Author: PPM Academy

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Projects Programs and Portfolios

Expert Interview with Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez

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Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez is the world’s leading champion of project management and strategy implementation.

Born in Madrid, Spain, and educated in Germany, Mexico, Italy and the United States, Antonio is an Economists and has an MBA from London Business School, currently pursuing a PhD in Strategy and is fluent in five languages.

He is the creator of concepts such as the Hierarchy of Purpose, or the Project Manifesto; which argues that projects are the lingua franca of the business and personal worlds from the C-suite to managing your career or relationships.

Antonio has been recently awarded the title of Thinker of the Month by the prestigious Thinkers50, who identifies the most influential management thinkers in the world, including Michael Porter, Clayton Christensen, Rita McGrath.



Website & Book:  www.antonionietorodriguez.com

Categories
Creating High-Performing Teams

3 Ways To Integrate a Team Member Who Isn’t Fitting In

Poor team work
1,602 Views

Three Ways To Integrate a Team Member Who Isn’t Fitting In 

Creating high performing teams requires you to hire trustworthy workers, allow employees to manage themselves and make sure that every employee feels included. When people feel excluded or ignored at their workplace, it is likely to impact them and the company negatively. Here are three ways to integrate a team member who isn’t fitting in. 

1. Be the Example 

Inclusivity begins with a company’s leaders. Most people don’t notice the events that cause others to feel left out. As a manager, be especially cautious about your personal biases and how you treat others. Also, be vigilant about “micro inequalities,” which is when someone is treated differently than other team members. For instance, if you decide to send birthday texts to team members wishing them well on their special day, be sure to send texts to every member. 

Assess your company’s culture. Is the culture warm and welcoming? Does it give people flexibility when they need it, or are the expectations highly restrictive? You might find it easier to integrate someone who isn’t fitting in by embracing a more laid-back work environment. 

Making people feel included is worth the effort. When every member of the team feels comfortable participating, you’ll most likely enjoy better work outcomes. As a manager, you’ll need to be proactive. This will help your staff perform their work tasks more effectively. 

Culture Is The Bass

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2. Ask for Input

A great way to make your workers feel included is to ask them to weigh in on projects when other team members are present. This is especially helpful for workers who tend to be introverts. Also, when you listen to your employees, they’ll know that you value their opinions and ideas. This will show other members of the team that each person is a valuable team asset. 

If one member of your team isn’t fitting in, then the other members will likely feel the tension as well. Check in with other members to gain a more comprehensive perspective of the situation. 

Be patient and give the situation time. In some cases, when one member isn’t fitting in, time may resolve it. 

3. Keep Working at It 

Cultivating work inclusivity is a continuous process, one that may require a little trial and error. Keep working at it. You’re bound to develop the skills to make other people feel valued and included. Embrace being flexible. To ensure that every member of your team feels included, you may need to change your company’s practices and implement inclusive policies.

If someone isn’t fitting in, try to figure out if the issue is an internal or external one. For instance, does the person tend to overthink and assume that other members are critical of his or her work when they aren’t? In this case, you may be able to discuss the situation with the person and confirm what you expect from him or her as an employee. 

If the team is spending time together outside of work and failing to invite one or two members, then you may need to hold your own event outside of work and invite everyone. While you can’t control what your workers do on their own time, you can be a good example and make everyone feel welcome. 

High Performing Teams Embrace Inclusivity 

Creating high performing teams can be tricky, but by paying attention to how well your people work together, trusting them to make good work decisions and embracing inclusivity, you’re likely to develop teams that support your business. 

Categories
Thought Leadership

Thought Leadership Trends For 2022

Thought leadership trends
1,864 Views

During the last year, leaders have been dealing with added pressure such as the pressure to manage work disruptions, oversee teams remotely and hit moving targets. The recent pandemic has made it critical for leaders to be resilient and adaptive. Today, the most important thought leadership challenge is to determine how to perform under pressure in a world that’s becoming increasing unstable. Here are six thought leadership trends for 2022. 

1. Make Informed Decisions 

When leaders are under pressure, they must make decisions fast. Access to quality information will help you develop your decision making skills in dynamic environments when you have a lot at stake. It will also help you keep things in perspective when you start to feel stressed and allow you to keep your eye on the big picture while helping you avoid becoming lost in small struggles. 

You’ll want to think about investing in your company’s technology infrastructure. Determine what technology you need now and what you think will be needed in the future. Also, search for ways to create an agile system, one that is able to change with the company and the times. 

