Golden rules for implementing Six Sigma in an IT organization

Before we actually start discussing on golden rules of implementing six sigma let us first discuss why any organization needs six sigma. I believe below are the reasons that drives an organization towards six sigma.

Lack of  initiative in new process or design. Delay in deliverables. Need more Collaboration between Process and teams. No Continuous Improvement Philosophy (Kaizan). Loss of customer satisfaction.

In a simple word any organization which is not meeting stakeholder’s satisfaction need a change and it could be better in terms of six sigma if reasons are mentioned above.

Implementation of six sigma is a basically “Top down approach” and broadly can be treated as waterfall model.

1. Leadership Commitment :

By leadership here we would like to mean all categories of leaders and not only the top management of an organization.

The informal leaders are the most recognized and highly influential leaders in a Six Sigma project. The presence of quality leadership commitment trait in these informal leaders is very much essential for the success of any Six Sigma strategy. Informal leaders are a very integral part of Six Sigma implementation and maintenance team and without their involvement means sure failure of the strategy. Besides, informal leaders will resent being out of the major activity loop and will not extend cooperation in the areas they excel resulting in the lack of procedural influence. Therefore you should have well trained informal leaders. Occasional hiring of Black Belt trained informal leaders will also give an impetus to the successful implementation of Six Sigma strategy. In other words, they are the people who will help to get the ball rolling as well as rolling in the right direction.

2. Strategic Alignment:

This alignment required because many organizations lack a common understanding about their projects. This lack of clarity can impede progress toward achieving the organizations goals.

Strategic Alignment Ensuring how to keep projects on track and aligned with corporate strategy, while keeping key stakeholders engaged with the project

3. Change managers/Leaders :

  Change management skills include leadership development, marketing and sales. Is the “black art” of Six Sigma deployment

4. Customer focused market knowledge :

Six sigma always driven by vision and mission of the organization. Processes are designed from the perspective of the customer and are enabled by a commitment to thinking in terms of processes across the organization. Metrics such as SLA adherence, reliability, price, on-time delivery, service and accuracy provide the targets. The customer focus creates market knowledge that can illuminate the need for process change in areas where the company can add value or implement improvements that customers themselves value most

5. Bottom Line Benefits :

The main aim is improved bottom-line profitability. Satisfied customers come back for more and encourage business associates, family and friends to do the same. It is the vote of the customers, not that of an awards committee or certification board, that counts. In today’s competitive business environment, initiatives must justify themselves economically.

According to Peter Drucker, “Profit is not the explanation, cause or rationale of business behavior and business decisions, but the test of their validity.”

6. Process Approach : There should be only two approaches. One is DMAIC & other is DFSS. DMAIC should be applied in existing process and DFSS should be applied in new process.

7. Decision with measurement: Deploying Six Sigma in a service or transactional environment usually entails working with various information systems, which may seem “data rich” at first glance but are, in fact, data poor due to their design and implementation. For this reason there should be some specific measurement system to overcome this. Some metrics are really useful in this purpose.

8. Continuous innovation : You have to a mindset for continuous innovation. Need to think always out of box for innovation and right people in place. Leadership team needs to be patient which is key to success.

9. Organizational learning :

 By implementing Six Sigma Organization also moving towards a better process and quality oriented organization which is a great learning

10. Continuous refinement :

Continuous refinement is necessary to achieve reduce defect. Over a period of time we get controlled over the process and continuous refinement will help to improve quality.

Key Success Factor of six sigma implementation :

Master Black Belt and Black belt should drive the organization towards six sigma. Training and techniques of six sigma methodologies and tools should be available to the all employees. Always focus on customer delight which not only reduce cost but also enable breakthrough bottom line results. Awards, rewards and recognition for successful six sigma project teams.

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Lean Six Sigma provides a powerful combination of the Lean manufacturing approach and Six Sigma. The two concepts are not very different in their outlook and methods, or in their applications and goals. Lean Six Sigma works on the philosophy of increasing speed by focusing on waste reduction. The result of Lean applications is shown in the improvement of quality and on reduced processing times and costs. Combining 6 sigma with Lean manufacturing augments short-term results with the power of comprehensive changes. The result is Lean Six Sigma.

Five Reasons Your Organization Needs Lean Six Sigma

Corporations increasingly prefer implementing Lean Six Sigma over any other methodology. Here are the five top reasons that organizations prefer Lean Six Sigma.

