I’ve been a student of human behavior and performance for as long as I can remember. In second grade, I noticed that the kids who were the loudest in class also did poorly on their schoolwork. I correlated loud voices with bad grades. (For the record, I have no data
Is the systems integration industry ready to fully acknowledge the value of women in project management, and support their growth? I hope so, because whether the job is filled by women or men, it’s time to shift the paradigm of project manager from a through-the-ranks, glorified technical lead (someone who
Introducing Navigate Academy, an online training platform developed exclusively for systems integration and related technology companies. Over the last decade, the audiovisual integration industry has seen monumental advances in technology and systems. With those advances come more difficult challenges when it comes to selling and managing multiple overlapping projects, which
Friend vs Manager I’ve had many conversations recently with owners, directors, managers and employees at AV integration companies about the topic of accountability — or the lack thereof. When I ask them about their frustrations with both their direct reports, peers and others in the organization, I hear answers like,
What Should You Do When Customers Have Unrealistic Expectations? In the middle of 1999, I was a regional sales manager for a manufacturing company, covering most of the eastern US and Canada. My boss, Scott, decided to join me on the road one week in the Philadelphia area. Although the
Everyone should understand why processes are in place. If an integrator is engaging in an activity on a daily basis, the people need to know why. What is the purpose of your processes? And does everyone understand the value? Mature companies document and improve their processes incrementally — in a
About six years ago I was having a beer with a business development director of a system integration client of ours. He shared a memorable story with me, which I’ll paraphrase below. “Chris, I’ll tell you what concerns me – and it’s not our competition. A few weeks ago, I
When we follow standards, it allows us to establish, measure and assure a level of quality, and predictability to our clients, and to one another. These days, many people have a hard time understanding why some people don’t seem to know how or care about doing the “right things” the
I find that “morale” is one of those words like “culture.” We know we’ve got one – it just usually isn’t what we exactly desire or picture it to be. And somehow, we often feel powerless, or at a disadvantage to measure it, and take action to directly impact it.
In previous blog posts, we have talked discussed the direct linkage between the level of quality delivered within an AV systems integration project and the level of pride in that accomplishment. Pride is a feeling that you respect yourself and deserve to be respected by other people; or a feeling
