Shared Value Partnerships

As service delivery professionals we desire to do the right thing with our partners. However, in a partnership model where the entities have different core objectives to meet, it takes a little more than just the desire, to make it truly win-win. Here are some quick thought-triggers to enable a successful service delivery and a shared-value partnership.  

I like my partner to do well too, but I don’t want to come across as someone who’s too easy. How do I achieve that?

I want to trust my partner; how do I ensure I get the same from my partner?

Is collaboration possible in partnerships and which magic wands do I need to make my partnership truly collaborative?

Be Authentic-

It is extremely necessary for all the involved parties to be fully aware of the partnership’s objectives for each of them. Visibility of the desired objective (Explicit or other wise) and motivation, will bring transparency in the relation. When the goal is shared, the efforts are more aligned

Be Open-

Being open with ideas and willing to trust the partner is the key element of getting started on the right track. If you wish to say, “I don’t think your plan is going to work because …..…”, hit the pause and review if the desire to help or to push the partner to the corner.

Be Bold, yet Realistic -

Set aspirational targets but strike a balance by ensuring that they are not too away from realistic achievement based on data gathered in advance of any formal announcements or commitments. Setting unrealistic goals that are impossible to meet can lead to disillusionment and cynicism.

Be Sure-

Role of each partner in the pursuit and more importantly each partner’s core competencies, should be very clear. Complementary diverse skills and competencies, to be identified and deployed properly, to enable success.

Be a Nitpicker-

The devil is in the details-Details are essential, particularly those dealing with scope, definitions and metrics, which, if not identified up-front, can lead to challenges down the line. Internal and external proof points will be needed for each partnership but drilling down to the detail about what can be said about outcomes will help frame the metrics. Work to define the nuts and bolts of the desired outcomes and not just the activities of the partnerships.

Be Consistent with the Language-

This may be old advice, but it arises from one of the most oft-repeated challenges. The same words can have different meanings to different organizations, one way of making the case can work better for one group than another — and it is essential to work out a common language. Managers who have worked on both sides of the partnership can often serve as “translators” as they help to bridge the gaps in understanding

Begin with the Beginning-

Start with a goal or a problem and explore different strategies. If you start with a goal or a problem that needs solving, all partners feel included in the development of the solution and unexpected ideas or ways to tackle an issue may arise.

Be prepared to Pivot-

Things have a way of not going according to plan. It is important that partners work closely with one another, talk openly about challenges and find the right approach.

Be Friendly-

Find ways for people who do not usually talk to one another to come together and be in the same room. Getting multiple parts of partner organizations involved will help create buy-in and get everyone on the same page about the goals of a partnership.

Be Patient-

Partnerships — and the workflow changes they may entail — don’t always come easy and they tend to take a lot of work and time. Patience is key. Building relationships that provide the foundation for these partnerships also take a considerable amount of time.

Be Innovative-

Creating a space for innovation and growth is critical and challenging. Create space for innovation and the type of transformative off-the-wall thinking that can lead to greater impact, sustainability and scale.

Individual Performance Is Not Enough; We Need a Way to Measure Teams

Individual Performance Is Not Enough; We Need a Way to Measure Teams

Employee engagement, aligning talent and business strategies; these are perennial problems for HR professionals. How do we solve these problems?  Increasingly it has been thought that one of the best ways is to refocus on teams within our organisations. But to do that we need to make sure we’re collecting standardized data and pushing it to the right people.

* Individual Performance Is Just One Lens

One of the key ways we have all been trying to overcome our biggest challenges is by monitoring the effectiveness of individuals. Technology has given us the power to collect data on individual employees in real time. This kind of instant, fine-grained view of our organisations was not possible before. While CHROs recognise this has improved their organisations in many ways, some of the biggest problems still remain. “It has become ever-more difficult for HR professionals to identify, attract and retain the most talented team players. Those who are able to do this are worth their weight in gold,” says Doug Monro, co-founder of Adzuna, a UK job search engine. The problem is that individual performance is just one lens. It is an important one, yes, but there’s a risk that by focusing only on individuals we miss the bigger picture. While a company is made up of individuals, it’s also composed of teams: small teams, big teams, departments, and whole offices / units / manufacturing plants.

