A recent article by McKinsey rightly identified three factors that are missing in most companies’ supply chain operations: simulations of reality, optimization of plans and real-time control tower monitoring. These are all very effective technology tools to address the complexity of today’s supply chains; however, they are not distinct from each other. They need to be part of the whole for each to function.  [More] Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/ 

When setting out on a journey, it’s always wise to have a reliable roadmap. The same holds true when it comes to embarking on new tech projects and initiatives. And just as there’s considerable flexibility in terms of routes and guides when planning a trip, tech leaders and project managers have several choices when it comes to tools and techniques for plotting and refining a project roadmap. [More] Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/ 

An abrupt shift in the workplace ecosystem has caused an unprecedented transition in the world of project management. This accelerated development of enterprises heading the route of hybrid or fully remote work has had a critical impact on traditional aspects of business operations.  [More] Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/ 

Do Agile teams need top-management support? I continue to come across books and articles about setting up and running agile teams. This is understandable in a world where business agility is an essential ingredient of the emerging digital economy. [More] Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/ 

Public speaking with an emphasis on “storytelling” is a foundational skill for CEOs and leaders in the next decade, according to a McKinsey & Company study of 18,000 business professionals across 150 countries.

Leaders who share stories are more likely to align teams, motivate employees, and inspire new recruits, customers, and stakeholders.[More]Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/ 

The past two years, however, have impacted small and large businesses alike in significant and unpredictable ways. Being able to adapt and act quickly has never been more important than it is today, and agility is the key to survival, whether your business serves your local community or millions of customers around the world.[More]Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/ 

Working in a role that usually involves both everyday maintenance tasks and overseeing new initiatives, tech leaders generally become pros at task and project management by necessity. Similarly, their team members usually have lengthy to-do lists, and with many working remotely these days, they may increasingly need to handle prioritization and time management on their own. [More]Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/ 

All direct-to-consumer (DTC) businesses are looking to expand. That means they must have an ability to attract customers and then bring them back to shop for some more merchandise. Brands are becoming bigger as they acquire new customers and have revisits from their customer base. It is their marketing ability that strengthens them and supports success. [More]Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/ 

Has the following scenario ever happened to you? What's the difference in organizations that are built to last versus organizations that exist for a period but disappear with the changing times? 

Just two words-learning agility.[More]Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/ 

Has the following scenario ever happened to you?

You are pretty sure you’re this close to completing a milestone phase of a new client onboarding process — on time and within budget. Well done! That is until three team members email their hours from the past two weeks, and they admit that many of their assigned tasks aren’t complete. One team member wasn’t aware they were responsible for two of the tasks, but they promised to “get to them very soon.”  [More]Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/ 

There’s a now-famous statistic from McKinsey & Company, stating that 70% of change efforts fail. Their research also shows that these failures are largely due to “employee resistance and lack of management support” for the change. [More]Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/ 

It’s inevitable that every business will have to endure a crisis at some point, whether it’s internally or externally generated. While an experienced business leader may feel capable of managing most crises that arise, it can be challenging for newer leaders to manage one without having had hands-on experience in dealing with a crisis before.  [More]Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/ 

At my company, we have a bias toward action. We make it clear to employees at every level that the person closest to any problem should solve it. Moreover, we make sure they shouldn’t have to go through layers of management to do it. This idea is central to our company culture, and I argue it’s a major component of our success.   [More]Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/ 

As more companies across industries adopt agile methodologies, the sprint is becoming a familiar concept — especially to tech teams. To maximize the efficiencies and benefits of a team sprint, it’s important to start your plan with a firm grasp of what project or focus is your top priority. And since there are probably as many opinions on top tech priorities as there are staff members in the organization, it usually falls to the tech leader to make the final decision on what comes first.   [More]Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/ 

Business professionals talk about “agility” and “resilience” as if they are the same thing. They are not.

A company with an agile supply chain can react quickly to big increases or decreases in demand. An agile company is like a half back in football that can dart quickly to the left or the right depending upon the opening.   [More]Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/ 

Harvard Business Review concisely defined a project manager’s role by stating he/she, “…identifies the central problem to solve and determines, with input from the sponsor and stakeholders, how to tackle it: what the project’s objectives and scope will be and which activities will deliver the desired results. He then plans and schedules tasks, oversees day-to-day execution, and monitors progress until he evaluates performance, brings the project to a close, and captures the lessons learned.”  [More]Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/

Have you had at least one project failure in the past year? So have 70% of other businesses. 

So, what gives? Getting a group of people together to work towards a common goal doesn’t automatically guarantee a smooth process. In fact, it takes a bit of time and energy to iron out the kinks in your project management process... [More]Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/ 

I got into management earlier than many of my friends and colleagues, and now I find myself becoming the go-to resource for when they're struggling to get the results they need from their teams. I hope to provide you with some tools to better support your team and improve the quality and productivity of your team's work. An all-too-familiar experience for managers of front-line employees is when you find yourself back in the trenches trying to support the front-line work to meet client deadlines because somehow, something slipped through the cracks ... [More]Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/ 

Agile teams thrive when they work in the same place in close-knit, self-organized groups. In the Covid-19 age, however, remote work has become the norm, and signs suggest it's here to stay. This poses a unique challenge to the principles of agile management. One of the key tenets is that the most efficient and effective way to convey information is face-to-face meetings. Yes, this can be accomplished on Zoom, but is anything lost when the workplace goes online?... [More]Source permission: courtesy of flipboard/ www.forbes.com/