1. Lean Six Sigma is applicable across industry sectors: Although Lean manufacturing was originally developed as a quality management tool with a manufacture-centric approach, of late, industries across the board have accepted and successfully implemented the seamless Lean Six Sigma tool. The notion that Lean Six Sigma can’t applied to non-manufacturing sectors doesn’t hold true any more.

2. Lean Six Sigma results in immediate functional improvements: Implementation of Lean Six Sigma results in faster-than-expected reduction of production time and costs. This is because of the application of its tools such as kaizen (method of constantly analyzing process flow and its application), kanban (helps pull up production) and poka yoke (mistake-proofing).

3. Helps create value for consumers: The combined application of Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma results in tangible and real value creation for consumers. Consumers of products and services can enjoy better experiences in terms of increased utility and reduced prices. More and more organizations are showing an inclination to implement Lean Six Sigma for obvious reasons – it improves their bottom lines.

4. Practicality of execution: Lean Six Sigma facilitates transformation of organizations by creating a powerful linkage between strategic priorities and improvements in operations. Strategic priorities are the goals set by the top management team for higher returns on investment and improved customer experiences.

5. Focus on sustainable management capability: Lean Six Sigma’s highly sustainable approach, being woven into every aspect of business, leads to the creation of sustainability from top down. Sustainability results from the quick realization of tangible benefits of implementing the program.

By implementing the Lean Six Sigma approach, organizations have realized time and again that it is possible to streamline their operations and to create value for both management and customers alike. The bottom lines of companies have soared with the successful implementation of Lean Six Sigma. As a result, many companies have created enormous value for their shareholders. Organizations are drawn to the Lean Six Sigma approach due to its fast implementation and results, in addition to creating additional value for the consumer at no extra cost.

World-class leaders have the personal resolve and willpower to create effective plans and the organization to implement their strategies. They energize their organizations through these plans. They act decisively. They assess and adjust their plans constantly on the basis of sound situational awareness and outer directed information gathering.

This level of adaptability depends on a few leadership strategies, techniques and principles. When you follow my advice below you will achieve success.

My Top 7 Leadership Strategies You Need to Lead Your Organization Under All Circumstances

1. Get clear on objectives and stick to them.

If you don’t know your destination, you and your organization will meander aimlessly and enter storm-tossed seas.

Effective leaders know where they are and where they want to go. And, they stick to their aim.

2. Create robust plans.

Plans have three key benefits.

Effective planning allows you and your team to delve into a situation beforehand
Plans create a common language for everyone involved in the organization’s mission.
Plans tell you what needs to be done, by when, and with what resources.

3. Add flexibility to your organization.

The art of organization addresses “Who” and “How” in order to implement your plans. After the assignment of responsibilities and resources, teams and the organization as a whole must develop common processes. This ensures quality, consistency, and accountability. Plus, it will make it easier to determine the reasons for success and failure and how to correct your weaknesses.

4. Maintain situational awareness.

Most leaders focus on feeding an endless hunger for internal reports, rather than on markets, competitors and societal trends. When confronted with an information request, leaders should ask the following question: Does this request feed the internal information monster or will it contribute to a greater understanding of our environment and our clients?

If it’s the former, then internal processes must be revised or eliminated.

If it’s the latter, ask yourself if it confirms an existing belief about markets and competitors, or if it challenges it. Information that does not agree with widely held assumptions and beliefs should be scrutinized closely and given the highest value. The danger is in using information to confirm and rationalize what we already believe, instead of using it to confront a brutal reality head on.

5. Act, assess, and adjust.

Effective leaders act when they are 80 % ready. The final 20 % rarely contributes anything of value, since the situation and conditions it is designed to address will likely change anyway.

The effort and cost of attaining “perfection” in plans and organization is usually cost-prohibitive and not worth the additional investment. This doesn’t mean leaders should blindly adhere to plans in the face of changing circumstances. The key is to act, assess the impact of actions, and then adjust the plans to get back on track.

Situational awareness plays a critical role in assessing and adjusting actions, but so does leadership.

6. Lead from the front.

It is in times of great change and confusion that world-class leaders truly earn their keep. Military commanders know that they can’t command and lead their forces from the safety of their command post. The same applies to business and organizational leaders. This is leading from the front.

Leaders have to get down and dirty with the troops.

This doesn’t mean you should be doing your subordinates’ work.

