Organizations are often faced with complex problems and environments in which to operate. One hallmark of a complex problem is that no matter what you do to solve it, it keeps recurring (although the symptoms may subside for a while). If you really think you know how a system works—just try changing it! These problems are often approached with traditional linear, analytical thinking and intuitions about solutions which are often reactive and incomplete in scope.

By using Systems Thinking, that is, examining the hidden or overlooked relational dynamics of system components and environmental forces, more successful and sustainable solutions can be found, while minimizing downstream or secondary problems, by using system tools to represent components, stakeholders, and system dynamics to determine high leverage intervention points and strategies to improve system performance or solve problems. I can either lead a team to solve such issues or train your people in System Thinking (ST) to build that capacity in-house. Besides problem solving, ST can be used in assessment, strategy development, exploring new opportunities, new system design, and evaluation.

There are a plethora of organizational improvement interventions that are promoted as the silver bullet to your problems. Some of these interventions are: Total Quality Management (TQM), Kaizen, continuous improvement, ISO-9000, Six Sigma, business process reengineering, lean manufacturing, quality circles, Organizational Development (OD), teambuilding, restructuring, cultural change, training & development, leadership, incentives, job redesign, employee engagement, and many others.

How does your firm select the appropriate intervention(s) to address a particular issue? After an assessment of the problem, I will be able to advise you on the most appropriate intervention, how it works, benefits to be derived, duration, costs, risks, and under which conditions it should be applied, and then help in the selection of consultants who specialize in that particular area.

Over my 40 years of consulting, I would say that about 80% of all TOR’s (or Request for Proposals) require clarification questions from the consultant because they are poorly written. Often the organization (or author) does full fully appreciate the technical nature of the issues, prescribes solutions without understanding the root causes of the problems, or is not clear about outcomes, or duration.

I can assist in writing a clear and comprehensive TOR. The flipside is writing a proposal in order to secure work or obtain a grant. If these are not written convincingly or comprehensively, at a competitive bidding price, your chances of securing a project are reduced.

I have completed the Project Management Professional (PMP) program, which is the gold standard for PM, which is sponsored by the Project Management Institute (PMI). I can assist at any stage of PM process, from researching and making the business case and charter for the project, planning in terms of scope, activities, scheduling, budget, quality, resources/procurement, risk identification, and stakeholder engagement, executing and monitoring the PM plan, or closing out the process to avoid post-project legal problems.

Policies are some of the longest lasting guidelines for behavior in organizations, but as conditions change, they need to be updated. There must be a consensus on the nature of problem amongst most stakeholders before a new policy can be drafted. Their will always be winners and losers when policies shift and their needs must be addressed to make it sustainable.

For a policy to be enacted, I can also develop the process and supporting documentation that brings it to life or deals with those who violate it, which must be accessible to all staff in some documented form.

In many organizations it is not uncommon for procedures to be verbally transmitted or there may even be a situation where there are “practices” instead of procedures that vary from worker to worker. Procedure manuals can show new employees how to execute a task in terms of the steps involved and documents required in order to standardize best practices to ensure quality, cost, and safety concerns. It will periodically need to be updated as technology, methods, or policies change. I can create digital manuals where staff can quickly find the procedure they are looking for, even if they only use it occasionally.

Some units are overstaffed and some understaffed. How do you know for sure that you have the correct level, as too many employees mean higher payroll costs, and to few, mean backlogs and poor quality as work is rushed. In principle, staffing should be equal to the workload, but that varies throughout the year, especially in seasonal businesses. One must also account for non-productive time like vacation, sick leave, training, meetings, and similar things in order to arrive at an optimal staffing level that does not incur excessive overtime.

My system provides such answers that even the union will agree with as they are brought into the process to observe how standards are set for each task.

Every year staff are sent on training but maybe not for the right reasons or to the right courses/ workshops. A training needs assessment can help identify competency gaps of staff and management, which can be triggered by poor performance at current tasks, as a requirement for new tasks, or for many other reasons. The assessment can go beyond annual appraisal recommendations and selfidentified training needs and may involve data collection to confirm exactly which skills are needed and to what degree.

This information can flow into the annual Training Plan, which will identify the source of the training (workshop, online, self-study, coaching, etc.), when and by whom it will be delivered/ conducted, and how it will be assessed, and the training budget. Some activities, of course, would be developmental in nature, as opposed to training.

Traditionally, classroom training workshops had been the answer to filling staff competency gaps. Unfortunately, many times they are not offered just-in-time before the skills are needed, can be disruptive of the employees work schedule for several days, and can be very expensive, especially if only one or a few staff need those skills.

As a doctor of Distance Education, I can assess your current system and make recommendations and help to implement a more virtual and cost-effective system to upgrade staff skills on-demand and develop courses that are specific to your operations.

Research indicates that your employees only use around 10% of what they learn in workshops, therefore you are effectively throwing away up to 90% of your training budget every year. This was my doctoral dissertation topic, and as an expert in this field, I can show your supervision and management how to boost this transfer rate significantly, which in turn, will directly enhance your operations.

Competent staff are part of any successful operation. I was the lead facilitator for Arthur Lock Jack GSB in the Train-the-Trainer program and can personally design and deliver skill-based workshops that are tailored for your industry/organization, with high transfer-of-training rates. Many of the workshops can have real-life project that solves one of your organizational issues afterwards, where they utilize their new skill in a structured learning environment where I can coach your staff. The following are the workshops that I teach clustered by topic.