As business grows, it may get away from constraints of spreadsheets and move into databases
Question:
We use a spreadsheet to keep track of each employee and his or her holidays, personal, vacation and sick days. As the number of employees has grown, modifying or creating reports is a time consuming process and it has started to “crash” periodically without warning.
Our spreadsheet creator said we can improve the situation by modifying some of the original “code” or we could replace the spreadsheet with a database.
Can the existing data be “transferred” to the database easily or will it have to be retyped? Is it worth giving up the spreadsheet that we have spent time on and can fix to meet our present needs?
Answer:
Spreadsheets have always been the right tool for the analysis of data. They are particularly well suited to scientific, engineering, and financial applications where intricate mathematical calculations and precision are required. Lists of data can be sorted and filtered based on specific sets of criteria, or easily displayed in a variety of graphs.
While this enhanced functionality and ease of use has a tremendous upside, it also creates an interesting dilemma. Spreadsheets inherently are not designed for the management of large sets of data. Or to put it another way, spreadsheets can be an adequate tool for the management of simple lists, but they fundamentally are not designed to process large amounts of data.
Enter the true “database” program which specifically is geared toward storing large amounts of data, quickly retrieving information, and producing reports as needed. Databases tend to be less intuitive and more complicated to use and implement than spreadsheets. Moreover, the benefits of a database program may never be realized if not properly designed and implemented.
Consequently, the decision to implement a database often leads to the need for training, outside consultants and ongoing administration requirements, which can increase significantly the costs of the application.
Generally it is not a problem to transfer existing spreadsheet data into a new database. However the degree of difficulty will vary depending on the complexity of the original spreadsheet, and may not be easily accomplished without outside expertise.
It may be cheaper to modify the existing spreadsheet to meet your present needs. However, that may only be a “stop-gap” solution, and it’s likely that you will need to revisit the issue each time your requirements expand. From that standpoint, it’s better to look at a longer-term database solution now so you can meet your current needs and be confident it will accommodate future growth.
Question:
How much space does a single packet occupy on a LAN cable?
Answer:
All of it, and then some. Bits are tiny, aren’t they? There is an inversely proportional relationship of frequency to wavelength based on the speed that the information flows down the wire. That is represented by the formula: C = fw , where C=the speed of light, f=frequency and w=wavelength.
Bps (Bits Per Second) translates fairly directly to Hz (Hertz or Cycles Per Second). There are exceptions to that in data communications, but for this exercise it works well. The speed of light is 300 million meters per second, but in copper cabling the velocity of propagation is roughly 80% of the speed of light, so actually we will work with 300,000,000 * .80 = 240,000,000 for our speed. Finally, w (wavelength) will indicate the length in meters of a single bit on the cable.
Let’s do some math. We’ll use 10baseT, common Ethernet at 10Mbps.
C=fw can be expressed as w=C/f, so let’s plug in what we know:
W=240,000,000 m/s / 10,000,000Hz
W=24m (about 80 feet/bit) That’s a big bit.
Multiply the minimum 64k packet (512 bits) times that 80 feet and you get whopper 40,960 foot long packet. Imagine a 1,518k packet (the maximum) being 121,440 feet long. Obviously either of these is longer than the 328 foot limit for copper 10baseT cabling, so the beginning of the packet reaches its destination long before the last bit has left the source. So watch out for those packets, it seems you should only need to give them an inch, but they take a mile.
Question:
What is Java?
Answer:
Java is an object-oriented programing language made by Sun Microsystems. It was designed so that its users can build small “applets” (tiny Java programs that execute small functions that until now were obtained only as part of larger applications). Java was developed specifically for use on the Internet, although it also is being used as a general purpose programing language in other areas. Sun Microsystems claims that no Java program on the Internet can penetrate the rest of your computer. The reason why Sun can make that statement is due to the limited file-read and writing capabilities over the Internet. The main drawback with Java is for people who use old browsers. Many old browsers do not know how to process the Java script. Therefore, any enhancements that you have created on your Web page using Java cannot be seen by those users.
Tech Q&A is provided by EntrÃ&Copy; of Brookfield. Small Business Times readers with questions can contact EntrÃ&Copy; at 414-938-2139 x3022, or via e-mail at dschm@pcsentre.com.

