Avocation Ink http://avocationink.com Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:21:56 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Bring me your NONSENSEhttp://avocationink.com/bring-me-your-nonsense/ http://avocationink.com/bring-me-your-nonsense/#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:21:54 +0000 avocation http://avocationink.com/?p=126 Bring me your nonsense

You know those no-NONSENSE people?

I have come across several people that term themselves ‘NO-NONSENSE’ people. The type that like to sound important and might sometimes fit the role of office bully. I’m sure you know the type and you know as well as I do that they cause more NONSENSE than the rest of us – but won’t believe it!! :-)

]]> http://avocationink.com/bring-me-your-nonsense/feed/ 0 I would love to @KatiePrice we…http://avocationink.com/i-would-love-to-katieprice-we/ http://avocationink.com/i-would-love-to-katieprice-we/#comments Tue, 07 Jun 2011 21:52:02 +0000 Richard http://avocationink.com/i-would-love-to-katieprice-we/ I would love to @KatiePrice wearing this! I get offers of advice: http://t.co/tz4FG0e

]]> http://avocationink.com/i-would-love-to-katieprice-we/feed/ 0 Buffy has nothing on the SLA S…http://avocationink.com/buffy-has-nothing-on-the-sla-s/ http://avocationink.com/buffy-has-nothing-on-the-sla-s/#comments Tue, 07 Jun 2011 21:50:40 +0000 Richard http://avocationink.com/buffy-has-nothing-on-the-sla-s/ Buffy has nothing on the SLA Slayer: http://t.co/eR9GcgP via @AddThis

]]> http://avocationink.com/buffy-has-nothing-on-the-sla-s/feed/ 0 SLA Slayerhttp://avocationink.com/service-level-agreement-slayer/ http://avocationink.com/service-level-agreement-slayer/#comments Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:56:30 +0000 avocation http://avocationink.com/?p=111
SLA Slayer

Service Level Agreement Slayer


The Service Level Agreement – we have all met it and been saved or suffered by it, mostly suffered I feel. It started life as a key mechanism in helping us all to get what we needed from the services we rely upon in our daily lives….BUT!!!

The SLA is not all it seems to be, it is the enemy of the ‘flow’ of activities that make things happen – it is the master that drives behaviour (ambulances off-loading patients to achieve targets, Councils doing fortnightly instead of weekly collections, GPs restricting booking times to only 24hrs in advance!).

I once listened to John Seddon of Vanguard consulting at an event and he made a lot of sense on SLAs, he is one of the many SLA Slayers – are you?

P.S. Vanguard Consulting are not sponsors…yet!! Simon Pickthall? :-)

]]> http://avocationink.com/service-level-agreement-slayer/feed/ 0 Who do you think you are?http://avocationink.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/ http://avocationink.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/#comments Thu, 19 May 2011 21:33:53 +0000 Richard http://avocationink.com/?p=70
It’s a difficult one to swallow, but lots of us will read this drawing and KNOW that it’s absolutely true of us … The good news is that IT’S NEVER TOO LATE!!! :-)

]]> http://avocationink.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/feed/ 0 I smell a RISKhttp://avocationink.com/i-smell-a-risk/ http://avocationink.com/i-smell-a-risk/#comments Wed, 18 May 2011 21:04:45 +0000 avocation http://avocationink.com/?p=49
Risk Management is one of those areas that everyone thinks they can do but no-one does well. I worked with an expert whose catchphrase was ‘monte-carlo’ – you could smell him coming!

]]> http://avocationink.com/i-smell-a-risk/feed/ 0 I get offers of advicehttp://avocationink.com/i-get-offers-of-advice/ http://avocationink.com/i-get-offers-of-advice/#comments Wed, 18 May 2011 19:37:14 +0000 avocation http://avocationink.com/?p=29
I used to work with a guy called Mark Grist, he would often fall foul of the Boss but he was very upbeat about this. His response to a dressing down would be……

]]> http://avocationink.com/i-get-offers-of-advice/feed/ 0 Good news, Bad news……just NEWS!http://avocationink.com/hello-world/ http://avocationink.com/hello-world/#comments Tue, 10 May 2011 20:34:41 +0000 avocation http://avocationink.com/?p=1

I used to work with an Excellence in People Management programme. The Programme Director [Rob] when asked if the news was bad would always say “it’s just news” – good on you Rob!!

Tell me what you think in the comments.

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