I was in Bentonville, Arkansas last weekend for my father’s birthday and retirement party.  I know: Arkansas is not exactly a top 10 destination for vacations (my dad worked for a consumer products company that is a major vendor for Wal-Mart), but seeing the birthplace and headquarters of the world’s largest company gave me another opportunity to reflect on organizations that have sustained excellence through good times and bad.  Wal-Mart was founded in 1962, so has seen about five recessions.  Not that they are perfect, but they have demonstrated the ability to survive (and prosper) over a long period of time.  I believe it’s because they were founded on principles – a set of core values from Sam Walton himself – that have guided how business is conducted, how decisions are made.  I also believe that all of them can apply to any organization today…

Now I have two confessions before I proceed: 1) my discounter of choice is Target (I do live in Minnesota, after all), and 2) the inspiration for this column was not my own (it came from a Harvey Mackay column about a month ago).  But after seeing Michael Bergdahl’s book (“The 10 Rules of Sam Walton,” Wiley & Sons, 2006) and reflecting on Walton’s philosophies of business, I thought his insights were worth sharing as companies continue to manage through the challenging economy.  After all, if these concepts worked for a small five-and-dime in Bentonville (actually, Rogers) as well as a $400 billion retail behemoth, then they should work in pretty much any organization.

Rule 1: Commit to your business.

According to Walton, having a passion for your organization (whether you are an entrepreneur, a corporate leader, or a contributor somewhere within an organization) may be the most important requirement for long-term success.  Think about it.  Most people work 40 hours a week (some 50, 60, or more), about 50 weeks a year, for an average of 40 years.  That’s 80,000 hours of misery if you don’t like what you’re doing.  And you can’t be fully effective if you don’t like what you’re doing.  Last month, I reflected on the link between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction (http://www.councilforquality.org/newsletter/v02/May2009.html).  You simply can’t do your work well and please your customers if you’re not pleased yourself.

By the way, as a post-script to last month’s column, I found data that may be concerning: only 29% of employees in a typical workplace are actively motivated and engaged in their jobs, while 54% are not engaged at all and 17% are actively disengaged (source: Gallop Management Journal).  

So if you like what you’re doing, fully commit to the organization (and if you don’t like what you’re doing, consider a change).

Rule 2: Share your profits with all your associates, and treat then as partners.

Sam Walton’s philosophy is that if you treat your people as partners, they will treat you as a partner as well – they will hard for you, commit to the organization, and share the passion.  The term “servant leadership” was coined after Sam Walton’s rise to prominence, but he typified that philosophy perhaps before its time.  Give (or encourage) your people to have a stake in your organization, which aligns the company’s interests with its employees’.  Many companies have profit-sharing (stock ownership or other incentives) for senior employees; Sam Walton believed you needed to treat ALL employees as partners.

Rule 3: Motivate your partners.

Always think of new and innovative ways to engage with your people.  Set high expectations of performance (and help your people achieve those goals by providing resources and support where needed).  Encourage innovation and creativity in your organization; reward risk-taking.  Keep things fresh – rotate jobs, create (healthy) contests, keep things fun.

Rule 4: Communicate everything you possibly can to your partners.

Walton’s philosphy: “The more they know, the more they’ll understand. The more they understand, the more they’ll care.  Once they care, there’s no stopping them.”  (Two-way) communication is important all the time, but it’s paramount during tough times.  Give employees what they need to be successful – be open and transparent. 

Rule 5: Appreciate everything your associates do for the business.

Reward and recognize your people.  Give them credit for taking initiative, for taking risks, for giving their time and talents to the organization, and for accomplishing goals.  And I’m not talking about financial incentives (that’s Rule 2) -- nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise.    

Rule 6: Celebrate your success.

Take time to celebrate your successes as an organization – to reflect on what’s working well and what you’ve accomplished over time.  But also take time to reflect on failures – study what didn’t go particularly well and why.  Consider mistakes an opportunity for learning and improvement.

Rule 7: Listen to everyone in your company and figure out ways to get them talking.

Build listening posts to systematically get the voice of your employees – to hear their needs, their concerns, their ideas.  Organizations use surveys, town hall meetings, internactive intranet (including internal blogs and other social media), informal management chats (“rounding” in healthcare, “management by walking around” in the 80s and early 90s) – whatever works for your organization’s culture and style.  According to Walton, the folks on the front lines -- the ones who actually engage with the customer -- are the only ones who really know what’s going on out there.  You’d better find out what they know.  Give your people a voice…and then take action on their input.