Zion Lutheran School in Hartland has awarded a contract to Anderson-Ashton, New Berlin, to design and build a new addition to its existing building. The 15,500-square-foot addition will include space for a new gymnasium, offices, and classrooms for early childcare. Construction began in early May.
Wauwatosa-based architectural firm Torke Wirth Pujara has been selected to design a new facility for the Family Enrichment Center. The new 18,000-square-foot facility will be located in the Grafton Business Park and will feature a shared conference/meeting room, child-care room, central work area and kitchen. Selzer-Ornst of Wauwatosa is the construction firm on the project. The Family Enrichment Center began as a collaborative effort of four local non-profit health and human service agencies, working together to deliver more comprehensive, integrated and family-oriented services to the Ozaukee community. – Torke Wirth Pujara has been selected to design a new gymnasium for Rogers Memorial Hospital, a not-for-profit mental health care provider located in Oconomowoc. This multi-functional space will incorporate a non-traditional approach to rehabilitation by offering experiential programs including fine arts, a climbing and tightrope wall, and dance. The therapeutic program is designed to accommodate the inpatient, outpatient and outreach communities.
Beyer Construction, New Berlin, has been awarded a project at Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin at 5420 21st St., Racine. Beyer is building a 58,000-square-foot addition to Goodwill’s existing facility, including a new warehouse and five-bay loading dock. Jim Bentz is managing the $1.6 million project to be completed in August. Architectural design is Uihlein/Wilson Architects, Milwaukee.
Gerald Nell Inc., Waukesha, has been chosen for the following design/build projects:

Fast forward and, for better or worse, that wish has come true for most of us. Now, we’re receiving messages in seconds through computers, cellular phones, fax machines and pagers. We’re still checking the mailbox – a computerized mailbox – on a regular basis and, good grief, all the mail is for us. Sometimes we find a message we’ve been waiting for, but it may be among 25 or 50 others. And some of those messages aren’t ours to begin with; rather, others who think we might be interested forward them.
Technology has been a boon to communication. We can exchange messages around the world, 24 hours a day, saving time and money. With all the benefits, why do we hear so many complaints about e-mail and voice mail? Well, when you’re on a superhighway, even an information superhighway, you have to learn the rules of the road. Savvy communicators are aware of them and use the new technology wisely, not only to send messages but also to solidify relationships. Here are four key road rules.
Be discreet when using your cell phone – I may be your CEO’s cousin
I was waiting to catch a plane last week, and the gentleman sitting next to me in the gate area made a call on his cell phone. He worked for a well-known local firm and was talking about who (by name) was doing well at work, who wasn’t, and who was running to “daddy,” the CEO, whom he named as well. This man was oblivious to the rest of us sitting around him, waiting to board our plane. If you’re using your phone in public, move to a private area. With respect to others, if possible, use a vibrating system rather than a ring outside your car or office. And remember, others can pick up cell calls over the air and listen in. Avoid using specific names and numbers whenever possible.
Use e-mail for taking care of business
Has everyone heard as many tales of woe as I have about people who have sent e-mails directed to one party, but which were accidentally sent to another? There was the marriage proposal that became a broadcast message, the gossip about a co-worker that was sent to that person. E-mail within a company belongs to the company, and while most companies don’t read what’s sent, they have the right to do so. Compose mail that, if read by someone other than the recipient, would present no problems for you or for anyone else.
Who is Larry
and why am I
getting his mail?
In my management consulting practice, I hear complaints about the number of e-mail and voice-mail messages forwarded as FYI’s (For Your Information). One busy professional told me that she was receiving many messages which she didn’t have time for and added no value to her work. The final straw was a multi-page e-mail to someone named Larry, someone she didn’t know or work with, and forwarded to her as an “FYI.” She decided FYI would now mean “For Your Irritation.” Not wishing to be irritated, she no longer reads any forwarded messages. Think twice before you forward e-mail or voice mail. Are you providing information or irritation?
Never lose sight of your colleagues on the receiving end
They’re receiving not only the message on the screen or phone, but seeking the message between the lines. Some messages are absolutely appropriate for e-mail or voice mail. Others, such as manager/staff issues, customer or client challenges or interpersonal conflicts deserve face-to-face discussion. Either way, clear, concise, caring communication is always appreciated. Your messages can convey that you are a bright, team-oriented problem solver. On the other hand, you may broadcast to many people at once that you are insensitive and unfocused and, by the way, have little ability (as demonstrated through e-mail) to spell or use appropriate grammar.
