Can You Assess Your Business Unit on the "Back of a Napkin?" YES! says management expert Janet Macaluso, founder of Learning2LEAD, a Cambridge-based consulting firm.

Imagine you are having lunch with an important new client or business partner. Building a win-win peer relationship, without coming across like a sales commercial, is essential for credibility and rapport. So far, youve connected interpersonally through making introductory small talk. However, how do you segue from having established initial rapport to proving your value added? How about casually turning over a napkin and asking a few basic questions about the clients business? Nothing can be simpler and less intrusive, yet surprisingly effective. Read this article to learn what expert consultants do to diagnose a client's business situation, and show their value added -- all on the back of a napkin.

"Consulting Today" Journal recently published an article on how consultants can diagnose a team, department or organization while having lunch with a client. You can use this "Back of a Napkin" model to look at three interdepent systems in your own business situation.

To assess your unit, take out a napkin and draw three lines to represent the Management, Culture and Work Systems.

Label the first line "Management" and number it one to five. Number one represents a more "Autocratic, Command and Control" management style, while number five is more "Interactive, Coaching and Collabortive". Place a check mark on the number that best describes your management team.

Label the second line "Culture" and number it one to five. Place a check mark on the number that best describes your unit's culture. Number one represents a "Disengaged, Turned Off" culture. Number five symbolizes a "Turned-On and Engaged" environment.

Finally, label the third line "Work" and number it one to five. Number one represents "Routine and Monotnous" work, such as flipping burgers. Number five describes a more "Complex, Complicated, Project-type" work usually performed by knowledge workers. Place a check mark on the number that best describes the level of complexity in your unit's work.

Now you're ready to connect the lines and assess whether each componenet is aligned, balanced and supportive of each other.

Read the full article to see examples and to learn how to assess your organization or team. You will learn a simple, effective, "quick and dirty" methodolgy for assessing your business situation -- all on the back of a napkin!