Rule 8: Exceed your customer’s expectations.

An obvious rule perhaps, but the customer is king – in good times and particularly in bad.  Like with your employees, build systematic listening posts to hear customers’ needs, input, and complaints.  Give them a way to express their satisfaction (or concerns).  And then align all of your organizational resources to satisfying their expectations (or perhaps just a little bit more).  Wal-Mart is known for its excellent service, because they stand behind everything they do (Sam Walton’s mantra was “Satisfaction Guaranteed,” which is a policy still today).  Let customers know how important they are to your organization and constantly deliver results.  They’ll be satisfied, loyal, and engaged – they’ll keep coming back, and they’ll keep referring others.

Rule 9: Control your expenses better than your competition.

Organizations are probably trying harder at this rule today given the economy, but organizations should ALWAYS focus on productivity, efficiency, and cost-control.  Use tools like Lean to eliminate waste; use methods like Six Sigma to reduce variation and design quality into products and processes.  More efficient companies will not only have better financial margins, but they will have the ability to pass on the benefits to customers, further creating a competitive advantage in the long-run.  Wal-Mart is still a leader today in cost control, and consequently has established itself as the dominant discount retail leader worldwide.

Rule 10: Swim upstream.

Be innovative, make changes, anticipate where the market is going.  If you’re doing what all your competitors are doing, it’s difficult to create a differing advantage in the marketplace.  But if you’re challenging the status quo and constantly evolving, improving, and changing, you stand a chance of always being a step ahead.  Sam’s comment on this: “If everybody else is doing it one way, there’s a good chance you can find your niche by going in exactly the opposite direction. But be prepared for a lot of folks to wave you down and tell you you’re headed the wrong way. I guess in all my years, what I heard more often than anything was: A town of less than 50,000 population cannot support a discount store for very long.”

I guess he proved a lot of people wrong.  Wal-Mart has grown from a five-and-dime to a $400 billion company, weathering five or six recessions and enjoying the top market share of any discount retailer in the world (by a factor of nearly SEVEN).  They’re not perfect, but they do a lot of things right.  And those insights could help us all as we manage through difficult times.

Yours in Improvement,

Brian S. Lassiter

President, Minnesota Council for Quality

The need to improve your organization’s performance has perhaps never been greater.  The difficult economy over the last few years has created a renewed need for improvement and systemic change within all organizations: customers expect more, competent workers are growing scarce, and competition is intensifying.  But – with the complexity of organizations – where does one start?  How do you know on which processes to focus?  And how to do you sustain the improvement over time?

There is an inexpensive, highly effective process for your organization...

The Minnesota Council for Quality’s primary product is an organizational assessment that helps organizational leaders better understand and prioritize key strengths and improvement opportunities, upon which plans can be created.  (And we now offer a “short cut” consultant-led assessment for organizations who want the rigor of an assessment, but want to minimize the investment of organizational time – read on!)

This assessment, much like an annual health physical, helps managers understand what is working well in their organizations, and on what they should be focusing their attention.  The foundation of the assessment is the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which outlines validated criteria that have been shown to produce excellent organizational results.  While our assessment is the foundation of our Minnesota Quality Award, its main focus is on organizational learning, resource optimization, and improvement.

Why Consider an Organizational Assessment?

The value of an assessment is its ability to improve performance – to improve outcomes and drive tangible organizational results.  There is growing evidence of the value of systemic organizational assessments.  Consider the data from one study in 20011.  Organizations that won their state quality award compared to a control group of matched companies show superior performance:

• operating profit margins of 46.8% versus 2.7%,

• return on assets of 10.3% versus -5.5%, and
• return on equity of 18.7% versus -5.9%.

In another similar study in 19992, award winners show tremendous growth over a control group of similar organizations.  They show:

• 58% faster growth in stock price appreciation,
• 116% faster growth in sales,
• 114% faster growth in total assets, and
• 229% growth in employees.

In fact, organizations that use this process show high levels and improvement trends in a variety of indicators – financial, customer/student/patient/stakeholder, employee, and operations.