Final thoughts
Use technology to keep in touch, to save time and money, to clarify and simplify. As with any tool, you can’t use it for everything. Ask yourself, what is the best way to communicate this message at this time? Then, take a moment to organize your thoughts. Be clear, concise and caring as you send your message. Savvy professionals (and a number of studies) agree that reputations and careers are built on people skills as much or more than technical skills. Using both as you travel the superhighway will keep you cruising toward success.
Lynne Pearson is executive vice president of Joan Lloyd & Associates, a Wauwatosa-based firm specializing in organizational change and leadership development. She can be reached at (800)348-1944.

By now, most everyone is familiar with the popular notion that there is little loyalty left in today’s workforce.
Conventional wisdom holds that corporate downsizing and other trends which broke the unwritten cradle-to-grave contract between employer and employee have transformed the world of work into an “every man for himself” scenario.
Baloney, says Chuck Zwerg, a one-time senior human resources manager who now runs two business executive roundtable groups in the Fond du Lac area.
While loyalty to a single organization will probably never be what it once was, the companies that are truly successful owe it to a core group of employees who have been with the organization for many years, says Zwerg, who formerly headed up personnel for Giddings & Lewis for 23 years and who is now chairman of roundtable groups for Executive Agenda, the management and executive networking organization based in Brookfield.
“The knowledge and know-how of the company rests with these core people,” Zwerg says. “What separates companies from one another is the talent, the people, and the culture that these people operate in on a daily basis.”
Business owners or managers who come to that realization first are ahead of the game, as the organizations that ultimately survive and prosper are the ones which strive for continuous improvement at all levels, adds Ron Heilmann, director of executive development at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
“It won’t happen if the people within the organization aren’t continuously improving,” Heilmann says. “The organization has got to create the type of environment to encourage that.”
That training and education mantra touches all people in an organization, and is not just a blue-collar issue, Heilmann points out. At the IBM plant in Rochester, N.Y., electrical engineers get an enormous amount of training each year, because if they don’t, IBM can’t stay ahead of the design curve.
Over the years, Heilmann has brought Baldridge Award winners to Milwaukee. The award is the government’s recognition of organizations at the top of their field in terms of quality. In his travels to study these award-winning companies, the common thread he has noticed is that those organizations tend to spend anywhere from three to five times as much as the average firm on training, Heilmann says.
“It’s all about the commitment to the development of people within your strategic planning process,” Heilmann says.
With the reduction in middle management ranks, more responsibility now falls on the shoulders of each and every employee. An ever-increasing number of Wisconsin companies have seen the light when it comes to allowing their employees to have input into the way things are done, Zwerg says.
But it’s not enough to merely empower your employees, says Myron Rhodes, general manager of Milwaukee Wire Products. To empower employees without training is a prescription for failure, he says.
“You have to give them the tools,” Rhodes says. “They are not going to do what you need them to do if they don’t have the analytical skills and the knowledge that they need.”
With a roster of 250 full-time employees, the manufacturer of automotive components spends 5% of total wages on training. The classes typically center on teaching basic math, shop skills and team training. Another course educates employees in the basics of Milwaukee Wire’s business.
While the dividends are not always tangible, Rhodes knew it was working when he overheard an employee question another worker’s suggestion to add a step to the production process. “Will that be cost-effective?” was the employee’s response. When Rhodes sees evidence of that kind of long-term thinking, he knows the training is starting to pay for itself.
“We start to see people making good decisions, thinking broad,” Rhodes says. “This is not something that happens overnight, but you do see it.”
A&E Manufacturing Co. in Racine is now in its third year of providing in-house training to employees who are striving for their high school equivalency degree. The training is conducted by an instructor from Gateway Technical College in a traditional, classroom-like setting.
“The biggest thing is, it establishes pride in our workforce,” says Greg Coleman, A&E’s vice president of manufacturing. “And, we have found that our math-based processes such as labor reporting and parts counting has improved.”
