Frequently Asked Questions
If you don't see answers to your questions below, please just reach out!
Q: I really believe development is important and will add value, but I am not sure I can convince my manager to approve the expense of implementing a program, can you help with that? Yes! I can completely identify with this situation. It is understandable in the business environment that all expenses are justified. While it can seem hard to project tangible results, there is so much research and evidence that can be used to tie investment in employee development with concrete business results. I can help draft a proposal to present to your management that aligns with your specific current opportunity, business goals and budget realities, often reasonably projecting an ROI in the first year.
Q: Where are you located, and do you offer services remotely? Do you travel? I am located in Western MA. I absolutely offer services remotely. I travel free of charge up to one hour, and longer travel times (including flights, etc.) can be arranged. While I do love connecting with people in person, all of the tools available to support remote connectivity and productivity make it a great option.
Q: How about supporting me in my proposal for other InsideUP services to my manager or leadership team, is that something you offer? Yes, definitely. I am very passionate about investing in existing talent and creating opportunities for employees who really deserve it. I will work with you to provide no-cost drafting of proposals you can pitch to your manager, HR department or team (there is an example of the kind of information that I can help pull together to show ROI at the bottom of the 'About' page on this site).
Q: Can you explain a little more about how mentoring for promotion makes sense and what that would look like in practice? One thing I have learned over the years is that cookie-cutter approaches often aren’t ideal, so I offer a lot of flexibility based on the organization and their goals and resources. An example of how this might look is: 1) Meeting (remote video or in-person) with the hiring manager to get grounded on the situation (what the open position is, what the skills and capabilities of the employee targeted for promotion look like and what the gaps are in order to align their skillset to the new position). 2) Discuss and align on key gap areas for mentoring and define what success will look like for each 3) Review a proposal plan with scope and length of mentoring that fits within the company’s goals for timing and their budget; adjust if needed and finalize plan 4) Alignment meeting with manager and employee to be mentored 5) A regular cadence of working sessions with mentee, focused on the plan 6) A regular cadence of status updates and alignment meetings with the manager and the mentee. As an example of flexibility, this could be a twice- monthly meeting with the manager directly and one monthly meeting with myself, the manager and the mentee to facilitate full alignment and a spirit of cooperation and support. This cadence will be part of our initial alignment and planning processes.
Q: I have a great employee and I really want to support their growth, but opportunities in their area are limited. We definitely don’t want to put ourselves in a position to lose them - do you have suggestions? This is a great question, one that is often not asked out loud because you can’t ignore those limitations! The reality is that org charts get smaller as you climb and it is impossible for everyone to “move up.” But lateral moves are a significant and underestimated opportunity, for both employees and their organization. Offering a lateral move into a new area that your employee may be interested in is still a demonstration of your commitment to their growth and development. In addition, a lateral move will often inspire a great employee who has lost their spark, providing an opportunity to energize the employee and a new-to-them department/team. Discussing your employee’s interest in growing into a new area is a great place to start. And, yes, I can certainly support mentoring them in a new role if it’s in my wheelhouse – in fact, I would love to be part of that process! It would be very similar to mentoring for a promotion or just for growth development.
Q: I have an employee who is responsible for leading a project that involves multiple other departments. This is typically my go-to person when there is a challenge, but they seem to be struggling with this, and I am worried that we don’t have the full visibility to how everything is going or if there is risk – how could your cross-functional team process improvement help? As I’ve already noted and as you are probably already aware, cross-functional projects are just more complicated than inter-departmental projects. At a high level, leading a cross-functional project requires accountability without authority, and this can be a very tricky dynamic for both the team leader and other team members. But there are several things that can be done to really minimize those “people pinch points” to build accountability into the process itself. I can offer you a tailored program we can implement in as little as 4 weeks that will increase the effectiveness of the team and improve communication within the team and assure that status reporting to stakeholders in the wider organization triggers visibility to potential issues, the need for shifting of resources and for recognition of team progress. I would love to discuss more – just reach out and we can set up a no-cost, no-pressure time to discuss.
Q: Can you really step into a role in a temporary capacity and hit the ground running while we re-assess needs for a newly vacant position and do a proper search for a permanent replacement? While I cannot promise I can cover every role in supply chain, operations or project management, my breadth of experience enables me to pick up sourcing (either indirect or direct), planning - both long and short-term, including capacity utilization planning and projections, distribution, customer service and more, very quickly. I have significant experience working with many different ERP/MRP systems and, more importantly, have developed strong instincts for identifying pinch points and projecting issues for communication and resolution. Through a no-risk assessment I will determine my confidence level for success and will only accept an offer if I feel certain I can deliver.