The turning point for an HR manager would be recognising that improving individual performance does not necessarily improve the performance of whole teams. Individual performance is vital, of course. Everyone must be engaged or the team will usually fail in any case. But better individuals do not necessarily lead to better teams.

This is because team performance also depends on members contributing different skills, approaches, and creating an environment where creativity can flourish. You may have 10 stellar individuals in a team, but if they’re all stars in the exactly same way, think the same way, and combative to boot, they’re unlikely to outperform a more cognitively diverse team.

This is compounded by the fact that dysfunctional teams are a problem many of us face. According to a study conducted by the University of Phoenix, 70% of respondents cite being part of a dysfunctional team. And yet well-managed work groups are on average 50% more productive and 44% more profitable than less well managed groups, according to Gallup.

*We Need Standardised Measures

As HR leaders, we have to add the “team lens” to our management repertoire. As well as monitoring individuals, we need to make sure that these individuals are coming together to create strong, well-performing teams. The problem though is that many organisations do not collect data and feedback at the team level. Companies have individual performance data, including annual reviews, going back decades; usually including feedback from subordinates, peers and managers. But this same level of data won’t exist for the new 50-person India Quality team or 10-person UK BD unit created three years ago.

*What Data Do We Collect?

But if team performance is something different, what data should we be collecting? Ideally, just like real-time feedback platforms enable employees to rate and give feedback to other employees, companies should introduce similar tools for employees to do the same for other teams within their organisations. It would make sense to collect this data from clients and other external audiences too.

To work, this needs to be an industry task because whatever we collect should be standardised. Only then will we have the tools not only to measure and rank the performance of teams within our organisations, but benchmark our company’s teams against industry averages. This will help us understand if we have a problem – or not.

*Feedback Must Get to the Team

It’s just as important to make sure this data is being pushed to the right places: the teams themselves. It’s useless if it’s only held on a server somewhere or restricted to management. Pushing this data down to employees is also one of the best ways to engage employees.

According to a survey by Clutch, millennials, now the largest demographic of Indian workforces, especially crave this kind of feedback. “Of the millennials whose managers do provide accurate and consistent feedback, 72% find their job fulfilling,” Clutch says.

This is even more important now that our organisations are becoming more dispersed. According to the latest statistics, more than half of the workforce will do at least some freelance work by 2027. Many of these people will work outside conventional workplaces. This will add strain and may make it more difficult to create cohesive, strong and supportive teams. In the face of this trend, giving teams real-time performance data may well help them feel like a single unit, and engage them to improve their performance.

There is also an argument to be made for exploring the idea of tying the performance data to pay and incentive schemes. We already do this with individual performance via annual reviews and performance bonuses, so it would make sense to trial this with team data too. Some companies already offer team-based incentive pay as a way to encourage team members to work together effectively. But by using new real-time team feedback tools, we could develop bespoke incentives to target different aspects of performance, even cultural traits such as creativity, drive or competitiveness.

For many of our companies, the business environment has never been more difficult. The average lifespan of a NASDAQ-listed company is now shorter than ever before. At the same time we have technological forces stretching our companies in new and challenging ways. We need all the tools that we can to make our companies nimble, agile, top performers. Improving the performance of our teams is surely part of that mix.

" Compiled with views from multiple social media"

What can one do after an unsuccessful interview

Found this in a group of HR Professionals. 

Getting rejected at a job interview does not always mean that you lack major skills or that the company in consideration was reluctant to hire you. There can be many more reasons like there were better candidates than you or the company has limited openings and could consider you later. 

Hence it is imperative that you leave a bad impression on the interviewers or company's HR team. Here are few things which can help you tide this phase well - 

1) Send a thank you note 

Send a thank you note to the recruiter stating that even through you have not been selected for the job, but the experience has been enriching for you. Someone has already received your job and you have nothing to lose. But maybe the company has openings later and they keep you in mind for that hour. 

