Preface: “Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.” Tony Robbins
Reflecting On Entrepreneurial Management with Questions (Segment II)
Credit: Donald J. Sauder, CPA | CVA
Does your management team regularly have more tasks scheduled to complete than time available per week? “Good things take time, as they should. We shouldn’t expect good things to happen overnight. Actually, getting something too easily or too soon can cheapen the outcome.”— John Wooden. If your management team is focused on completing the 90% of the necessary tasks of the week, and 10% remain uncompleted each week, you may feel that you’re maximizing the organization resources. 10% is best put in perspective reflecting on what 10% means to God. To be effective you should complete all necessary tasks successfully each week, or eventually you will either see atrophy in employee management morale or customer satisfaction, as little omissions accumulate.
Does your business have a strong relationship with a legal firm?
Attorneys are like dentists, when you need one, they can never be too trusted with the responsibility. Investing in the expertise and knowledge of good attorney is prudent for any businessman or journeyman. Whether you’re developing a blue-ribbon contract or revising your company buy-sell agreement, don’t wait until you need an attorney to make the acquaintance. And just like you hope you never have to visit the dentist, the acquaintance with any trusted expert when you need it, will pay great dividends.
Does your management team solve Company problems effectively? Solving problems with-in business operations, sales, cash flow, HR, profitability, or strategy, requires work. Thinking through effective solutions is not easily accomplished, and often provides trusted consultants an opportunity.
Yet the effectiveness of solving any business problem is crucial to keep an organization functioning at optimal performance. For instance, consider the problem of an ineffective team member, or worse yet, management position. Does your business frequently make management decisions that provide only short-term patches vs. long-term solutions? Keeping a pulse on where the Company needs to bolster or improve effectiveness, understanding the root structure, and resolving those challenges will provide any business a clear edge in not only sustaining, but also gaining market share. If the resolution requires a trusted advisor, great Company’s will not look to simply chip and tar the roadway, but look to make improvements and resolve the problem so that all those following can enjoy an easier path towards the destination of a successful day’s work, day after day, week after week, and year after year.
Does your management team regularly discuss Company issues? As good healthy foods lead towards happy and healthy communities, so too does good communication lead towards a happy and healthy organization. When your team is aligned on core values, and core focus, communication will seemingly be easier among management. Continuing towards healthy communications to discuss issues on regular basis will help maintain the vibrancy of the Company culture, and lead to prevention of complicated deep root problems that could perhaps hinder or derail and organizations momentum, from festering into issues.
Does your business value your teams character more important than team profits?
Too often businesses that have not built a solid foundation of core values, and a core focus do not realize that they have a unintended restriction on achieving the strategic objectives, because they lack the unified characteristic of adhering to any actionable team cornerstones. When a business puts profit first, without regard of services and customer satisfaction, they forget the maxim that great businesses have also have a great name amongst those they serve. Every customer wants a job well done. A heritage of 100% satisfied customers are the source of long term business successes.
Does your management team deliver the field performance you expect?
A capable management of team, is best summarized as “best this side of the Mississippi.” If your business can’t say that, then it should follow-up with the “working towards the capability to be the best this side of the Mississippi.”
Does management reward and recognize Company employees for adhering to or admirably exemplifying the company core values?
Customer gifts, manufacturing buildings, equipment, offices, or websites do not exemplify a company’s core values to customer. Your people exemplify the core values. To excel in any industry task people must receive appropriate training. To exemplify your company’s core values requires training too. The most effective way to develop and keep a company culture that lives it core values daily in the field is to appropriately and continuously encourage those core values to be exemplified.
Beyond good words and kind expressions, Company’s that continually provide rewards for those who exemplify that highest-standards of the company’s core values, also provide incentive and examples for the entire team to work towards continuously improved performance. These incentives can be small gifts, or bonuses, or any items of perceived value to individual team members.
Giving quarterly or monthly rewards for good behavior, i.e. exemplified cores values, is one small step towards a developing a company culture that outsiders see as a pattern to follow. Be creative, and remember Benjamin Franklin’s words quoted as saying, “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” Involve your team in developing and training with personalized incentives to reward them for adhering to or admirably exemplifying the company core values. And when you do that effectively, you’ll see that the benefits far outweigh the cost.