Times are tough these days, and people are stressed.  People are generally worried – worried about their investments, about their job security, and about other global and local issues.  It’s understandable given the great deal of uncertainty facing us today.  But I wonder how much of this stress is impacting employees’ productivity, their ability to serve customers/stakeholders, and their overall effectiveness on the job.  Certainly if you’re worried about paying your mortgage, it may be difficult to handle a customer complaint effectively (and professionally).

Last week, I heard some insights at our innovation conference that might just help reduce employee stress and increase productivity during these difficult times (or anytime).  The talk focused on “Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It”; the thoughts were compelling…

Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson are founders of a small consulting and speaking firm called CultureRx.  They recently left Best Buy after creating what they call the “Results-Only Work Environment” – or ROWE for short.  Their book “Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It” has been featured on the cover of Business Week as well as the New York Times, TIME Magazine, USA Today, HR Magazine, and on Good Morning America, CNBC, and CNN.  And all of this publicity is because their thinking works.  In Best Buy and other organizations they’ve worked with, they have seen:

• Productivity increase 41%,
• Voluntary turnover decrease 90%, and
• Revenue per FTE increase 250% (in only three months).

So what’s their premise?  ROWE really isn’t anything earth-shattering, but a simple principle: “A person is free to do whatever they want whenever they want – as long as the work gets done.”  Simple enough, right?  But think about the power this concept would have on an organization’s employees – the empowerment it creates, the accountability it demands, and the focus it brings on results.

Unfortunately, a Results-Only Work Environment is culturally quite different from how typical organizations operate today.  They believe – and I tend to agree – that many organizations are obsessively focused on time instead of results.  Employees clock in, they log their hours and breaks, and they clock out.  If you’re 15 minutes “late” for work in the morning, you get raised eyebrows from the boss or your co-workers – never mind the fact that if you were “on time,” you might begin your day with a thirty-minute paper-reading session and a donut.

They even used a phrase for this obsession with corporate face-time: “presenteeim.”  And they believe that it contributes to up to 80% of lose productivity in the workplace.

What’s interesting is that society (outside of the workplace) has moved away from these time constraints.  Consider Tevo for your TV viewing – you now watch TV whenever it works for your schedule.  Or consider how the Internet has transformed how (and when) we shop: we don’t have go to Macy’s between 10 AM and 8 PM, but rather we can shop online 24/7.  And we don’t have to wait for the 10 o’clock news (or tomorrow’s newspaper on the front porch) to tell us what’s new in the world…we just grab our laptops, Blackberry’s, or iPhones and within seconds know the day’s top stories.  Consider this: 96% of Generation Yer’s have a cell phone; 76% do instant messaging (IM); and 75% are on Facebook.

Technology is enabling us to change the way we operate our personal lives.  But – despite this 21st century technology – we’re still applying 1950’s thinking in the workplace.

The solution?  Cali and Ressler believe that we should stop viewing work as a PLACE you go, but rather what you DO.  This is the essence of their ROWE method.  How does it work?  You give employees the freedom to manage their work environment – to establish their own work schedules, to determine where they want to work, to control their own time.  So long as the work gets done.

Some organizations try to offer this flexibility by creating “flex time” arrangements, but oftentimes these fall short of giving employees the control they seek and need.  (In fact, Cali and Ressler call this the “flex con game.”)  For one, creating a “flexible” work schedule of 8AM-6PM with Fridays off is NOT flexible…you’re still time-bound (your kid’s illness doesn’t always conveniently occur on a Friday).  Second, usually these programs have limited access (only employees with X number of years are entitled to flex time; or only department XYZ is entitled because it better “fits” their type of work).  These exclusions can lead to hostility in the workplace as some are “haves” and some are “have nots.”  Finally, employees that do participate in these programs are often judged by the others who don’t (Cali and Ressler label this workplace “sludge.”)