2. Reform Relationships 

For 2022, leadership is going to involve taking steps to reform relationships. The pandemic forced companies to shift away from in-person meetings that took an hour to complete to shortened 30-minute Zoom chats. Virtual became the norm as well. In 2022, leaders will need to look for opportunities to form deeper connections between themselves and workers within the company. If you don’t, some of your staff may become a part of the great resignation. 

Be sure to establish a work culture that embraces listening, consideration and inspiration. When you include these elements in your company’s culture, your people will feel more connected to the business and you. 

3. Review Inequalities within Your Organization 

A recent Gallup report found that an estimated 76% of workers experience job burnout from time to time while around 28% confirm that they experience burnout often or all the time. One of the biggest reasons for burnout is unfair treatment at the office. 

As a leader, it’s up to you to make sure that your workplace is as impartial and unbiased as possible. It can be tough to decide where to start. Often, inequality is built upon policies that are generations deep. The best place to start is with pay. Complete an evaluation of how your company compensates its staff. Consider every angle including role and gender as well as time at the company. 

4. Master Overseeing Your Staff in Multiple Locations 

Lockdowns have shown employees and managers what it’s like to work from home. People are seeing the advantages and challenges of the situation. Not only is it about the little things like remembering to mute yourself when talking to your kitty during a work Zoom meeting, but it is also about overseeing your staff remotely while adapting to a combination of work environments. 

Make sure that you know your employees and trust them. Avoid managing your staff in an investigative way. Don’t install software that surveils your people. If you do, it is likely to backfire. When supervisors set up surveillance software to watch their staff, workers lose trust in their organizations and will probably search for other places to work. 

Encourage your employees to work in multiple locations. For instance, support them when they want to work from home and in the office. Consider dedicating two or three days a week for staff to overlap in the office. When your people are onsite, they’ll be able to share information and collaborate more easily. At home, they may find it more convenient to catch up on emails and reports.  

5. A Need for Faster Learning

With more operational agility, employees and organizations will need to increase their learning pace. Professor Emeritus Chris Argyris published an article for the Harvard Business School in 1978. His paper was titled “Organizational Learning: A Theory of Action Perspective.” He wrote about the need for businesses to increase their adaption speed and offer continuous education for their staff. 

Today’s organizations are increasing automation. Workers who continue to advance their skills and learn new things will be qualified to take on different roles in the company. Employees who don’t have an interest in continuous learning may wind up underemployed or unemployed when their role becomes less needed. Do what it takes to prevent this from happening to your people. 

6. Accept a Wider Age Range when Hiring 

People continue to live longer, and this means that more people will be working as they grow older. Companies must consider ways to bring in and engage older employees. Organizations must also address the dynamics that occur when different generations work side by side. 

According to leadership trends, many companies are shifting away from age-based seniority and offering leadership roles to the best person for the job. Because of this, leadership positions will change more often. Tap into your creativity to encourage engagement and teamwork within various generations. 

This will help you identify and mentor talented managers quickly. While you will need to hire or promote people who are skilled in technology, you don’t need this talent in all of your workers. Consider people who are often overlooked. This might be individuals with disabilities or those who have been incarcerated. Become comfortable with a nontraditional workforce.  

An Eye on the Future  

As a leader, it’s important to focus on leadership trends and predictions for 2022. Don’t sit back and wait to see what happens. If you do, you’ll be unprepared. With the blending of technology changes, global interconnection and overall volatility, you’re facing both perils and opportunities from all fronts. If you need help with decision making or your leadership skills, contact me at the Productivity Intelligence Institute. 

Categories
Creating High-Performing Teams

The Great Resignation

The Great Resignation
1,463 Views

How to retain public sector employees during the Great Resignation 

The pandemic has transformed the way that people work, causing many job seekers to reconsider their priorities. In the middle of what some experts are referring to as “The Great Resignation 2021,” a new report published by Qualtrics determined that almost half of the country’s workforce intends to search for a new job. Why? People are feeling overworked. They are also stressed with their current jobs and want to grow with their careers instead of toiling away doing the same thing day after day. How to retain public sector employees? Consider taking the following seven measures to keep your workers on staff.

1. Reward Loyalty 

Make sure that you’re paying people enough to eliminate the temptation of leaving for a better paying job. Along with improving your organization’s current compensation package, try implementing a bonus structure. You could also offer one-time financial assistance like helping with a student loan debt or offering aid with a down payment for a home. 

When you reset your sector’s compensation, it gives you the chance to review what your workers are making and correct any pay inequalities that are happening to people of color and women. You might also be able to bring some former employees back by sending them an offer to vest them in your area’s long-term compensation program immediately. 

