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Thoughts on the Real Nuts and Bolts of Running a Business, for Owners and Entrepreneurs
The Benefits of One-to-One Meetings
I have long been an advocate of regularly scheduled team management meetings, partly to review "what's going on this week" and partly to keep the team also focused on the bigger picture, the major company initiatives. Team meetings are a way for the group to connect, communicate, and help each other problem-solve.
Over the past few years, I have also become a fan of regularly scheduled one-to-one meetings with subordinates. While some management consultants propose that this time be used primarily to get to know each of your employees on a more personal basis, I believe that one-to-one's can serve a variety of purposes. Ultimately they benefit BOTH parties; the employee, in a safe, private conversation can communicate freely and thoughtfully, asking questions, seeking clarifications, soliciting advice, discussing successes and obstacles. The employer, similarly, can talk about expectations, coach, and advise. An employer can also bounce ideas off the subordinate and gain insights not previously considered.
A few DO's regarding one-to-ones:
- DO keep to a regular schedule - whether once a week or twice a month or whatever is comfortable. If necessary, reschedule the meetings, but when things get hectic do not drop them, skip them, or ignore them.
- DO follow through on commitments you, as the employer, might make at the meeting.
Take time to listen and discuss; open yourself to different ideas and points of view. Ultimately you're the boss, but often you can glean important information if you look for it. - DO have an agenda. One Owner I know always starts by reviewing the past week and the coming week, then goes through a list of larger company initiatives, talking about ideas, progress or hindrances. Although the time is structured, it is a give-and-take honest conversation, not a reporting presentation.
- DO carve out time to talk about anything the employee might have on his or her mind.
Remember that part of your role as an Owner is to coach and grow future leaders.
Monday 09 January 2012 - 12:51:30 by Sharon Joseph
Posted in Management - The People Factor | Comments: 0 |
The Energy!
As many of you know, I’m passionate about helping Owners of small- and mid-market businesses succeed. Helping companies ‘get to the next level’ is something I’ve done for over 15 years. In order to continue to be effective for my clients, I myself have to keep on learning and growing. To this end, a couple years ago, I joined an organization called Vistage (www.vistage.com), as a member of one of their Trusted Advisor groups. Earlier this week, I went to a Vistage All-City meeting in a suburb of Chicago.
There were hundreds of people there, Owners, CEO’s, Key Executives, and Trusted Advisors. The ballroom was packed with business people introducing themselves to each other, talking about their businesses, learning from the speakers, learning from each other, sharing new ideas. What energy! What spirit! It was so palpable.
What struck me additionally was that, contrary to media rantings, every business person or Owner I talked to had businesses that were busier than ever; a surprising number were hiring to meet increased demand for their product or service, some were cautiously planning new marketing and/or new infrastructure initiatives. All had a realization that we have moved beyond the new “reset point” and companies are growing again. The ballroom was buzzing with cautious optimism and excitement about plans for the future. At the end of the conference that day, no one could possibly be thinking about continuing to defensively hide under a rock.
I came away excited for the future and optimistic. Also energized by the crowd, all exchanging information, ideas, best practices, questions. I know the country will continue to struggle in some areas, but there are so many emergent opportunties. It’s hard not to feel hopeful and enthusiastic.
What has invigorated you about your business recently? What to you do to recharge your business battery? What avenues do you have to learn from others and share your experiences? To grow and keep yourself sharp? I’d be interested to hear.
Friday 11 November 2011 - 13:22:12 by Sharon Joseph
Posted in Management - The People Factor | Comments: 0 |
Ten Steps to Start-up Success
We have all often heard that, to start a business, a great idea is necessary, but not sufficient. After the idea is proven, scaling to a real business is all about execution. Marty Zwilling, a well-respected blogger on entrepreneurship, has identified ten key steps to a winning start-up execution. I have listed them below, amplified by some of my own thoughts:
- Create a vision and instill values. The vision may be the Owner’s, but the communication has to include the team, employees, potential investors, customers, new hires…all the people the business touches. For many owners, the repeated communication is the hard part – written and verbal, articulated over and over again.
- Define a focused strategy. The strategic focus should be limited to a few critical areas that can be described simply and that will yield the best return, given the business strengths. If the strategy has more than six elements, it’s not focused. Not everything can be a priority. No time should be spent on unimportant goals.
- Get stakeholder commitment. An Owner should infuse the team with his passion and energy; he (or she) should be the “compass”, setting direction and creating the vision for the team to follow. But tactical planning is a collaborative effort. The team must be involved in the planning decisions to not only get their commitment to execute but also to identify hand-offs and where two teams might have to work together to achieve a common result. People who are not committed, who don’t understand their roles and responsibilities, cannot be held accountable for delivering ambitious results.