Consider the differences between ROWE and traditional flex-time.  In a Results-Only Work Environment, you don’t seek permission for “time off”: you set your own schedule and location.  In a ROWE environment, there are unlimited options and all employees have the opportunity to participate.  In a ROWE environment, employees have the ultimate control as opposed to management having the control.  In ROWE, you operate with goals and accountability; in traditional environments it’s with policies and guidelines.  In ROWE, it’s about a focus on the work – on outcomes.  In traditional environments, the focus is on time and activities.  Notice the difference? 

Obviously, a Results-Only Work Environment requires a different culture, and certainly requires a different role for leadership.  It requires respect and trust of employees (no more “we trust you, but come in at 8AM sharp every day and only take 15 minute breaks”).  It requires management to set and monitor progress toward goals, rather than monitoring activities and time.  It requires highly effective planning – strategic and tactical – so that employees know better how to align their activities, projects, tasks, and effort toward the corporate priorities.

In fact, Cali and Ressler propose 13 guideposts for organizations to consider in moving to a more results-only work environment.  Here are a few:

* Every meeting is optional.  Imagine that: with this principle, only essential meetings would take place and only essential attendees (those needed for decision making, etc.) would participate.

* Every day should fee like a Saturday.  Allow complete flexibility in how employees spend their days, mixing business and personal, work location, timing – so long as the work gets done.  Yes, Jane, you can leave at 3PM for that dentist appointment and no one will judge you.  Yes, Tom, you can come in a bit late because you really need to run a couple of personal errands.  Yes, Bob, you can work at home in your sleeper bottoms because you have no customer meetings or need to be in the office today – and besides, you are more productive in that environment.

* Arriving at 2PM isn’t late; leaving at 2PM isn’t early.  No work schedules should be imposed, so long as employees are meeting their goals, satisfying customer needs, and so forth.

* Employees have the freedom to work any way they want and there should be no judgment about how they spend their time.

* Employees have an unlimited amount of "paid time off," as long as work gets done.  Careful monitoring of the 162.6 hours of PTO a year goes away, and monitoring is instead on outcomes, and progress toward goals.

* Employees should not be overworked.

What a brave new work environment this could lead to!  Imagine the increased productivity, as useless meetings go away and low value-added work is reduced.  Imagine the increase in employee satisfaction and engagement, as workers can choose how, when, and where to work.  And imagine the increased accountability, as the company and all of its workforce is now more focused on outcomes and results rather than activities and time clocks.

Yes, there are issues with customer-facing positions, and yes, there are issues with unionized environments.  But given the stress that workers – that people – are facing these days, wouldn’t giving some control, some autonomy, some respect to our employees go a long way in helping to increase their satisfaction, their engagement, and their effectiveness at getting the job done?

Yours in Improvement,

Brian S. Lassiter

President, Minnesota Council for Quality

www.councilforquality.org

The Minnesota Council for Quality, in cooperation with the Joseph M. Juran Quality Leadership Center at the Carlson School of Management, is pleased to announce that the next Six Sigma Forum will be Tuesday, November 11.  The Forum will be hosted by Ecolab, and will feature a panel discussion of Lean/Six Sigma practitioners from Ecolab, Best Buy, HB Fuller, and Valspar.  The Six Sigma Forum provides a means for leaders and practitioners from organizations using Lean and/or Six Sigma to share knowledge and best practices on using Lean Six Sigma.

The session will be from 8:00-11:30 AM at the Ecolab Research Center (in Eagan).  Ecolab will share how it is using Lean/Six Sigma to drive improvement, and then will be joined by practitioners from Best Buy, HB Fuller, and Valspar for a very interactive 90-minute panel discussion in which panelists will share their organization’s practices of using Lean and/or Six Sigma and answer questions from the audience on topics such as biggest challenges, lessons learned and success, tips for driving culture change, and other issues related to driving improvement with Lean/Six Sigma.

Cost is $75 for members of the Council or $150 for non-members. 

The Forum is open to the public, but there is a capacity constraint at our host facility.  To register, email brian.lassiter@councilforquality.org with your name, organization affiliation, and email/phone by Friday, October 31 (or until capacity is reached).  You will be invoiced (and there will be no refunds for cancellations after October 31).