Our organizational assessment has several goals.  It:

• Enhances organizational learning and prioritization of key strengths and improvement opportunities, upon which plans can be created
• Facilitates the improvement, alignment, and integration of overall organizational effectiveness and capabilities
• Assists in the delivery of ever-improving value to an organization’s customers and stakeholders
• Facilitates organizational and personal learning
• Monitors progress over time

The Baldrige framework is divided into seven Categories, which form an organizational system: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; workforce focus; process management; and results.

Our assessment evaluates organizational approaches (processes), the extent to which they are deployed, evaluated/improved, aligned, and integrated throughout the organization, and their effectiveness at driving organizational results.

Two Types of Assessment: MN Quality Award & a New Short-Cut

We offer two forms of evaluation: the comprehensive Minnesota Quality Award assessment (which can use a narrative approach or Baldrige Express survey approach), and an alternative assessment (which is a consultant-facilitated assessment that is intended to save considerable time and resources).  We made significant chances to the Award process in 2008, to segment organizations into two categories – in an effort to align resources and streamline the process for organizations earlier in their journey to excellence.  And the new “alternative assessment” is intended to be an entry-level evaluation – providing organizations all the benefits of the validated Baldrige framework without the rigor or time demands.

Either assessment provides leaders with prioritized improvement opportunities upon which action plans can be created and improvement plans executed.  And both are designed to help organizations improve results and reach higher levels of excellence.

Are you interested in learning more about what makes organizations successful?  Are you interested in helping other organizations -- such as schools, hospitals, non-profits, and businesses -- around the state improve their performance?  Would you be interested in networking, learning, and sharing with others who feel the same way?

The Minnesota Council for Quality is seeking candidates for the 2009 Minnesota Quality Award Board of Evaluators.  The third and final training session in 2009 is September 29-October 1 in Roseville.

There are many benefits to becoming an Evaluator, such as:

• strengthening your understanding of what drives organizational excellence (the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence represent a validated set of best practices for organizational excellence, and can be useful for improving any organization’s performance) – and the 2009 Criteria represent significant changes, especially in terms of customer focus/engagement, core competencies, and sustainability/social responsibility (see article 9 below);
• networking with influential leaders and professionals (this year’s Board of Evaluators will include about 150 leaders from around the state – executives, middle managers, surgeons and physicians, superintendents and school teachers, non-profit and public sector leaders, quality professionals, and consultants);
• seeing “best practices” deployed within another organization – knowledge that you could use back at your organization and/or in your career, helping organizations throughout the state – many of them schools, health care providers, non-profits, public sector agencies, and certainly businesses – improve their performance…simply get better at what they do; and
• developing a set of other professional skills that may help you advance your career – skills such as consensus- and team-building, written communication, verbal communication and interpersonal skills, interviewing, analysis, and systems thinking.

Most Evaluators consider the experience to be among the most valuable of their careers.  In fact, many have claimed that the experience and knowledge gained from this process rivals getting an MBA or advanced business degree.

Furthermore, Evaluators can earn college (undergrad and post-grad) credit for participating in training.  For interested Evaluators, the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin-Stout both offer three (3) hours of credit in partnership with the Minnesota Council for Quality.

If you are interested in joining the 2009 Board of Evaluators, training will be Sept 29-Oct 1 in Roseville.  In addition to the full three-day training session, new Evaluators are also required to attend a one-day orientation (either September 10, 16, or 17 – you choose, and all in the Twin Cities).

Applications for new Evaluators are due September 4.  Applications for returning Evaluators (which only require updates from your most recent application) are due September 18.

Teams, departments, organizations, and even personal relationships often come down how effective people are at managing conflict, resolving disagreements, and finding common ground.  Individuals’ ability to resolve conflict usually outweighs technical competencies, methods, and tools – in business and personal lives.

The MN Council for Quality is pleased to welcome Anna Maravelas, founder of Thera Rising, to the next Twin Ports Performance Excellence Network (Duluth) July 14.  Anna tackles a commonly overlooked but costly phenomenon in her popular presentation, “Self-Defeating Habits of Otherwise Brilliant People®.”  An expert in workplace conflict resolution and a devotee of Deming, Maravelas contends that frustrated leaders and employees can avoid behaviors that fuel destructive disagreements rather than wasting profits and time resolving them—continuously.  You will learn 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.