2) Asking for feedback 

Ask the company for feedback, such as: "If there's anything I can do to improve my candidacy for similar positions, I would value your thoughts." It is difficult to get a reply for this question, but if you get one it can improve your professional aspects. 

3) Never burn bridges 

In some industries, like advertising & media, people move around a lot and key players tend to know each other. Stay in touch with the interviewers who considered you because they can refer you to another similar positions in other companies. 

4) Write reviews about the company 

There are many company websites like JobBuzz who allow employees and job seekers to write company reviews. You can write about the company's selection process and the interviewers attitude. Be truthful there as it reflects that you are a credible source or not. Company surely reads what is written about them and tries to improve on that. 

5) Improve on your skills 

You might be rejected due to lack of experience or some skill. Assess what went wrong and don't shy from accepting your challenges and start working on them. This may mean taking on some courses, additional degrees. Figure out what makes you more worth hiring and work on honing those so that you are ready when a new opportunity presents itself.

So Many Tasks- So Little Time

Given the hectic schedules we al follow and the ever increasing demands for efficiency it seems that we are running against time all the time. While some of us are effective time managers, few of us - me included - still need to master this fine art. I have put together what I have seen and read over a period of time which seems to be helping better time management

First, you must admit and acknowledge the three truths…

1. You will never get it all done – While many feel there is not enough time in the day to get everything done, it’s not actually a “supply” problem. We have the same amount of hours that everyone else has and has always had. It’s a “demand” problem. Even if you work 24/7, there will still be unfinished business; things to do, people to see, reports to prepare, and e-mails and reports to read etc
2. Your day will not always go the way it was planned – But, that’s OK. Your success at the end of the day should not be based upon whether the schedule you set was followed, but on how productive you were leading to your end goals. Just as your mobile phone gps recalculates as you go off course, you will have to continually reprioritize to adjust to changing situations.
3. Everything takes longer than you think it will – But, that’s OK, too. The high-quality output that we demand of ourselves in our team takes a little longer to produce. If it’s on your schedule, it’s important that you do the absolute best job you can, even if it means you can’t get to everything else on your plate.

At the end of a long day, do you look at everything you accomplished or do you focus on the incomplete to-do list? If you focus on the former, you have a feeling of completeness and self-gratification for a day well spent. If you focus on the latter, you focus on your shortcomings, never feeling like you do a good job. So, when you leave office for the day, please look at the things you have done irrespective whether you had started planning to do them or not.

Effectively managing your multi-tasking day involves effectively managing the following...

