I’ve been involved with grant applications, submission, proposals, tenders, quotes, etc., for 40 years – and the concerns people continue to share with me about this ‘thankless task’ pretty well remain the same:  it’s the people who change, rather than the concerns.  The most commonly expressed concerns are listed below, grouped under broad headings – all of which are highly relevant today.

Your company’s or organisation’s responses to the likelihood of change –

Attracting additional resources – whether funds, sponsorship, value-in-kind, partnership relationships, etc - almost certainly involves change for your company or organisation:

1. How do you get access to vital information about your company or organisation when the person in control of that information refuses you access?
2. How do you find out what your organisation is prepared to do differently or better than is happening now?
3. How do you convince people of the benefits, profit, savings, new opportunities, etc.,  if additional resources become available to introduce specific change… and how do you  gain their commitment to the possibility of change?

Applying to an internal source –

In large organisations, companies, departments, conglomerates – internal applications, submissions or proposals are commonplace:

1. What happens when the efficiency you are predicting in your application, submission or proposal is seen by managers, co-workers or colleagues as a threat to their territory or status?
2. How do you identify ’key players’ or ‘key stakeholders’ within your organisation, and obtain their support?

 Finding a likely funding source/sponsor -

1. Where do you go to get funding?
2. Is it ‘who’ you know rather than ‘what’ you know?

Writing the response document -

The ‘response’ document is your application – sometimes provided electronically, sometimes provided as a series of questions, and sometimes it’s left to the writer to work out what to include:

1. How do you make sure that you use the current, fashionable jargon/language?
2. How do you match needs to criteria?
3. How do you write specific, appropriate and achievable aims, rather than simply and easily present broad generalisations?
4. What amount of detail should you include?
5. What is the art of submission structure?
6. What if you are writing from a small group within a larger company or organisation – rather than from the organisation-as-a-whole?
7. How do you use standardised forms?

Reading the guidelines or brief from the funding source/sponsor -

A separate checklist is available on this website on how to read – or write – a tender brief, or submission/grant application guidelines:

1. How do you understand and interpret the brief or guidelines?
2. How do you select the key points to address in your submission, grant application or proposal?
3. What are the differences in seeking funds or support from a Government Department, Municipal Council, Philanthropic Foundation or Trust?
4. How do you know how much to ask for, or how to prepare a reasonable budget – is it better to ask for more than you need in case they give you less?

Developing your project plan -

Your response document should include a detailed project plan: this is a schedule of activity from the date of receiving the funds or support through to a successful conclusion of the funded or sponsored action or activity:

1. How do you define the need, problem or opportunity – and express it clearly?
2. How do you conceptualise what the project will achieve?
3. How do you go about researching needs – how do you define ‘need’, what if there’s a variety of needs?
4. How do needs link with innovation?
5. How do you use surveys?
6. What about inflexible barriers/boundaries?
7. What’s the best way to ensure a successful outcome?

After lodging the submission document -

1. How can you track the progress of your application, submission or proposal after it has been lodged?
2. How can you find out why you were unsuccessful?
3. What do you do after you hear that you’ve been successful?

Managing your time in preparing your submission

1. How can I do all of this preparation, write the response, and lodge it before the due date – as well as do all the other things I’m required to do each day in my job?
2. What about the closing date – is it flexible?
3. Is it better to lodge an incomplete or inadequate response rather than miss the due date?

 Many useful and free articles are available on this website in response to many of these concerns – or you may wish to purchase Successful Submission Writing for Business and Nonprofits – 3rd Edition – you’ll find this listed with Jean’s books.  You can purchase this through Paypal.

Why?  Simply because each person is an individual entity, with her/his life experiences, personality, cultural background, characteristics, preferred way of doing things and making choices. 

There will always be differences as well as similarities in a group, even a group of two.  Think about groups you are familiar with - including at work, in a social setting, within a family,  playing sport, on a bus tour, in a holiday resort.  You will have observed potential for conflict in any of these settings.  However, have you also observed the manner and extent to which such potential has been at best eased or managed, or at worst ignored?

People should never be surprised when conflict occurs, whether suddenly and unexpectedly – or after a long or painful period of development.

Conflict can be like a promised cool change when still in the midst of a heat-wave: we know it is coming, but it seems forever away.  Or it can be like a sudden tropical storm with all the drama of thunder, lightening, fierce winds and torrential rain – one minute on the horizon, the next minute all around us.

The better equipped you are to anticipate conflict, the better equipped you are to deal with it sensitively and effectively - or even to avoid it.

Jean offers a free discussion paper that can be used by managers, supervisors, HR staff, in-house trainers, team leaders, team members, committees, boards – indeed for any person interested to explore the reality of conflict.   

Email jean@jeanroberts.com.au for your free copy.