The discussion is from 7:30-9:00 a.m. on July 14 (networking and continental breakfast begin at 7:00 a.m.) at AMSOIL in Superior.  Admission to TPPEN is FREE for Council members. 

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 Minnesota Council for Quality and our affiliate, the Rochester Area Quality Council, are pleased to announce a special full-day workshop: “Self-Defeating Habits of Otherwise Brilliant People: Pulling Together When Things Fall Apart.”  The workshop will be held August 19 in the Twin Cities and November 4 in Rochester (and TBD in Duluth), and 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.

Thera Rising has an international reputation, in workplace conflict resolution, team building and leadership development.  The founder, Anna Maravelas is the author of, “How to Reduce Workplace Conflict and Stress” (Career Press) which readers rate a five-star “must read” on Amazon.com.  Anna’s work has been published in the NY Times, Oprah Magazine, and MSNBC.  More information on Thera Rising can be found at http://www.therarising.com/. 

Speaker: Anna Maravelas, founder of Thera Rising
Dates: Wed, Aug 19 (Metro); Wed, Nov 4 (Rochester); TBD Duluth

Time: 7:30 Registration, networking, breakfast; 8:00-4:00 Program
Location: TBD

Cost: $200 members; $300 members of partner organizations; $400 non-members

Council sessions led by Ms. Maravelas in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Rochester all sold out – don’t miss this valuable program!!  Space is limited.  Please register by emailing brian.lassiter@councilforquality.org your name, organizational affiliation, and email address – and which session you prefer.

“Those who know what, and those who know how, work for those who know why.”

Zig Ziglar

Good organizations today have specialists in Six Sigma, Lean, Baldrige, Reengineering, Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA or PDSA), and other techniques working to improve the performance of their enterprise.  They are excellent at knowing what to do and how to go about it, but they may not have a good appreciation for the system of quality, the theory behind their activities, and the rationale for why particular concepts, theories, and methods work.  In short, they don’t fully appreciate the “why” of quality and improvement.  In addition, they may not have the tools to effectively integrate process improvement frameworks with the strategy and culture of the organization.

The Minnesota Council for Quality, in cooperation with Process Management LLC, is pleased to offer a 2.5 day seminar on the history of quality and the theories of the American and Japanese masters of quality -- Shewhart, Deming, Ishikawa, Taguchi, Tribus, Sarasohm, Feigenbaum, Mogensen, Mizuno, Juran, Akao, Kano, and Crosby. 

This seminar will also focus on how improvement professionals can integrate their process improvement work in the context of their organization’s strategy and culture.  The seminar is a mixture of lecture, exercises, and demonstrations.

The seminar will be presented by Lou Schultz, a uniquely qualified expert who has enjoyed meeting all but two of the quality masters.  Mr. Schultz, author of Profiles in Quality, Learning from the Masters, worked 25 years in industry before becoming a quality consultant for the last 21 years.  He worked closely with Dr. Deming for 13 of those years.

This seminar is a must for executives or quality professionals who are now leading (or aspire to lead) performance improvement activities for their organizations.  Whether your organization embraces Six Sigma, Lean, Baldrige, ISO, Scorecard, another framework, or any combination of frameworks, this seminar will provide the context of quality -- the “why” quality is important.

Attendees will receive a textbook and a course manual which contain items such as a copy of Shewhart’s original control chart from 1924, and a copy of a Stanford University poster advertising the short course in quality for the United States organizations gearing up to produce war goods during World War II.  Attendees will gain an understanding of the theories of productivity and quality management, a collection of ideas to improve their organization, a set new beliefs, and enthusiasm for better ways to act.

It will be presented at a location in the central Twin Cities Metro on August 5-6, 8:00-4:30 PM both days.  The fee for the 2-day seminar is $400 (for members), $800 (non-members). 

To register or request additional information, contact Brian Lassiter of the Minnesota Council for Quality at brian.lassiter@councilforquality.org.

Due to the holiday, there are no Performance Improvement Network (PIN) meetings or Rochester Area Quality Council (RAQC) meetings in July.  But mark your calendars for the August meetings:

• August 4 (Rochester) focused on strategic planning (featuring Albert Lea Medical Center)
• August 6 (Minneapolis) focused on stretching development dollars during tough times
• August 12 (St. Paul) topic TBD

Are you looking for a strategic planning consultant?  A consultant with Six Sigma, Lean, Balanced Scorecard, Baldrige, or ISO?  A consultant or trainer on leadership Organizational Development, or change efforts?  Times are tough, and now is the best time to invest in improving your organization.

