Archive for Six Sigma
Using Excel for Value Stream Mapping Discussion
Posted by: | CommentsSystems2win a supplier of Excel Templates for Lean Kaizen Continuous improvement tools has introduced the Value Stream Mapping section of the Lean Starter Toolkit that includes a selection of downloadable templates, videos and 
instructions. This is a free downloadable trial package that covers Value Stream Mapping, and is part of a collection of over twenty templates in the Lean Starter Kit. The Systems2win Word and Excel templates and free online training are relevant to any type of organization pursuing a continuous improvement effort.
I had a chance to catch up with Dean Ziegler, founder of Systems2win and had this discussion about his new Lean Starter kit and more specifically the Value Stream Mapping Templates . Disclaimer: There is a business relationship that exist between Business901 and Systems2win at the time of this writing.
Joe Dager: You use Excel as a drawing tool. Why?
Dean Ziegler: Once someone completes the 13-minute video to learn how to use Excel as a drawing tool – they will wonder why they ever bought Visio. Drawing is the easy part. Excel has all of the drawing capabilities of Visio, but Visio can’t do math. And once your managers get over being enamored with the pretty pictures, they are going to start asking the tough questions that are the entire reason for making a value stream map in the first place. ‘How much will we save? Why are we focusing on this instead of that?’ And that’s when people realize that their entry-level drawing tool doesn’t really answer the questions that a value stream map is intended to answer.
Joe: What if I am new to Excel or even Lean, can I still benefit from your templates?
Dean: If you are new to Excel or the Tools of Lean, Systems2win offers one of the largest collections of on-line training resources free during your trial period. Free online training is one of the strengths behind our product offerings. There are built in support features each and every time you open a document. So we encourage newcomers to use our free training if nothing else to start or expand your Lean Journey.
Joe: If they are just Word and Excel templates, why don’t I just create them?
Dean: We want people to know that many of our Systems2win templates are just plain simple. In the past, we only gave away our most complex templates as trials, but now we’re giving some of the simple ones too. Our best prospect is someone that has already spent several late nights attempting to create a few of their own home-made templates, and can now truly appreciate how much time these save – and how much more professional the end results.
There has been a few discussions that I have participated in on the use of templates, so I thought I would go straight to the horse’s mouth per say. We have an expanded version of this discussion that I will release soon but thought that this was a good viewpoint on the use of templates.
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Have you Achieved Expert Status?
Posted by: | CommentsCan I help?
I have always been surprised why consultants seldom if ever develop passive income streams. They write countless articles, speak at numerous trade functions, hold workshops and webinars, all with the intent of gaining customers but miss the real reason, BECOMING A RECOGNIZED EXPERT in their field.
Speaking for myself, I never saw the complete picture nor realized how much business and revenue they were leaving on the table until I became closely associated with several of the giants in the publishing world that has reached “expert status.” If you would like to transform your career, develop passive income streams and start commanding that level of expert status, please continue.
Is it important to build an information marketing strategy? Information products are indisputably the best marketing tools for consultants, independent sales professionals, service companies and Internet businesses — because they literally do the sales work for you.
Did you have a backend product or an offer of a Free Download built into your last speaking engagement. Maybe, you receive a solid lead, maybe two from a presentation but what happened to the other twenty-five attendees. Did you give them an opportunity to acquire additional information on the presented subject matter? If you did, you may have received an additional ten more marketing opportunities. Just as important, it would be done all automatically, electronically and no additional effort on your part.
Do you need a book to be recognized as an expert? My answer: why sell your expertise for $20? Use an e-book to assist you in creating your expert status and serve as a gateway to a complete list of media products. If you do that and still want a book, publishers simply salivate when a would be author appears with an expert status, info products developed and a ready-made customer list. So which should come first? Who would a publisher prefer to publish?
Would you like to start building an expert status?
What do you get?
- A 3-page Blogsite that I will host and create as a selling tool to include access to a shopping cart and an 8-time auto-responder series for each new signup.
- 8 page whitepaper for download purposes – will transcribe from a phone conversation with you.
- E-book and 2- 30 minute MP-3’s discussing your expertise and how to implement it will be created from a phone conversation with you.
- The above book will be reproduced into printed material and CD’s if desired. Production cost not included.
- Podcast interview and published on the Business901 Website.
- (2)Generated News releases and released to over 50 PR services..
This program will take approximately 90 days to complete. A complete schedule will be outlined for your review. Any material requested or information needed will be transcribed and formatted from our phone conversations. I will host all services.
This is not just development of the above products. This is not a coaching program. It’s a completely integrated system that recruits new customers, sells them an entry-level product or service, and walks them through your marketing cycle. The Internet is a significant part of any revenue-producing activity for most companies. As more and more consumers go "online" looking for products, services, advice and information you and your company need to be there to meet them with information that convinces them to buy from you but more importantly with a way to buy from you immediately. This will create the activity you need to become well known and respected as an expert in the field.
ARE you interested in developing a passive income stream for life?
ARE you interested in laying the groundwork on becoming a recognized “Expert” in you field?
Do you know a friend that would benefit from Expert Exposure?
You must be accepted into this program. If interested, drop me an e-mail at jtdager@business901.com and mention I would like to become an expert in my field! I will send you the details!
Can you have Agile Marketing?
Posted by: | CommentsRecently, I’ve become quite intrigued with agile project management. It was developed in the software arena in an effort to replace the traditional project management methods of define, design, and build to one based on adaption. They moved away from that linear thinking to a more adaptive culture allowing continuous innovation throughout the development process.
Jim Highsmith, the author of Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products (2nd Edition)
“The departure from which additional phase names such as initiate, plan, define, design, build, test is significant. First, Envision replaces the more traditional initiate phase to indicate the criticality of vision. Second, a Speculate phase replaces up plan face area words convey certain meanings and visual images that arise from systematic use over time. The work plan has become associated with prediction and relative certainty. Speculate indicates that the future is uncertain. Many traditional project managers faced with uncertainty try to plan that uncertainty away. We have to learn to speculate and adapt rather than plan and build.
Third, the actual project management model replaces the common design, build, test phases with explore. Explore, with its iterative delivery style, is explicitly a nonlinear, kind current, non-waterfall model. Questions developed in the speculate phase are explored. Speculating implies the need for flexibility based on the fact he cannot fully predict the results. The APM model emphasizes execution and his exploratory rather than deterministic. A team practicing EPM keeps his side of the vision, monitors information, and adapt to current conditions therefore the adapt phase. Finally, the APM mode ends with a close phase, in which the primary objectives are knowledgeable transfer and, of course, a celebration. To sum up, the five phases of agile project management are: envision, speculate, explore, adapt, and close.”
I think this style of thinking lends itself to the marketing process very well. Traditional marketing systems resist the linear thinking approach of a traditional project management process. Agile projects develop value quickly and incrementally during the life of the project. Capturing value like this early in the process can significantly improve buy-in and utilizing iterative principles then improve on the process during delivery. 
I have constructed an agile marketing development diagram that probably goes against many of the agile principles since I am incorporating the DMADV process of Six Sigma. But this is actually my intermediate step in applying agile to marketing. Since my roots are in the Six Sigma process and in linear thinking that jump to collaboration and iterative principles is quite a chasm to cross. DMADV is my bridge for the present as I learn and apply Agile Project Management thinking to the marketing process. It is also interesting to note that many of the principles have developed from the Lean thinking process. It kind of reminds you of a U-shaped work cell doesn’t?
Photo Credit: by rAmmoRRison
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