Keep your staff working for you by offering paid leave for workers who have been infected with Covid, and if your employees must deal with customers face to face or by telephone, then stand up for your staff if customers mistreat them. 

2. Listen to Your Workers 

To create your sector’s compensation plans, talk to your workers to determine their general well-being and how they feel about your productivity requirements. Use this information to narrow in on where they need support. When you offer benefits and compensation amounts that your employees request, then they’ll know that you’re listening. 

This type of approach also informs you about how different employees are doing in different conditions. Not only will listening to your workers help you offer more helpful benefits and compensation plans, but it will also help you create better working conditions. For instance, your staff may prefer a hybrid work environment, one that allows them to work from home or at the office. 

You can also implement a policy that involves paying your staff their pay rate for a full 40-hour work week even when they complete a project more quickly. Consider not requiring your employees to clock in or clock out for their workday. Focus more on work results and less on how much time people are spending doing it. 

Use what your employees tell you as a compass that guides your decisions. Consider what they say when you’re developing plans and do what you can to address their different needs. Be sure to create chances for every worker to have a say. 

3. Give People the Opportunity to Grow 

Take a moment to imagine that your best workers just told you that they were leaving the department. What would you say to them to prevent their departure? You might ask them what their dream job would be with your organization. Then, consider ways to create these types of jobs for people before they think about leaving. 

Several organizations have been completing retention interviews during the last few months. They asked employees what they would need to stay with their current employer. A big reason why people leave is because they don’t feel as though they are using their skills. How to retain employees? Give them new ways to advance and use their skills while offering them the chance to learn new ones. 

Workers are eager for their companies to trust them with more responsibility. Many of them are interested in retraining their current skills and developing new ones. 

4. Focus on Culture and Personal Connections 

Put the bottom line aside from time to time and work on creating personal connections and forming relationships. Along with solidifying the relationship that your workers have with your organization, forming personal connections typically has a positive impact on employee productivity. 

A recent survey conducted during the pandemic found that blue-collar workers and white-collar workers both prioritize having good relationships with their fellow employees over other work areas. 

5. Establish a Higher Purpose 

Every organization has a purpose. It’s why people work for a department and decide to stay with one. Believing in what your organization exists to do is important to those who work for you. This is even more important when things become turbulent at an organization. 

Show your workers that your sector is about more than the bottom line. Also, do more than just talk about your organization’s purpose. Be sure to consider the purpose when you’re deciding how to run your division and how to represent it. 

6. Take Care of Your Workers 

Invest in mental health resources. Along with this, acknowledge the efforts that your workers have made during the pandemic. Provide assistance to your employees who have small children by offering them subsidized daycare, and consider increasing the amount of paid time off that you offer. Accept that some workers will need more time off than others do and take steps to give them what they need. 

Be available to your employees. Make it easy for them to communicate with you and your HR department. If someone comes to you with a resignation notice, perform a stay interview instead of an exit one. See if there are changes or accommodations that you can make to keep them on staff. 

7. Incorporate a Flexible Work Environment 

The workplace of tomorrow is going to feature a flexible work environment in the areas of:

• Where people work

• When they work

• People’s job descriptions

• People’s career paths 

Embrace this flexibility. If you’re not sure where to start, have your workers create teams, and give them the assignment of developing what they would like in their work environment. If you let people construct their dream job, they’ll be more likely to want it. 

Regarding flexibility, consider relaxing your employment qualifications. Hire people who don’t exactly fit your candidate profile. If you receive a resume that covers around 75% of your work qualifications, snag them. More than half of IBM’s available jobs in the United States do not require job candidates to have a four-year college degree. Job candidates who may not have the right qualifications on paper are usually able to make up for it by learning on the job. 

Be sure to offer a realistic description of what a job requires. Turnover is usually its highest with new workers. People often leave because the job is different than they expected. After experiencing the downside of the position, they leave. To keep people on staff, expose them to the most challenging part of the job first. That way, they’ll have an accurate expectation of the position. 

How to Retain Employees 

To avoid being negatively impacted by the great resignation 2021, review your division’s compensation packages, growth opportunities and employee flexibility. You don’t have to put up with empty office chairs and resignations from experienced public sector employees. Instead, take action and offer people a reason to remain at your organization. 

Categories
Projects Programs and Portfolios

Building Project, Program and Portfolio Management Capabilities

Project Management
1,291 Views

In modern times, organizations must oversee projects within ever more complicated environments, ones that are motivated by regulatory changes and business restructuring. Effective project management professionals are able to realize projects under these challenging conditions. To do so, they must employ successful project management practices. Here’s how to build project, program and portfolio management capabilities. Keep in mind that insights and trends may have an impact on your processes.  