The purpose of Jean’s Conflict Discussion Paper is to explain:

1. what conflict is
2. how it can be recognised
3. how it can happen
4. what can be done to deal with it
5. how it might be avoided

Here’s a sample:

CONFLICT – WHAT IS IT?      The dictionary gives these definitions:

• a struggle between opposing forces: a battle
• opposition between ideas, interests etc: a controversy
• opposition between two simultaneous but incompatible wishes or drives, sometimes leading to emotional tension.
• to come into opposition: to clash
• to fight 

Each of these definitions gives an immediately negative picture. However, when handled sensitively and with respect, conflict can release people and groups from fear of the unknown, from ideas and procedures that are out of date, or from being controlled or manipulated by undesirable people or influences.

The Constitution as a legal document establishes the expectation of association, company or cooperative members upon the Board or Committee as the governing body of the legal entity:  together with the broader requirements of relevant law, the Constitution establishes the required behaviour and accountability of the governing body, and 

The Statement of Purpose or Objects, as a Rule in the constitution, provides the focus for the organisation in all strategic, operational and financial planning, and

Board or Committee-endorsed policies and procedures set down the manner in which the Rules within the Constitution are to be implemented, followed and resourced, and

The Board or Committee-endorsed Integrated Planning Framework (ranging from the strategic – through business and operational – to individual work plans) establishes the required procedure for monitoring and managing process and progress against the endorsed plans at all levels of activity within the organisation.

Major sections of a constitution

1. the legal name of the entity
2. definition of terms used in the constitution
3. statement of purpose or objects – this is the purpose for which incorporation or registration is requested and granted, and for which the organisation exists
4. rules by which the entity will operate, including the process for amending or changing the statement of purpose or rules, and the legal process of winding-up or terminating the entity.

Direction is given in the rules within the Constitution regarding the procedure for nomination, election or appointment of Board or Committee members – who are legally accountable to the Association’s membership base to ensure that:

1.  all resources available to the organisation are invested in or applied to the purpose of the organisation, and
2.  the affairs and activities of the organisation are carried out in accordance with the rules. 

Most importantly, the Constitution gives direction on the distribution of surplus funds, requiring that they are to be invested in the affairs and activities of the organisation.

Major components of an Integrated Planning Framework

Planning is simply looking to the future and discovering alternative courses of action.

Strategic planning is the process of reducing ‘possible’ alternatives to selected and specific courses of action over a 3-5 year period which are most likely to achieve and enrich the purpose for which the organisation exists… ie providing particular benefits for Association members and service-users.

The Strategic Plan is just the starting point in introducing sound business practices – and always remember that a nonprofit organisation providing services is in the business of providing services!   

The process is explained in sequential order:

1. The 3-5 year Strategic Plan informs the –
2. Year 1 Business, Operational and Individual Work plans (ie all activity that must occur during the first year of the strategic planning period in order to achieve the strategic goals or key result areas) -
3. which inform the Budget Estimates and Cashflow Projections for each financial year of the strategic planning period, which are monitored through –
4. Financial methods, controls, checks and balances – and
5. Key Performance Indicators, Measures and time specific targets at all levels of activity within the organisation – and
6. Risk Avoidance/Management Procedures – and
7. Continuous quality improvement procedures and practices – through an appropriate
8. Organisational structure, policy framework, with adequate and up-to-date corporate functions.

You’ll know that change can be introduced or imposed in such a way that it is seen to be moving too far, too fast, and too soon.  Have you seen people fall away and behind, their interest and support disintegrate and found yourself – as the initiator or facilitator of change – stranded and isolated?     When this happens, the task of regaining that ground will be difficult and daunting, to say the least.

It seems as though we are in a constant state of change – and a constant emphasis on fear!

It doesn’t help that fear is increasingly prominent as a basis for managing change – fear about the present situation, fear about options for change, and fear about the process of change.  Just look at the deluge of advertisements for health products or treatments for the prominence of fear as a motivating factor for introducing change into your choice of food, healthy living habits or medical/treatment options.

With this background, it’s no wonder that fear relating to change is a growing challenge for ‘change agents’ of any kind in any context.

The speed with which change is introduced can be a crucial factor in its success. The best advice I can offer is to heed the concept of MOMENTUM where there are three basic components –

• the size of the object,
• the speed with which it is moving, and
• the direction in which it is moving.

If you transfer these components to the introduction of change, you are looking at:

• the size of the change – the amount of change and the degree to which the organizational environment is going to be affected by the change,
• the speed of introducing the change – the amount of preliminary discussion, preparation and planning, and
• the direction in which the change is taking the organisation – the purpose and vision you are working to achieve in the grand, as well as this immediate, plan.

Change which grows out of analysis and identification of the status quo will, of its very nature, respect the three components of momentum and will develop its own genuine self-induced momentum.  However, imposed change can bring about disruption and disquiet:  transplanting change from someone else’s context can be disastrous; and forced change can be treated with a mammoth lack of enthusiasm.

Jean’s DRIVING CHANGE SEQUENCE is offered to assist in:

• moving from ‘fear about’ to ‘interest in’ and then ‘commitment to’ change,
• planning change,
• responding to imposed change, or
• evaluating a recent change process.