With low unemployment, companies like A&E are getting people with little or no experience. The math and communications skills training is designed to focus in on the areas that apply directly to the critical processes within the company, which manufacturers professional quality hand tools. The training has worked so well that A&E plans to extend it to more experience workers.
“Overall, we feel it is a long-term way to lock in and keep employees,” Coleman says, adding that everyone who has been through the program is still with the company. “It’s an extra benefit, both to them and to us. It tends to improve almost everyone, because the math skills of the people coming in here are not up to par.”
At WICOR Energy Group in Milwaukee, all key managers within the group of energy-related companies were asked to read a book called “Every Business is a Growth Business.” The managers were asked how they would apply that concept to their own business units, then were instructed to write a theoretical newspaper article which would talk about their company or division five years from now.
“We ask them to come back and make a recommendation in terms of how we achieve the organizational goals that we have agreed to,” says Bob Puissant, senior vice president for marketing and strategic planning for WICOR Energy Group. “In effect, we have given them the keys to the castle.”
WICOR executives continually challenge one another by introducing relevant articles on management and leadership.
“We constantly challenge our current business practices,” Puissant says. “Are we thinking outside the box in order to better run our current business?”
WICOR has achieved a higher level of customer service within the last several years by creating a mindset among employees that service to the customer is paramount. A big part of offering the higher level of service is through continuous training and education of its workforce.
“We have come to the realization that the strength of our business are the people who help us run the business,” Puissant says. “If you are going to focus on service to the customer, you have to help build and give [employees] the skills that they need.”

There’s a proverbial “glass ceiling” that women in business encounter, impeding their advancement up the corporate ladder.
For some women, however, the struggle isn’t to break through the ceiling but to simply get through the door and into the room.
Milwaukee’s Pat Kandziora wants to open that door to more women. And her efforts to do so have caught the attention of the Wisconsin District of the U.S. Small Business Administration, which named her this year’s winner of the Women in Business Advocate award.
It’s a spotlight she’s not entirely comfortable with, but one which others say she certainly deserves.
“Both professionally and personally, Pat has committed herself to helping women business owners,” says Kathryn Cairney, program officer for the Helen Bader Foundation, who nominated Kandziora for the SBA award.
Kandziora can empathize with those she helps – she’s been there, too. And while she shuns the limelight, she’s willing to take center stage for a bit if her story will help inspire others to be advocates for women, or just improve their lives.
Kandziora is the vice president of private and business banking for Associated Bank in Milwaukee, working out of the office at Kilbourn Avenue and Milwaukee Street downtown. Her practice today focuses on developing new accounts in Associated’s private banking business as well as developing relationships with established companies with sales between $1 and $5 million dollars.
Throughout her 20-plus-year career in banking, Kandziora has always felt a special kinship with women business owners.
“I was able to empathize with the various roles women business owners face, having faced that myself,” she says. “So many of these women business owners are not only trying to start a business, but they’re often times going to school or raising kids or they have a spouse. I guess I seemed to have more of a corresponding role because I know as a mother, and a woman and a professional that we [women] have to wear so many different hats.”
Kandziora knows what it feels like to juggle multiple roles. At the age of 40, as a divorced mother of two, she decided the only way to improve her career prospects was to go back to school and earn a degree.
After starting out at 18 as a secretary in a savings and loan, she found whenever she changed jobs she was always starting at entry-level positions with entry-level paychecks. After going through vocational counseling to find what her interests and strengths were, she enrolled in MATC where she found the support and encouragement she needed to pursue an associate’s degree in business management.
It wasn’t long before she determined that the associate’s degree wouldn’t carry her career to the heights she aspired to. She enrolled in Mount Mary College’s Business Advantage program. Ultimately, she received her bachelor’s degree and associate’s degree in four years.
She balanced school, kids, volunteer work and two jobs all at once. In addition to working full-time during the day, Kandziora worked part-time at a retail clothing store to build her professional wardrobe.
“Sometimes I look back at that and I don’t know how I did it,” she says.
She gives her two children, Scott, 27, and Kelly, 22, credit for suffering through her college years, noting that children can either be resentful or supportive when a parent tries to better himself or herself.
“If I had to define why I advocate for women, I think a good part of it is because I have gotten the help, the direction and the guidance that I needed,” she says. “I now feel that I’m in a position where I can help others. And that’s no noble thing – it’s truly what I believe. So often women face doors that they can’t open, and if there’s someone that can turn the doorknob for them, maybe it’s something I can do – whether it’s finance or education.”