About Project Portfolio Management 

Project portfolio management (PPM) is a practice in which a company’s projects are assessed and put in place in a way that aligns with the organization’s goals. With PPM, a company’s executive team, project supervisors, regular team members and stakeholders receive an extensive view of the organization’s projects. This includes how every participant plays a role in the company’s directives and intentions. 

With this information, project managers gain insight into the company’s possible returns and potential risks. When an organization uses PPM, those in charge will separate the company’s projects into different groups according to importance and how they connect to one another. 

The organization’s programs and projects should be a part of a portfolio strategy, one overseen by the company’s portfolio management professionals to make sure that it meets the organization’s goals. PPM should also align the company’s implementation techniques with how it manages projects, creates policies and develops processes. 

What are PPM’s Benefits? 

PPM benefits include: 

• More project transparency 
• Better capacity planning 
• Improved productivity 
• Increased dexterity 
• Higher return on investment (ROI) 

Project Transparency 

PPM increases a company’s successfulness. When you embrace PPM, your organization will have clear goals. It will also be able to take advantage of big-picture thinking. PPM allows your staff to accomplish goals and understand how different projects, programs and portfolio management are linked to the company’s vision and general purpose. 

Better Capacity Planning 

Capacity planning depends on how effective project management professionals implement a company’s strategies and connect its resources to its goals. One of the biggest problems that most organizations face is wasting resources. Companies that embrace PPM are less likely to waste resources because they can make sure that they are distributed according to importance and properly implemented to reach the organization’s goals. 

Increased Productivity 

When project managers convey the importance of developing value, they are more likely to improve an organization’s productivity. Team members who understand how their jobs help a company reach its main goals typically work harder. They also focus more on the quality of their work. 

Boosted Dexterity 

Companies that align project tasks with implementation tend to be more dexterous. The alignment makes it easier for project managers to handle change and shift according to any opportunities that may come up or problems that arise. 

Higher ROI 

When an organization’s goals are clear and understood by every employee, resource management improves. This boosts productivity and dexterity. PPM improves a company’s ROI in all of its projects. By using PPM, an organization’s investments will be more beneficial. They will also put the company on more sound footing going forward. 

An Example of How PPM Works 

Let’s say that your company has 30 projects in the hopper. Each one overlaps since some have been ordered by the same customer, and your company is using the same resources to develop all of them. Some of the projects will cover your organization’s overhead while others may bring in more clients. You may even have projects that you’ve agreed to perform to develop new products or services. As a project manager, how can you make sure that you’re focusing your staff and their tasks on the right objectives? Ask yourself a few questions.

• Is the idea a good one?
• Is this something that we should be doing as an organization?
• What is the best way to concentrate the organization’s resources most efficiently?
• What projects take priority?
• How can the company manage the different projects concurrently while turning a profit? 

PPM will help you answer these questions. When an organization is large and has various competing projects along with priorities that pull its resources into different directions, effective PPM helps project managers avoid making poor decisions that result in a negative ROI. 

What Else Does Projects Programs and Portfolios Management Offer?

Project, program and portfolio management also offers you more success when it comes to project delivery. You’ll find it easier to prioritize critical projects, and it will help you avoid spending too much while eliminating inefficiencies. 

Projects almost always run the risk of causing an organization to overspend. With PPM, you’ll be able to spot overspending fast and curtail it. PPM reveals where and how resources are being wasted. 

PPM helps companies with organizational change management. When you have a good PPM in place, your company can make changes and improve how it completes projects. You can take advantage of this by making changes to your organization’s overall direction. 

Consider a Different Approach to Manage Insights and Trends 

These days, many companies are switching to a digital format. This allows you to decrease how much you’re spending for on-premises infrastructure. However, you’ll need to increase your spending on off-premises operations and advanced technologies. To accomplish this, portfolio management professionals will need to work with business leaders and resource supervisors to balance funds over various internal and external operations. 

These changes are forcing organizations to track work tasks in real time. Project delivery also needs to be faster and more flexible, so you may need to invest in portfolio management software. This helps project managers plan, implement and track the progress of different projects. 

Management Support  

Projects programs and portfolios are complex areas of business management. With the right tools, you can implement PPM effectively. If you need support, contact me at the Productivity Intelligence Institute. 

Categories
Agile Leadership

Agile Leadership In Transportation

1,551 Views

Predictability through improvisation – what project management can learn from jazz.