Workplace conflict is a commonly overlooked but costly phenomenon in business today (perhaps more significantly today, as employees are asked to do more and more with less and less).  But indeed frustrated leaders and employees can avoid the behaviors that fuel destructive disagreements rather than wasting profits and time resolving them.

The Rochester Area Quality Council, an affiliate of the Minnesota Council for Quality, is pleased to announce its November 4 program: “Self-Defeating Habits of Otherwise Brilliant People: Pulling Together When Things Fall Apart.”  The discussion will be facilitated by Anna Maravelas, founder of Thera Rising (Thera is Greek, meaning “to heal”).

An expert in workplace conflict resolution and a devotee of Deming, Maravelas will share how to create emotionally resilient teams, avoid risk factors for heart disease and depression, eliminate five root causes of simmering hostilities, and maintain your integrity by sidestepping invitations to blame.  Rather than undermining relationships by “searching for stupidity,” Maravelas introduces techniques for avoiding blame and self-righteous indignation and focusing on the true causes of workplace inefficiency and waste.

Learn how to turn workgroups away from incivility toward collaboration, skilled communication and respect.  Discover how leaders can short-circuit blame and resentment—reactions that derail even the best people and projects.  These strategies last a lifetime.  CEOs, executives, and front-line employees rave about these techniques in their professional and personal lives.

Speaker: Anna Maravelas, founder of Thera Rising
Date: Tuesday, November 4

Time: 7:30 Registration, networking, breakfast; 7:45 Shurson Award; 8:15-9:45 Program
Location: University Center, Coffman (CF) 206/208

The November 4 RAQC session will also feature the presentation of the 2008 Karl Shurson Quality Award.

For more information, visit http://www.councilforquality.org/RAQCProgram.cfm.  Space is limited.  Please register by contacting Jennifer Burmeister before October 31 at jennifer.burmeister@councilforquality.org or 507-213-8132.

Strategic management tools such as Strategy Maps and Balanced Scorecards have been used in a wide range of organizations—from large corporations to government agencies—to successfully execute positive transformations.   Yet, many of the biggest challenges facing our nation are not “owned” by any one organization.  One reason that problems such as poor high-school graduation rates, the rapid rise in preventable chronic diseases, and urban blight have proven so intractable is that the responsibility (and ability) to address them does not belong to any one organization.  As a result, strategies to overcome those problems are fragmented at best. 

The Minnesota Council for Quality is pleased to welcome Bill Barberg, CEO of InsightFormation, a firm that has been leading a pioneering effort in Detroit to creatively use modified versions of leading strategic management tools to coordinate the effort of a wide variety of stakeholders to address the multi-faceted challenge of breaking the cycle of poverty.  This effort (dubbed “Communities of HOPE”) focuses on transforming many of the city’s low-income, government-subsidized properties into truly supportive environments that help people improve their lives and raise healthy families.  It blends a corporate transformation, social entrepreneurship, mass collaboration and leading-edge technologies to demonstrate how a strategy-centric approach (rather than an organization-centric approach) can offer promising pathways for success.

The discussion is from 8:00-9:00 a.m. on November 6 (networking and continental breakfast begin at 7:30 a.m.) at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC), 1501 Hennepin (15th and Hennepin), downtown Minneapolis, Room L3000 (Wheelock-Whitney Library). 

Admission to PIN is FREE for Council members; $10 for partner organizations; $20 for the public.

Performance excellence and quality is difficult to achieve in any organization.  But the challenge may be even more daunting in education, where widgets are not produced, stakeholders represent oftentimes conflicting requirements (students versus parents versus businesses versus the community at large), and academic achievement – true outcomes – are sometimes difficult to measure.

The Minnesota Council for Quality is pleased to Dr. Julie Furst-Bowe, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, to our November 12 St. Paul PIN discussion.  In this session, participants will learn the building blocks of systematic quality improvement in educational organizations.  Topics will include leadership, strategic planning, student focus, workforce engagement, process design, and performance results.  Examples will be used from educational institutions who are considered role model in the country (in that they all have received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award), including the University of Wisconsin-Stout, the Monfort College of Business, Jenks Public Schools, and Richland Community College.  Lessons learned and advice will be shared.