1. Effectively manage your goals – Before deciding on what to work on … you need to know what you’re working for. If you have not established your goals, you can’t celebrate when you achieve one. The first step is to take a baseline snapshot of where you spend your hours in a typical day and typical week and whether it is leading you to reach your goals
2. Effectively manage your priorities – The most important decisions you make during the day are what actions to take and not to take. This prioritization will determine where your time, energy and focus will be spent. Ask yourself “for every action taken or not taken, what is the intended result?” we both know that our life is about choices we took. In choosing what to work on, you need to distinguish between the “urgent” and the “important.” Start early working on the “urgent” before the deadline approaches
3. Effectively manage your focus – Your first goal is to filter the noise, which is anything distracting to your task. Everyone wants a piece of your time and attention, but not everyone is entitled to a piece of your time and attention. Schedule time for interruption and manage the time for the interruption. “Do you have a minute?” rarely turns out to be “a minute.” You could respond, “Yes, I have a minute … but it will be after 2 p.m.” Turn up your personal and business spam filters that block anything that steals our time and our attention. If the task is not going to immediately make you more knowledgeable, make you more money, save you time or provide a worthwhile benefit, ignore it
4. Effectively manage conversation – While the three most important axioms in real estate are said to be location, location, location, in business its communication, communication, communication. When it comes to communication and managing conversation, it’s not just what you say … it’s what people hear. Say yes slowly. While no one task you agree to do takes that long, it’s when we agree to multiple projects over and over again that the overwhelming feeling begins
5. Effectively manage expectations – Much stress in the workplace can be reduced by effectively managing expectations. If you are overwhelmed by having too much to do than you can possibly get done within the time committed, determine the most important priorities to complete and reset the deadlines with others. It is OKAY to rest the expectations as well as deadlines
6. Effectively manage technology – With all the new technologies designed to save you time and to make you more efficient, many feel more stressed than ever before because we are accessible 24/7. Also, we are now living in “drive-thru society,” and everybody wants what they want, when they want it. Expectations in communication response time have been raised, and due to e-mails, whatsapps and texting, people not only expect replies, but quick replies. The responses do not have to be long – “got it,” “no problem,” “will call this afternoon to discuss” – but responding lets the sender know you received the message. Manage the technology and don’t let your technology manage you!
7. Effectively manage organization – Being unorganized can lead to feeling stressed and busier than you actually are. Organization is a process, not an event, and it should be scheduled in as a part of your day. Some people are naturally organized and others have to work hard to stay ahead of the clutter. While some people are filers and others pilers, your goal should be not to touch each piece of paper more than one time. I am a piler and I am working to get out of this habit
8. Effectively manage your mind and emotions – Most people do not mind working hard, but they resent worrying hard. Feeling overwhelmed and overworked can lead to stress, however, stress is not an absolute cause and effect. When you find your mind and your emotions wandering to the dark side, think … “why worry?” Instead of worrying, go back to the source causing the worry (diagnosis) and write it down. Reset your priorities, make a plan and take action to fix the conflict in your mind; manage conversation and the expectations of others to give you time to get back on track.

Life is not a race to the finish line. Winners are not the ones who get it all done. Winners are those who get the most out of everything they do and make the biggest difference. While few people will go to their grave saying, “I wish I would have worked more hours,” they may say, “I wish I got more out of the hours I worked.” It’s not all about making a good living … it’s about having a good life! Wherever you put your time, your focus and your energy is where you will get the greatest results.

New Year Resolution for 2014- My communique to my team

Dear Team

I wished my last mail to all of you this year be something positive and that which speaks about things not necessarily around Admin, Customers, Cost-Cutting etc. J

This week I want to talk about New Year Resolutions and here is what I have gathered to share with you all,

I remember reading that if we can create a little bit of something positive that brings us joy and success, then we create more of it – we can further learn to scale it and build on it. I believe in the power of this idea, and have used it as a guiding principle to reasonable success in my professional and personal life.

So let’s apply this and see what could be our New Year’s Resolution – one that won’t just die as a fad after initial few weeks and leave us feeling demoralized and depressed, but will:

·         Stay longer and may be very long

·         Usher happiness, positivity and more importantly fulfillment

·         Bring in growth (We all should grow and there is no serendipity in it! We should remember that we are capable, accountable and RESPONSIBLE for our growth)

·         Build confidence and self-esteem (Very important in our roles where every other user gets reminded of a doormat whenever we are done with serving them)

Think about what you’ve already created in your life today, but want more of. Let’s start with the below 4 key categories:

1.     Love and Kindness

Look around you. Are your relationships supportive, loving, gentle, kind? Do you have at least one friend and loved one who believes in you without reservation, who sees the future vision of you before it’s visible to all, and would do anything for you? Then you can build more relationships that will offer this type of unconditional support. Think about the glue that holds this mutually-loving and respectful relationship together. You are part of this glue; you’ve helped make it possible. Where can you apply that “glue” to form new bonds that will help you be more of what you wish to in the world, and help others do the same?

New Year’s Resolution: This year I will build at least one new relationship in my life that is mutually loving, caring, supportive and nourishing.

2.     Professional Success

I’ve seen first-hand in my own career that if you have built the skills and traits that serve your clients well, and bring great success and fulfillment to them, you can build more such skills. Examine what you offer in your work. What skills, talents and passions are you drawing on that generate great outcomes for your employer or for your own clients and customers? How can you leverage these skills to bring more success to those around you? What innovation or efficiency enhancer can you develop that will help others in a deeper way than you are today?

