Work process innovation

the opportunity to generate work process innovations through the application of IT and basic industrial engineering seems to be infinite.Work processes in alot of traditional organizations have gone on unexamined for a long period of time.
This creates wastage and of course missed opportunities.
Application of process mapping tools and the fusion of work processes with IT tools and capabilities yields a treasure of work process innovation opportunities.
Y this is not a focus of organizations is a mystery to me?

Intranet base innovation development system

i have recently facilitated a session on the development of an intranet based innovation development system.It came as a cool surprise to me that the sparks of innovation are visible in organizations but it does take some time to sift through the night to find them. Organizational personnel have tried to develop these systems voluntarily and they run it after they have finished their daily work chores.
Innovation is so critical to the success and growth of an organization so y don't organizations build intranet based innovation development systems which can guide the innovator on the tricky path of innovation and also act as a backbone for the innovation effort in it.
I CAN'T COCEIVE OF AN ORGANIZATION SYSTEM THAT WOULD TAKE UP SO FEW RESOURCES AND YIELD SO MUCH.

Managing the Training Function

I thoroughly enjoyed conducting a workshop on,"Managing the training function" for a major power generation co.

It gave me the opportunty to address the deep weaknesses in the way the employee development centres are managed.Since,the process of managing the training function is never really addressed,the inadequacies have a long life-line and tend to continue year on year.

It was joyful to see new hope and light in the eyes of the learners.The empowerment of training managers with new competencies is going to result in their emerging as more powerful professionals in the work environment.

The identification and assimilation of competencies of managing the training function was an eye opener.Comment of one of the participants was,"In our Employee Development Centres we need to distinguish between organizational value-add training and perepheral training.The EDCs should not slowly deteriorate into facilitators of perepheral training only".

Each competency enriches the role and empowers the functioning of the training manager.Facilitation of training by training managers without practicing the competencies of managing the training funtion results in bad decision making and costly wastage of all connected resources.

A competency such as ,"Writing Deliverables" has the capability of having a fundamental impact on the focus,design and the execution of training programs.

Rhetoric for Leadership effectiveness

Positive rhetoric has not been recognized as a key competecy of leadership effectiveness.
Without rhetoric the competency map of leadership effectiveness remains incomplete and the capability of the leader to create a vision and energize a large group towards its attainment remains elusive.
Organizational leaders need to enahance this competency in order to acquire charisma in the organization.
This competency needs to be cosciously nurtured and developed.Since leadership has been recognized as a critical ingredient in the success of an organization,an organizational invesment in the process of developing his competency would yield visible benefits.

Learning underlying competency

In the process of preparing for a worksop on Competency mapping,i came across the types of learning that underlie a competency.

It was interesting to note that there are 3 types of learning that underlie the formation of a competency:
1.Conceptual learning.

2.Behavioral learning.

3.Affective learning.

Out of these,Affective learning triggers a new thought process regarding the competency building process.Affectve learning refers tothe emotions of the learner regarding the learning object.The applications of this learning are multi-fold.The instruction design for training programs must also include elements(cases,stories)that create the requisite emotions among the learners regarding the learning object.
Affective learning remains an unexplored and unutilized aspect in the process of competency development.When we analyze personnel who are experts in the process of execution of vital competencies,it becomes obvious that affective learning is an integal part of their competency development and execution.

Cutting edge innovation

I recently facilitated a workshop on Innovation and creativity for the top Management of a leading telecom solutions provider.

As a part of the workshop we generated potent innovation ideas in key growth areas for the organization.The participants were unsually sharp.The kind of potent innovation ideas generated is going to put the corporate landscape on fire esp. in the telecom space.

The frequency of innovation is expected to go up multi-fold in the coming couple of years.WIMAX is going to be a hot bed of innovation.The redesigning of our entire living and working space is on the anvil.

A lot of people with secure businesses and titles are going to feel quite insecure in the near future.

Level 4 assessment of Leadership coaching

It is always a great feeling to assess any workshop or intervention at level 4,i.e.level of impact at the workplace.

I had been doing leadership coaching for six director level personnel in a leading finance focussed MNC.Much to my surprise and delight, one of them has been awarded as ,"Manager of the year,2006".

Emotional competence workshop

i recently conducted a workshop on emotional competence in an outdoor setting for the senior level personnel of a power generating co.

It was an ambitious workshop since most out-bound programs focus on team building or leadership development.

The experiential learning regarding emotional competence which emerged from the live dynamics of an outdoor setting of group activities was refreshingly new.The flow of emotion during the activities and its surges and ebbs yielded refreshing insights into the emotional dynamics inherent in team tasks and their achievement.

The conversion of these insights into emotional competencies and their subsequent extension through additional data made the learning environment open and interesting.

Though most of the time emotional competencies related to relationships tend to rule the roost in such workshops,this workshop saw the rise of the emotional competencies related to the self.
Some of these competencies were Rhetoric,assertiveness and self-healing.

work life balance

i was writing a paper on,"Work -life balance" for an international conference. I am always startled at the analysis and learning points that i derrive from the pattern of my own experiences.
It is quite evident that work life balance and productivity are positively correlated.
On the other hand work-life imbalance and stagnation as wellas low levels of innovation are also positively correlated.
Organizations that tend to emphasize late working continuously reap negative outcomes such as low productivity,low motivation levels and a lackadaisical attitude towards improvement and work.

Creative decision making

I recently did a workshop on Creative decision making. Since i train in the area of,"Innovation and creativity",this workshop was an eye opener from the point of view of application of creativity in the decision making process.
Creative decision making is a powerful competency for everyone who wants to grasp opportunities and continuously grow.
What is a creative decision?
A creative decision is a decision which has not been taken earlier,which overcomes a critical limiting factor.
Thus,Rana Pratap can be considered to be a creative decision maker because he had to overcome the limitation of a small army while facing a considerably larger army.