However, you do have to get out and about. Ask questions. Probe responses. Question clients. Observe what is happening and why it is happening.

Then you can apply your judgment to the changing situation and be present to motivate employees and collaborators.

7. Maintain morale.

Morale is one of the most poorly understood organizational concepts today. The term originally comes from the military, where it denotes the willingness of forces to continue the fight until final victory, no matter what the circumstances.

This is powerful stuff.

Unfortunately, many business and organizational leaders talk about morale, but what they really mean is the mood of the organization. Think of the mood of the American people, and much of the Western world, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. It was not rosy. People were both saddened and angered by the atrocity.

However, a majority in the U.S. as well as in many friendly countries rallied and decided that the time had come to do something about such attacks. Thus the War on Terror was born.

This example shows the clear distinction between social mood and national morale. They are clearly different, yet intricately linked. In the simplest of terms, whether your purpose is to fight a war or to introduce a new product to market, the only way to have the willpower and resolve to achieve your objectives is to maintain superb morale. Here’s how…
Recognize the nobility and value of your goal.
Recognize the sacrifices and commitments of your people.
Take care of your people.

Nothing undermines morale more quickly than uncertainty about one’s own place in an organization, apathy, and uncaring superiors.

It is never too late to get a ship back on track or to reassess where you are in implementing your personal and organizational goals. Take the time to list your goals and then compare them to this list of principles. Begin changing your approaches immediately so you can become a more effective leader today.

The mistakes committed by leaders can be very costly for companies of any size. To eliminate the possibilities of any such mistakes and to lessen their graveness, there are many Leadership Development Training programs that are conducted in Denver.

Following are some of the very common mistakes that the leaders every where make:

1. Power Abuse

The downfall of some of the biggest organizations in the world have been brought about by the leaders who took undue advantage of their power to fulfill their own selfish ends. This phenomenon has been observed more among the newer lots who suddenly rise up the ranks and are swayed by the whole new world of negative possibilities.

Such leaders normally know their business very well and are often able to go scot-free also. However, the actions of such a scheming leader don’t go unnoticed by his/her subordinates in the immediate environment. It’s a different matter altogether that many subordinates prefer not raising their voice for the fear of retribution.

A leader is supposed to lead by example and therefore when the leaders only turn corrupt, the employees are no longer able to look up to any one in the organization. With the passage of time, everybody starts distancing themselves from such leaders.

2. Lack of expertise and knowledge

Leaders that normally move up the ranks based on favoritism and not meritocracy are often lacking in necessary skills to do their jobs perfectly. It may also be the case that the leader has stopped looking at his present profile as a means to reach even higher and considers it more of an end to enjoy life to the fullest. He may also be suffering from communication problems and may not be able to drive his team to do well.

In order to do justice to his job, it is very important for a leader to continue learning and improving in his art. If he closes the doors of his mind to the constant learning process, it is the organization that will eventually suffer from its consequences.

3. Fear of Delegation

Leaders very easily fall into the trap of thinking that because they are in a certain position they are the best people to do certain kind of jobs. This notion keeps them from delegating work to other employees who may be able to do better justice to the same jobs. Leaders indulge in such practices also to take maximum credit for the work done.

Such behavior clearly shows the lack of confidence the leader has in his teams’ capabilities. The leaders must understand that the people are appointed to fulfill certain roles in the organization because they are normally thought of to be the best in doing justice to those roles.

Leaders who indulge in such derogatory activities also loose respect in the eyes of their team. It is a normal phenomenon that if people are not given their due respect, they will not give it back either.

4. Indulging in Blame Games

Many leaders who readily take credit for the hard work done by their team members don’t take a moment in shrugging off all responsibility in the event that something unfortunate happens with a certain task.

In the earlier times, there never used to be forums that could address such issues to do with corrupt leaders. However, nowadays, with the communication becoming much easier, many multi national companies are opting for 360 degree feedbacks for the leaders at all levels of the organization. Some reputed organizations also have an Ombudsman to look into the employee grievances.

Leadership development training programs that are held in Denver take into consideration all the above-mentioned points and make sure that leaders both new and seasoned are taught the importance of their roles in an elaborate manner.

What is the purpose of these time management tips? I have shared them with you so you can start managing your time better – today! Granted we can’t control how much time we have, but we can organize the time we do have to get the most out of it.