New Year’s Resolution: I will use my skills in a brand new way this year that will bring more success, growth and well-being to those around me, and thus, to me.

3.     A sense of meaning and purpose

Do you feel that you were meant for something bigger than what you are experiencing today? If you’ve ever felt that, I can you tell — you ARE meant for something bigger. I know because I have witnessed winners who had that feeling for years, and finally, it led them to a complete, successful reinvention. People who dream of doing something big, something important, making a difference, leaving a legacy, have the seed of greatness inside of them and are longing to do something about it. Make 2014 the year you do.

New Year’s Resolution – I will honor the longing I have to play bigger, to go for something important in my life that will bring a sense of meaning and purpose to my life. I will define concretely how I want to play bigger, and walk towards that in 2014.

4.     Belief in what’s possible for you

Some people like to create a theme for their new year – using one word to describe what they want more of. A theme is a great way to focus on something important, and to help bring it into being. Here is a list of some powerful themes or concepts you could choose from, or build your own:

Love
Forgiveness
Creativity
Courage
Openness
Mentorship
Wealth
Peace
Compassion
Tolerance
Prosperity

Choose a word or theme that represents what you want more of. Print it out, and post it on your computer, your desk, make it your mobile screen home page – wherever the reminder will have the most impact on you. Then, make a pact with yourself that you will act, perceive and think in ways that are in close alignment with this positive experience you want to bring forth.

New Year’s Resolution – I will honor my new theme for 2014. I will keep a keen focus on what I want to expand, and gratitude each time I see this theme expanding in my life.

* * * * *

What new kind of resolution can you make that will guarantee to bring you more joy, peace and fulfillment in 2014? Make that resolution today.

Being Open to Feedback in Customer Service

Dear Friends,

Here is my article (A collection of thoughts) on Being Open to Feedback in Customer Service, as shared with my Corporate Admin, Travel & Hospitality team. Please share your feedback

_______________________________

Team,

Personally, I am a passionate believer in the value of interpersonal feedback. To become more effective and fulfilled at work, I think we need a keen understanding of the impact of our work on others and the extent to which they are achieving their goals. Direct feedback is the simplest and most efficient way for us to gather this information and learn from it.

The tricky thing about feedback is that instead of objectively focusing on just the service (product in some cases), it takes the flavor from the culture of the environment on which the conversation is set in. When we have a culture which encourages feedback, even those users who aren’t usually interested or skilled in giving the feedback also chip in. The contra is equally true.  

So as leaders, how do we build a feedback-rich culture? What does it take to cultivate an ongoing commitment to interpersonal feedback? Here are four essential elements:

1. Safety and Trust

To give and receive truly candid feedback, people must feel a sense of safety and trust. Neurologist and educator Judy Willis emphasizes the relationship between positive emotion and performance, and as leaders we need to foster it to ensure that our team members and colleagues learn from feedback. Note that this does not mean avoiding confrontation or offering only support and comfort. It does mean being highly attuned to people’s readiness for a challenge and their emotional state in a given interaction. We have numerous examples amongst our team when we have refused certain services to employees but at the same time have come out of the conversation as sustained Service Champions. Our cabs team, International Ticketing Team, Leadership Academy Resource booking team have time and again confronted users and still have been in the forefront of service. What does this mean to me? This means that it is not necessary to always be yielding. If the policy, situation demand that we can’t provide a service, it is just fine. We can deny the same to our users, but we should make it clear by being polite and assertive. Saying NO doesn’t mean we have to fight with our users. We can keep our cool and still show our point of view. In such cases, taking the feedback after denying the service becomes very delicate. It requires patience and little bit of practice, but I am sure we all can quickly master this and keep seeking feedback wherever we provide service.

