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Mike Cuppett

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IT Leader

218 points

IT Leader

Mike Cuppett and 2 other people answered this question

Jan. 10, 2012

Does anyone have a good job description for a Chief of Staff?

Charlie,
There are many Chief of Staff job postings across the internet job boards containing descriptions that can be refined to match your need. You may need to exclude "medical" in the search, since CoS is a very popular title in that field.
Mike more

Human Resources

Mike Cuppett and 14 other people answered this question

Jan. 5, 2012

What is the difference between change and improvement?

Change does not imply added value. Improvement implies value was created.

Career Development

Change Management

Mike Cuppett and 11 other people answered this question

Jan. 5, 2012

What books on leadership would you recommend?

John C. Maxwell's book 360-degree Leader. Learn how you can lead up, across and down from any position within any organization. more

General Management

Human Resources

Mike Cuppett and 20 other people answered this question

Dec. 12, 2011

Are you willing to turn off your digital life when on vacation?

Vacation digital settings: Work = OFF Life = ON (reduced to a once daily check-in)
Mike more

Mike Cuppett and 1 other person answered this question

Dec. 12, 2011

What is the best alternative for a remote server for small database management for a start up co.?

Rhonda,
Based on the information you've provided, the best way for the company to keep costs low and to manage growth will be by using a vendor/cloud solution. Having an expected monthly services expense will also make cash flow management predictable. Be sure to negotiate a ... more

Information Technology

Data Management

IT Company Strategy

Mike Cuppett and 7 other people answered this question

Dec. 9, 2011

How do you stay informed on technology and IT trends?

I like scanning the trade rags (both online and paper form) and using Google searches when looking for a specific technology to research.
Mike more

Information Technology

Technology Trends

Mike Cuppett answered this question

Dec. 9, 2011

What are your tips for responding to customer service inquiries through social media?

Be sure to maintain a consistent message across your customer base, even if that means building pre-vetted responses to various inquiries that seem customer-specific to the customer. Responding to people or resolving customer problems differently can lead to many problems.
Mike more

Customer Service

Customer Experience

Mike Cuppett and 2 other people answered this question

Dec. 9, 2011

Why do online communities fail?

Any online community that fails to add value - entertain, inform, intrigue - or gets filled with SPAM is doomed. People join forums anticipating a benefit or wanting to help others but when that reason does not evolve, they will move on.
Mike more

Community Management

Customer Community

Mike Cuppett and 1 other person answered this question

Dec. 9, 2011

What should you do if an employee gets 'out of hand' at an office holiday party?

I recommend setting expectations before the party by making sure everyone understands that while kicking back and having fun to celebrate the occasion is intended, each person still needs to remember that the party is a business function at which other people, including senior leaders, ... more

Human Resources

Employee Relations

Mike Cuppett and 9 other people answered this question

Dec. 9, 2011

In your opinion, what's the most revealing interview question that you ask?

I like asking, "How do you balance being a solid team player with being a high-performing individual contributor?" Determining the candidate's priority - self or group/business - usually becomes transparent.
Mike more

Human Resources

Mike Cuppett and 5 other people answered this question

Dec. 9, 2011

What is one specific example of how you've been able to kick your fear of failure?

A healthy fear of failure is not a curse. That is what drives us to do more comprehensive planning, more thorough risk assessments, etc. that directly leads to an improved chance of success.
Mike more

Customer Service

Human Resources

Information Technology

Mike Cuppett answered this question at this roundtable

Dec. 9, 2011

6% Is Not Enough: The Case for Driver-Based Planning in 2012 [12/9 @ 1 pm]

How do you define planning versus budgeting?

Keeping things simple, planning is about setting your strategy and goals while budgeting is outlining the spending plan to execute the strategy to reach the goals.
Mike more

General Management

Budgeting Software

Mike Cuppett and 7 other people answered this question

Nov. 30, 2011

What are the main ingredients for a successful change in a company?

1. Leaders must demonstrate belief and confidence in the change.
2. Everyone else needs to trust the leader's ability to drive change.
3. Find early adopters that can help communicate the value of the change and get others excited about the opportunities change can bring about.
4. Be ... more

General Management

Human Resources

Change Management

Mike Cuppett and 2 other people answered this question

Nov. 15, 2011

Was Zynga's strong-arming of employees to give back stock before IPO right or wrong?

Wrong! It will be interesting to see how recruiting goes after this incident and how the market perceives the leadership team. more

Human Resources

Business Ethics

Employee Management

Mike Cuppett and 7 other people answered this question

Nov. 15, 2011

What are the unwritten rules to a successful webinar?