I’ve selected some of the best time management tips I’ve come upon and ones which I think are easier to follow, guaranteed to work and can be done by almost anybody.

1. The most common tip I’ve encountered is to make a list. This will not only make everything more organized, but it gives you a preview of what’s more important to you by a careful inspection after making one. It will help you prioritize and recognize flexibility among your tasks. Just make sure you follow what you’ve written according to the most important ones on top.

2. Having a routine is your secret weapon to successful time management. A strong routine will keep you focused, balanced and on track. And it means your list will stay organized too!

3. Recognize importance over urgency. According to an article, importance leads to achievement of goals while urgency is more for the achievement of someone else’s needs or an uncomfortable situation. Importance should always prevail. Since your aim is to target goals that gives you the greatest gains.

4. Pick out your time wasters. Do you “kill time” watching TV, browsing the internet, chatting on the phone, daydreaming, saying yes to everybody, saying yes to everything? All these things can affect your productivity negatively.

5. Do back track. This is a form of self-assessment. Track your activities in the past, get rid of the habits that can cost you time and determine what part of the day you work best. Then take on the most difficult tasks in those hours.

I had a teacher who once said to me that there was no such thing as “Time Management”, as we are all given the same amount of time each day – 24 hours. We can’t change that. A better term would be “Task Management”. I’ve never forgotten about that ever since.

Time management tips can help us to manage our time better and if we manage our time wisely we get our work done. We also improve our productivity and we get to more time to enjoy the things we want to do at the same time!

Find out more about importance of time management. Rachel got her particulars together from a variety of places including these time management tips.

The demand for leadership talent greatly exceeds supply. If economic growth continues at a modest 2 percent for the next 15 years, there would be a need for one-third more senior leaders than there are today. Who will replace your retiring executives, and how will you keep your company’s leadership pipeline full?

The demand for leadership talent greatly exceeds supply. If economic growth continues at a modest 2 percent for the next 15 years, there would be a need for one-third more senior leaders than there are today.

Baby boomers have already started to retire. Most large companies will have to scramble to meet gaps in senior leadership talent. Who will replace your retiring executives, and how will you keep your company’s leadership pipeline full?

To make matters worse, the global and more dynamic economy of the 21st century requires executive talent with a more complex skill set:

* Greater technological literacy
* A sophisticated understanding of global marketplaces
* Multicultural fluency
* Relationship savvy, with extensive networks of alliances and stakeholders
* Leadership skills over a delayered, disaggregated and virtual organization

Succession Planning in the 21st Century

In response to these challenges, organizations have a renewed interest in succession planning systems. While these systems functioned merely as replacement charts in the past, and were HR executives’ function, there are two critical differences today, emphasizing:

1. Leadership development at all levels (not just senior executives)

2. Responsibility and involvement for leadership development within the work group, with the person’s manager and team members (and no longer an HR function)

Distinct Leadership Levels

Most development models fail to consider leadership requirements at all levels. As a person is promoted from line manager to business manager to functional manager, skills and requirements change.

Companies mistakenly focus on leadership traits, styles and technical competence. They commit a major error when promoting successful individuals without acknowledging required skill set differences at different levels of leadership responsibilities.

The Leadership Pipeline

Hiring gifted people makes sense as a tactic, but not a strategy. Companies need to build leaders, not buy them. Research and experience demonstrate that potential is not fixed.
The more people achieve, the more they learn. Their willingness to tackle new challenges increases. To capitalize on potential, companies must define the true work requirements at each key leadership level. Succession planning systems must spell out what’s needed to make a successful transition from one layer of leadership responsibility to the next.

Succession Planning to Fill the Pipeline

The following five-step plan will facilitate succession planning:

1. Tailor a leadership pipeline model to fit your organization’s succession needs.
2. Clarify standards for performance and potential, in your own language.
3. Document and communicate these standards throughout the organization.
4. Evaluate succession candidates through a combined potential-performance matrix.
5. Review plans and progress of the entire pipeline frequently and seriously.

Many scholar articles and government websites have been talking about goal setting intervention in different public sector organizations as a crucial matter recently. Government and state personal agencies are concerned with the high retirement rates and are getting prepared for the highly developed twenty first century and are developing and recruiting potential workforce.