The discussion is from 8:00-9:00 a.m. on November 12 (networking and continental breakfast begin at 7:30 a.m.) at Metro State University, 700 E 7th Street, downtown St. Paul. 

Admission to PIN is FREE for Council members; $10 for partner organizations; $20 for the public.

The Council would like to recognize 44 organizations and individuals who joined or renewed their membership in the third quarter.  Special appreciation goes to the Mayo Clinic and Mayo Health System Rochester, as they renewed their Sponsoring Memberships.  Sponsoring members’ contributions not only provide benefits to the member organization itself, but also support non-profits, school districts, and small businesses on their journey to excellence. 

These individuals and organizations became members last quarter (asterisks indicate renewal members):

Academy of Holy Angels, Richfield, MN

Artistic Finishes, Roseville, MN*

Bethel Lutheran Church, Rochester, MN*

Braas Company Minnesota, Eden Prairie, MN*

Cargill Business Excellence, Minneapolis, MN*

Dakota Communities, Inc., Eagan, MN*

DuFresne Manufacturing, Vadnais Heights, MN*

Fire-Formed Consulting, Pat O'Boyle, Eagan, MN*

Hayfield School District, Hayfield, MN*

Innovation Process Design, Inver Grove Heights, MN

International Management Technologies, Inc., Bradenton, FL*

John Hardy's Bar-B-Q, Rochester, MN*

George Karayianes, Eden Prairie, MN*

Jim Kelly, Minneapolis, MN

Kingsland Public Schools, Wykoff, MN*

Mark Konietzko, Elk River, MN

Lake Superior College, Duluth, MN*

Greg Lappin, Rochester, MN*

Leadership Planet, Eden Prairie, MN*

Lifetouch Publishing, Eden Prairie, MN*

Lyngblomsten, St. Paul, MN

Management Mastery Inc., New Brighton, MN*

Marvin Windows and Doors, Minnesota Operations, St. Paul, MN*

Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, MN*

Minnesota Army National Guard Corporate Office, Cottage Grove, MN*

Robert Mitchell, Maplewood, MN*

MN Governor's Council on Development Disabilities, St. Paul, MN*

New Page (Stora Enso Duluth Paper Mill), Duluth, MN*

Northland Community and Technical College, Center for Outreach and Innovation, Thief River Falls, MN*

Pillsbury United Communities, Minneapolis, MN*

Presbyterian Homes & Services, Management & Services, St. Paul, MN*

Quality Culture Institute, Rochester, MN*

Quality Software Technologies, Rochester, MN*

Mike Reagan, Lino Lakes, MN*

Rockwood Capital Management, Arden Hills, MN*

Rolfs & Associates, Kasson, MN*

Schroder Company, Maplewood, MN*

Hal Schroer, Golden Valley, MN*

St. Cloud Technical College, St. Cloud, MN*

Mike Stinson, Alexandria, VA

Stylmark, Minneapolis, MN

University of Minnesota College of Continuing Education, St. Paul, MN*

University of Minnesota Quality Liaison Group, Minneapolis, MN*

Winona Health, Winona, MN*

We thank all members for their support.  As of September 30, the Council represents a growing community of nearly 300 members representing over 150,000 employees.  A complete list of members is available at http://www.councilforquality.org/member.cfm.

Why should you or your organization consider membership?  There are many reasons. Your or your organization receives:

* recognition (in this newsletter, in press releases, on the website, and with a certificate/letter);

* discounts to Council services (Evaluator training, organization assessments);

* access to Council services (Clearinghouse, Consultant Referral Network, and free admission to Performance Improvement Network discussions); and

* discounts to our partners’ services (other improvement-related non-profits, universities/colleges, and professional/trade associations).

The Minnesota Section of the American Society for Quality (ASQ), an alliance partner of the Council, is pleased to announce its annual Minnesota Quality Conference October 27-28 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center: “Quality in Action: Delighting the Customer.” 