Cairney notes that Kandziora has always gone the “extra mile” when dealing with her clients. If Kandziora cannot help clients, she not only refers them to another institution, but also follows up with each client and institution to make sure the client’s needs have been met.
“I would say she has the tenacity of a detective to find creative ways to find financing,” adds June Schroeder, president of Wisconsin Women Entrepreneurs – Metro Milwaukee Chapter (WWE). “She brings encouragement and enthusiasm to our membership. She’s fostered the entrepreneurship of others even though she’s not an entrepreneur herself.”
Kandziora’s work with women business owners extends well beyond her role at the bank. She has worked extensively with groups such as Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corp. (WWBIC), WWE, Women’s Exchange, the Women’s Fund Educational Committee, and the Milwaukee Women’s Center as well as being responsible for initiating a Women’s Scholarship Program for nontraditional students at Mount Mary and Alverno colleges.
In her roles as banker, lecturer and mentor she is constantly preaching to women to clean up their credit.
Instead of sending would-be borrowers packing when their poor credit history is discovered, Kandziora takes the time to instruct them on how to fix their credit rating.
“I think women are very disciplined, and once they know what the game plan is, they’ll follow it,” Kandziora says. “But if they never know, and no one’s ever stopped long enough to explain it to them, they just say, ‘Sorry, you’re denied.’ Well, now what do I do?”
Despite her own humility, those who know Kandziora believe the SBA’s award is well deserved.
“She does it because she cares,” Cairney says. “She doesn’t do it for the recognition. She would rather have the people she’s helping be in the spotlight than to receive the recognition herself. And that’s why I’m glad she received this award.”
Position:
Vice President – Private/Business Banking, Associated Bank – Milwaukee
Greatest Business Motivation: Developing and competing for new banking relationships
Greatest Business Challenge for the Coming Year: Increase Associated Bank’s private banking visibility and increasing new business 20% by the end of 1999
Greatest Satisfaction from Business: Referrals from customers and professional resources
First Job: Secretary at Mitchell Savings & Loan
Education: Mount Mary College, B.S. in Business Administration; MATC, Associate in Business Management
Hometown: Milwaukee
Family: Son, Scott, 27; daughter, Kelly, 22
Interests/Hobbies: Travel, roller blading, race walking, flower arranging, friends and family, investment research, gourmet cooking and entertaining.
Favorite Vacation Spot: Cancun, Mexico
Favorite Magazines: New Choices, (Reader’s Digest) Food & Wine, Milwaukee Magazine.
Favorite Charities: St. John’s Cathedral, Mount Mary College, The Women’s Fund
Favorite Fish Fry: Benedetto’s

intranets bring everyone together
The “information highway” only tells part of the story on how individuals and businesses are using the Internet and intranets to become more efficient.
Knowledge management takes the information highway to the next level. It involves taking the information available on the ‘net and within data bases and using it to advance individual and company-wide knowledge.
SPS Productions, an animation and Web design company based in the Technology Innovation Center on the Milwaukee County Grounds in Wauwatosa, is an example of how knowledge management tools can work for small companies.
When SPS Productions started out four years ago in the Technology Innovation Center, the entire staff was located in one small office. Sharing information and checking schedules was a matter of leaning over a desk.
As its staff expanded to seven people and the company moved from one office to six adjacent rooms, it became apparent that tracking everyone down for meetings was no longer the most efficient method.
Multiple rooms and the “business-card book” are what prompted the company to investigate an office intranet using Lotus Notes, says co-owner Randy Berdan.
“We used to have this business-card book where we kept all of our clients’ cards,” Berdan says. “So every time you had to make a call, you’d have to walk over and look it up.”
That method worked well in the one-room office at first. But then people would take cards out and fail to return them.
“That’s what really made us look into using Lotus Notes,” Berdan says.
Anyone within SPS can check the schedules of the other employees to plan meetings.
Berdan notes that since SPS only has seven employees scheduling is relatively easy. But SPS clients such as theBrady company, with multiple locations and multiple conference room sites, utilize the program for maximum efficiency.
It eliminates memos which inquire about the three best times and dates to meet and the constant telephone tag that often precedes office meetings, Berdan says.