To create a sense of Safety and Trust is a simple 3- step approach:

1.        Get to know each other. Make an effort to understand colleagues as individuals. This doesn’t require a great deal of time or deep, personal disclosures — just taking a moment to ask about someone’s weekend and occasionally sharing stories of your own. A casual off-line dialogue, a general question about the holiday, a check on kids etc. These queries help us connect on personal front with the users

2.        Talk about emotions. The ability to discuss emotions is a critical feature in any group that aspires to share effective feedback, not only because feelings are at the heart of most difficult feedback, but also because feedback inevitably generates difficult feelings. When we can talk about our embarrassment, disappointment, frustration, and even anger, the culture is sufficiently safe — and robust — to handle real feedback

3.        Make it OK to say no. A risk in feedback-rich cultures is that people feel obligated to say “Of course,” when asked, “Can I give you some feedback?” The freedom to postpone such conversations when we’re not ready to have them ensures that when they do take place all participants are willing parties.

2. Balance

We usually receive a stinker email when our service is not up to the mark. In other instances, when we don’t deliver as per user’s expectations there is sure going to be a slew of escalations. So much of criticism that we associate feedback to only faults and repair. But, that’s just half the story. The other half is truly meaningful positive feedback, which is all too often absent in some people. You can’t have one without the other, but so many obstacles prevent us from offering and accepting positive feedback. We worry it will sound insincere. We worry it is insincere. We worry it will make us look like soft bosses. We worry it will make us seem weak. And since we don’t do it very often, we’re not very good at it. We should endeavor to pat a back whenever there is a good delivery, so that we can give harsh feedback when needed too. Likewise, we should be ready to face negative feedback when we know that our users are giving us URJAs, Appreciation mails etc. A recent research at Ghent University in Belgium indicates that positive feedback promotes self-development. Further, as University of Washington psychologist John Gottman has noted in his study of long-term relationships, in the most successful ones the ratio of positive to negative interactions is 5:1 even in the midst of a conflict. Strong relationships depend on heartfelt positive feedback — so we need to practice.

To establish balance in the feedback we offer:

1.        Offer some positive feedback…and stop there. Too often we use positive feedback to cushion the blow before delivering criticism, but that practice inevitably degrades the value of our praise and renders it hollow

2.        Start small. We miss opportunities to provide positive feedback every day because we have this idea that only big wins merit discussion. When we see any behavior we want to encourage, we should acknowledge it and express some appreciation. So, no matter how big or small the good work is, we should make an effort to appreciate it

3.        Praise effort, not ability. Research suggests that praising persistent efforts, even in failed attempts, helps build resilience and determination, while praising talent and ability results in risk-aversion and heightened sensitivity to setbacks

3. Normalcy

Off-sites, team building activities and picnics can create space for people to be open to new ideas and experiment with new ways of communicating, but the next day everyone goes back to the real world, if there is no follow-up. Unless the element of feedback seeking and giving becomes a part of routine and normal, the same isn’t practiced vigorously. You have to integrate the behaviors you want into your team’s daily routines in order to normalize those behaviors within the organization’s culture. If feedback is something that happens only at unusual times (such as a performance review or when something’s gone wrong), it’ll never really be an organic part of the team’s culture. It has to show up in everyday life — on a walk down to the cafeteria, at the end of a meeting, over a cup of coffee.

To make feedback normal:

1.        Don’t wait for a special occasion. There is a famous quote that goes-“Don’t build a castle; just put up a thousand tents,” and that certainly applies to feedback too. Don’t turn it into a complex, cumbersome process; just take a few minutes (or even a moment) and make it happen

2.        Work in public. Certain conversations are best held one-on-one, but too often we treat all feedback as a potentially embarrassing or even shameful process to be conducted under cover of darkness. When sufficient safety and balance exist, even critical feedback can be provided in larger groups. This not only allows everyone present to learn from the issues under discussion but also allows people to see how to give and receive feedback more effectively

4. Personal Accountability

As leaders who want to promote a feedback-rich culture, we have to walk the talk every day. Research by Harvard Business School’s Lynn Paine and colleagues makes clear that employees are more sensitive than leaders to gaps between our proposed values and our practical ones. Our teams will take their cues from us as to what’s acceptable, and if we don’t take some risks in this area, they won’t either. Why should they? This doesn’t mean we’re going to get it right all the time. If we’re taking some meaningful risks, then of course we’ll make some mistakes. The key is to fail forward and view those mistakes as essential learning opportunities. Let those around us know that we’re trying to get better at giving and receiving feedback, too, and ask for their input on how we’re doing.