Underlying Principle:

In planning change – or responding to imposed change – carefully consider and monitor:

• the size of the change – the amount of change that is acceptable to the Four Primary Players in Driving Change (Step 1 below), and the degree to which the organizational environment (both internal and external) is going to be affected by the change process or outcome,
• the speed of introducing the change – carefully examine the Drivers (ie catalysts, causes or contributors to change), and carefully schedule preliminary discussion, preparation and planning to ensure that the speed is appropriate to the nature of change, and
• the direction in which the change is taking the Organisation – that the focus of change is on the purpose and vision you are working to achieve in the grand, as well as this immediate, plan.

Step 1:  Carefully consider the needs, interests and aspirations within these Four Categories of Primary Players in Driving Change:

1. the Individuals – people who make up the Organisation, and who will be involved with and/or affected by the change process or outcome

2. the Organisation – as a legal entity, as a supplier of goods or services, as an employer, as an investor, as a contractor, etc

3. the Geographic Community or Community of Interest served by the Organisation, and

4. the internal or external change agent/s – frequently also the source of resources and support for or direction of change

Step 2:  Give adequate time to understand that change:

1. can be simple or complex – and anything in between

2. can mean or include any of these – to alter, improve, strengthen, introduce, replace, remove, expand, extend, shift, use differently, share, combine, adjust, add beauty to, promote, explain, simplify, make more effective, make more accessible, make more friendly, reformat, etc.

Step 3:   Carefully consider (a) opportunities and (b) risks associated with the process of change, which can be affected by enthusiasm, desperation, innovation, need, opportunity, challenge, fear, negativity, naivety, ignorance, great wisdom or lack of wisdom, manipulation, etc.

Step 4:   Know and understand that change of itself isn’t necessarily positive or negative.  It is the motive or intention behind the change where these can more easily be recognized.  Some of the most positive changes in communities and in organizations have been initiated with questionable intent – and some of the greatest changes have come about seemingly by accident.

Step 5:   Know and understand that EFFECTIVE change begins with gaining an understanding of the current situation with questions like these:

1. what’s happening now?

2. what are the facts, and how do we feel about the facts?

3. what do we wish to change, and why?

4. who will benefit?

5. what is the nature and extent of control or influence that we have or need to have?

6. what are our criteria for making decisions and setting priorities in planning and introducing change, or in reacting or responding to imposed or forced change?

7. what is the nature and extent of resources required, and where do these come from?

8. how will we evaluate the process of change as well as the outcome of the change process?

9. who will be responsible and accountable for the agreed change process and for the desired change outcome?

Step 6:   Know and understand that EFFICIENT change means that all available resources are used or utilized in the most effective way to support an effective change process and outcome (‘effective’ is doing the right thing:  ‘efficient’ is doing it the right way’).

Step 7:    Know and understand that HUMANE change means that the needs and interests of all involved in the process or outcome are carefully and continuously considered and respected: which means active and constructive consultation with the people who will be affected by either the process of change, or the change itself.

Additional resources from Jean include:

• Measurable Consumer Outcomes
• Project/Program Planning, Implementation and Evaluation         
• Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement

A valuable reference:

Just after the August 2010 Federal election in Australia – and before the election result was transformed into a workable Federal Government – the lead article in The Australian newspaper (A PLUS page 13 August 30^th) carried the title ‘Fears fester on the rural margins’.  Here’s an extract:

Hungarian-born sociologist and author Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at the University of Kent in England, is quoted:

“In contemporary society one of the most powerful influences on public and social life is fear and anxiety, and the politicization of fear and anxiety”.  He calls it “the sociology of fear”.  

He argues fear has emerged as a key factor in 21^st century consciousness, and that modern societies engage with many issues through a narrative of fear.  As a result, human thought and action are being stifled by uncertainty, societies with a heightened sense of vulnerability are becoming risk-averse, and worst-case thinking has displaced any open minded approach to the future”

Your Service Model is the procedure followed within your organisation relating to the three major stages of service provision:

• research,
• design, and
• delivery.

This Checklist leads to measurable outcomes, with options that may offer some ideas toward ensuring a consistent quality of service design and delivery.  The term ‘service-user’ includes customer, client and consumer.

1.     Service-provider’s Quality Framework

The recommended Quality Framework is Total Quality Management (TQM).   TQM particularly attempts to minimize the amount of time and money spent on quality control by preventing quality problems arising in the first place.   TQM – as applied to service provision – is defined as “the extent to which we meet, or exceed, service-user expectations and requirements” – which can in turn be defined as:

• the extent to which the service-provider is  able to identify service-user needs and expectations – quality of research
• the extent to which the total unit design of service-provision meets or exceeds service-user expectations – quality of design, and
• the extent to which service-provision is able to provide and continue to provide services as intended – quality of conformance (ie consistency and compliance).

