Moving faster by slowing down

I recently started doing some management consulting work with a company of 60 employees. They are a company who has grown substantially, but are currently at a place when many huge projects are on the road to the next level of growth. Some of these obstacles are operational in nature, some technological, some manpower, and some financial. It is safe to say my time on site is a whirlwind, with project after project on the to do list.

If my time on site is a whirlwind, I can only imagine what it is like to be in the center of the whirlwind every day. In my one on one meetings with the managers, they rattle off all of the things they are working on. And the list is many. But what I see from the outside is that because there are so many projects going on at once, they are not making near as fast of progress as they could if they broke things down into smaller chunks.

They need help prioritizing. What is the most important project for me to tackle today? How can I tailor my day so I am focusing on the tasks that will accomplish those goals? What do I do about the other projects that I might not get to if I prioritize?

There are many of us caught up in the whirlwind. When that happens, you can’t ask those questions, better yet answer them. My advice is to take a small step back, take a deep breath, and analyze all of your projects. Figure out which is the most important and which is the closest to completion. And create a daily timeline. “No matter what, I will spend three hours today on project XYZ.”

And then tell your caught up in the cyclone co-workers what you are doing. Your focus may be just what they need. They’ll either pitch in or see what you’ve done and do they’re own prioritization.

You will then see yourself and your company moving forward faster by taking the time to step back.

Patience and Perseverance

I spoke with the CEO of a 90 person company a few days ago about the process of motivating people. His company has been focused on the process for a little over three years and he described some of the ups and downs. His advice for those wanting to create a passionate workforce or who are in the process of doing so was to be aware of the incredible amount of patience and perseverance it truly takes to make it happen.

He said there were days when he thought all of this “human stuff” was a waste of time and effort. But he went on to say that once things fell into place and people believed that this was not a HR initiative or a theme of the month, when they believed that the entire company was on board with making it a great place to work, the results were undeniable. Managers trusted their people to do right. People believed their opinions mattered and their work was important. In the end, they obliterated the company goals.

Great Place to Work Institute, Inc. says a workplace is great when employees trust the people they work for, have pride in what they do and enjoy the people they work with. As I have seen and been told, to accomplish this is much easier said than done. And it doesn’t happen overnight.

The first step is to say you want to be a great place to work. The next step is to live it. And keep living it through the ups and downs.

Work Life Balance

A friend of my father's started a new job recently. He is a few years older than me, married and has two young kids. I asked my dad how it's been going so far and he told me well, except for his boss. He didn’t say the boss is a jerk, but he did say the boss checks emails daily at 5:30 AM and replies before he comes to work at 7 AM. He does the same thing at night. He also expects his new employee to be online doing the same thing.

The company is paying their new hire a very fair wage and my guess is his boss had a boss before him instill the work around the clock mentality. I am not married with two young kids, but I know what it is like at my brother's house in the mornings and evenings: hectic!

We always bring high hopes and maximum energy to the start of a new job. We want to succeed. And we bust our butt to do so. But does this new relationship seem like it is going to last? I doubt it. Whose fault is it? I would say the boss.

He may have had to fight the battle of working round the clock while balancing his family. I'm sure he hated it. I think that's part of the reason he's passing it on. "I went through it, so should he." I liken it to my fraternity experience. "They hazed me, so I'm hazing you." The cycle continues until someone says, "Hey, wait a minute. This makes no sense."

And this work relationship does not make sense. As a boss, you have to step outside of your experiences and think about your employee. From 5:30 AM - 7 AM the employee is not at home snoozing away, nor is he sitting on his porch sipping coffee, he is running around getting kids fed and ready for school. And after work he is not sipping Crown and Coke's at the country club, he is putting his kids to bed and spending some time with his wife. Those are the important things. Take that ability away and you take away his energy and motivation. Around the clock work does not produce greater results, it produces greater turnover.

Now think, this guy has a new job and he wants to do well, but he is already questioning if it is the right fit. I'm sure his wife and kids aren't too happy about it either. This starts the downward spiral of resenting your boss, looking at CareerBuilder and Monster, and most importantly, quitting the job but not telling anyone. Showing up for work but not caring. Exactly what you don't want as a manager.