The Minnesota Council for Quality -- in cooperation with the Delaware Alliance for Excellence, the Kansas Center for Performance Excellence, the Michigan Quality Council, the Ohio Partnership for Excellence, Quality Texas Foundation, the Vermont Council for Quality, the Washington State Quality Award, and the Wisconsin Forward Award -- is pleased to offer a free on-line service, the Consultant Referral Network©, to help organizations find experts to help them improve their business.

Located at www.consultantreferralnetwork.org, the Consultant Referral Network is a dynamic, web-enabled search tool that connects organizational improvement experts to client organizations seeking them.  This service allows clients to outline their needs in terms of subject matter expertise sought, type of assistance desired (consulting, training, coaching, speaking, or facilitating), sector/industry expertise required, size of consulting firm desired, desired location of consulting firm, and years of experience preferred.  The client can also weight the relative importance of each variable.  The tool will then identify up to five consultants or firms that best match the client’s needs.

Organizations can also peruse a directory of all consultants, sorted by subject matter expertise, location, and other factors. 

Use code MCQ for deep discounts on these webinars – read on!

Rising expectations, new technologies and seismic changes in the economic, environmental and social world offer significant rewards to customer-centered innovators.  Unfortunately, successful innovation can be very hard to achieve because the enterprise and would-be innovators have certain tendencies.  The Minnesota Council for Quality is pleased to partner with Rob Lawton and IMT on another series of very interactive, highly practical webinars that give you a clear path, tools, and a framework to strengthen your innovation pursuits.

The last of three sessions is June 26 (11AM-1PM CT): MEASURING SATISFACTION, With and Without Surveys.

You will see how to apply innovation to the service and knowledge work the vast majority of us do. You will leave this fast paced and content rich session with many takeaways, including:

• The 7 Principles for successful innovations that meet the WOW! test
• Tools to anticipate (and test) what customers want
• The key concept that makes innovation for service as easy as for widgets
• The #1 attribute every successful innovation has
• What drives customers to say, “That sucks!”
• The Innovation Roadmap to customer love and competitor envy
• How to encourage divergent thinking of outcomes versus just convergent thinking about processes and product features

Robin Lawton, president of International Management Technologies, Inc. (IMT), is a best-selling author and internationally recognized expert in creating rapid strategic alignment between enterprise objectives and customer priorities. His easy-to-understand principles and tools are outlined in his first book (5-star rated on Amazon), Creating a Customer-Centered Culture: Leadership in Quality, Innovation and Speed. Some of his other books and articles are described at www.imtC3.com .

Rob is repeatedly ranked “Best Speaker” at international and national conferences sponsored by organizations such as the Federal Executive Board, American Society for Quality, Association for Manufacturing Excellence, Minnesota Hospital Association, Japan Management Association, Chamber of Commerce, International Standards Organization, Baldrige-based state award organizations from Arizona to Wisconsin and other leadership development societies.  His corporate clients include award-winning organizations such as AT&T, Honda, Mayo Clinic, Motorola, Siemens, General Mills, American Express, Ford, Eastman Kodak, Blue Cross Blue Shield, U.S. Department of Defense and many others. Clients from government include agencies representing Alaska, Alberta, California, Missouri, Kentucky, Texas, Minnesota, Florida and elsewhere.

For more information visit http://www.councilforquality.org/specialevent3.cfm or call 941-907-0666.  To register, visit www.imtc3.com/events/UpcomingEvents.cfm by June 12 for Early Bird Discounts as low as $49/person.

The next Minnesota Facilitators Network (MFN) meeting, scheduled for June 25 13 from 12:00-1:00, will focus on “Online Social Networking: Golden Oppty or Giant Time Sucker?”  The session lively and informative virtual session with Dr. Shaun Jamison.  Dr. Jamison is a coach, speaker, and an internet obsessed social networking fan.  See below for a special offer from Dr. Jamison.

You have heard about online networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  Maybe you’ve given one a try.  Some of you might wonder what all of the fuss is about.  Others whether it’s worth the time.  Some want to know what it takes to get going and how to make it work.