Where a quality framework is endorsed and resourced, quality systems and procedures are:

• appropriately developed, trialled, refined and consistently reviewed to ensure improved work practices,
• accurately, clearly and concisely documented,
• represented in a 1-page flowchart to demonstrate how quality is managed within the organisation (this is a valuable attachment to any submission, tender or proposal), and
• an integral component in:
1. staff orientation, induction, training and development,
2. performance appraisals,
3. strategic and business planning,
4. budget allocation, and
5. policy development and review

When quality systems and procedures are in place and are being followed with rigour – and not until then – a basis and opportunity exists for quality assurance.   Quality assurance is defined as an overall organisational commitment to the maintenance of specified levels of service quality.

With quality assurance (QA) in place, continuous quality improvement (CQI) is then – and only then – possible. 

Services-providers should achieve three measurable outcomes through CQI:

1. an increase in your knowledge and understanding of service-user expectations and requirements,
2. an improvement in your service design, so that the mix of features afforded by your service design closely match service-user expectations and requirements, and
3. an improvement in your ability to provide services which consistently conform to the design.

 The three sequential steps are:

1. Quality Framework:  introduction of quality systems and procedures for research, design and conformance in service provision (ie the service model),
2. Quality Assurance:  systems and procedures to ensure that quality systems and procedures are followed without exception, and
3. Continuous Quality Improvement:  regular evaluation and review of Steps 1 and 2, with careful planning and implementation of agreed actions to introduce improvements.

 2.      Service-provider’s Staff

 Each person employed by the service-provider is responsible for the quality of their own work – and for continuous improvement in the quality of their work.   Therefore each person needs to know:

1. the needs, aspirations and interests of individual service-users, or compatible groups of service-user,
2. the standard of quality in service planning and delivery necessary to achieve agreed and measurable service-user outcomes and benefits,
3. how to consistently plan and deliver services to the desired and consistent level of quality,
4. how to measure the quality of their own performance, and
5. how to ensure evidence of necessary or desired improvements in both the quality of their performance, and the quality of service planning and delivery.

3.     The challenge and opportunity for a Service-provider

Service delivery is the core business of service providers.   It follows then that service delivery and all associated activities need to be adequately and appropriately resourced within the service-provider’s organisation. 

1. from this factual base, your organisation and stakeholders will benefit greatly by having consistent methods and systematic procedures for collecting statistical information on (a) the nature and extent of need that may be addressed, (b) currently met and unmet needs, and (c) predictable and projected future needs,
2. analysing the statistical information to quantify and understand how best to respond in the design, implementation and evaluation of services - for the immediate (now to 6 months), short-term future (6 to 12 months), and for the longer-term future (12 to 24 months).
3. designing services that address the identified and prioritized needs within available or accessible resources - following a consistent and replicable service model that covers/embraces the planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and review of service delivery; tailoring services to the specific needs of individual service-users or compatible groups of service-user; and harnessing external resources through service networks, strategic alliances or partnerships that enrich the quality of service delivery and consequently of service-user outcomes and benefits.
4. allocating adequate and appropriate resources to the major stages of the Service Model, ie planning, implementing, monitoring, evaluation and review, and
5. treating the Service Model as the core business of your organisation.

So, let’s integrate these five procedures into the three TQM components, noting that TQM is defined as the extent to which we meet, or exceed, service-user expectations/requirements:

TQM Component 1:     the extent to which ‘we’ are able to identify service-user needs and expectations, ie quality of research - collecting statistical information on the nature and extent of need that may be addressed; currently met and unmet needs; and predictable and projected future needs,

and

analysing the statistical information to quantify and understand how best to respond in the design, implementation and evaluation of services - for the immediate (now to 6 months), short-term future (6 to 12 months); and for the longer-term future (12 to 24 months).

TQM Component 2:     the extent to which the total unit design of your services meet or exceed service-user expectations, ie quality of design - designing services that address the identified and prioritized needs within available resources; following a consistent and replicable service model that covers/embraces the planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and review of service delivery; tailoring services to the individual needs of service-users or compatible groups of service-user; and harnessing resources outside of your own organisations through service networks, strategic alliances or partnerships that enrich the quality of service delivery and consequently of service-user outcomes and benefits,

and

allocating adequate and appropriate resources to the major stages of the service model, ie planning, implementing, monitoring, evaluation and review.

TQM Component 3:     the extent to which your organisation is able to provide and continue to provide programs and services as intended, ie quality of conformance - treating the service model as the core business of your organisation.

4.   Unmet need

The importance and value of assessing and documenting the nature and extent of unmet need (ie needs that are eligible to be serviced, but for which adequate resources are unavailable) is a critical function for service-providers.  

Unmet need establishes the fact that currently available resources are inadequate to address existing or projected need.  It also provides a factual basis for forward planning and for resource acquisition.  Such factual information on unmet need is as important and valuable as factual evidence on needs that are able to be met or partly met.   

It is noted, however, that documentation of unmet need takes time, and such time may not be taken into account in budgets accompanying applications for additional resources.  This activity may have to be funded by the service-provider as an internal research and development project.

