Frugal Village

In the article titled “Proactive People Management One Key to Success”, the author Arun Shukla shares ideas for taking a proactive approach to improvements. He mentions FAT results which stands for financially triangulated results, happening at an Accelerated pace, and are Translatable. The main points in the article are whether companies are proactive, reactive, and if a system is in place to analyze how these approaches relate to human performance, keeping in mind the situation, consequences, and feedback. He breaks it down and focuses on people management, performance system, and understanding proactive management.

People management is an important factor when implementing any changes. Changes are often made quickly and can create issues and problems. You want to be able to manage various behaviors in a proactive, positive way. Most often, people need to see how the change is beneficial to everyone, but especially to the individual. You don’t want a situation where morale is lowered, job performance decreases, or worse, people leave. No one wants to take on more work without a justifiable reason for doing so. Each person needs to see the benefit in doing so. Implementing changes, as painless as possible, requires knowing not just the organization’s goals, but the individual goals of the people effected by any changes.

A performance system model is a foundational framework. This model allows managers and decision makers to take a closer look and analyze how changes impact the individual, as well as the organization while at the same time setting performance expectations. This permits managers to align the goals of everyone involved. This model looks at not just the current situation, but also the consequences and considers the feedback received by the people. Feedback about progress can make the difference in how people perform.

Proactive management is what helps identify what needs to be addressed, as far as the response from the people. This is where you can decide what needs to be modified and/or improved. You want to make decisions, so the same situation doesn’t occur again, while knowing past reactions to improve future reactions and performances. You want to give information to empower people, offer feedback to share progress, give them the tools and knowledge they need, and impress upon the people that they can be successful. It’s about anticipating versus reacting.

I actively manage communities on a daily basis. It’s necessary to implement changes frequently because technology changes rapidly. This can be changes in content management systems, servers, appearance, business models, advertising, etc. One thing is certain and that is the majority of people don’t like change. I’ve learned with experience, how to implement changes to cause the least amount of stress to my readers. My readers want to know why the change is happening. They want to know how it benefits them as individuals. They want to know how to use new systems and they want to feel valued. Providing information is a vital part of implementing change.

It’s necessary for me to be proactive, but reactive, as well. I look at the small picture, as well as the big picture. I take a close look at the attitudes of my readers.

Another aspect is having a support system in place that backs your decisions. There are always going to be a handful of people that resist changes, but if the majority embraces and supports it, I’ve found it makes transitions easier overall for even those resistant to change.

I am often asked about how I grew my communities, so from time to time I will share some of the behind the scenes information on my thoughts, things I’ve tried, what worked, and what didn’t.

My readers are diverse, so I’ll try to strike a balance.

To tie this concept in for my frugal readers, let’s apply this to changes you might be trying to implement at home. It can sometimes be difficult to get your entire family on board with an idea you want to implement. It can be something as small as a meatless meal once a week to complex as allocating money differently.

Often times, it’s in how you present your ideas to your family. Anticipate their reactions and be prepared to be able to answer any concerns they might have. Show the benefits of the changes you want to make and most of all be open to their feedback and make any changes necessary to include their thoughts on the situation.

You also should keep in mind that some people are simply not going to accept change, won’t buy into your ideas, and aren’t going to be willing to do what it takes to make it work. It often takes an inner willingness from others and isn’t something you can impose on them. Compromise is the key.

With that said, you can try to establish goals, (not just your own, but identify goals from all of your family members) show the benefits, gather your information to state facts, show them the numbers, teach by role modelling, work in baby steps if you need to, and discuss how you’ll feel about the situation if the changes are put into place. Sometimes they need to hear it from an “expert”, so you can also try websites and books (My suggestions for financial changesDave Ramsey’s TMM or Your Money or your Life by Dominguez and Robin) to strengthen your ideas. You might also seek advice from a financial planner/advisor. In an ideal situation you and your spouse would be on the same page. In extreme situations, counselling may be in order.

What changes do you want to see? How are you implementing them? What are/were the results? What obstacles are you facing?

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