PST Newsletter

There's a new version of the ManagePro Outlook Add-In available with Auto Sync!

Thanks to our customer CCG Systems, who are in the fleet management software business, we've been able to develop a new version of the MPro Outlook Add In.  If you're using the Outlook Add In, be sure to contact us about upgrading.  If you're not using the Outlook Add In, you should take a look at it - it offers some great features and flexibility.

If you're not aware of this program, it installs inside of Outlook and allows you to drag and drop email directly to your ManagePro record outline as either a progress update, todo or event.  All without having to open ManagePro on your desktop. 

But another big help is its ability to synchronize your todos and appointments in Outlook to your ManagePro database, whether that's located on a web server, a LAN server or your desktop.

Now we've added a cool new "Auto Sync" feature, which is what I wanted to tell you about in this newsletter.   You can now tell Outlook how often to synchronize with ManagePro.  Once set, Outlook does it all in the background, you don't have to remember to synchronize with Outlook ever again.

To configure the Auto Sync, simply click on the configuration icon (see the orange box in the pic) in the ManagePro Add In.  Check the box for Auto Sync, and set the time you wish to wait between sync cycles.  I suggest 60 minutes.  Click OK and you're done.  Very simple.

You can order the ManagePro Outlook Addin for $39.00 on our site, or contact our office for upgrade instructions if you already have an existing license.

Note: 

1.  To take advantage of this feature you will also need to update your ManagePro plus and smart licenses.  Contact our office for a link.

2.  If you are self hosted, meaning you are operating with PST's middleware on your web server, you'll need to complete a simple 10 minute upgrade to your middleware.  Contact our office for instructions.

Working with YOU - our Customers

We often see our customers and potential customers expend a tremendous amount of time, dollars and energy focusing on the acquisition process.  Getting just the right features, making sure it's just the right product, and that everyone is on board.

Actually if I could be your friendly business coach for a minute, I would tell you that 80% of the energy and resources expended in this activity is mis-spent.  I'll give you a couple of examples in a minute, but here's the bottom line:

The benefit to you isn't in the software acquisition... it's all about using it to reach outcomes.  In fact, it is very common for all of us to over-emphasize the acquiring phase - in part because it has a sense of progress and satisfaction.  I wrote about that in a recent blog on software acquistion assumptions:

... "Have tools ever fixed a car? No, not without someone putting
them into effect. Acquistion or purchasing is just the start.
There’s no magic to purchasing. It can be fun, but it doesn’t
complete the solution, it just starts the adventure. Don’t
confuse the mini-buzz we all get from making a purchase,
with the satisfaction of having achieved the benefits of
having a new well functioning solution in place. "

Yes, you don't want to get trapped by acquiring the wrong tool or software package, but the pay-off won't be in picking over features.  The pay-off is in how quickly you can apply them to your business.  How quickly you standardize using ManagePro as part of your business process.

Examples of effort mis-spent:

1. We had one customer spend months reviewing ManagePro's features with a group of project managers.  In fact, they spent more dollars on getting a large group to attend the meetings than they did on the software.  They just didn't realize it, because it was a hidden or absorbed labor cost.  Time spent on evaluating the software was not an accurate predictor of time spent using it after the purchase!

2. I had another customer group who spent lots of time and dollars getting the program customized to a set of criteria they were sure was critical to their success, only to be found 90 days later to not have applied the basics like laying out project plans for their key objectives, and hourly requirements for their basic resource management.


Here's another example.  Take a look at the screen shot below.  It demonstrates some of the capability found within ManagePro.  Not only can you lay out your objectives and build project plans to resource them, you can also configure scorecards, complete with a timeline trend to give you instant visibility on the key variables to track in your business.

 


You're probably thinking, "Yea, that's what I want to have at my finger tips."  Do you?  Or have you simply purchased a tool that can do it, but you haven't got it in place yet?

Bottom Line:  Reaching outcomes is the reason we all are spending time at work.  Don't confuse or believe that the energy spent in acquiring software like ManagePro, will necessarily translate into implementation.

Implementation is what generates the outcomes you and I are looking for, but it's a completely different adventure, a completely different course to run than the software purchase process.  Take a look at the next newsletter section for some suggestions about how to implement better.

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What to Do with Talented Team Members who Don't Implement Well

Your talented workers are sometimes the very ones who don't implement new systems well, and in fact stand in your way of achieving the outcomes you intended with ManagePro.   For a good read on the topic and an excellent slate of suggestions, I can't recommend a better book than Dibachi's "Just Add Management". 

The husband and wife team do a great job of walking you through the basics for how to:

- Demand accountability and maturity from workers
- Organize the workplace for consistency, efficiency and predictability
- Establish workplace transparency
- Set and broadcast priorities
- Track progress on every project every day
- Gather accurate, timely business data that helps your organization work smarter.

The part that I typically find helps the most, is getting clear on three critical rules that provide the foundation for everything else.  In fact, if you don't get these three rules in place, nothing works as well as it should. See what you think and send me your reactions to the book.

1. The basic contract - you get paid for what? (Deliver results, follow the plan, be a grown-up)
2. I'm the boss, this is not an equal relationship, my priorities matter more than yours... is that a problem?
3. If you work here, you work smart and leverage information - can't afford to do it any other way.

Hope you're finding new ways to improve your business and help your people be more effective with ManagePro this August, and looking forward to using ManagePro to help you finish strong in the second half of the year.

 
Rodney Brim,  Ph.D.
CEO Performance Solutions Technology
Blog - www.ManagePro.com/Blog
Twitter Account - www.twitter.com/RBrim

PS. Beyond following our blog and twitter account, remember to take a quick moment and white list us so that you don't miss out on any email notices of updates.  To white list us, just enter PST as a contact, and then in the email addresses, including the following three
pst(at)managepro.com
patti(at)managepro.com
editor(at)managepro.com
I put the word (at) in, instead of the @ sign to avoid having the email addresses harvested by spammers.  You'll need to change that when entering into your contact list.