- Align the objectives of principals. Small companies can implode if there are two or more owners that are not aligned in terms of goals and objectives. For example, if one person wants to add more technology and another wants to keep costs down, it can lead to a train wreck. Owners need to articulate business philosophies at the onset of a business partnership - even if it's a difficult conversation. Identify visions and goals. Quantify time and costs. Get agreement from all, and review results regularly to verify alignment.
- Every process needs a system. Define and use well-thought-out systems, manual or automated, to ensure repeatable success of every key process. The most basic element of every start-up system, for example, is a written, agreed to, and measurable business plan. After start-up phase, each person should have definable primary responsibilities and goals. Business processes will need to be instituted to make sure things run smoothly, consistently, and effectively – each time they are done.
- Manage priorities. Current priorities must be communicated to all constituents regularly – even if the Owner must repeat himself constantly. As priorities change over time, the Owner should be clear about explaining the logic and the progression. It is highly disruptive to constantly be jumping from one initiative to the other. And initiatives should be kept to a manageable number.
- Provide team support and training. People are a company's most valuable asset, so an Owner should start with the right ones, and make sure they have the time, tools, and training to deliver the results that are expected.
- Assign and orchestrate actions. Leaders must make sure all team members are taking the right actions (and behaviors) on a daily basis to deliver long-term performance. Even after all the previous steps, great leaders can’t afford to be merely observers. Lead by action. Be present.
- Measure, adapt and innovate. Things change in a startup or very young company, and things will go wrong. Hiccups won’t be noticed on a timely basis if nothing is measured. Measure four or five key drivers, not twenty or thirty things. Owners should look at them regularly; have discussions about them. Make sure everyone knows what is important.
- Reward and punish. What gets measured and rewarded gets done. Be exceedingly generous with praise, celebration, recognition, small rewards, and sometimes money. Set high standards for performance and use the three T’s (train, transfer, or terminate) to deal with people unable to effectively execute the plan.
Tuesday 24 May 2011 - 00:00:00 by Sharon Joseph
Posted in Measuring Success | Comments: 0 |
Metrics, Milestones, and Benchmarks, Oh My!
How do you measure your business as it’s marching toward success? Do you compare this year’s income statement with last year’s and, if it’s a positive trend you’re satisfied? What about company projects or initiatives that haven’t yet been or can’t be monetized - how do you regularly measure progress against your goals? How do you know when you’ve come to a hiccup or roadblock?
I think Owners can make use of three handy concepts that are critical to any business success.
Metrics are used to measure quantifiable results from business operations that move companies toward their goals. So, if a company goal is ‘increase customer satisfaction by 20%’, the metric used might be “average grade” as measured by feedback questionnaires. If a company has a goal to increase sales by 10%, regularly reviewed metrics would track sales increases and might also track number of new customers and units sold.
Many times metrics are related to an annual budget – so that actual differences from budgeted expectations are called out and need to be explained every month – but other times, they are tracked separately as more operational measures than financial ones.
Milestones are used to measure progress through company initiatives or projects that don’t (or don’t yet!) have clear quantification. For example, one of my clients has decided to install new Customer Relationship Management software. In order to make sure the project is staying on track and getting the right amount of consistent priority, bi-weekly milestones have been created and are reviewed regularly.
Benchmarks can be used synonymously with “milestones” but they are generally an external standard against which internal performance is measured. Companies that want to know how they stack up relative to competitors will often compare themselves to benchmarked industry data and come to some conclusion about what gaps in performance are apparent and what might need attention.
What metrics, milestones, and benchmarks do you currently use in your company? What kinds of measurements would you like to see implemented that don’t exist in your company now?
Wednesday 30 March 2011 - 15:25:49 by Sharon Joseph
Posted in Measuring Success | Comments: 0 |
The Advisability of an Advisory Board
Owners of small to mid-sized businesses call on Spectrum’s business consulting services to address many frustrations they have with planning – planning for growth, planning for profitability, action plans for their teams, and so forth. During these conversations I often find that Owners value the helpful discussion, the different perspective, or the thoughtful questions equally, if not more than, the actual analytical or action planning work. An advisor, and, by extension, an advisory board, offers a safe place for an Owner to talk through issues from all angles. An advisory board can cut through the emotional clutter and ask incisive, direct questions and make constructive suggestions that may not have occurred to an Owner. An advisory board can suggest novel or helpful approaches to strategic partners, to customers, to key employees, and even to bankers, that may be difficult to see when an Owner is navigating by himself, in the thick of the moment. An advisory board can look down the road and see contingencies and “what if’s” that the Owner may not be tuned into.
It’s remarkable that one conversation or even one remark by an outsider can shed new perspective on an issue, yet it often happens. I encourage all Owners to seek that safe haven or sounding board where they can discuss tough business issues and get meaningful ideas and input. The benefits far outweigh the costs.
Do you have an Advisory Board? How has it worked for you?
Sunday 30 January 2011 - 12:29:12 by Sharon Joseph
Posted in Strategy | Comments: 0 |
