Comments on: Management – One More Unpredictable Forecasting Variable

By: Constance Korol

Constance Korol — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:53:54 +0000

William,

Thanks for your presentation and discussion at the Better Management webcast yesterday. I grabbed some great key points and tweeted them away. I have never heard or thought of emotional intelligence before and you piqued my interest. I will have to check it out.

I agree with you that businesses must be agile, have contingency plans and have all disciplines on the same page to survive in this economy. Lastly, I thought your points on using effective communication and relationship building to lessen the blow of relaying difficult information was spot on. As you say, numbers are logical but can also have an emotional impact.

For those who missed the webcast, you can view it on demand here:
http://www.bettermanagement.com/seminars/seminar.aspx?l=15145

By: admin

admin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:59:54 +0000

There has been ONE book published on this topic, people interested in the topic may want to read:

http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Planning-Fresh-Food-Industries/dp/3790815926/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251742291&sr=8-1

‘Advanced Planning in Fresh Food Industries’ by Matthias Luetke Entrup.

By Patrick Pilz

By: admin

admin — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:11:10 +0000

Alternatively, have the forecast always be below budget. That will produce actuals consistently over forecast.
By
Len Porochnia

By: admin

admin — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:06:59 +0000

Must be tough to deal with the changing styles of a manager. I have found that the more fair and consistent I am the better results I get out of my team. Good luck with your situation.

Posted by James Crawford

By: admin

admin — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:06:09 +0000

Liked and recognized the fun to read story. I don’t know the leisure business but an error margin of 1-3 percent sounds appealing to me and almost like fixed orders.

Posted by Rob Snijders

By: John Maller

John Maller — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:36:31 +0000

Very funny article!
You need to add in your boss’ s behavior as a variable in the forecasting.
This will be another ‘dependent variable’. Could help to improve forecast accuracy

http://www.emcien.com

By: admin

admin — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:37:13 +0000

Thanks for putting this link out there, and to William for writing it. This situation also comes up in a Product Marketing “features vs cost vs sales” discussion. I’m glad in William’s case the issue was able to be resolved fairly easily and well; unfortunately, not all managers understand their own effects, even after explanation.
By
Clayton Berry

By: admin

admin — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:36:45 +0000

Totally agree. I have seen the same thing in technology sales especially when it comes to the weekly Pipeline Calls and sensitive transitions of prospects from C to B to A to “what happened” – why did we lose that deal?
By
Steve Sussman

By: TJ Hammerstrom

TJ Hammerstrom — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 04:22:10 +0000

Understanding how all the stake holders in the equation work with one another is a feat in itself. Managing those expectations in a forecasters roll is more than a challange… Any advise on this topic.