SPS has taken Lotus Notes to another level as well. The old business-card book has been converted into an electronic data base giving everyone on staff the ability to look up client phone numbers and faxes instantly. In addition, the system has fax headers for each company and tracks fax correspondence. It can also limit access to documents or portions of documents depending on who is doing the correspondence search.
As with many efficiency systems, SPS’s is only as good as the information people share. If employees are resistant to diligently entering information in their calendars, scheduling meetings using Lotus Notes becomes ineffective, Berdan notes.

The finalists have been selected for the first annual Small Business Times Health Care Heroes program.
The 18 finalists will be honored at an awards breakfast on Thursday, Dec. 2, at the Wyndham Milwaukee Center Hotel.
The awards were open to organizations, businesses and people making a significant impact on the quality of health care in southeastern Wisconsin.
The program will recognize excellence, promote innovation, encourage emulation of successful programs, educate the general public and contribute to the enhancement of the value and quality of health care in the region.
The categories for the awards are: "Corporate Achievement in Health Care;" "Advancements in Health Care;" "Community Service;" "Physician;" "Non-physician;" and "Volunteer."
The finalists for this year’s awards were chosen from a field of 54 nominations by an independent panel of health care professionals.
The winners for each of the awards categories will not be announced until the breakfast on Dec. 2.
"It was very, very difficult for the panel to select the finalists from such a deep field of nominees. Some incredible things are happening in southeastern Wisconsin’s health care industry," said Dan Meyer, publisher of Small Business Times.
The categories and the finalists (listed alphabetically) are:
Corporate Achievement in Health Care
¥ Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, Milwaukee.
¥ Independent Care Health Plan,
Milwaukee.
¥ Joyce Kazmierczak, corporate director of human resources of LindenGrove, New Berlin.
Advancements in Health Care
¥ Dr. Husam H. Balkhy, M.D., cardiovascular surgeon, St. Joseph Regional Medical Center/Covenant Healthcare System Inc., Milwaukee.
¥ Dr. Tobias Enright, M.D., allergy/
immunology, Advanced Healthcare S.C., Milwaukee.
¥ Jann Pfaff, clinical nurse specialist, Waukesha Memorial Hospital/ProHealth Care, Waukesha.
Community Service
¥ Dr. Stuart Berger, M.D., Project ADAM/Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
¥ Covenant Healthcare System Inc.’s Men’s Barbershop Health Initiative, Milwaukee.
¥ Greater Milwaukee Free Clinic,
West Allis.
Physician
¥ Dr. Beth Erickson-Wittmann, M.D., professor of radiation oncology, Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center, Milwaukee, and Community Memorial Hospital, Menomonee Falls.
¥ Dr. David Hoogerland, M.D., Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital, Milwaukee.
¥ Dr. James Ninomiya, M.D., associate professor of orthopeadics, Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
Non-physician
¥ Betty Kurth, R.N., collaborative care nurse, Waukesha Memorial Hospital/ProHealth Care, Waukesha.
¥ JoAnn Lomax, R.N., patient relations supervisor, Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, Milwaukee.
¥ Mary Jo O’Malley, R.N., director of ProHealth Home Care and Hospice in Hartland and director of the AngelsGrace Hospice in Oconomowoc.
Volunteer
¥ Barney Apthorp, HELP/Buddy volunteer, St. Michael Hospital/
Covenant Healthcare System Inc., Milwaukee.
¥ Christin Root, HIV/AIDS prevention volunteer, AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
¥ Mark Schaefer, president of the Froedtert Volunteer Services Associates, Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, Milwaukee.
Small Business Times also will announce the winner of the special Health Care Hero Award at the Dec. 2 event, which is sponsored by Plunkett Raysich Architects LLP. To reserve space or obtain further information about the Small Business Times Health Care Heroes Breakfast, contact Sarah Wilson at (414) 277-8181, ext. 129.
Ocober 15, 2004, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI

When facilitating corporate planning sessions, we often discuss teamwork, communications and overall company morale. What we are taking about is emotional equity.
But how does an organization measure this?
Measuring emotional equity within an organization is easy. In our corporate planning sessions, we simply ask each planning team member to rate, on a scale of 1 to 10, how they feel the teamwork, communications and company morale is within the organization.