Rob Tieman is the Director of the Project Management Office at the Virginia Department of Transportation. Gerald Leonard is a Strategic PMO Advisor for the government, Juilliard-trained musician, and author of Workplace Jazz.

Together with Pete, they explore how insights from jazz have helped improve project predictability and workplace culture.

Workplace Jazz
One of This Year’s Top 10 Must-Read HR Books

Order Today

Categories
Increase Productivity

Future of Work: Productivity Trends 2022

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The future of work is all about change, and it’s time to recognize that “normal” is no longer a thing. While new companies and startup organizations usually embrace the notion of constant change, major enterprises around the world are discovering that they must do the same. For instance, companies like Shopify, Twitter and Facebook confirmed that they are establishing permanent policies that let people work from home, which is a big shift from how they used to operate. Here are four workplace trends for 2022. 

1. Hybrid Workplace Opportunities 

In 2022, it’s going to be more common to see hybrid work opportunities that allow employees to choose from three main work environment models. These will be traditional workplaces, remote options and a combination of both. The big thing that will change for employees is that they’ll be able to choose whether they work from home, at the office or go hybrid and do both. 

Companies are starting to shift away from a traditional office setting that involves a centralized workplace. When the pandemic was at its most extreme in 2020, an estimated 69% of large companies predicted that they would be decreasing how much office space they needed. 

Hybrid models will vary from companies keeping some permanent central offices that feature hot-desking to allow for employees who will be working remotely more often to eliminating office space completely and using co-working offices and rentable meeting rooms that they can use to support their remote staff members. 

According to a report published by PWC, technology developments will change the way that people work during the next five to 10 years. Demographic shifts will also transform how people work as will climate change. 

In 2022, companies will start to reveal their stances on political and societal issues. They’ll be doing this because workers are starting to want to work for companies that share their values. This sentiment has been growing for a while, but during 2020, it grew even more. According to an article published by the Harvard Business Review, around 74% of workers believe that their employers will involve themselves in current cultural debates. 

2. AI Assistance 

The World Economic Forum issued a report stating that by 2025, AI and automation will bring about the development of 97 million new jobs. Along with this, many people will see change in their current roles. AI and automation will enhance the abilities of workers. 

At first, companies will use AI to automate a job’s repetitive elements. This will let your staff focus on tasks that require human thinking such as creativity, high-level strategies and emotional intelligence. For instance, a lawyer may use advanced technology to review case histories and search precedents. A doctor will use it in a similar way to review medical records while in the retail industry, managers may use technology for inventory planning. Technology will increase productivity and improve worker experience. 

People will begin moving away from the idea that a person learns one profession and works at one company where he or she remains until retirement. Workplace trends for 2022 include trying several different occupations throughout one’s life. In fact, there are even scholarships available for adults who are returning to college.  

3. A Bigger Focus on Skills 

Instead of focusing on people’s roles, company’s will look to increase productivity by focusing on the skills of their workers. You’ll want to hire people who have the skills that you need to manage core business challenges as well as the competencies that you need to conquer them. 

Many businesses have already started this trend by shifting away from hierarchical teams to organizational structures that are basically flat. They are implementing a direct reporting approach to solving problems and communicating. When you focus on skills instead of roles, you’ll be supporting innovation and driving your company toward success. 

On the employee side, working toward skill development instead of a company’s role puts them in a better place to take advantage of new career opportunities. The switchover from prioritizing skills over roles is looking to be a trend for both companies and employees in 2022.  

4. Additional Monitoring and Assessing 

While it may be controversial, work trends show that companies are starting to use technology that will help them monitor and assess the effectiveness of their employees. They’re using this information to increase efficiency. Aware is a program that lets companies monitor employee behavior over email while Slack allows them to track productivity. These types of platforms make it easier for managers to oversee remote workers. 

Some programs let companies track how often people are going to the bathroom and who spends the most time chatting with their coworkers instead of being at their workstation. If used to intrude on worker behavior, this type of platform could be harmful, but if you use it just to get a broad view of how people are spending their time, then it could be helpful.

A workplace trend in 2022 will be to offer mental health support. The pandemic has revealed that people need mental health assistance, which is encouraging companies to provide it since they are now seeing that good mental health is good for the workplace.  

The Future of Work 

The way that people work is everchanging. With new developments, people can do their jobs more efficiently and effectively. If you need help guiding your staff through changes like a hybrid workplace or advanced technology, contact me at the Productivity Intelligence Institute. 