Increasing competition is forcing businesses to pay much more attention to satisfying customers.  Measuring the delight of the customer an ambiguous and abstract concept, but the Minnesota Quality Conference is here to help!  Robin Lawton will present the Keynote: “8 Dimensions of Excellence: Aligning Strategy and Measures with Customer Priorities.”  In addition, several other notable speakers will present topics on quality:

• Rip Stauffer: Statistical thinking for Leaders,  New DMAIC Model.
• Lou Asher: Full Factorial Designs, fun with Statistics
• John Hehre: Measuring Customer Satisfaction in a Lean Environment
• Gary Floss: Voice-of-the-Customer is a 2-way Street, to be safe, you need to look both ways!
• Dilip Shah: Reading and Interpreting Calibration Reports, how the data should be interpreted and audited.
• Sudip Dinda & Dave Hurd - Black Belt project showcase – Application in Injection Molding

To learn more or register, visit http://www.mnasq.org/newspages/mqcpub.html.

In addition, The Education Committee of ASQ is proud to present Twin Cities speaker and consultant, Rip Stauffer of Woodside Quality Solutions, who will conduct a three-day workshop on Lean Principles: “Basic Data Analysis with Minitab™.”  The session will be November 12-14 at Century College from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.

This workshop will focus on data analysis for Process Improvement. It will cover the basic principles and concepts related to data analysis, types of data and measurement scales, an introduction to Minitab software, and practical application and interpretation of several useful tools and techniques using Minitab. The course will include sections on Control Charting, Capability Analysis, Measurement Systems Analysis, Confidence Intervals and Hypothesis Testing, Regression and Multiple Regression. A third day will cover concepts related to basic DoE, and how to set up, run and analyze basic Full Factorial and Response Surface designs in Minitab. 

The workshop fee is $1095 for ASQ (and MCQ) Members and $1195 for nonmembers.  Recertification Units of 0.8 will be awarded.  All materials and lunch will be provided.  Participants will receive a certificate of attendance. 

Join business and manufacturing leaders from across Minnesota as we salute the contributions of manufacturers during Minnesota Manufacturers Week, October 20-24, 2008.  Conclude the weeklong celebration by attending the Minnesota Manufacturers' Summit on Friday, October 24 where manufacturing leaders will address the key issues impacting manufacturers today, including sustainable practices, workforce development, and global competitiveness.

The program includes Gov. Tim Pawlenty; David Berg, president & CEO, American Crystal Sugar Company; Nick Weis, director, engineering & technology, Crystal Cabinet Works; Jim Wendorff, vice president, human resources, Viracon; Fred Zimmerman, professor emeritus, University of St. Thomas; Dick Young, co-owner, Innova Industries, Inc.; and Elizabeth Abraham, owner, Top Tool Company.

The session is October 24 from 7:30 – 10:45 AM at the Minneapolis Marriott West (9970 Wayzata Blvd, Minneapolis).

In the world of performance improvement, we live in anticipation of positive change, yet so often our efforts come up short.  One of the biggest barriers is resistance created by the very people we try to help.  This resistance often isn’t intentional.  It may be dealing with distractions and new demands.  It may be a lack of confidence in the solution or simply not having thought through what needs to be done to accomplish the goals our clients set for themselves.

MN International Society of Performance Improvement (MNISPI), an alliance partner of the MN Council for Quality, is pleased to announce their October 21 Chapter Meeting.  The topic will be “Coaching Leaders through Change” will be facilitated by Bob Cummins, president of Stillwater Consulting and a leadership development coach.

Coaching is about helping people get from where they are to where they want to be.  Using effective coaching skills may be what’s missing from many change initiatives.  In this our discussion we will explore:

• Key principles of coaching
• The differences between coaching and consulting and
• When coaching might be most effective in support of improved performance

The Association for Strategic Planning-Minnesota Chapter, an alliance partner of the MN Council for Quality, is pleased to announce its next meeting: “What’s Next? Transition Planning for Business Leaders.”  Scheduled for October 28, the discussion will be lead by Steve Coleman of The Platinum Group.

How do business leaders effectively plan their transition?  This presentation demonstrates encouragement and guidance for reluctant business leaders who are facing transition, discussing unique challenges and keys to success.

