize and reward success. As they say, nothing succeeds like success.

Hope this helps.

posted December 30, 2007

Here you go with the steps

1) Identify the AS IS Processes
2) Benchmark those processes to identify the improvement opportunities
3) Rollout the new improved processes
4) Put up a scorecard with KPIs define in place to measure the Goals/Targets aimed through execution of rolled out processes
5) Collect data pertaining to execution of those processes for a review period of 3 to 6 months to measure the effectiveness
6) Improve the processes based on abobe observation to attain excelence in execution and process excellence.Exceuting excellence should not have any variance on schedule,cost, effort, quality etc

posted December 31, 2007

Establish the right "cultural values" by focusing on "having the right process". How to achieve organizational excellence simply means that everyone is making improvements to the process. You cannot establish a set of "cultural values" tomorrow and expect everyone to begin implementing those behaviors the next day. You must first breakdown old habits that embody the current collective behaviors of the organization (defintion of culture), then, build up new habits by focusing people's thoughts on process improvement. This encourages a new kind of behavior that will define your culture.

Links:

• http://www.trainingwithinindustry.blogspot.com
• http://trainingwithinindustry.net

posted December 31, 2007

Lui,

Executional Excellence begins with ensuring you have the right people on the team, that they are in the optimal assignment that maximizes and challenges their potential, and a direct leader that can create the culture of excellence.

It is imperative that there is an overall process to identify the "opportunities for success" and that there is a clear and precise process for achieving the desired result. Everyone needs an assignment with specific timelines, clear objectives and a measurable focus on excellence.

Throughout an organization there will always be varying different levels of people management requirements and leaders will always need to follow up and maintain high levels of accountability and expectations. Excellence is an organization certainly requires right processes, however if you do not have a leadership model that can continuously foster and environment of cultural excellence, it will be hard to sustain even the best of processes.

Think about assessing management styles, leadership styles, and personal/professional views concerning the definition of excellence for an organization.
What leadrs in the organization have seemingly already achieved a level of excellence in the areas of responsibility?
How do their views compare to the rest of your team?
Is their room for synergy in leadership/management styles?
Are the correct people managing and are the correct people leading?

Good Luck!

posted December 31, 2007

Holy grail indeed! Does it even exist?
Let's say we want to come as close as possible to it.
The answer is then twofold. The first is the cohesion of the unit. Whatever organization should have a cohesion of purpose, and it should be developed and communicated (through diverse means, which processes and culture are part of). It means that it is fit to a particular endeavor in a certain way from top to bottom and that all the pieces human and otherwise are in the knowledge and accordance with that fit. As a metaphor it's everyone rowing in the same direction. (can be referred to as "strategy" but the word nowadays has been cheapened in my opinion)
The second is tactical execution methods. There are many successful ways to implement tactical processes (analyze, decision, action) at all levels that are successful. What is important is to have a clearly identified process for making tactical decisions and implementations, make sure that it is fit to the purpose and culture (changes by country for example) and that it's properly functioning (monitoring and correcting). Once that is achieved then the properly adapted and functioning tactical process will take care of itself and you will have the best executional performance you could achieve with your environment and its set of constraints.

posted December 31, 2007

Understand what is important and what isn't and design your work around those parameters

posted January 1, 2008

The right people, the right leaders and a culture that breeds ethics. If you are building a team from scratch, or need to inject an existing team with the "right" people, spend time finding an executive recruitter that can translate your oranizational vision and find the right people that will fit the mold. It all starts and ends with the right people. Best processes in the world, fail with the wrong people doing the work, or the wrong leaders at the helm. Also, note that hiring managers deserve special attention, since the wrong people more often than not, hire the wrong people, it is only by luck that they get the right people into the organization. Focus on hiring and building the right people, and flawed processes don't come into play, focus on an ethical culture and the right people flourish, have the right leaders and executional excellence is not a continual inspection exercise, but a continual challenge to manage the results.

Good Luck,
Peter

Links:

• http://www.csi1000.com

posted January 1, 2008

From my experience, excellence could be acheived trough the right people, optimised processes, right technologies and the effective policies. Each one needs carfull attention to the details and all these are interdependent. The right vision can make this happen and I am sure you have that. Construct the 4 pillars - PPPT (People, Process, Policy, Technology) with great care and you are closer to your goals, which will sustain longer.