5.     Documentation

It is important to emphasize the role of documentation at this point.  Accurate, clear and concise documentation is essential for a number of reasons (and this list is not exhaustive), including to:

1. provide evidence of consultation, process, procedure, observation, findings, options for consideration, decisions, etc.
2. display compliance with internal quality systems and procedures, and with the key stages of the service model,
3. ensure continuity in the case of staff absenteeism or turnover,
4. provide a basis for quality assurance and continuous quality improvement,
5. provide a basis for perception and satisfaction surveys with – or input from – key stakeholders, including service users, and
6. provide a firm basis for designing, introducing and resourcing improved work practices.

Staff who work face-to-face with service-users are encouraged to regard documentation and associated administration as a core component of the service model. 

Staff are also encouraged to design innovative ways to quickly and easily note their thoughts and observations on how service research, design and conformance can be improved.

6.     Out-come Based Planning Tool to ensure measurable outcomes for service-users

(This segment includes extracts from Identifying and Solving Problems: A Management Guide (Fourth Edition, Robert Kaufman, Social Impacts Publications, 1998)

The starting point in any planning tool is to define and agree on key terms.  Kaufman provides definitions to assist this process within a service-provider:

• What’s the difference between ‘needs’ and ‘wants’  - wants can fulfil needs
• What’s the difference between ‘problems’ and ‘solutions’ – solutions can remove problems
• A service is a ‘means to an end’ – ie an output designed to achieve a service-user outcome
• A ‘need’ should be expressed as a ‘solution’ rather than a problem, and
• A ‘measurable outcome’ is a need, ie a gap between the service-user’s current situation, and the service-user’s desired situation.

Therefore, services should be designed based on the desired situation, ie the measurable outcome.

Needs assessment is a formal analysis that:

• shows and documents the gaps between current and desired results or outcomes,
• arranges the gaps in priority order of needs,
• selects needs to be resolved or addressed, and
• reconciles any differences or mismatches by negotiation, additional data, common sense or just plain, rational reasoning.

Planning a service to achieve the negotiated measurable outcome involves three basic steps:

1. describing the current situation in measurable terms,
2. describing the desired situation in measurable terms, and
3. describing the gap or discrepancy between 1 and 2 in measurable terms.             

Make a list of characteristics of the current and desired situations:

 Keep working on these two lists until they clearly tell you –

1. what outcome/s are to be achieved,
2. who or what will display the outcome/s, and what criteria will be used to determine achievement,
3. by whom and by what achievement will be measured, and
4. how to avoid ambiguity and confusion.

Don’t fall into the trap of defining every identified need as a deficiency:

• a deficiency is a lack or insufficiency, an inadequacy in quantity or supply
• a discrepancy is a conflict or variation, as between facts, figures or claims.

Now extend your 2-column analysis to a 3-column planning table:

Note: these three columns are presented here with the ‘action’ column in centre.  You may prefer to change the order and have the action column as the third column.

 There are a number of variables to monitor which can affect the process of identifying and agreeing upon a measurable outcome:

• readiness and willingness of the service-user,
• agreement on an acceptable, achievable and affordable outcome,
• availability of adequate and appropriate resources,
• suitable measurement tool or process, and
• suitable evaluation model.

7.     A word of caution

Don’t expect that your own organisation is able to meet or address every identified need.  There may be other more suitable or suitably resourced organisations that could be approached to work with or on behalf of the service-user, or it may be that the resources required have already been allocated elsewhere within your own organisation. 

Don’t confine your planning to your organisation’s current context – consider and pursue new or additional inputs that can be added to the current context. 

Organisations can be changed or even created, based on identified and quantified needs that may be discrepancies but not necessarily deficiencies. 

Consider also the possibility of strategic alliances or service networks to expand the available resource base.

8.     Measurement of resources

Identify the nature, quality and quantity of resources required to satisfactorily provide the service, and determine those that are (a) currently available, and (b) not yet available.

The service – and the means by which you will evaluate and measure process and progress – needs to be designed, costed, budgeted and scheduled. 

 When this is completed, the availability of resources should be checked.  You may well have to review aspects of the service in this planning stage in order to work within available or accessible resources.

In place of managing your human resources – try developing them.

In place of managing your customer relations – try developing them.

In place of managing your stakeholder relations – try developing them.

In place of managing your internal relationships – try developing them.

