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How To Make the Most of
Performance Evaluations
by John W. Myrna
 Many
companies have figured out how to drastically reduce the amount of time
and stress involved in performance evaluations. The result is less
hassled managers and happier employees. How did these companies manage
to do this? What skills did they teach to their managers to turn the
performance evaluation process into a win/win situation? Why was
changing the performance evaluation system such an important mission for
these companies? Given my 18 years of experience facilitating strategic
planning meetings and workforce reviews, I can report that administering
performance reviews is one of the most commonly despised aspects of a
manager’s job. They complain that “the forms are unclear,” or “the time
consumed is excessive.” Even in companies with reasonable processes,
managers rarely follow the prescribed system.. ...full article
Focusing On Weak Points Builds
Good Strategic Plans
Feature article interviewing John Myrna
 Strategic
planners tend to weigh strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
But John Myrna likes to tweak this so-called SWOT analysis.
"It's best to start with the organization's most important weaknesses,"
said Myrna, president of Myrna Associates in Silver Spring, Md. "You
stimulate a richer dialogue by addressing the weaknesses first." He
suggests following a discussion of weaknesses with a look at
opportunities, threats and strengths -- what Myrna calls a "WOTS up"
analysis. ...full article
Here's How to Beat
the Recession: Make Your Management Team More Effective
by John W. Myrna
 With budgets under intense pressure these days, US manufacturers are
challenged to find ways to do more with less. From research and work
we’ve conducted over 15 years during up and down markets, we’ve learned
that successful companies accomplish this by following one very
important tactic: they improve the effectiveness of their senior
management teams by providing them an opportunity to create – and
support – razor-sharp strategic plans with clear-cut goals,
accountabilities and action steps for the next 30, 60 and 90 days. ...full article
There's One Right
Way and Many Wrong Ways to "Right Size"
by John W. Myrna
 Today’s economic picture has led many CEOs to consider drastic measures
to stay competitive, including cutting jobs. The good news is that there
is a right way to reduce staff to help weather the storms ahead. ...
full article
How To Chart a Safe Course During this Recession
While Keeping Eyes on the Distant Horizon
by John W. Myrna
 Today's
CEOs are caught, as they say, between a rock and a hard place as they
work to guide their corporate ships through the rocky channels of the
current recession and still keep an eye on the horizon and ultimate
destination. What many of them fail to remember is that they cannot do
it all alone -- that they need to rely on their executive team members
to support their efforts, to provide the necessary financial and market
data and to do much of the heavy lifting and steering for them.
One of our client CEOs who learned this lesson during the last downturn
recalls his situation: “I always had a clear vision of where I wanted
the company to go. Yet for years I was frustrated that my team didn’t
truly understand the company's short- and long-term destinations and
hadn’t taken responsibility for these goals.”...full article
How To Ensure Your Recession-Fighting Game Plan Gets Implemented
by John W. Myrna
A strategic or action plan
to achieve a corporate goal in a certain period of time is only as good
as its implementation. The challenge for all CEOs, therefore, is how to
effectively put together a high quality, strategic plan that their
Executive Teams will implement. This task is daunting enough in
good times, but it’s particularly challenging in depressed economic
conditions when companies are looking for the right strategy, right now,
to reduce expenses, manage cash flow, protect value, and regain growth.
Any misstep could cost them dearly. The bottom line is that
companies can stabilize their current situations and complete their
transition to new tracks in as short a period as four months. But
to do this the CEOs must know how to avoid all the obstacles and
pitfalls that prevent successful strategic plans from being developed
and implemented.
...full article
Creating a Strategic Plan
Feature article about John Myrna and Myrna Associates
 A
Maryland-based Company Helps Originators To Focus on Doing the Things that Will
Enable Growth: The
options of success or failure, says one expert, can be controlled through the
strategic planning process. This extends to the mortgage industry, where
companies across the country are praising the strategic planning program
developed by Myrna Associates, Inc., based out of Silver Spring, Md. The
intensive, fast-paced sessions of the Total Quality Planning process help senior
management teams focus on a profitable future through the development of
specific action plans. ...full article
Where the Hell are We?
by John W. Myrna
 Team
driven strategic planning dramatically improves results and teamwork
while lowering executive stress. The challenge is how to effectively put
together a quality strategic plan that your team will actually
implement. Conventional approaches take weeks or months leaving too
little energy, time, and budget for the real challenge of
implementation. Too often the CEO or some outside consultant develops a
plan and then expects the team to buy in and implement. ...
full article
Strategic Downsizing
A New Model for Implementing Workforce Reductions
by John W. Myrna
 The
turmoil in the financial markets and the tenuous state of the major U.S.
auto manufacturers have led many companies to view their own futures
with increasing pessimism. Pessimism inevitably leads companies to
consider cutting staff as they begin to reassess their strategies,
tactics, budgets, and overhead. As the pressure for cutting jobs mounts,
HR executives can help their management teams avoid the unfair and
unsuccessful practice of across the-board cuts. There is a more
equitable and effective approach to rightsizing an organization. This
process includes a quick method of total talent assessment and a game
plan for strategic downsizing. By taking the time to objectively assess
their workforces, companies can hold onto their performers who are
“platinum” while they are able to identify and get the “lead” out. Even
better, this can be accomplished without the usual acrimony and
disruption to business continuity.
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..full article
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