In today's world, there has to be balance. High expectations are fine, but they have to be realistic. You may not have been allowed to live a life outside of work, but that also means you know how much that stinks. Don't pass it on. People want to work hard and perform. Having a work life balance brings maximum effort. This breed’s creativity, innovation, and most importantly: results.

Master

A friend recently passed me a link to an article by Jeffrey Gitomer, a Charlotte, NC based writer and speaker focused on sales. This particular "Sales Moves" column talked about his airplane conversation sitting next to Zach Johnson, the golfer who recently won the Masters.

The article says Johnson always knew he had talent, skill, and passion for the game even though he was not the #1 golfer on his high school or college golf team. But things didn't come together for him until he surrounded himself with a team of coaches and an inner circle of experts. And it came together in a big way, winning the most prestigious tournament in the game of golf.

Johnson had the tools, but he needed help along the way. "If you can get others to believe in you as much as you believe in yourself, you can become a master. And not just in golf or business or sales - a master in life."

If you are the leader of a business, the manager of people, or trying to get something new off the ground, the key is surrounding yourself with good people and sharing a common goal. Prepare to be amazed by the opportunities coming your way.

Words for the CEO

Today I went to a seminar given by Ole Carlson. He wrote the book Beneath the Armor: How Business Leaders Stand Tall in a Turbulent Global Economy (http://www.influencemany.com). Today's session focused on the CEO’s role in leading their company. It was a group of close to 20 and he held our attention for the entire three hours.

I will not share the program here, but a point that really stuck with me is the growth or hindering power held by the owner/president/CEO. In a small to mid size business, this leader took an idea or vision and made it reality. They went from one employee, to five, to twenty, to eighty employees. They drove the growth through their energy, effort, and skills. But with the growth comes new obstacles and challenges and the question of, “How can we keep growing?”

The answer I heard today and that I have also seen in the businesses I have interviewed and worked with is this: The leader must change. The attributes and style that worked as a start up with 5 or 10 people will and does not work with a workforce of 80. The leader has to focus on leading, not doing. And this is a very hard idea for leaders to grasp.

“It’s worked so well for so long, why should I change?” Because you need to lead the doers.

This takes us to the people aspect. In his talk and book, Ole discusses seven strategies. I was glad to hear him say that the most important one was Strategy Five: It is All About the People.

I say this: A great doer can accomplish many things, but someone leading many great doers can accomplish infinitely more.

Growing in a Shrinking Economy

My second sales job had a strong focus on creating and maintaining relationships via the trade show circuit. As the economy turned south, so did the size of the pie for the companies who supply the marketing displays for the trade show industry. This hit home recently after a family friend in the trade show supply business saw the booming national company that she worked for recede, finally to the point of shutting their doors.

Today I read the business section of the Rochester, NY newspaper and the company they highlighted intrigued me (http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070604/BUSINESS/706040314/1001). The title of the article is, "Trade show company flourishes by investing in 'human capital.'" They interviewed Donna M. Shultz, president of Mirror Show Management about their success. Her advice is this: "Human capital matters. Companies with the vision to invest in their human capital are companies that flourish."

Even in a shrinking industry, MSM still finds ways to focus on the passion of their people. Shultz said, "MSM's devotion to client service affords us continuing growth opportunities." So a devotion to client service is MSM's key to growth. The big question to ask is, how do you devote your company to client service?

The answer is by devoting yourself to your people. Motivated people with the proper training and tools will give your clients above and beyond what they need. And those clients will stay clients and tell potential clients about the great service your company provides.

In thinking about a shrinking industry, realize good customer service lives beyond the walls of that customer. In a reducing sector many people will get downsized. If these downsized people like the services you provided for them, chances are good they will call you when they land on their feet at a new company.

MSM shows that even if you are in an industry that is shrinking, if you have the vision to invest in your people, those same people will take care of your customers, who will in turn take care of you.