A great webinar first engages and educates the audience by defining how the proposed offering can meet a business need and then secondly demonstrates how well the offering delivers the solution. more

Customer Service

Channel Management

Mike Cuppett and 67 other people answered this question

Nov. 15, 2011

What do you consider the difference between a manager and a leader?

Managers deal with resource allocation - funding, scheduling people's time, inventory, products, etc.
Leaders deal with people - setting direction/vision, motivating, inspiring, mentoring, etc.
Excelling at both should be the goal. more

General Management

Human Resources

Mike Cuppett and 20 other people answered this question

Nov. 15, 2011

What's one simple thing that can improve projects and/or project management?

Hire a proven leader with experience in several types of businesses and many technologies.

Information Technology

Project Management

Mike Cuppett answered this question

Sept. 30, 2011

What is rural sourcing?

Scott,
Rural sourcing is the practice of hiring people from lower cost locations to reduce payroll expenses. A similar concept is to build facilities in locations where power, real estate, etc. are less expensive.
Thanks!
Mike more

Information Technology

Business Process Outsourcing

Mike Cuppett and 1 other person answered this question

Aug. 19, 2011

What three certifications should every professional pursue in order to be successful in the global market?

Jim,
I'm game!
Project Management - everyone should be able to effectively manage time, money, risk, communications and people resources.
Demand Management - knowing how/being able to prioritize opportunities for investments, compliance and other projects, most likely using a project portfolio management methodology, will keep the business moving ... more

Information Technology

Balanced Scorecard

Business Intelligence

Mike Cuppett and 1 other person answered this question

Aug. 18, 2011

Is customer service defined by a set of averages?

In many companies, yes. Unfortunately these measures are about productivity and do little to capture the customer experience from the actual customer's perspective.
Thanks!
Mike more

Customer Service

Mike Cuppett and 1 other person answered this question

Aug. 18, 2011

How can any government best deploy lean six sigma?

Vision, Results (expected) and POC (Proof of Concept).
Once proven, apply as appropriate.
Thanks!
Mike

Business Process Improvement

Mike Cuppett and 4 other people answered this question

Aug. 18, 2011

SITUATION: What's the most important thing to do after you've been laid off?

Rev up your network so that as many people as possible will start helping you find a job.
Thanks!
Mike more

General Management

Human Resources

Career Development

Mike Cuppett and 9 other people answered this question

Aug. 16, 2011

SITUATION: I've been unemployed for awhile. Should I accept a so-so job offer?

Caty,
Been there, done that! Taking care of my family is more important than my job title. Besides, there are many things you can learn from any job or organization that will help you grow.
Thanks!
Mike more

Human Resources

Career Development

Mike Cuppett and 5 other people answered this question

Aug. 16, 2011

Who is actually accountable for the success of ERP projects?

Michael,
Unfortunately, many project managers become scapegoats when projects fail…hence the fear.
The executive/business sponsor should be held accountable for the failure, even if the PM is incompetent and/or waited until the project was beyond resuscitating (incompetent), since the executive sponsor should have interceded by coaching or ... more

Information Technology

Enterprise Resource Planning

Mike Cuppett and 8 other people answered this question

July 8, 2011

How can ERP projects that finish on time and on budget still fail after going live?

1) Low user adoption rate
2) Poor application performance from the user perspective
3) Functionally operates different than user expectations
4) Users were not trained well enough
Basically, the users become frustrated and less productive, so they find "better" ways to work/navigate within the application or they revert back ... more

Information Technology

Enterprise Resource Planning

Mike Cuppett and 3 other people answered this question

Oct. 27, 2010

At what point does it make sense to outsource payroll and/or handling contractor payments?

What would she do with her time and energy if she was freed from managing the contractor payments, etc? This answer might be the true value proposition that needs to be considered. If her time was focused on other tasks - sales, marketing, client relationships ... more

Human Resources

Mike Cuppett and 3 other people answered this question

March 16, 2010

Do I need to have an IT staff to support a network attached storage?

Tom,
I agree with Jay that the NAS configuration and maintenance is relatively simple. Please be sure to consider the network traffic pattern change that will occur once the device is in place. You don't want the traffic to your new storage solution clogging up the ... more

Information Technology

Network Attached Storage

Servers and Storage

Mike Cuppett and 3 other people answered this question

Feb. 12, 2010

Which employees should get a business laptop computer?

That's a tough question with many political and security ramifications. What you definitely don't want to allow or enable is the ability for corporate data to reside on home or publicly accessible (library, cafe) computers. That's a security nightmare no one wishes to invite. That ... more

Information Technology

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