Good Luck!
Joe Bastian

posted January 1, 2008

Hi Lui,
motivation is the key; mainly all thinks that money motivate people, but money it's just one small part (for me it's the feedback for the employees effort), but related to the person there are also a lot of other motivation ways; for example creativity, some people need to be creative in it's job for be motivated, stability, some people need to work on well known things and dislike the news, time, some people like to have really flexible works hours other need a fixed works hours and so on. If you will be able to have all your employees motivated by what they really needs and wants, all employees are going to work for the excellence. Generally all decisions coming from top to down without consider people differencies.
Bye Daniele

posted December 29, 2007

Hi Lui,

You have asked a real big question !
I assume that - you are asking from how to start from scratch.

According to me following are the logical steps :

(1) First - design / establish & implement ISO 9001:2000 system. This system deals with the process approach and it is a basic platform for any kind of further implementation.
(2) After getting mature in the first one - implement 5S !!!
5S is a platform for Lean Manufacturing implementation. As you must be knowing - Lean Manufacturing or Toyota Production System have now became synonyms for Operational Excellence.

(3) Then go to KAIZEN implementation.

Some soft issues to be tackled with ensuring - maximum people involvement , motivation , trainings , trainings & trainings...., reward & recongnition systems.

BR/Shrikant.

posted December 29, 2007

Hi Lui
Not to over simplify..but really...simplify! Communicate what you are doing...explain what is in it for the people who have to make the change, be sure there is buy in from all constituents, put the right tools and training in place, develop the metrics to assess it, put the right rewards in place for success. Communicate, communicate, communicate
As you are measuring, be prepared to "tweak" for better outcomes.
Executional excellence is a journey...not a destination. Don't make it too complex or "flash"...it will never get underway!
Shawn

posted December 29, 2007

I'm not sure that there is a simple 'one size fits all answer' to this question. If there was, then someone would be getting very rich out of it! I suspect that key variables will include the following:
1. the basic mission of the organisation.
2. the core culture and values of the organisation.
3. the core culture and values of the society where most of the employees originate from.

I work in an interesting situation in this instance, since we are based in Prague, but less than 10% of our employees are Czech so our institutional culture is more or less British (the founding management of the company are British), there is no dominant cultural group among our employees (They come from about 57 different countries) and we are a sales oriented organisation.

As we are expanding, we are upgrading processes to cope with the expansion, but I see the processes as being a part of the culture. The transition from the small business approach of 'that's the way this has always been done here' to a large company approach of documented written processes can probably be compared with the transition evolving civilisations made from unwritten verbal laws transmitted by word or mouth in the form of epic poems etc to the development of a written legal system and bureaucracy. (There is evidence that the first writing discovered in ancient Sumeria was in fact an inventory of a storeroom.)

You might get further in developing an answer to this question by benchmarking your organisation against the top performing organisations in the sector.

Best wishes

Liam

posted December 29, 2007

Hi Lui,
I would put my money on the process as with the proper process and plans in place the cultural values will be aligned. Execution excellence will be the product of these seven simple rules:

1) Commit only after doing your homework. Be creative, be aggressive, keep your vision broad and commit only when you have a means to get there.
2) Keep a keen eye out for the unknown. It is always there, waiting to disrupt your plan.
3) Are things progressing as planned, or is a correction to the plan and/or deliverables in order?
4) Verbalized plans, instructions and decisions should never be considered communicating. Write it down to keep it crisp, concise, thorough and communicated.
5) Leave no room for ambiguity or interpretation in your requirements for success. Say what you need.
6) Due diligence on plans and schedules will reinforce predictability for your project.
7) Make sure deliverables and receivables are in sync for for each task.

Jeff

posted December 29, 2007

Jack Welch solved this by mass executions of the non-executers(also known as dead wood)....and called it six sigma (Deming and Juran would go turning to their graves).

sanjay9negi@hotmail.com

posted December 29, 2007

I can recommend two books that I think can guide you:-
1. Good to Great, as recommended by Tony
2. Execution by Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan

posted December 29, 2007

I wonder if this question is as big as it seems. I remember a story from one of my trainers a long time ago. He told me of a large research in the US where thousands of people in more than 100 large and successful companies were interviewed and all data was stored in a computer. After analysing this data, one sheet of paper gave the formula of a successfull company. My spontanious reation was of course "let's get this formula and be successful'. Nah Eric, he replied, there is one factor that has not been included in this formula and that is people. The company can be as successful as the people working in that company.
If you have a good marriage or other partnership for that matter, if you have the same friends for many years, if you have a great relationship with your children, etc, I think you already know the answer to your question.

posted December 29, 2007

VERY simple answer. LEAD BY EXAMPLE!

