HOW WELL HAVE FIRMS IMPLEMENTED CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS?

Clear concise communications for colleagues, customers, the public and the media is critical at this time. However for many organization the carefully planned theory fails on execution because people simply are not used to home-working or the new tools or habits they need to employ.

Mike Tyson said “Everyone has a plan, until they are hit in the mouth”

When anyone has a choice of WhatsApp, Yammer, Email, Zoom, Hangouts, MS-Teams, Skype as well as all the usual platforms we risk confusion rather than communication. What is needed is clarity and simplicity.

People are used to looking at websites, social media, linked-in to find out information – notably about the latest Coronavirus and its impact on people, services and jobs. So organisations need to make sure that they have pre-prepared messages that go through the right (ideally rehearsed) channels that everyone is already familiar with.

If you are interested in a simple guide for Crisis Communications get in touch

Having a communications plan (What, When, How and Who)

Checklist preparing and sending  colleagues communication

Checklist preparing and sending  customers communication

Checklist preparing and sending  a media release

What tools work best for which audiences

Keeping in touch after everyone’s gone home.

TimHJRogers

AdaptConsultingCompany.com

CORONAVIRUS WORLD BANK GUIDANCE FOR GOVERNMENTS

Readers might be interested to know that the World Bank issued an article last Friday on the action Governments need to consider in ensuring that their public financial management systems are best placed to support COVID-19 responses. Whilst it is in many ways aimed at developing countries, it does include a good checklist of areas that all Governments should be considering to ensure that public financial management systems are responsive and flexible whilst ensuring value for money and minimising fraud and corruption. I attach a link to the article below.

https//blogs.worldbank.org/governance/getting-government-financial-management-systems-covid-19-ready

The key points to consider are

1. Funding COVID response should be quick and clear. A reallocation of existing resources may be necessary. Ministries of Finance and Health should work together to ensure that the total funding envelope is appropriately identified and based on quick costing estimates.

2. Controls should be reoriented, not diluted. Some controls related to COVID-19 may need to be reoriented to delegate authority and expedite implementation. The guiding principles of controls need to be reoriented, based on a risk assessment. Wherever ex-ante controls are reduced, these need to be replaced with clear, explicit, and credible expectations of ex-post controls.

3. Efficient cash management is crucial. It may be appropriate for the Ministry of Finance to quickly collect, aggregate, and establish processes to move funds into bank accounts.

4. Efficient and accountable procurement is needed. The COVID-19 response could warrant more use of single-source procurement with known and trusted suppliers to expedite the process. In such situations, it would be prudent for the Ministry of Finance and/or the procurement regulator to issue additional guidance on how to manage this process, including the potential for change orders. Monitoring international and domestic markets for price comparisons and timely actions could be useful. To mitigate the risks of fraud, it is especially important to maintain audit trails and acceptance of goods/services by responsible officials. In some cases, it may be necessary to do away with some standard requirements like bid securities and guarantees, though this needs to be documented with appropriate justification. Whenever possible, pre-existing framework contracts can be used. Posting all procurement information related to COVID-19 on government portals will enhance transparency and trust.

5. Payment management should be optimized. The emergency situation is likely to constrain liquidity. Hence greater emphasis on optimal use of cash float and credit lines is necessary. The normal payment processes of invoicing, goods / services receipts, and payments can be reviewed, to explore how best to use the time frame allowed by creditors in making payments. In other cases, additional or higher advances may be required by contractors or sellers of goods and services, for which limits need to be established.

6. Internal audit could compensate for some ex-ante controls. Internal audits could be used as a compensatory control to establish concurrent post audit to compensate for any pre-audit requirements that are modified. The internal audit function could temporarily reduce its role in systems reviews to focus on conducting post audit of transactions, with little time lag.

7. Financial reporting for timely assurance. Where separate budget lines are created for COVID-19 response, they need to follow the standard financial reporting system (IPSAS or national standards). Governments can benefit from more frequent interim reporting on the specific lines for decision-making.

