Good Morning, ___
Good Afternoon, ___ (Check One After CONSULTING Your Watch)
Good Evening ___
I am Jim Massfeller and, YES, I am a consultant! I left secondary
education (8th Grade Science & Agriculture - See Definition) after 15
years when a new principal came to our school who resisted innovation
and doing more for the kids than the minimum necessary. At the time, I
was a member of the Army National Guard (In the US, a part time Army -
One weekend per month + two weeks in the summer) and was offered an
opportunity to go on active duty (full time) for ten years. I spent six
years in logistics in the Pentagon, two years at the Army's
Transportation School, and the last two years reengineering Army
logistics.
My experience with process improvement and reengineering was with a
totally entrenched bureaurocy that resisted change. The situation was
that funding and manpower had already been cut drastically and our
reengineering effort was directed towards increasing the effectiveness
of what was left.
Several automated systems had been fielded but, in many cases, were not
being used effectively or as intended due to lack of effective training
and high turnover of the people who were trained.
What I did, was conduct what we called "Process Walk Throughs." I would
take a team of 3 to 7 "experts" to a logistics activity and we would
grab some of the local people (all levels from senior management to
hourly workers) and "walk" each process step by step. We would
interview that actual workers performing each task and have them explain
what they did and why they did it that way. My two favorite questions
were:
- "What would you change if you were King for a day?"
- "What is the one thing that upsets you the most about the way
you are
told to do your work?"
I learned:
- Employees usually know what is wrong and how to fix it.
- "Hands On" training is more effective at a workers job site
than
classroom training.
- There is a big difference between what the managers think is
happening and what is actually happening.
- Many managers were afraid of "letting go" or "loss of control"
if
they "empower" their workers at the lower levels.
- Any attempt at change fails if both the managers and workers
are not
involved and shown how change can make their job easier.
After a week at each site we would conduct an "out briefing" where we
showed all employees what we found. We did not use any nifty automated
tools, but made simple flow charts showing what was happening at each
step, how long it took, what improvements could be made, and how much
time and effort could be saved. We certainly did not fix everything,
but we achieved many dramatic improvements. We trained employes "on the
spot" as we interviewed them and showed them how doing things "the right
way" would make their jobs easier.
Enough about what I did...
I am planning to concentrate my business as a consultant on corporate
management and reengineering training in a large, high growth, south
eastern US city. I have a BS in Business and an MBA in Logistics and
extensive experience in secondary and adult (from the Army) education
and I really enjoy teaching. I am in the final stages of forming a
partnership with the Chamber of Commerce which, I hope, will help me
attract students.
I would appreciate any suggestions any of you can give me related to
starting this kind of training business, to include:
- Methods of evaluating prepared (purchased) courseware.
- Ways to form partnerships with local colleges and
universities.
- Methods of helping a company determine what training they
really need and if
my training will be of value to them.
- Methods of evaluating my effectiveness as a trainer and
determining
if I have "done good" for my customers.
Thanks for reading,
Jim
Definition, 8th Grade Public Education -
"Pounding Knowledge Into Eager Young Minds"