To walk the talk:

1.        Be transparent. Everyone around us – colleagues, superiors, direct reports – should know that improving at giving and receiving feedback is an ongoing goal of ours

2.        Ask. We can’t just sit back and wait for feedback to be offered, particularly when we’re in a leadership role. If we want feedback to take root in the culture, we need to explicitly ask for it

Let’s together seek feedback and work on it, so that we are constantly in line with our user requirements,

 

 

Dichotomy of creativity and functional discipline- Restaurant Business

Dear Friends

This article is one of my personal favourites as it combines food, creativity and passion- Read on and I shall be extremely happy if any of you wishes to discuss this further for avenues of implementation as well as general area of pursuit. Here we go-

 

Under the leadership of Chef Davide Oldani, the Italian restaurant D'O balances Michelin-star-level quality with affordable prices. In the following story, Gary P. Pisano explains how the chef-owner does it.

For restaurateurs, receiving a Michelin star can be a mixed blessing. Certainly it's a rare and celebrated honour—the French company bestows its one-, two-, and three-star ratings only to a select few restaurants worldwide. However, a star begets expectations of quality. To avoid the disgrace of losing the rating, a starred restaurant often invests more money than ever on high-quality staff, flatware, wine, and ingredients. The result: higher prices. Dinner tabs in France or Italy often skyrocket to more than 120€ (Approx. INR 8900/-) per person, for instance. Frugal patrons look for affordable alternatives, and the restaurant, failing to fill seats nightly, starts operating at a loss.

But then there's D'O, a restaurant in Cornaredo, Italy, that opened in 2003 and received a Michelin star only one year later. Under the leadership of chef and owner Davide Oldani, the profitable 35-seat eatery serves dinners at around 45€ to 50€ (Approx. Rs 3850/- to Rs 4250/-) per head and lunches for half that. D'O not only is filled to capacity year-round, but there's an 18-month waiting list to dine there. Understandably, this piqued the interest of a veteran organizational strategy scholar.

"Davide Oldani completely changed the cost/quality trade-off for a Michelin-starred restaurant," said Gary P. Pisano, the Harry E. Figgie, Jr. Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and the lead author of the HBS case study Chef Davide Oldani and Ristorante D'O. "And I'm always interested in how leaders use operational innovation to manage the trade-off between cost and quality. It's an issue you find in every business, whether you're a chef or an executive at Mercedes or BMW or Apple."

In November, Oldani visited Pisano's second-year Operations Strategy class to discuss the case, which details the success of the 10-year-old D'O and poses questions about Oldani's plans for growth. Both the chef and the professor met with Harvard Business School Working Knowledge to talk about the secrets to Oldani's success and his potential plans for the future.

STAFFING FOR PEAK OCCUPANCY

For many restaurants, some nights of the week attract more customers than others. A bistro packed with customers on the weekend might be half empty on a Tuesday. For Michelin-star restaurants, that utilization curve poses a staffing problem.

{“Following the season is the most important thing to do in the applied economics of a restaurant” — Davide Oldani}

"The people who work at this kind of restaurant are not part-timers coming in for four hours a night or only on weekends," Pisano explained. "These are professionals. The waiters who work at a Michelin-starred restaurant are professionals. The cooks are professionals. These are 40-hour-a-week jobs, and you hire them for a full week. If you're a Michelin-starred restaurant you have to staff for the peak. You have to staff for the Thursday and Friday night load. And as a result you carry a very high cost."