8. The supreme auditing institution (SAI) needs to stand ready. Audit of emergency transactions by a governments SAI provides broader reassurance on the value for money spent during emergency operations and helps identifies actions to strengthen systems for the future. SAI auditors need to independently decide on the nature, scope, and approach to COVID-19 and they should conduct their audit with minimal time lag after restoration of normalcy. To be able to conduct it, SAI needs to keep abreast of the modifications done to PFM systems and identify potential risk areas.

TimHJRogers
AdaptConsultingCompany.com

WORK REST AND PLAY THE SECRET TO SUCCESS

As a former athlete I am very familiar to periodization of training, interval work and active recovery as well as the importance of focus and rest.

This is an excellent book which outlines the science behind these and how to apply for personal and work-place performance gains.

A really good book, highly recommended.

More information here https://www.amazon.com/Peak-Performance-Elevate-Burnout-Science/dp/162336793X

If you want help with managing projects, process or supporting people, get in touch

TimHJRogers@AdaptConsultingCompany.com

Mob 447797762051 

Twitter @timhjrogers

#people #projects #change #leadership #lean #scrum #agile

Books I would recommend to The Distributors Club

It is not always obvious what you will learn from a book and often difficult to say which is the best since learning is often a jigsaw of different insights and connected thoughts from different places.

So when the Distributors Club asked me to comment on books I would recommend the answer has to be “it depends” on the reader, their interest, and their pursuit of depth or breadth.

Below I have highlighted some of the physical books I have sat down and read. And some of the audiobooks I have listened to as I walk, often 5 or more hours per week.

My personal view is read widely and read about ideas that you can use to change yourself, your community and the world for the better. I have debated whether to categorise books into Business Books or books about Economics or Psychology but the more I read the more I appreciate that these are inter-related.

I have previously written a book list with categories (link below) but this is now incomplete and out-of-date. I also think it is more fun to learn something completely new than simply reinforce existing knowledge, with the risk of bias. Some of the most challenging and enlightening books I have read are those where I have a different view, yet nonetheless want to understand a different perspective.

So below is a list of physical books and audiobooks 2018-2019. I always welcome feedback, and recommendations. If you have any observations or suggestions please comment, or get in touch.

Thanks, Tim

TimHJRogers is a former Commonwealth Games Triathlete, World Championships Rower and GB Coastal Rowing Champion. He is also a Management Consultant, Performance Coach and Mentor. He is a contributor to the Jersey Policy Forum and an Independent Member of the Public Accounts Committee as well as a former curator for TEDx events and Chair of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Committee. As well as supporting personal and organisational change Tim is a public speaker on a range of performance and social change topics.

Mob 447797762051 

Twitter @timhjrogers

Linked-In https://www.linkedin.com/in/timhjrogers/

THESE ARE SOME OF THE PHYSICAL BOOKS THAT I HAVE CONSUMED RECENTLY

THESE ARE SOME OF THE AUDIO BOOKS THAT I HAVE LISTENED TO

1.    Cognitive Psychology for Dummies By Michael Pake,

2.    I Love You But I'm Not In Love With You: Seven Steps to Saving Your Relationship By Andrew G. Marshall

3.    Love Factually: The Science of Who, How and Why We Love By Laura Mucha

4.    My Early Life By Winston Churchill

5.    Messy By Tim Harford

6.    Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success By Brad Stulberg,Steve Magness