Let’s explore these four aspects of HRD:

•  your human resources – ie people at any and all levels of activity within your company or organisation – will consist of a number of individuals, and each will be affected by:
• their immediate relationships (immediate and extended family, those they live and love with – now and through their lives; those with whom they share and have shared important aspects of their lives),
• present and past experiences (workplace, personal, social, economic, spiritual, educational, physical, emotional, intellectual, cultural experiences),
• formal and informal learning (qualifications, courses, workshops, self-paced learning, reading, studies they have earned or attended), and
• formal and informal networks and linkages (groups and organisations with whom they are already involved and through which their lives are enriched)
•  your customers, clients, consumers, service-users – ie people whose needs, interests or aspirations should be guiding the development and delivery of your products, components or services – will consist of a number of individuals, and each will be affected by:
• their experience with, expectations of or reservations about your company, organisation, products, components or services, and
• the nature and extent of their needs, interests or aspirations
•  your stakeholders – ie people who have a stake or interest in the manner in which your company or organisation operates – will consist of a number of individuals, and each will be affected by:
• the nature of their ‘stake’, which means the extent to which they may experience loss or gain,
• the nature of their ‘interest’, which means the extent to which they may benefit from the opportunity to learn from or about what you do, and how/why you do the things you do
• your internal relationships – ie people within your company or organisation whose actions, decisions or performance affect or are affected by your own actions, decisions or performance – will consist of a number of individuals, and each will be affected by:
• your understanding of your own role, responsibilities, accountabilities and, most importantly, the nature and extent of authority delegated to your position,
• the understanding of their role, responsibilities, accountabilities and, most importantly, the nature and extent of authority delegated to their position, and
• your company’s or organisation’s expectations of and support offered to each and every person at any and all levels of activity.

Most importantly, the focus of Human Resource Development is the person – whoever the relevant person is – at a particular moment in time, and within a particular context:

 Your company or organisation will move through many life-cycles in its existence, and many stages within each life-cycle.  The four major stages are:

1. innovation,
2. establishment,
3. growth and development, and
4. evaluation and review – as a basis for further innovation.

And the primary resource within each of these four major stages will be people!   Therefore, you need to know and understand the difference and relationship between these four major stages, and where your company or organisation sits – or sat – at a particular moment in time.

An extract from my 2008 e-book, My Spiritual Journey as an Independent Consultant:

Listen, do you want to know a secret?   People are what and where and who they know they are.

And that’s the secret.  That’s what you have to find.  That’s the secret even to people themselves – to know what they know about themselves.   Each will have a perception of themself, and that perception leads to an understanding of themself.  It is that understanding which either limits or facilitates or motivates or inflates their sense of self.  This is the knowledge base from which they make decisions.

It begins with the perception of themselves.  There’s the literal perception, and there’s the interpretation of that literal perception.   Now, to bring people along, to give them the opportunity to expand, to grow, to blossom, to develop – you have to find what is their perception.  If their perception of themselves is that they are power-less, that everybody is against them, that their benefactors are actually their enemy, that nobody loves them – then that is the understanding that they will operate from.

No matter what message you give them, the knowledge base they operate from is their perception of themselves.  And that’s what you must find, that’s where you work from.

Your questions are: ‘How do you see yourself?  How do you understand who you are and what you are?’   The response will always be: ‘Listen to me – this is what I understand about myself, this is what I know.’

Together, you move from and with that understanding.

An extract from my 2008 book, One Man Show – the Smallest of Small Business:

Entrepreneurs use the principles and practices of innovation as a basis for entrepreneurial activity.

My trusty Dictionary defines innovation as ‘something newly introduced, such as a new method or device: inventing or beginning to apply methods or ideas: renewing or creating something new from what already exists’.

A common myth about innovation is that innovation is only about new ‘things’. Innovation can also be about improving, changing – or even doing away with – existing ‘things’.

Entrepreneurs are people, not organisations.

Entrepreneurship is a personal characteristic or quality, not an organisational function. There is no such thing as an entrepreneurial organisation. Why? Because an organisation is an intangible entity.

You cannot touch ‘an organisation’. An organisation of any kind is simply a group of individuals – and the people within that group can change, as can the level of interest in and commitment to entrepreneurship.

HRD is a field of study, a profession, and is introduced on WikipediA as

• the integrated use of training, organization, and career development efforts to improve individual, group and organizational effectiveness.  HRD develops the key competencies that enable individuals in organizations to perform current and future jobs through planned learning activities. Groups within organizations use HRD to initiate and manage change. Also, HRD ensures a match between individual and organizational needs.’

The use of ‘community’ and ‘non-community’ in his article could be read as value-based – or even value-biased.    His summary was that a high-rise luxury apartment complex couldn’t possibly be a community!

There is no such thing as a ‘non-community’ where people are involved.

A community can be defined as people living, working or studying in one locality or context.   

Workplaces, work-sites, high-rise apartment buildings, schools, universities, hospitals, houses of parliament, side streets, neighbourhoods, villages, towns, cities …. the descriptions could go on and on.

No community is without a community memory, tradition, culture, personality… often called ‘a rich tapestry’.   A small or large number of people may come together for the first time to occupy a new building, settlement or workplace – or establish a new organisation or commercial enterprise.  Together, they will contribute to and form a social context in which the norms will eventually surface and settle.   Each person will bring their personal experiences and impressions to contribute to the process of establishing a sense of community in that building, settlement, workplace, organisation or business.

