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O P I N I O N
I receive a lot of phone calls from firms inquiring about many of Zweig Group’s educational offerings. Oftentimes, I’m asked about a specific program, such as our project management or recruiting seminars, and after a short discussion, it becomes apparent there is a gap. Filling in the gap Firm leaders often think they know what the company needs, but in reality, are looking for answers in the wrong places.
Bill Murphey CONTINUING ED
You know the gap. You realize your firm needs something, but you’re not quite sure what you need. It’s that standing-in-front-of-the- refrigerator-with-a-blank-stare gap. You want something or think you want something, but you can’t quite put your finger on what it is you want. “A performance gap may not be caused by a lack of training, but by something less visible.” Some companies try to cover their performance gaps with assumptions, such as: “What we need is more training.” I hear that one quite often. A performance gap may not be caused by a lack of training, but by something less visible. What they’re really looking for is process standardization.
Our survey data indicates only 26 percent of firms have a project management manual, so how would a new project manager know what a firm expects of them? In that same survey, 76 percent of the respondents stated their firm relies on on-the- job training and mentorship for the necessary training. It’s difficult to accelerate a firm’s project management capabilities when a project manager’s training is left to the discretion of a mentor, or worse, as one firm told me, “our project managers are left to fend for themselves.” Those are internal policy gaps that must be closed before a training program can truly be effective. Finding and closing gaps is not as difficult as it may seem, but it takes a little effort. ❚ ❚ Define success for your firm. What results do you wish to achieve? Let’s say you decide you want your
See BILL MURPHEY, page 10
THE ZWEIG LETTER March 14, 2016, ISSUE 1143
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