The planning session participants will rate the organization’s effectiveness based on observations from their individual vantage point. If someone perceives the company’s emotional equity to be a 9 and someone else perceives it to be a 3 or a 4, we discuss the reasons for the gap.
We don’t shy away from the tough topics or issues. In fact, it is important for business leaders to foster critical dialog around these tough (emotional) topics recognizing that shying away from topics such as effective teamwork, communications and company morale only serves to erode the emotional equity within an organization.
The level of emotional equity within an organization is a key indicator of future performance.
Everything we do as individuals, departments and companies contributes to creating or destroying emotional equity within organizations. Even though emotional equity is not visibly tangible, nor is it reflected on a balance sheet, emotional equity can be felt and has an absolute impact on an organization’s ability to affect profitable growth.
We hear a lot about the importance of having the correct controls (performance indicators) in place, creating forward visibility regarding an organization’s operating performance. And as discussed in previous columns, leading performance indicators act as an early warning detection system enabling business leaders to quickly spot priorities while making course corrections that will have a positive impact on the earnings performance of the organization.
Successful business leaders understand the cause-and-effect relationship between emotional equity and future financial success.
As with any personal relationship, people within companies consistently make emotional deposits and withdrawals. Deposits build up the equity within the organization, and withdrawals take that equity away. The goal is to have a positive balance in the emotional equity column of the corporate balance sheet.
Organizations that have a low level of emotional equity will find it difficult to solve problems, address obstacles and fully leverage opportunities on a routine basis. In short, the level of emotional equity an organization has is equal to the momentum and success the organization will enjoy.
Creating emotional equity is a byproduct of making emotional deposits into your teammates across all departments. This should be easy for us as long as we focus on building meaningful relationships with our teammates. As mentioned above, emotional equity is nothing more than meaningful teamwork, communications and overall company morale. In simple terms, creating emotional equity is people working well while building meaningful relationships with their internal teammates.
Quarterly operational planning and other corporate habits are very effective at bringing people and departments together, cross-functionally. The purpose of these types of meetings and processes is to gain consensus on top priorities, as well as solutions that support the achievement of the financial goals of the organization.
Business leaders set the tone and are responsible for ensuring emotional equity grows within their organizations. There are many ways to accomplish this and they all stem from the core values an organization holds.
Core values are guidelines that determine individual and organizational actions and behaviors. They are tools and filters that aid us in the management of our business, and they help us to create a healthy level of emotional equity throughout our organization.
Core values provide the answer to the question: What’s important around here? Team compatibility and ultimately corporate success requires that all employees buy into the same set of core values established by the senior management team. If core values are not mutually shared by all members of a team, frustration, anger and even distrust can show up within an organization, destroying emotional equity.
Philip Mydlach is the owner of Mydlach Management Advisors, a corporate planning and performance improvement consulting practice in New Berlin. He can be reached at (262) 785-5552 or pmydlach@aol.com.
Ocober 15, 2004, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI

If you didn’t know him, and Mark Attanasio walked up to you on the street and introduced himself as the manager of a drycleaner’s store in Greenfield or an accountant in Port Washington, you’d have no reason to doubt him.
That’s the kind of unassuming persona Attanasio projected when he introduced himself as the next owner of the Milwaukee Brewers in an Oct. 4 press conference at Miller Park. Attanasio is no George Steinbrenner. Heck, he’s not even a Peter Angelos.
But that’s a good thing.
The next owner of the Brewers appears to walk softly and carry a big stick. A big, expensive stick.
Unlike the new owners of many professional sports franchises, Attanasio has no plans to clean house in Milwaukee and put his personal stamp on the Brewers, just because he can.
And that’s good news for the folks already working along Miller Park Way.
In keeping with his low-key style, Attanasio intends to keep the ballclub’s core management team in place. Attanasio said general manager Doug Melvin and manager Ned Yost will continue to oversee the baseball operations, and executive vice president for business operations Rick Schlesinger and chief financial officer Robert Quinn will continue to oversee the business operations of the team.
Attanasio said his decision to keep the Brewers’ management in place wasn’t made just because he’s a nice guy. He arrived at his decision after extensive due diligence with other owners and executives in Major League Baseball who told him that the Brewers’ brass is going about its business in the right way.