The major focus of this goal setting intervention in different pubic sector organizations is ensuring that the organization operates effectively and competitively irrespective of change of leaders and heads. This usually happens in social organizations where client growth is the main aim. This involves systematically identifying, developing and assessing leadership in an organization in order to make sure that all the important positions in the organization are always kept filled. Planning a goal setting intervention, along with managerial decisions, resource allocations and daily operations helps establish improved performance targets that such agencies offer.

The initial step in such an intervention is getting to know the customer’s feelings.This is the most vital factor that is responsible for driving the goal setting intervention into action with performance measurement in government agencies and establishments.

The biggest question being asked today is whether goal setting intervention can apply to even federal government agencies. As surprising as it is, it actually does cover the federal government. As a matter of fact, as of today, 300 million customers claim satisfaction because of it. All the agencies that are part of a public sector organization need to have their goals set via the President’s Executive Order 12862, also called the “Setting Customer Service Standard” that requires all agencies to provide customer service equaling all business quality processes.

But the problems that the federal government has to face are not restricted to the public sector alone. It is, in fact, a mixture of both, which makes it all the more harder to achieve the fundamental performance improvements than before.

There are a few factors that affect the management efforts and the goal setting intervention. Some of the vital ones are stakeholders concerns, corporate resources and customer needs. Here are some important success factors used in goal setting when it comes to public organizations:

• The stakeholders must be involved in the process so that the program can improve effectively.
• The performance should be closely observed and measured and should be used as a yardstick to compare other business needs and organization performances.
• The organization’s objectives should be systematically linked to the improvement goals as well as the core business culture. This helps achieve a clear picture of the outcomes that need to be brought about at different milestones.
• Educational training programs must support all daily decision making activities and improve goals at operational level.
• The goals that are set must be realistic and ambitious and should form the basis for the mission, current performance levels and customer needs that can challenge the entire organization into achieving great improvements in their performance.

Goal setting intervention when it comes to public sector organizations should not be treated lightly and needs careful consideration. To prevent all possible negative consequences it is necessary that the performance goals be kept positive and realistic while simultaneously should not be set too modestly as this can cause the organization to find it difficult to move out of the current work process that will become impossible to shake out later on, thereby cutting down on the productivity.

The economic slump is likely to affect businesses with a recession in the horizon. Because of this, businesses are rethinking operations to provide quality services and products while lessening the volume of workers.

Human resource and development centers like the Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness (CMOE) have training options that reflect the actual requirements of professionals in different work situations, assisting to improve their careers and aiding promising leaders to:

* Understand their functions’ significance in the system.

* Enhance trust within the culture.

* Maximize communication channels.

* Build up weaknesses and make excellent application of strengths.

* Understanding the various kinds of leadership and appreciating them.

The ultimate goal of the training is to develop practical leaders who are abreast with the trends and privy to the changes around them and in the corporate world.

The Organization’s Need for Leaders

Businesses require CEOs who embody the dynamics of the business in terms of behavioral competencies. In the organization, potential leaders are built up with regards to what they can do in terms of team management and decision-making. Thus, the emphasis is no longer on individual leadership, but instead on developing leadership skills to distribute tasks.

Regardless of how leadership is defined, organizations look at leadership as the driving force that would place the business well-established in the industry and a step ahead of competition. Towards sustainability and profitability is the course leaders are meant to provide for the business.

Emphasizing too much on preparing individuals for leadership positions will lead to failure, unless the organization creates a positive stance on developing leadership skills. This is the main goal of any organization – using leadership development in all circumstances of the workplace.

Creating Leaders in Businesses

As categorized by Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Professor David Perkins, the following are the primary leadership roles:

* The Exemplar – the role model.

* The Gatekeeper – makes decisions on the movement of personnel, from promotions to exclusions.

* The Visionary – leads the organization towards new channels.

* The Fixer – solves problems effectively and creatively.

* The Truth-teller – keeps the integrity of the organization.

* The Enforcer – makes sure that rules and standards are enforced.

* The Connector – can tap connections and pinpoint potential leads.

Organizations are attempting to uphold standards and do more with less resources and manpower with the economic difficulties ahead. This leads to the search for leaders who are realistic and practical, but are also aware of the organization’s future needs.

Whatever your organization requirements, there is a CMOE training option that is suited to developing leaders, assisting them do what they do best.

Home interior design could well be described as an action of an individual to improve the interior of a structure to make it flow with the architecture, become more user friendly for the occupant, and look fantastic in the procedure. Home interior decoration provides a certain “feel” to the house; it includes applying wallpaper, painting the walls, choosing of furniture and fittings such as light fixtures, and adding decorations such as paintings.