Categories
Entrepreneurship

Are entrepreneurs born or made?

1,494 Views

These days, entrepreneurs and self-employed people have become the latest business buzzwords. If you’re not a business owner, how does this talk apply to you? Even if you never plan to start your own business, developing an entrepreneurial spirit can enhance your productivity at work. It can help you develop the leadership skills you need to propel your company and your career to greatness.

What Is an Entrepreneurial Spirit, and How Can It Work for You?

Although many people talk about a particular “entrepreneurial” personality, it’s not clear there is such a thing.

According to Harvard Business School Online, no specific personality profile leads to success as an entrepreneur. There are, however, some personality traits that are characteristic of successful entrepreneurs. They include:

• Curiosity
• Team management
• Adaptation to change
• Willingness to take risks
• Decisiveness
• Persistence

The good news is that those same characteristics will make you successful in any career. They’re what lead to success in team leadership and project management.

What Does Science Say?

Scientists and sociologists have grappled with the question, “Are entrepreneurs born or made?” In recent years, some researchers have claimed there is an “entrepreneurial gene,” and that successful self-starters share this gene. That intriguing idea, however, has been roundly criticized by other researchers, who say opportunity and training are the keys to success. 

In 2009, Cambridge University scientists developed what they called an “entrepreneur drug” that used brain chemistry to help people develop the mindsets of successful self-starters. They said the drug helped people improve their ability to tolerate risk and their level of cognitive flexibility. Cognitive flexibility refers to the ability to produce a new solution when the first one fails. 

Train Your Brain for Success

While we still don’t have a drug that will make you a productivity superstar, there are things you can do to keep your mind healthy and focused. In an article for Forbes, Travis Bradberry writes that people with high levels of emotional intelligence (EI) were more professionally and financially successful than their counterparts. These people have several habits that set them apart. Typically, they:

• Ignore fearful thoughts. Uncertainty causes fear, and fear of the future can make you do foolish things. When you react from fear, you’re not making smart decisions.

• Cope well with stress. Staying positive, managing uncertainty and embracing what you can’t control are all parts of managing stress. If this sounds like mindfulness, it is remarkably similar. A mindful approach will always help you deal with stress and focus on being productive.

• Act decisively. This is one characteristic of successful entrepreneurs that people with high EI share. The ability to make decisions is key to moving forward.

How To Develop an Entrepreneurial Mindset: 4 Action Steps You Can Take Today

1. Discover opportunities for entrepreneurship

According to the Harvard Business Review, one definition of an entrepreneur is a person or team who actively looks for opportunities for innovation. 

You don’t have to start a business to develop this mindset. Look around at your current workplace. Can you find ways to streamline your operations? Are any of your team members ready for more responsibility? Discover opportunities for growth where you are.

2. Develop entrepreneurial skills

Were you born with the skills most entrepreneurs have? If you weren’t, can you learn them? Many studies and business experts agree that you can.

A 2010 study found that there was no “prototypical personality” that went with being a successful entrepreneur. The study concluded, “The focus of entrepreneurship education and training programs should be skill development, not behavior modification.” 

In a 2013 study of entrepreneurial skills, researchers found that the biggest predictor of success was having a varied set of work experiences. This was even more important than education qualifications or years of experience. 

What does this mean for you? It suggests that successful entrepreneurs take everything they’ve learned from their life experiences and use that knowledge to face challenges. Think about your own past experiences. What have they taught you about how to face the future, overcome obstacles and make tough decisions? 

3. Cultivate luck

There’s no denying that luck plays a role in many people’s success. There’s also no denying the old saying, “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” 

You can cultivate luck by preparing yourself to meet it. Most people understand this preparation to mean being sure you have the skills, training, experience and willingness to take advantage of an opportunity. In the book Heart, Smarts, Guts and Luck, the authors say that anyone can learn the components of luck. That’s the combination, they say, that makes someone a successful entrepreneur.

How do you do this? According to co-author Anthony K. Tjan, you do it by focusing on your inner passion, your skills, your courage and your mindset.

4. Hire the right people

In an article for the Harvard Business Review, Dan Bricklin, the creator of VisiCalc and founder of Trellix, talked about his life as an entrepreneur. Among his insights, he stressed the importance of hiring people to help you manage the increased demands that go along with growth:

“If these aren’t your talents, you may need others to step in, for instance, to swim in the details of running the operation, to build strategic partnerships, to set financial priorities or to make the trains run on time.”

Are you surrounded by the right people? Use your position as a team leader or project manager to make sure everyone has the right role.

