Tips Archives | Andrea Jones Consulting

What are Daily Standup Meetings? (And can you have them virtually?)

Daily Standup meetings, also known as daily “Huddles,” are a tool for focusing a team on their work for the day. Standups, whether held in person or virtually, are designed to be short – hence the standing format. Typically, there are three questions, and they can be used for any team working for any desired result. These three questions align the team in three distinct and important ways (and yes, Daily Standups can be performed virtually – see the end of the article for tips).

We Need Help Setting a Good Meeting Agenda

The absence of an Agenda being driven by a meeting Leader can often lead to feelings of time, and money, being wasted for everyone in the meeting. Agendas help ensure that the participants provide value to the organization in the time they are spend together, which will help the participants feel like their time is being used in a valuable way.

Facilitation: Science or Magic?

When it comes to facilitating, many people think that you’re either good at it, or you’re not. To us at AJC, that type of thinking is not growth oriented, as we believe that human beings can improve in any area. We also think there are some basic principles that provide structure to most processes – facilitation included. Here are our Basic Facilitation Principles: 1. Encourage all to participate

Why Use an Economic-Based versus a Resource-Based Prioritization Model

We have all heard a variation on the justification to *not* undertake certain tasks that runs something like: “but we don’t have anyone who has time to do that.” Many organizations prioritize their work based on who is capable and available to do it. Using a resource-based prioritization model, however, is a dis-service to your organization. We recommend an Economic-Based Prioritization Model.

Three Quick-Start Steps for Making Data Driven Decisions

“Big Data” has become a buzz phrase today. How can companies use the volumes of data to that they have to make data-driven decisions? Here are three concrete steps we recommend to get started using data to make decisions.

What Does it Mean to “Focus on Improvement?”

It should be noted that the first step in Improvement is to admit that you have things to improve! Once you think you can improve, in order to actually improve, you have to do something. After you do something, you can assess the results and realize you can improve again! In other words, focusing on improvement is a beautiful virtuous cycle.

How to Select an ERP System (Video Version)

As companies grow, they always have some system they use, whether they are moving past true startup with spreadsheets and basic accounting (i.e. Excel and Quickbooks), have a legacy system that they have outgrown, or may not be in the cloud. Similarly, leaders in these companies often recognize that they need to upgrade their systems, but are unsure about the leading indicators for doing so, knowing when to start, and how best to go about selecting the right system for them.

Servant Leadership: Is it True, Is it Kind, Is it Necessary?

It is very important to note that helping others succeed does not necessarily feel good in the moment. Helping others succeed sometimes means having uncomfortable conversations. We are fans of having these conversations in an empathetic way. This is pretty nebulous because it’s hard to quantify what “an empathetic way” really means. Here is a pretty simple way to check if one is in an empathetic frame of mind when discussing uncomfortable topics.

How do I Improve My Company’s Operational Efficiencies?

Take our quiz to find out what kind of Operational Efficiency Improvements are right for your company. Replace [*] answers with your own specific needs. 1. Which department, area, or process do you want to improve first? a. The [Customer Service*] department. b. Documenting/updating the standardized processes we use to deliver [product/services*]. c. Our [New …

My ERP Implementation Needs to be Rescued!

ERP implementations are notorious for taking a long time to implement. What might be going on in an ERP implementation that would cause a company to believe that their project may be going “off-track,” rather than just taking a long time like they “all” do? While it is true that ERP implementations can take a …