Did you know that facilitators may have a natural advantage when it comes to social networking?  Might social networking sites offer the newest, lowest cost professional development available to humankind?  Can anyone really build participatory community 140 characters at a time?

Dr. Shaun Jamison will give us an introduction to online social networking and the characteristics of the three most popular sites: LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to give us context for our conversation.  Then it will be up to you!  Bring your questions and comments – from simple to savvy – and we’ll share a lively discussion of the merits and methods of online networking for facilitators.  This session will be a gentle introduction for those who have never tried online social networking, as well as provide space for more expert practitioners to share their wisdom.

The Minnesota Chapter of Project Management Institute (PMI), an alliance partner of the Council, is pleased to announced its next breakfast session: “Project Time Management.”  The session will be held July 14, and will be facilitated by John Kaman, PMP & Cheryl Kartes, CTF. 

The focus of the topic will be on the PMBOK 4th Ed Project Time Management. We will discuss how PMI treats the processes required to manage timely completion of a project. This includes the

• Sequencing of Activities,
• Estimating Resources and Activity Durations,
• Developing the Schedule (calculating the critical path and float) and then finally
• Controlling the Schedule.

This will be an interactive session with plenty of time for Q and A.

In addition, co-presenter Cheryl Kartes will capture John’s presentation in graphic format using a methodology titled Graphics Facilitation, thus engaging the right brain as well as the left in a learning format.

We are pleased to announce that registration for the 2009 Baldrige Regional Conferences is now open.  The conferences, featuring the 2008 Baldrige Award recipients and former recipients, will be held:

September 15, 2009: Hyatt Regency Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI

October 2, 2009: Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Cambridge, MA

Register today at http://www.maccinc.com/brc09/ and receive the advance registration rate for the conferences. 

Complete information on the Regional Conferences is available at

http://www.baldrige.nist.gov/2009_Regionals/Regionals.htm

If you have questions about the conferences, please contact us at 301-975-2036 or e-mail baldrige@nist.gov. 

Enterprise Minnesota, formerly Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI) and a partner of the MN Council for Quality, is pleased to announce several events, all focused on using Lean or other methods to improve organizational performance:

Jul 22: The Next Generation of Lean, St. Cloud

Aug 19: Finding New Revenue Streams in Sales, Marketing, and Prod Development, Twin Cities

Sept 23: The Business Case for Going Green, Elk River

Oct 21: Practical Innovation for Growth and Profitability, Twin Cities

Nov 18: Supply Chain: Strategies to Drive Performance, Twin Cities

Dec 16: The Next Generation of Lean, Twin Cities

The Mayo Clinic is pleased to announce its 14th annual Conference on Quality, Safety, and Service.  The event will be September 29-30 in Rochester – save the date!

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

06/24, Building Teamwork and Commitment, $395

06/25, Project Planning, $750

06/25, Verbal and Nonverbal Communication Skills, $395

07/14, Human Resource Management, $395

07/14, Introduction to HR Practices, $395

07/14, Principles of Supervision, $995

07/14, Accelerated Essential Supervision Certificate Program, $3,500

07/14, Accelerated Daytime Human Resource Generalist Certificate Program, $3,500

07/16, Negotiating for Agreement, $395

07/16, Accelerated Daytime Interpersonal Effectiveness Certificate Program, $1,850

07/23, Introduction to E-Learning and Webinars, $495

07/23, Succession Planning: Building the Leadership Pipeline, $395

07/28, The Human Resource Audit, $395

07/28, Working Assertively, $395

07/29, Managing Virtual and Remote Teams, $395

07/29, Improving Work Processes, $395

07/29, Accelerated Daytime Essential Management Certificate Program, $3,500

08/06, High Impact Presentations, $395

08/11, Staffing: Recruitment and Selection, $395

08/11, Performance Consulting, $495

08/12, Delegating to Enhance Job Performance, $395

08/13, Workforce Development Planning, $395

08/18, Foundations in Business Writing, $395

08/18, Accelerated Daytime Business Writing Certificate Program, $1,850

08/19, Creativity and Innovation, $395

08/19, Investigations and Documentation, $395

09/11, Project Management Foundations, $395

09/11, Accelerated Daytime Essential Project Management Certificate Program, $3,500