Cultivate Opportunities To Enhance Your Entrepreneurial Side

It’s important to develop your entrepreneurial skills, even if you never plan to start your own business. Look around for opportunities to innovate, lead and inspire your team. Cultivate the skills you need to be more productive every day.

Are you ready to fire up the high-productivity entrepreneur inside you? Contact the Leonard Productivity Intelligence Institute. We can help you develop the skills you need to power your productivity.

Categories
Uncategorized

How Artificial Intelligence will Change the Future

Change the Future
1,378 Views

From cars that drive themselves to the ability to lock your home after you’ve left, artificial intelligence, or AI, has advanced quickly. It’s transitioned from something only imagined in sci-fi movies and books to a reality. Scientists from the University of Oxford have been researching artificial intelligence, and they’re predicting that by 2024, the technology will surpass humans in translating languages. They also believe that by 2026, it will be writing school essays. This is how AI will change the future. 

1. It Will Decrease Mistakes in Healthcare 

An estimated 86% of the mistakes that occur in healthcare are preventable. AI will start tackling this problem in the future. As the healthcare industry begins using AI more, medical treatments will become more affordable and more accurate. When AI and predictive analytics are used together, medical professionals will gain a better understanding of how different factors, such as local air pollution levels, birthplaces and eating habits, can impact someone’s health. 

With this information, AI-managed healthcare systems will have the ability to predict when someone is most likely to be affected by a chronic disease and offer preventative measures to offset it. Technology experts can enhance AI with large amounts of data. AI algorithms operate better when they receive continuous data.

In learning, there is a connection between neuroscience and AI, which is that both aim to understand the workings of the brain to predict behavior. Better AI technology can be developed with a better understanding of how the human brain functions. 

2. It Will Improve Banking 

The IHS Markit’s AI in Banking report states that by 2030, the worldwide business value of AI in the banking industry will reach $300 billion. AI is ready to make its way into the banking spotlight within the next 10 years or so in areas like security and business intelligence. When it does, it will decrease costs, increase productivity and improve customer experiences. 

One of the benefits of artificial intelligence is that it will help power Robo Advisors in the financial sector. In fact, they will become a familiar feature in the future. Robo Advisors will save space and time. Banks in the future will not only customize their products and services, but they will also personalize a customer’s experience. An example of how this would work is that when you walk into a bank for service in the future, a teller would greet you by name and have access to your banking history without you needing to provide an identification card. 

3. It Will Impact the Environment 

AI is in place to have a positive impact on climate change, environmental problems and sustainability. With the use of high-tech sensors, cities will experience less congestion. They will also become less polluted and transition into more livable environments. Car sensors will be able to transmit data about current traffic conditions to predict issues and improve the stream of cars on a roadway. 

4. It Will Improve Retail 

According to a retail study by Capgemini, if retailers implement AI throughout their business operations, it has the potential to save them more than $340 billion by 2022. The benefits of artificial intelligence include helping retail managers make better decisions. In the future, a consumer will receive a small package just 30 minutes after ordering it from the help of an AI-managed drone. 

Amazon is currently taking steps to safely and reliably deliver packages using drones, but the company is still working on the process. Within the next 10 years, you can expect to receive packages delivered via drone. 

Along with drones, the retail world will be able to use AI to develop virtual racks that are personalized based on a person’s data-described image. The future of the retail industry will include customization according to a person’s previous history. The great thing about this is that it will make it easier and less stressful for people to make purchases. 

5. It Will Enhance Entertainment 

Instead of binging with Netflix, in the future, you’ll be able to settle in on the sofa and order a custom movie starring virtual versions of your favorite actors. AI may also help film studios release movies that won’t flop. Studios will be able to use advanced predictive programs to review a film script’s storyline and forecast how it will perform at the box office. 

6. It Won’t Make Human Workers Obsolete

When you consider how often Hollywood makes AI the bad guy in sci-fi movies, it’s understandable that many people are worried that the technology will make them obsolete in the workplace. While it is true that advancements have taken over jobs that people used to do, it’s more likely that AI will inspire innovation that will create new growth sectors. This will result in more jobs being created, making it the future of work. 

AI has improved its ability to mimic the effectiveness of human intelligence when completing some jobs, but the technology continues to face limitations. For instance, AI programs are generally only able to perform specialized intelligence. This means that they can handle only one thing at a time. They can also be inflexible and unable to react to input changes or perform any actions that aren’t a part of their programming. 

An intriguing fact about AI is that the technology is being used in more ways than most people know. These days, it’s being installed in smartphones and even chatbots. This shows how the advanced technology is merging into people’s everyday lives instead of taking over their jobs. 