In any community, however large or small, each person brings with them:

• immediate relationships (immediate and extended family, those they live and love with – now and through their lives; those with whom they share and have shared important aspects of their lives)
• present and past experiences (workplace, personal, social, economic, spiritual, educational, physical, emotional, intellectual, cultural experiences)
• formal and informal learning (qualifications, courses, workshops, self-paced learning, reading, studies they have earned or attended)
• community networks and linkages (groups and organisations with whom they are already involved and through which their lives are enriched)

My childhood experiences include living in many different communities, including:

• a country town through World War 2 with an Air Navigator Training Base at the town’s aerodrome,
• a suburban shopping strip where my family lived in cramped and uncomfortable conditions behind and above a relative’s boot and shoe repair shop,
• an emergency housing camp in an inner suburban park: this camp had housed an Army Signalling Corps through the War, and then
• a new Housing Commission estate – initially without made roads, footpaths, trees or gardens – in what was then an outer Melbourne suburb and had earlier been referred to as the local forest.

And all before I had completed secondary school!   Moving into adulthood led me into many different experiences with establishing, joining, contributing to and eventually leaving many communities. 

However, I’m pleased to say that I’ve never experienced or even observed a non-community.

Our communities are what we individually make them.

1. Committed people
2. Enthusiastic people
3. Open to different ideas
4. All show interest in potential and new committee/board members
5. People interested in the work of the committee/board are welcomed and included
6. Differences are respected
7. Not entrenched in ways and means – committee says ‘when’ not ‘if’
8. Clear ways to do things – decisions are implemented effectively and efficiently
9. Members empower each other
10. Work as a team
11. Share the workload rather than having a core working group
12. Social relations among members are open and inclusive
13. The organisation’s philosophy and values are manifested as welcoming and inclusive behaviours
14. Actively accountable to association members
15. Leads by serving, and helping people to fulfil their needs, interests and aspirations
16. Close connection with the association’s membership base and with the local or target community
17. Responsive to community needs
18. Achieves agreed goals with and through people – and to the best of their ability, within available or accessible resources

Evidence of a successful Committee/Board

1. The committee/board-as-a-whole is informed, alert, action-oriented, with formal structures to inform wise decisions and effective communication
2. A consistently high quality of committee/board meetings
3. A consistently high level of ‘job satisfaction’ among existing committee/board members

1. The aim of quoting and tendering is to be and remain supplier of choice
2. Identify your (i) target market, and (ii) unique selling point which is not just what you produce, create or provide – it includes the impact and benefit of what you produce, create or provide to purchasers
3. Identify your strategic priorities – to ensure the Company’s viability, sustainability and credibility
4. Quoting/tendering are accepted and treated as a core business function to achieve measurable improvements, viz:
• icrease your strike/success rate through quoting/tendering,
• decrease the real cost to your Company of quoting/tendering, and
• increase your organisation’s revenue/profit/market share through quoting/tendering
5. Appointment of a quote/tender writing team to commence process of preparation
6. Project development:
• plan for compliance with all specifications and requirements,
• consider your best offer – which should include an ‘added value’ over and above their expectation
• carefully negotiate agreements with your own suppliers or sub-contractors, and
• treat quality and risk as ‘two sides of the one coin’
7. Prepare and package the quote/tender document, following the endorsed ‘corporate style’
8. Lodge the document in accordance with their stated requirements
9. Responsibly negotiate to win the job/contract
10. ORDER NUMBER/CONTRACT CONFIRMED
11. Commence procedures to fulfil the order, or to manufacture, supply, deliver/install according to the contract
12. Project management throughout the transaction or contract period to ensure:
• that what you are delivering is what you have agreed or contracted to deliver,
• that your organisation ‘s integrity and reputation are enhanced throughout the transaction or contract period, and
• that your relationship with this client is, and remains, positive
13. Payment schedule is carefully monitored
14. Completion has three possibilities:
• According to plan – which positions your Company for repeat orders or opportunities,
• With variations – back on track through renegotiation, with possible repeat orders or opportunities, or
• Failure for whatever reason, allocation of faulty, penalty – with possible black-listing for repeat orders or opportunities, therefore requiring urgent relationship re-building

Each of these three ‘completion possibilities’ indicates a next step:

1. if a quote or tender goes through to completion according to plan, you need to know and understand why it did, and do everything in your power to incorporate these success factors into your internal procedures,
2. if a quote or tender goes through to completion with variations, you need to check your initial procedures to see if these variations were the result of incorrect or inadequate calculations, procedures - or a lapse in individual or team performance or availability,
3. if a quote or tender fails to go through to completion, you have a lot of work to do:  start by checking the faults and penalties, and linking these back to any likely internal causal or contributing factors:
• where you have control over the internal factors, you have the potential to remedy them,
• where you only have influence over the internal factors, you have potential to exert your influence - which may or may not be sufficient to introduce changes,
• where you have neither control of influence over internal factors, you have potential to display your entrepreneurial flair by focusing on the first step in this Checklist – and attempt to address the organisation’s inappropriate attitude or behaviour toward quoting and tendering.