Michelin-one-star-rated restaurants in Europe have an average of 36 employees on the payroll, according to the case. D'O keeps a lean crew of 14 by multitasking. Oldani does not employ any professional waiters. Rather, the chefs at D'O take turns waiting tables. (In fact, when Pisano first dined there, Oldani was his waiter.) This leads to a significant reduction in labour costs, even while allowing Oldani to pay his staff higher-than-average wages. Still, the chef insists that the strategy is less about finances than about customer relations.

"You can't fully explain a dish that you haven't prepared yourself," Oldani said. "When a cook explains a dish, he can explain it very well because he made it. He doesn't explain what he heard about a dish, he explains what he made."

FOLLOWING THE SEASONS

Oldani espouses the philosophy of "POP cuisine," which aims for accessibility to a broad audience, in terms of both taste and cost. He maintains that he keeps food costs down and flavours bright simply by buying ingredients only when they are in season. "Ingredients are less expensive and of higher quality when they are in season," Oldani said. "Following the season is the most important thing to do in the applied economics of a restaurant."

The chef also is fervent about not wasting food. The case includes a lengthy list he keeps in his office at D'O, detailing the edible portions of some 70 ingredients. A sea bass has an "edible share" of 47 percent, compared to 60 percent of a hake, for example. A fig: 90 percent. A strawberry: 99 percent. A lemon: 26 percent (juice) + 2 percent (grated lemon peel—only the yellow part, of course).

Table settings receive similar consideration, both sensory and economic. On the sensory side: He has designed several eating utensils, including an espresso spoon that sports a hole in the middle so as not to break up the continuity of the crema on top. On the economic side: "He chooses glasses based on breakage costs," Pisano said.

{“You talk to this guy and you think he’s a production engineer” — Gary Pisano}

The precise attention to detail is also key to creating a menu that the chef describes as harmonious.

"The more harmony in the menu, the better the cook can work," Oldani said. "To get to that harmony, you must avoid repetition on the menu. You cannot repeat the same cooking styles or the same sauces. Not two red meats or two white meats. You cannot have two carbs. A main dish of pasta can't be followed by a dessert made mostly of flour. This is important for modern cooking. We have 22 dishes on la carta, and in every dish there is not one ingredient that's identical to another. They're all different."

Pisano believes that managers and management scholars alike can learn an important lesson in Oldani's ability to marry creativity with intense, practical attention to detail.

"A lot of times we get this ridiculous false dichotomy made in management: that there are creative people, and then there are disciplined people," Pisano said. "Well, the best chefs in the world are both. They're both incredibly creative and incredibly disciplined. And this challenges the idea that it has to be one or the other. In the innovation literature, it's always about creativity versus discipline. Well Oldani shows that it's not versus, it's and.

{You talk to this guy and you think he's a production engineer."}

REMEMBERING PASSION

As a guest in Pisano's class, Oldani listened as students discussed his historic success and his possibilities for expansion. They differed in opinion about whether he should open another D'O or a new, more accessible venture that took POP to a new level. Some argued that he should stick with a successful brand, letting one of his trained chefs take the helm at a new D'O location. Others thought a new venture with a name like "POP by D'O" would be a good complement to the flagship restaurant. But they agreed in terms of the nature of their arguments, which, understandably, focused on finances. (One student crunched the numbers and recommended that Oldani increase D'O's menu prices by 18 percent. Oldani demurred, citing Italy's recent economic woes and their effect on Italian wallets.)

Afterward, Oldani told the students that they had forgotten to mention the factor of passion. "Everything I do, I do it because I want to do it," he said. "Passion has to come first. It leads you to all the things that lead to success."

Asked what he actually plans to do next, Oldani gave an answer that may help to explain why D'O has such a low turnover rate. (According to the case, only three employees have left since the restaurant's opening 10 years ago, and all three happened to be hired as temps.)

"I'll definitely start another business," Oldani told Working Knowledge. "I want to see what my team says. And depending on what we all decide to do, we'll determine what kind of business to open. I want to help the team grow and learn. As the team manager, I want to encourage them to get involved in decisions."