The covid19 holiday has been an eye-opener. I have had to get my hands dirty to teach the young ones. I have been amazed at the kind of questions American, Asians, and European Schools set in the exam. To pass any question, the candidate must have understood the principle. There is no shortcut. And by far, the questions apply to the real-life environment. Below is a typical sample question from one of the exams for Form 8, the equivalent of Senior Two (S2) in Uganda. Sample 1: Blueberries are sold at a local fruit shop in three different punnet sizes:…
Be aware: lockouts and long queues at Face Technologies, Kyambongo
Once one of the most effective and efficient agencies, Face Technologies is now overwhelmed, and the staff members are tired as early as 9 am. It is psychological tiredness. Each day, about 700 driving permits are processed. It is a lot of work, and I too feel for the staff and everyone involved in making sure all applicants get their driving permits. The company does an efficient operation whereby a new driving permit is processed when the person has gone to collect it. An excellent approach to eliminate forgeries.
What is strategy?
Strategy is choice. It is about making choices on how to win with stakeholders including customers against the competition or in case of government institutions, any entity that competes for budget allocation from the consolidated fund, is a competitor.
The way of the magician – high risk-taking for great rewards
Steve Cohen wrote a great book, Win the Crowd” on how to unlock the secrets of influence. The book is filled with great stories and anecdotes. Steve is a millionaire’s magician, and in his book, he lets readers experience his escapades and how he managed to tap into an exclusive high-end market end for his magic. Below is one of the stories from the book. I quote: “Magicians know that the rewards can be so much larger when you challenge yourself to take risks. Legendary Las Vegas magician Jimmy Grippo proved this one evening when he was in a bank.…
The salesman in the era of coronavirus
Ask any salesperson what they do not like about their job, the answer is the bad attitude of other people about sales. In 2012, I got a contract to facilitate a strategy for an insurance sales agency unit. The objective was to help increase monthly production. Revenue in insurance-speak is called production. The agency had a sales production target of Ugx. 3bn per annum. If you want to become a great consultant, first become a great listener, who asks great questions. In consulting, the starting point is to understand client needs. “How exactly will you measure work well done after…
How to set a stage for productive meetings
If you want to have a great meeting, start by asking why you need the meeting in the first place. Before you call for a meeting, set the agenda by asking the following questions: a) What new information to be shared? b) What change to be announced? c) Do we need to review or modify any policies? d) Do we need to solve a problem? e) Do we need to motivate or reward the team?f) What new idea or product to introduce a new product The next step is to focus on your meeting outcomes. What are your expected meeting outcomes? a) What should happen after the meeting? b) Why meet? What are the required results of the meeting? c) How will meeting success be measured? How will we know if these results…