7.    The Unicorn Project: A Novel About Developers, Digital Disruption, and Thriving in the Age of Data By Gene Kim

8.    Humble Consulting: How to Provide Real Help Faster By Edgar H. Schein

9.    The Examined Life By Stephen Grosz

10.  The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity By Douglas Murray

11.  No More Mr. Nice Guy: A Proven Plan for Getting What You Want in Love, Sex and Life (Updated) By Dr Robert Glover

12.  The Wisdom of Psychopaths By Kevin Dutton

13.  How the World Thinks: A Global History of Philosophy By Julian Baggini

14.  The Truth: An Uncomfortable Book About Relationships By Neil Strauss

15.  Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel By Tom Wainwright

16.  Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky By Noam Chomsky,

17.  Out of the Wreckage: A New Politics for an Age of Crisis By George Monbiot

18.  War and Peace and IT: Business Leadership, Technology, and Success in the Digital Age By Mark Schwartz

19.  A Seat at the Table: IT Leadership in the Age of Agility By Mark Schwartz

20.  WTF?: What have we done? Why did it happen? How do we take back control? By Robert Peston

21.  The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups By Daniel Coyle

22.  SAS Italian Job By Damien Lewis

23.  Stalin: New Biography of a Dictator By Oleg V. Khlevniuk,

24.  Product Mastery: From Good to Great Product Ownership By Geoff Watts

25.  Scrum Mastery: From Good to Great Servant-Leadership By Geoff Watts

26.  Lean Mastery Collection: 8 Manuscripts: Lean Six Sigma, Lean Startup, Lean Enterprise, Lean Analytics, Agile Project Management, Kanban, Scrum, Kaizen By

27.  Scrum: The art of doing twice the work in half the time By Jeff Sutherland

28.  Eureka: Finding the Line Between Desire and Contentment, Then Riding It By Graham Field

29.  The Climb By Anatoli Boukreev,G. Weston DeWalt

30.  The Push By Tommy Caldwell

31.  The Impossible Climb: Alex Honnold, El Capitan, and the Climbing Life By Mark Synnott

32.  Lone Rider: The First British Woman to Motorcycle Around the World By Elspeth Beard

33.  Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street By John Brooks

34.  In Search of Greener Grass: Riding from Reality towards Dreams and Finding Fulfillment By Graham Field

35.  The Good Psychopath's Guide to Success By Andy McNab,Kevin Dutton

36.  Winners: And How They Succeed By Alastair Campbell

37.  A Child Called 'It': One Child's Courage to Survive By David Pelzer

38.  Yes! 50 Secrets from the Science of Persuasion By Dr. Noah Goldstein,Steve Martin,

39.  Flipnosis By Kevin Dutton

40.  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Techniques for Retraining Your Brain By

41.  The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure By Grant Cardone

42.  Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life By Nassim Nicholas Taleb

43.  Principles: Life and Work By Ray Dalio

44.  Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die By Chip Heath,Dan Heath

45.  Key Person of Influence: The Five-Step Method to Become One of the Most Highly Valued and Highly Paid People in Your Industry By Daniel Priestley

46.  The DevOps Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, and Security in Technology Organizations By Gene Kim,

47.  Inside Story: Politics, Intrigue and Treachery from Thatcher to Brexit By Philip Webster

48.  The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership: Achieving and Sustaining Excellence Through Leadership Development By Jeffrey Liker,

49.  Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant By W. Chan Kim,Renee Mauborgne

50.  Thinking in Systems: A Primer By Donella H. Meadows

51.  The Secret Barrister By The Secret Barrister

52.  The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life By Mark Manson

53.  Critical Chain: Project Management and the Theory of Constraints By Eliyahu M. Goldratt

54.  The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks Than Others Do in 12 Months By Brian P. Moran,Michael Lennington

55.  Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics By Richard Thaler

56.  Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue By Ryan Holiday

57.  The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement - 30th Anniversary Edition By Eliyahu M. Goldratt,

58.  The Cold War: A World History By Odd Arne Westad

59.  The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win 5th Anniversary Edition By Gene Kim,

60.  Willful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at Our Peril By Margaret Heffernan

61.  The Great Economists: How Their Ideas Can Help Us Today By Linda Yueh

62.  Bad Blood By John Carreyrou

63.  Hitch-22: A Memoir By Christopher Hitchens

64.  A History of Russia: From Peter the Great to Gorbachev By

65.  Summary of 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson: An Antidote to Chaos By FlashBooks Book Summaries

66.  Summary of Algorithms to Live By by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths By Instaread

67.  Red Notice By Bill Browder

68.  How the Mind Works By Steven Pinker

69.  Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients By Ben Goldacre

See also ..

What books to YOU recommend I should read in 2020?

https://timhjrogers.blogspot.com/2019/12/what-books-to-you-recommend-i-should.html