There is a difference and relationship between complexity and simplicity

Anything that appears complex can be broken down into manageable parts or units of work, which can then be described in simple terms.

My experience and observation has provided numerous examples of people who have a natural bent toward:

1. making their conversation, beliefs, explanations and reasons as complex as possible, and avoiding any sign of simplicity as much and as often as possible,
2. making their conversation, beliefs, explanations and reasons as simple as possible, and avoiding any sign of complexity as much and as often as possible, and
3. combining complexity and simplicity in their conversation, beliefs, explanations and reasons as much as possible to avoid any opportunity for others to easily explore what and why they are thinking or acting as they do.

I’ve noticed in my own conversation that, when I’m either very tired or under stress, I have a tendency toward complexity in my conversation.  When my energy levels are healthy, my preference is always toward simplicity.  By being aware of the difference, this acts as a warning for me to excuse myself from the conversation or writing task, and return to it when I’ve renewed my energy or relieved whatever was causing stress.

Being aware of this possibility also alerts me to signs of tiredness or stress in others – as my experience is not unique!  In these circumstances, I defer continuation of the conversation until all parties have renewed their energy or relieved the stress.

There are professions in which complexity in conversation is seen to be a sign of authority or even wisdom – and that’s probably true when they are conversing with people for whom complexity is a priority.

My experience includes listening to many presenters and reading many opinion pieces where the presentation or opinion is aimed just a little above the ability of their audience or readers to gain the insight or practical knowledge they are seeking.  This style can be seen as intentional.  It is interesting to ask such a presenter a question starting with ‘how’ or ‘how much’ or ‘how often’: replies are usually ’why’ and ‘why not’ – giving nothing practical to inform or assist the questioner.   Many opinion writers or professional journal authors frequently write ‘about’ something, rather than informing readers on ‘how’, ‘how much’ or ‘how often’.  This renders their opinion or article of little practical use to their reader.

Another example is people who frequently speak in acronyms, technical or professional jargon, or consistently ‘in the abstract’.  I’d put all of these styles under the heading of ‘complexity for the sake of complexity’.    After listening to a researcher on one occasion constantly refer to KPIs in his presentation, I asked a question about measures and targets for each KPI.  The response displayed a complete lack of knowledge or understanding of what a KPI represents (Key Performance Indicators), and certainly a lack of appreciation that an indicator is useless without the means of measurment and targets which may include schedules, costs or savings.  The acronym was used to emphasise complexity!

One tool that I’ve found extremely useful in making the connection between complexity and simplicity is best explained through the following example.  I simply refer to this tool as the 3-level hierarchy:

1. first level = quality factor or critical success factor,
2. second level = components which together comprise the quality factor or critical success factor, and
3. third level = elements which together comprise each component.

The first level is descriptive: the second level useful; and the third level is measurable.    The first level can be presented as complex (or confusing), with simplicity (ie clarity and usefulness) increasing from the second to third levels.  The beauty of this tool is that you can start with the third level (start with simplicity), as easily as you can start with the first level (start with complexity).  Knowing and understanding this tool enables one to recognize instantly whether a presenter or opinion writer even knows that there is more than the first level!

I only know this tool as ‘the 3-level hierarchy’, which I learned in my valuable and brief connection with the Software Engineering Institute in 1997.  The value for me was that I then understood what I had been doing naturally – and which I learned to do as partner in the family precision engineering business during the 1970s.

I have since applied this tool to a wide range of activities in my long years of consulting and writing, including:

1. delegation;
2. preparing – and assessing – tenders and quotes;
3. quality assurance and control;
4. risk management;
5. project development, management and evaluation;
6. research projects;
7. governance and management;
8. strategic and business planning;
9. financial projections and planning;
10. performance management;
11. performance monitoring and measuring; and
12. preparing – and assessing – submissions and grant applications.

I welcome any enquires or discussion about the difference and relationship between complexity and simplicity – and hope this brief article is useful.  For a practical example, this is how I apply the 3-level hierarchy to Making Ethics Work:

 1.      3-level Hierarchy, defined as:

• Level 1 – a definition
• Level 2 – a set of components, each of which is an identity in its own right and which, together, comprise the agreed definition
• Level 3 – a set of elements for each component – the elements enable each component to be recognised, monitored, costed, measured and evaluated for effectiveness

Application of the 3-level Hierarchy to Making Ethics Work:

Level 1 – ‘Ethics’ is defined to demonstrate its contribution to credibility, clarity and certainty in a specific SME or Nonprofit workplace – through a collaborative process,

This needs to be a clear and practical definition, agreed by the persons who will be accountable and responsible for drafting, approving, resourcing, introducing, managing and monitoring a Code of Ethics – and ensuring sustained, effective and measurable adherence/compliance

Level 2 – a set of Components is identified that together comprise the agreed Level 1 Definition of ‘Ethics’ in concrete terms – these can be likened to performance indicators

Level 3 – a set of Elements that can each be recognised and measured is then identified for each Level 2 Component – these can be likened to performance measures