09/15, Introduction to Business Analysis, $395

09/15, Designing Employee Orientation Programs, $395

09/15, Process Mapping and Analysis, $995

09/15, Accelerated Daytime Business Analysis Certificate Program, $1,850

09/16, Foundations in Business Writing, $395

09/16, Introduction to HR Practices, $395

09/16, Writing Correspondence for Internal and External Audiences, $395

09/16, Certified Internal Auditors (CIA) Test Preparation – Part 1, $750

09/16, Building Teamwork and Commitment, $395

09/16, Creative Training Techniques, $1485

09/17, Successfully Dealing with Conflict at Work, $395

09/18, Project Initiation, $395

09/22, Successful Manager’s Leadership Program, $2995

09/22, Legal Issues in Human Resources and Management, $395

09/29, Managing Business Requirements, $750

09/24, Mastering New Marketing Practices, $395

09/24, Talent Acquisition: Recruiter as Talent Advisor, $395

09/25, Project Leadership, $395

09/29, How to Deal with Difficult People, $395

09/29, Employee Benefits Practices and Trends, $395

09/30, American Accent Improvement or Modification, $750

09/30, Interviewing and Selection Processes for Supervisors, $395

09/30, Management Fundamentals, $750

10/01, Fundamentals of Leading Organization Development, $750

10/02, Project Management for IT Professionals, $395

10/06, Documenting Employee Performance, $395

10/07, Integrated Management, $395

10/07, Certified Internal Auditors (CIA) Test Preparation – Part 2, $750

10/09, Project Planning, $750

10/13, Principles of Employee Compensation, $395

10/13, Problem Solving and Decision Making, $395

10/13, Strategic Planning and Measurement, $750

10/13, Business Process Management and the Balanced Scorecard, $995

10/13, Data and Process Modeling, $750

10/20, Advanced Editing and Proofreading Strategies, $395

10/21, Legal Issues for Managers and Supervisors, $395

10/21, Handling People with Tact and Diplomacy, $395

10/21, Successfully Dealing with Conflict at Work, $395

10/23, Project Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, $395

10/27, Performance Management Process, $395

10/28, Certified Internal Auditors (CIA) Test Preparation- Part 3, $995

10/29, Leading Through Change, $395

10/29, Personal Influence and Leadership, $395

10/30, Project Risk Management, $395

11/03, Successful Manager’s Leadership Program, $2995

11/05, Handling People with Tact and Diplomacy, $395

11/05, Advanced Creative Training Techniques, $495

11/05, Financial Intelligence, $395

11/06, Project Execution, $395

11/10, Technical Writing, $395

11/10, Organizational Training and Development, $395

11/10, Measuring and Improving Work Processes, $995

11/11, Managing Performance and Developing Talent, $395

11/11, Professional Writing, $750

11/13, Applied Project Management, $395

11/17, Writing Correspondence for Internal and External Audiences, $395

11/18, Developing Leadership Skills, $750

11/19, Increasing Power and Influence through Listening, $395

11/20, Project Control and Closure, $395

12/01, Writing for the Web, $395

12/01, Technology for HR Management, $395

12/02, Coaching for Excellence, $395

12/03, Exercising Organizational Influence, $395

12/08, Process Innovation, $995

12/09, Project Management Foundations, $395

12/09, Certified Internal Auditors (CIA) Test Preparation – Part 4, $395

12/10, In-depth Coaching: Leading Individual Change Intervention, $750

12/15, Writing Business Reports, $395

12/15, Capstone in Supervision, $750

12/15, Capstone in Management, $750

12/15, Verbal and Nonverbal Communication, $395

12/15, Business Acumen for HR Professionals, $395

The University of St. Thomas’ Executive Education and Professional Development, a partner of the MN Council for Quality, is pleased to announce the following upcoming programs:

7/13-8/6 Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certificate, $8200

9/10 Principles and Tools of the Lean Enterprise, $425

9/16 – 12/9 Mini MBA for Technical Professionals, $2495

9/17 – 11/19 Mini Master of Supply Chain Management, $2495

9/18 – 10/13 Mini Master of the Lean Enterprise, $2495

10/2 – 10/24 Six Sigma Green Belt Certificate, $3795

For more information or to register, visit http://www.stthomas.edu/execed or call 651-962-4600.

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