"On the business side and the baseball side, we already have a strong management team who are doing things the right way," Attanasio said. "Rick Schlesinger and Bob Quinn definitely will continue on with the team, and the people who report to them (also will be retained) … On the business side, there are a lot of good things going on."
As a business manager, Attanasio said he is a "delegator" by nature and tends to hire solid people and then hold them accountable for their performance.
The 46-year-old Yankee fan grew up in the Bronx, but said he intends to move to Milwaukee and become active in the community.
Attanasio is the group managing director and chief investment officer of U.S. below investment grade fixed income for the TCW Group Inc. in West Los Angeles. In addition, he is a director of TCW Asset Management Co. and the Brown University Third Century Fund.
The sale of the Brewers still requires the approval of other Major League Baseball owners, who will meet in November after the World Series to vote on the transaction.
When Attanasio announced he will keep the current management team in place, dozens of Milwaukee-area businesses collectively exhaled.
The team has contracts with several local companies that provide various products and services to the Brewers and Miller Park.
Firms such as E & Co., a Milwaukee marketing and communication design company, have long-term relationships with the Brewers that could have been fractured had Attanasio decided to clean house and bring in new business managers.
"One nice thing about the Brewers in the past has been their loyalty. This is my 11th year with them," said Ellen Homb, founder and president of e & Co., which designs the Brewers’ game programs and other promotional items.
"We feel as though we are part of their staff, as if we are part of their team, rather than an outside vendor. We were all a little nervous. For me and the rest of the vendors, it’s a sigh of relief, and it’s a chance to prove ourselves to the new guy," Homb said. "Those of us who work hard and do a good job will keep our jobs. And that’s the way it should be."
Attanasio and a small pool of local investors will pay about $220 million for the team, according to the sources.
That price tag surprised some people in Major League Baseball circles and some independent analysts.
After all, the Anaheim Angels, playing in a much larger market with much more in local media revenues, were sold by the Walt Disney Co. to Phoenix businessman Arturo Moreno last year for "only" $182.5 million after they had been on the market for four years.
"The Angels have a bigger market, true (well, half of one, anyway), but the Brewers have a sweetheart stadium lease to end all leases, 70 luxury suites, etc. Having corporate amenities at your disposal for the next 30 years does count for something. They (the Brewers) also own 36 percent of Miller Park, for whatever that’s worth; the Angels are renters," said Neil deMause, co-author of "Field of Schemes: How the Great Stadium Swindle Turns Public Money Into Private Profit" (Common Courage Press).
"My guess is that Moreno underpaid a bit for the Angels, and Attanasio’s overpaying a bit for the Brewers. But if he can turn the team around and put the fannies in the $40 seats, the Brewers do have plenty of upside from an owner’s perspective," said deMause, who operates a companion Web site, www.fieldofschemes.com, and contributes to the www.baseballprospectus.com baseball analysis Web site.
Schlessinger, who previously worked in the Angels’ front office before returning to Milwaukee, acknowledged that he was surprised about how quickly three capable and interested bidders stepped up to the plate to buy the Brewers.
Schlessinger said the Brewers had several assets that made them an attractive target, including Miller Park, a loyal fan base that generated more than 2 million in attendance in yet another losing season, a strong farm system and Major League Baseball’s increased shared revenue plan.
"I watched for four years while the Angels were for sale. But this is a baseball market. I can tell you, at Anaheim, we struggled to draw 2 million," said Schlessinger, who’s first item of business now is to convince local corporations to renew their luxury suites at Miller Park. Having a new ownership team with deeper pockets should help that cause.
"I look at baseball economics, revenue sharing. All these things Major League Baseball is doing nationally and internationally are helping markets like Milwaukee."
None too soon.
Alas, Bud and Wendy Selig now can ride off into the sunset. One can hope that the sting of all the arrows, barbs and slurs that have been hurled their way in recent years will lose their edge as time goes by. After all, 30 years from now, only two things will matter: The Seligs brought Major League Baseball back to Milwaukee, and the Seligs kept Major League Baseball in Milwaukee.
That’s quite a legacy.
Steve Jagler is executive editor of Small Business Times. You can reach him at (414)
277-8181, ext. 116, or at steve.jagler@biztimes.com.
Ocober 15, 2004, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI