September 30, 2004
ISSN 15465640
A free monthly e-zine with articles and tips from Family Business Experts who understand family values and business systems.
September 30, 2004 Issue #030 Family Business Experts
http://www.family-business-experts.com
http://www.familybusinessexperts.com
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In This Issue...
1. Our Managing Director Announces -
2. Business first family...Family first business
Mission Expert Software Recommended by Family Business Experts
3. Legacy through Leadership
LP07. Updating the Organizational Logic
4. Around the Family Business Experts web sites
1. Our Managing Director Announces -
After a lengthy summer break, we're back with our second issue in a week.
Since we started to bring our consulting practice online, one of the most frequent things we've been asked about is mission statements. We posted a section Company Mission Statements., including material on family mission statements, to provide guidance and help. But we had not been able to find a good software program to recommend...
Until now, that is!
We recommend that a family prepare its mission statement even before the family business does it's mission statement.
So it is fitting that we preview StratPlan Software's Mission Expert software in the family / business section.
We continue with the Leadership Practices series, since these practices are the foundation for the processes that must be in place in order to achieve success.
Reminder: We've developed a couple of quick diagnostic assessments to help you. They are both fr*ee [at least for a while] and we try to deliver 48 hour turnaround of our analysis. Try them!
The Holonomic Top Down Assessment asks you about a combination of the 12 Main Enabling Processes that an effective organization has to have operating in order to achieve the 6 Desired Organizational Characteristics of effective organizations. Where your assessment indicates one or more of these are not working in your organization, we'll feed back suggestions as to the underlying Leadership Practices that might not be working.
Diagnosing from the other direction - Bottom-Up - we ask you to identify which of 29 Leadership Practices aren't present or working. From that, we point you to Enabling Processes and thus Desired Characteristics that probably aren't functioning.
Whether to contribute, challenge (or hopefully even praise) our newsletter, I encourage you to contact me directly Don, or our editor David.
Enjoy, and here's wishing you, your family, your clients... much success!
Don Schwerzler, Managing Director
Family Business Experts
2. Business first family...Family first business:
Mission Expert
software we recommend
As we note on our web site, writing a good mission statement is challenging... but do-able. The main difficulty for most people seems to be narrowing ideas down from the very broad and general to something that is focused and realistic, yet captures passion and provides leadership.
Good software, provided by people who understand the process of capturing your vision of the future, focusing it into a mission for the present, identifying your goals for success, and shaping the family and family business with the core values that guide you... well, it didn't exist - or we hadn't found it!
Until we discovered Mission Expert, created and produced by StratPlan Software, a group of people who really do understand the process... they walk the walk as well as talk the talk.
Mission Expert's core function and related tutorial guide you through the mission creation process and use well-engineered software to prompt you for your thoughts and ideas. The output is a draft mission statement that has captured and started to organize what is relevant to your family or organization. You'll find it easy to polish up the finished product in your word processor.
Even though your mission statement should reflect your thoughts and values, the reality is that many of us feel more comfortable if we can start by seeing examples of what others have adopted as their mission statement.
Mission Expert has a real nifty component to help you here... tell it what industry you're interested in, hit a button, and Mission Expert's Mission Finder goes out to the Internet to search and bring back actual mission statements. The way it helps you brainstorm and research is more than worth the entire cost of the software!
Another feature we like is the way StratPlan have scaled the package so that you only buy the functions that you need. Mission Expert is offered on 3 levels. A team of 1 only needs the Mission Creation Process, Mission Statement Creator and Mission Finder to produce superb results. A larger organization working in a small team will benefit by adding the Mission Creation Facilitator Guide, Meeting Templates and Meeting Checklist. Larger teams and organizations that are also working on Visioning will also benefit by adding Visioning Workshop Support, the Visioning Facilitator Guide, Visioning Workshop Presentations and the Vision Collector Utility. There's something for every size and project.
Bottom line, we are business consultants so value is a ways a factor for us. And Mission Expert provides excellent value. The clear and simple structure, easy process, input prompts and no learning curve all mean productivity - you'll actually enjoy this tool! And when you see the cost... well, you'll see why we think it provides excellent value.
Check Mission Expert out for yourself....
PS
We think it provides excellent value at its regular price... but right now they have some special pricing in effect, making an excellent value even better!
Our Tips and Recommendations
Families love the FamilyLore Game!
Unique and customized for every family. Intereactive
board game celebrates family history.
Family stories & events shared & remembered.
More businesses than ever are using the Internet to reach local markets. If your business isn't one of them, you're going to be left behind.
BizPlanBuilder [Jian] Helps you create your business plan quickly by organizing your thoughts into carefully scripted text. Great spread sheet templates for the financial projections. Includes resources and not just blanks to fill in.
Site Build It! "Why build JUST a Web site... when you COULD build a Web BUSINESS?" Our SBI! Certified Webmaster can help.
Site Build It! Certified Webmaster
Issues cost you money. Monitor and manage Issues in your business with Wizard Publisher's Issue Tracking Software
a grand little idea
Wizard Publisher's Issue Tracking Software
3. Legacy through Leadership
There are 29 Leadership Practices [LP] that are really the foundation upon which 12 holonomic or enabling processes[HP] are built, and which, in turn, produce 6 desired organizational characteristics [DOC]. We'll look at each in this section.
LP07. Updating the Organizational Logic
Updating the organizational logic is an administrative process to define the many task processes in the organization. It ensures that the organizational logic is consistent with the organizing assumptions, and that the organizational logic is kept up-to-date. It also ensures that each unit and individual understands their role in the organizational logic and how they relate to other units and individuals. At the job level, individual job logics are derived from the organizational logic.
Dr. Ken Mackenzie is our internationally-recognized organizational expert. These leadership tips are discussed in detail in The Practitioner's Guide for Organizing Organizations. The Practitioner's Guide for Organizing Organizations
Would you like to see how the 29 Leadership Practices are affecting your family business? Our assessment only takes a few minutes to complete!
Take our fr*ee assessment on the 29 Leadership Practices...
4. Around the Family Business Experts web sites
Search the entire content site
in two different ways
1. A search engine powered by ATOMZ has indexed all the pages on the site and will link you to those relating to any search term you enter.
2. A 'Table of contents' listing that will link you directly to any page / article you select. Use the Site Map Navigation Button from any major page on the site.
Background information, testimonials to our service and understanding, and answers to FAQ's [Frequently Asked Questions]. Family Business Experts
There are many articles accessible from this page on the left side navigation bar.
FamilyLore Game is an exciting game for the whole family.
Preparing a mission statement is challenging work....
And remember about our convenient new online billing with 100% assurance! Another step in our process of starting online business.
Secure online payment
1213 Laurel Cliff Drive, Smyrna GA 30082
voice 770-952-4085 fax 770-432-6660
Contact Don Schwerzler