Category Archives: Strategic Planning

Zoe Presenter Spotlight: Dan Chenoweth

Posted by on October 17, 2011 Comments Off
Share

Dan Chenowethby Zoe Training staff

Starting with a strong foundation in accounting, Dan Chenoweth has a broad background in American and international business. His focus on general management issues inherent in today’s changing business environment involves organization leadership; business process analysis and improvement; project management; strategic supplier relationships; team development; and change management. In every situation, Dan helps clients take their strategy to the bottom line.

What’s your favorite topic(s) to present on? Why?

Business ethics.  It is a multi-faceted, complex topic and there is no lack of “fresh/new” material!  Ethics do count!  They are relevant and we need to have more discussion about them in these tumultuous times. Read more »

Six Sigma in Hard Economic Times

Posted by on March 7, 2011 Comments Off
Share

Steve Ouelletteby Steve Ouellette

What purpose, if any, does Six Sigma serve in economic downturns? Full disclosure: I teach and consult in Six Sigma and related areas, and you’re reading this article because you’re interested in Six Sigma, so we may not be the most objective people to assess this, but in this article, I will do my best to find the truth.

I remember when I was working as an engineer for a company that made aluminum for aerospace and commercial applications. One of the apparently inevitable downturns in aerospace was occurring and the company was looking to cut costs, critically eyeing headcounts. At the same time, there was a consulting team training and implementing the technology that would one day be called Six Sigma.

Of course the talk around the table in the lab revolved around the uncertainty of the times, and sooner or later someone would begin to complain that the company was spending enough money on consultants each year to avoid laying off four full-time employees. I was torn in what I thought. On the one hand I was a recent hire, and thus first in line for the chopping block, but on the other, I also knew that the benefits the company and employees were accruing from what the consultants had to teach us was enormous. Read more »

Zoe Presenter Spotlight: Steve Ouellette

Posted by on February 14, 2011 Comments Off
Share

Steve Ouelletteby Zoe Training staff

Take a background in engineering and higher education, combine with expertise in ethical decision making, statistical design and analysis, survey design, process management, strategic planning, policy deployment, and business performance excellence, add a touch of humor and irreverence…the result? Steve Ouellette, the Six Sigma Heretic™, who helps facilitate fundamental change within organizations to help them greatly improve their profitability.

What’s your favorite topic(s) to present on? Why?

Applied research tools (like Six Sigma), because I love to see “unsolvable” problems get solved (and because I love it when people say that they finally “get” statistics). Strategic planning and policy deployment, because it is great to show people a logical way to successfully deploy a plan. Read more »

Would Strategic Planning Benefit Your Municipality?

Posted by on September 1, 2008 Comments Off
Share

Penny McDanielby Penny McDaniel and Anne Neal

What is strategic planning? And what do you need to know about the process to determine how strategic planning could benefit your municipality? This article provides a brief overview of strategic planning—the benefits, process, obstacles, and strategies for insuring accountability and follow-through.

Strategic planning is a systematic process where you identify why your local government exists, whom it serves, benefits derived from the services you provide, and your administration’s vision for serving its citizens. Your strategic plan serves as a blueprint for how your local government will achieve its vision, and it answers three basic questions: “Who are we?” “What do we want?” and “How are we going to get what we want?” At each stage of the process you will need to involve various people and groups, and this is where the power of strategic planning comes into play.

Does strategic planning sound like a long, drawn-out process?  Well, it can take a while to do it right.  What’s the old saying?  “Anything worth doing, is worth doing right.”  This may be quite true, but we think there needs to be a lot of benefits for embarking on a time-consuming and sometimes difficult process.  Participants in previous strategic planning workshops determined a number of benefits for undergoing this process: Read more »

Better Tag Cloud