JD

posted December 29, 2007

Liu,

Capture the hearts and minds and results will follow...............

Azeez

posted December 29, 2007

Clear objectives, top management focus and committment, clear measures to measure success, action plan, communication, focussed team to implement, training, post implementation review.

posted December 29, 2007

Isn't it though ? And so few good examples of sustained success either ! That said there are two core requirements: a decent management system and control of the internal politics. To expand a bit my 'Circle of Life" for an organization/enterprise asks: 1) what is the value, strategy and business model ? 2) what are the operating functions required, what level of performance is acceptable vs desirable and are they properly resource and 3) is there a management system in place where budgets are established, clear goals, timetables and interim objectives laid out and people held accountable. A critical component is the HR side of things including communication, leadership and compensation. A good management system does several things for you. Initially it puts everybody on the same page and migrates you stepwise from where you're at to where you want to go. It makes shortfalls visible but also should tie to performance goals and compensation; it enormously enhances communication. Authenticity is proven - walk the talk and talk the walk !! The other dirty little secret is that politics in inescapable but you want to control and re-direct it from internal catfights for pure personal advantage to legitimate debates over resources - a proper mgt sys surfaces the debates, ensures public commitment, appropriate embarrassments for game players who must be public in their manipulations and contrite in their delivery failures. Of course the top-end must be behind all this.
For a little lite reading track down "The Silverlake Project" on IBM's AS400 redemption, The Five Pillars of TQM by Bill Creech and Fedex's Baldridge Aware writup on it's management system (where I was an involvee btw).
FWIW - put up a couple of blog posts related to this area in case you need some go-to-sleep materials.

Links:

• http://llinlithgow.com/bizzX/enterprise_performance/

posted December 29, 2007

Hello Lui,

ISO 9000:2000 identifies 8 Quality Management Principles which appear in ISO 9000, 9001 and 9004

They were developed to serve as a starting point towards improved performance. I have used the 8 Principles for management briefings and as a tool for tree-top level assessment.

1) Customer focus
2) Leadership
3) Involvement of people
4) Process approach
5) System approach to management
6) Continual improvement
7) Factual approach to decision making
8) Mutually beneficial supplier information

I suggest reviewing the ISO 9000 standards for more details on each principle.

Regards,
Art Gold

posted December 29, 2007

Lui,
As suggested, the authors of "Good to Great" and "Execution" describe some fairly simply principles that are hard to practice:
1. Get the right people in the right places (disciplined hiring and staff development)
2. Create processes that ensure realistic assessments of the challenges, costs, and opportunities - no Kool-aid drinking allowed.
3. The culture will take care of itself if you get 1 and 2 right.

"Achieving" executional excellence may be a misnomer. Organizations fall along a continuum and are either moving toward or away from improving execution

posted December 29, 2007

First and foremost you must have top leadership that act as great leaders: asking the right questions of the right employees and customers, leading by example, opening the lines of communication up and down the organization, recognizing those who do well, learning from mistakes, and all of those other soft skills you don't learn in business school. Read "Good to Great" for more insights here.

Then you must ensure that the organization has selected the right strategies, chosen the right tactics to meet strategic objectives, and aligned every single employee with each tactic. Make sure at each step of the way the strategies still make sense, the tactics move the organization toward its strategic objectives, and employees are still clear on what they are doing and why.

posted December 30, 2007

From my experience, culture and people are much more important to executional excellence than processes. The right people (who create a great culture) are needed to build and carry out strong processes - unless you are in a highly automated field, in which strong mechanical processes (built again by good people) can overcome weaknesses in culture to achieve executional excellence.

I worked for P&G for 5 years and they really prided themselves on building a strong culture (maybe too strong sometimes!) where people worked towards common goals. To me, this seems to be the key to their success and the success of other top companies. If you have the right culture and people, the right processes will automatically come into place.

posted December 31, 2007

Plan, plan, plan some more - then execute. You have to start out with an excellent plan and planning process. This must include developing an effective performance measurement system. Then, when you execute you measure everything against the plan, and the performance measurement system kicks in.

The performance measurement system should accomplish two things; 1) monitor progress against the plan, and 2) guide behavior towards achieving the defined goals. This system must be infused throughout the entire organization, meaning it must flow down to every level, department, and person. All measures are tied to the plan, the strategic plan and all the sub-plans that tie to the top.

posted December 31, 2007