Steve Coleman brings a sales and marketing perspective founded over 15 years in corporate experience and 25 years in consulting.  Since 1982 Coleman has served privately held business owners and leaders in addressing strategic planning, new business development, and increasingly in helping owners find exit or transition options.  Steve works uses market-based perspective as an advisor/coach directly involved with leaders and teams to set vision, clarify values, develop strategy, establish management succession plans, enable owner exit and facilitate action plan implementation in organizations that want to grow and change.

The MN OD Network, an alliance partner of the Council, is pleased to announce its next program meeting on November 5: “Transforming a Sales Organization.”  The discussion will be led by leaders from BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota.

The session is $20 for members ($25 for non-members) and will be held from 4:30-6:30 at St. Thomas, MOH Room 201.  No RSVP needed.

The next Minnesota Facilitators Network (MFN) meeting, scheduled for November 13 from 5:30-8:30PM, will focus on “Introduction to Facilitation Graphics.”  The session will be facilitated by Cheryl Kartes and Edie Meisner.

The LaCrosse-Winona ASQ Section, a partner of the Council, is pleased to announce their next meeting on October 21, which features Holmen School District’s Journey in Continuous Improvement.  Holmen District received the commitment level of the Wisconsin Forward Award (WFA is equivalent to the MN Quality Award and uses the Criteria for Performance Excellence of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award to help leaders identify improvement opportunities which optimize results). 

When Dr. Lisa Snyder became principal at Viking Elementary in 2002, the school was the lowest performer in the district and there were real concerns about achievement gaps and systems alignment.  While random acts of excellence were evident in the school, the staff wasn’t working collaboratively to serve its students.  With 38 percent of students qualifying for free or reduced-priced lunches, Viking was eligible for a comprehensive school reform grant from the state of Wisconsin.  Perhaps equally significant to the grant’s three-year $150,000 annual award was the requirement to implement a research-based continuous improvement framework, which continues to fuel a culture of excellence throughout the district.

The School District of Holmen, located in southwestern Wisconsin, is composed of six municipalities just north of La Crosse near the Mississippi River.  Approximately 335 certified staff members serve nearly 3,600 students, with another 240 people employed in full- or part-time support services roles.  An ASQ K-12 Organizational member, Holmen is a generous leader in sharing its continuous improvement experiences with other school districts both near and far.

Cost is $15 for members and guests (including Council members).  For more information, visit http://asq1216.homestead.com/SectMtgs.html; to register email Shannon Hunt at shannon.hunt@bench.com.

The increasingly complex challenges that leaders face today have caused a major change in how leadership is defined. These challenges demand more innovative solutions and require more collaborative approaches.  Leaders must also change if they are going to lead their organization to productivity, profitability, and customer loyalty.  How have you changed?  Whether you've got ideas to share or want to learn what others are bringing to the table, as JFK said, "Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."

The Strategic Leadership Insights breakfast series from the U of M College of Continuing Education is an engaging forum geared toward Twin Cities area upper-management professionals.  Each session offers an opportunity to hear from nationally recognized business experts on key workforce trends, and then opens the floor for a moderated discussion on how to address these important issues.

The 2008-09 “Transforming at Leaders” schedule is as follows:

The New Map of Leadership

Peter Hammett, Ph.D. 

October 17, 2008

Employee Passion: The New Rules of Engagement

Victoria Halsey

February 5, 2009

Special topic to be announced

Speaker TBD

May 7, 2009

The University of Minnesota’s College of Continuing Education, an alliance partner of the Council, is pleased to announce their fall improvement and business courses.  Council members receive a 10% discount on all CCE courses.

