Managing Information and Human Performance

Knowing what's going on in your company isn't just a requirement--it's power. How much do you really know about what's going on in your workforce and organization?

Good information is essential if managers are to manage well. Yet, too often, the right information does not get to the right place in the right form at the right time. That's because information often is spread throughout the organization and hidden from management.

This book will change all that. Learn how to establish a system that enables you to gather, process and make available internal information in your organization quickly, easily and inexpensively.

Making your "best call" or going with you "gut" isn't good enough.

Avoid the high costs of poor information:

• Poor quality
• Resistance to change
• Lack of commitment to strategic initiatives
• Turnover
• Lack of motivation
• Misdirected reward systems

The book is packed with techniques and tools to enable you to:

• Gather information, using mini-surveys, focus groups, interviews, performance reviews and records
• Understand what people do by studying work processes, using process mapping, flow charts and block diagrams
• Design, administer and analyze internal surveys
• Develop an information utility that allows management to connect to and analyze internal information-such as information circles or an office of performance improvement

Part I addresses information and management success:

• Why organizations need solid internal information to achieve competitive success
• The critical role of information in effective and predictable management
• Common approaches to managing information
• Organizational rationality-a requirement for management success
• How managers can determine their own information needs and strategies
• The need for consultants and how to use them effectively

Part II introduces the art and science of information:

• Comparing the various ways to gather internal information
• The most common methods of gathering information
• Ways to ask the right questions
• How to administer a survey
• Analyzing data to identify internal conditions and operations needing improvement

Part III covers how you can manage information:

• Management systems that can generate, store, and distribute information
• Organizing and using your own management system for performance improvement
• How to overcome stumbling blocks to enjoying an information advantage