Artificial Intelligence Will Change How People Work 

The future of work will include AI. From healthcare to banking, most industries will benefit from embracing this type of technology. At the Productivity Intelligence Institute, I can help you implement AI into your company and offer guidance on how to use it in the workplace. Reach out for more information today. 

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Artificial Intelligence

How Does Deep Learning Work?

Deep Learning
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From a young age, human beings can quickly identify objects and sort them into classes. Think of the different makes, models and colors of four-wheeled vehicles that you can almost immediately classify as cars. Consider the wide variety of cats and dogs that you can identify at a glance. In less than a second, your brain interprets visual data and performs a complex synaptic process to draw a conclusion.

Today, computer scientists are working hard to recreate this process in the digital world. AI technology can sift through vast amounts of data to find patterns, recognize objects, and make predictions. The latest trend in AI involves creating artificial neural networks and training through a process known as deep learning. IT professionals who learn how to work deep learning in Python will have a powerful, in-demand skill.

Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning

Artificial intelligence technology involves any method that allows a computer to mimic the mental processes of human beings. Computer programs that use AI empower everything from astronomy research to smart home thermostats. In many cases, the decision-making power of AI derives from complex algorithms and large sets of sample data. 

Deep learning comes from neuroscience research. Computer scientists have looked at how neurons connect and communicate to create small-scale, digital replicas of thought patterns. Computers that use deep learning take less time to train and have an increased potential to find unexpected connections within data sets. 

How does deep learning work?

An artificial neural network works by passing information through a series of layers of digital neurons. The process starts with the input layer. This first step is akin to your eyes, ears and other sensory organs that pass information about stimuli to your brain. 

Next, the data travels through the hidden layers. The number of hidden layers in the program determines the complexity of the calculation. Each digital neuron involves a weighted value based on the importance of the data. A program devoted to predicting inventory would give greater weight to an item’s past sales performance than the day of the week when it was sold.

Finally, the output layer returns the calculated result. This answer could be as simple as identifying the presence of an object like a car, dog or cat in a picture. However, this learning approach can also handle challenging problems like predicting the weather or choosing the right ad to display on a social media feed. 

Machine Learning Applications in the Business World

When people hear about neural networks and artificial intelligence, they assume that these resources only apply to the world of science and technology. However, AI and deep learning are having an impact on industries across the board. Automation, prediction, and pattern recognition can all improve a business’s performance and workflow.

Process Automation

Every business has repetitive processes. Robotic process automation can handle straightforward tasks like sending email reminders before appointments. However, RPA combined with a deep learning strategy can refine this automation. Considering data such as purchase histories and address information can improve the click-through rate of emails.

CRM

Applying deep learning to customer relations will improve connections. The AI resource can send alerts to a sales team when it predicts that a customer may need attention.

Customer Service

Deep learning can bring predictive pattern recognition to customer service issues. The AI behind the service portal will recognize patterns of keywords to make a faster diagnosis of the problem. If the chatbot cannot handle the issue, it can connect the customer to the right human employee in fewer steps. This process will minimize frustration for the customer.

An Entrepreneurial Strategy for Employing AI and Deep Learning Tools

Introducing AI can be intimidating for your employees. Because this technology imitates human decision-making, they may feel that the digital resources will replace them. With a thoughtful strategy, you can bring the computing power of deep learning in a non-threatening way that enhances and improves your workplace culture.

Determine the Best Use Cases

Digital automation and decision-making free your human employees to handle more relevant tasks. As you introduce the new technology, get input from your staff about daily jobs that are critical but repetitive. Your employees will appreciate a resource that can take these off their plates.

Identify Data Sources and Quality

Garbage in; garbage out. This mantra from the world of computer science indicates the importance of quality data. Successful deep learning depends on having information that is relevant and accurate. 

Empower the Team

AI requires significant processing power. You will need to evaluate your hardware to confirm that it is up to the task. It will also help to have someone with a deeper understanding of the technology. You may want to invest in training in skills like how to work deep learning in Python.

Understand the Limitations of Technology

Your AI resources are like any other employee. They require oversight and evaluation. Their performance is only as good as the algorithms that form their decisions. Improperly weighted calculations in the hidden layers can lead to skewed results. Running tests cases with known outcomes can help recalibrate the system.

Working with a Partner to Implement Change

How does deep learning fit into your business’s future? Moving from traditional to innovative technology requires an adaptable workplace culture. If you need help transitioning to a new model, I can help you move forward in ways that benefit your whole organization.