10/22         Improving Work Processes $395

10/23         Mastering New Marketing Practices $395

10/24         Project Risk Management $395

10/29         Interviewing and Selection Processes  $395

10/29         Data and Process Modeling $750

10/29         Integrated Management $395

10/30         Technical Writing $395

11/5           Project Management for IT Professionals $395

11/6-7        Measuring and Improving Work Processes $995

11/6           Supply Chain Management $395

11/7           Project Execution $395

11/11         Fundamentals of Leading Organization Development $750

11/11         Working Assertively $395

11/12         Managing Performance and Developing Talent $395

11/12         Developing Leadership Skills $750

11/13         Handling People with Tact and Diplomacy $395

11/14         Project Negotiation and Conflict Resolution $395

11/18         Strategic Analysis, Metrics, and HR Technology $395

11/19         Financial Intelligence $395

11/19         Negotiating for Agreement $395

11/20       Increasing Power and Influences through Listening $395

11/20       Writing Correspondence for Internal and External Audiences $395

11/21       Project Control and Closure $395

12/2         Leading Through Change $395

12/2         The Human Resource Audit $395

12/3         Small Group Professional Communication $750

12/3         Coaching for Excellence $395

12/4         Process Innovation $995

12/4         Capstone in Management $750

12/4         Capstone in Supervision $750

12/5         Project Management and New Product Development $395

12/9         Performance Management Process $395

12/9         Leading Individual Change Interventions – Advanced Coaching $750

12/10       Exercising Organizational Influence $395

12/10       Eight Steps of Instructional Design $990

12/11       The Recruiter as Talent Adviser $395

12/11       Human Resource Management $395

12/11       Writing Business Reports $395

12/12       Project Management and Chaos Theory $395

12/16       Strategic Human Resource Planning $395

12/16       Applied Project Management $395

12/17       Legal Issues for Managers and Supervisors $395

12/17       Verbal and Nonverbal Communication Skills $395

In addition, CCE is pleased to announce the following evening courses:

10/22       Project Procurement Management $395

11/4         Project Risk Management $395

11/4         Professional Writing $750

11/5         Project Management and Chaos Theory $395

11/18       Project Execution $395

11/18       Principles of Employee Compensation $395

11/19       Project Management and New Product Development $395

12/2         Small Group Professional Communication $750

12/2         Performance Management Process $395

12/9         Project Control and Closure $395

12/10       Project Negotiation and Conflict Resolution $395

For more information on any of these courses or a complete listing of coursework, visit the University of Minnesota’s College of Continuing Education’s website at http://www.cce.umn.edu/councilforquality.  To register, visit http://register.cce.umn.edu or call 612-624-4000.

Normandale Community College, an alliance partner of the Council, is pleased to announce three upcoming programs.  Council members receive a 15% discount.  The programs are as follows:

10/28                    Introduction to Agile Methods, $225

10/29-30              Certified Scum Product Owner, $1260

12/15-16              ScrumMaster Certification, $1260 (15% off for MCQ)

1/15-2/6              Six Sigma Green Belt Certificate Class (8 sessions), $3355 (15% off for MCQ)

For all courses, register at www.normandale.edu/continuingeducation or call Ann Wagner at 952-487-8426.

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Century College, an alliance partner of the Council, e is pleased to announce their fall quality curriculum.  Council members are entitled to a discount (in parenthesis) for the following courses:

10/2-11/20           6-9PM     ASQ Certified Manager of Quality/Organization Excellence, $995 ($945)

10/1-11/12           6-9PM     ASQ's Certified Quality Auditor Program, $595 ($545)

10/8, 10/29          9-3PM     Lean Thinking for Process Improvement, $159

10/14                    8:30-12:30  Root Cause Analysis: Getting to the Bottom of the Problem, $89

10/29                    1:30-4:30PM        Robust Tools for Problem-Solving, $79

South Central College is pleased to announce their fall quality and performance improvement curriculum.  Council members are entitled to a 10% discount.

The following courses will be held at the Faribault campus (prices before member discount):

10/21, Project Management, $235

11/6, Supplier Quality Management & Improvement, $235

11/6-7, Introduction to Six Sigma, $370

12/2, Lean Application, $235

12/3, 8-Discipline Problem Solving Tools & Methods, $235

The following courses will be held at Mankato campus (prices before member discount):

12/10, Project Management, $235

12/17, Understanding & Implementing ISO 9001:2000, $235

12/18, Internal Auditor Skills, $235

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