House interior decoration is professionally done by interior designers/ decorators and also by a few architects. There is a distinctive difference between house interior decoration and interior design.

Home interior decoration is focused on finishing, such as wallpaper, window covering, furnishings and paint. Interior design is more integrated with the architecture, and in addition to household interior decoration involves cabinet making, room layout etc and host of other design parameters that go into making a house.

The modern idea of interior decoration truly began with some fellows from Paris, London, and New York, Their names respectively are Jeanselme, Lenygon, Morant, and Ogden Codman. The initial concepts and evolution of the art began though in the late 18th century in Paris and London. Interior decoration over the years has undergone a lot of transformation and discussion as with anything that is in the industry of the arts and fashion. Currently a lot of designers are in the mode of developing ideas on a shoe string budget.

The whole objective of household interior decoration is to functionally improve the household and make it reflect your tastes and personality at the same time rendering it unique. A big challenge, nevertheless, undertaken by artistic scientists.

Back in the year 2003 it was approximated that people who own their homes spent around 175 billion dollars to improve their houses in one way or another. Of all that money around 65% is estimated to have been spent on interior decorating. Where the emphasis is being placed today is in the area of kitchen remodeling and fixing up the bathroom area with nice new fixtures and fittings. There are also trends that indicate people tending to develop rooms that are either meant for a single individuals tastes of for particular activities. A lot of the various types of rooms save some common familiarities with each other as some of the common ones are spa rooms, game rooms, exercise areas, wine cellars, and libraries. Living in luxury is equated by many individuals to mean that there is a lot of space in the household, but for a lot of people that have the money they are trading in all of that space for rooms that are built specifically for their needs and wishes.

Colors are also undergoing a new preference towards earthly, natural and warm brown tones from the vibrant and loud colors of the past. A couple of other colors that seem to be preferred over the reds and blues of the past are gray and blue hues.

The new trend of Life-styling has given household interior decoration industry a boost. As a result a lot of people are changing from the old rustic look and the lovely Victorian look to things that are more eclectic and high tech or chic.

Instead of focusing on things adore uniqueness and good looks these day people are focusing more on harmonizing their environment and making it functional. Rightly so, since uniqueness can never be 100% and neatness has always been correct looking, which can be brought about by good functionality.

Home interior decoration has changed more drastically over the past 15 years or so than in its long history. Trying to keep up with everything that is new and trending is nearly as important for the interior decorator as it is for a software developer to stay on top of developing technology.

One particular part of interior home decoration is a corner media cabinet in the event you happen to be contemplating redoing your current residential media space then you’ll be looking for one of these. If you wish to find out more specifics about this subject, check-out http://mediastoragecabinet.org.

There are so many communication and organization tools available today. Which ones do you use? When it comes to this type of programs most users think about email, instant messenger, a scheduler and internet telephony with Skype.

It can be a hard task to add all different data, like appointments, notes, tasks and contacts into a single tool and don’t lose the overview. This often results into several tools, one for its own type of data. This way of organization may result in a higher level of confusion. When your different tools aren’t synced with each other, you need to ask yourself which program is holding the information you currently need.

The answer is clear: yes and no. It’s depending on which tools you’re using and how adequate they are supporting you with your daily organization. Ask yourself: “How long does it take to find a contact’s email or phone number?” “How difficult is it to find a free time slot for a new meeting?” There are quite a lot of users, which still use MS Excel for planning and organization. When you’re belonging to the ones who use Excel for daily organization you should rethink your workflow process and start using tools which have been developed fort the organization (Excel is good when it comes to calculating, but not for organization).

There are a lot of free and commercial tools available which only have been created to make your workflow smarter and support you with your daily work. These applications are called Personal Information Managers (PIMs) and will put your organization on a new level.

PIMs consist of an email client, an appointment, a task, contact and note manager, offer a rich set of functions especially for communication and planning. Think about a scheduler which can be synced with others and that shows you with one click when several users have time for a new meeting. Think about a contact manager with search and filter options that let you initiate a chat or Skype session with just a few clicks. Sounds good? Then take a look on the available PIMs and give it a try. The most known PIM is MS Outlook, but there are some alternatives to it like Pimero, iCal or Lotus Organizer.

Gerard Schwabe is senior project manager at soft-evolution, an innovative provider of team management software Pimero.