If your company isn’t changing, it’s dying. We work with businesses all over the globe, and no matter the location, industry or size, companies that resist change stifle success.
“But we’ve always done it that way.”
Maybe the old ways worked for a while. They might even work just fine now. But, if you’re constantly looking in the rear view mirror, your current and future competition will eventually leave you in the dust. Many companies operate under the belief that the status quo is enough. They add, in small ways, to processes, products and services over long, drawn out periods. In the end, they are left with a slow moving business model crawling its way to a slow death, or eventual irrelevance.
Counteract this in your organizations by creating a Process and Accountability Chart, or PACe. Start today by writing down all of your business’ processes. You have to know exactly what your company is doing before you can start addressing why and how it’s doing it. You may think it seems ludicrous that some business owners have never thought about their company’s processes, but it happens all the time. Systematically going through them reveals which ones are done by default rather than by design.
Once you have your list, pick one and analyze it. Beginning with the starting point, take each step of the process and write it down on a sticky note. Identify the people involved, the time it takes and the decisions that need to be made. Put all your notes on a wall, then step back and look for where you can improve. Are there ways you can increase efficiency? Yes. Are there any unnecessary steps that are no longer needed? Probably. Are there opportunities to automate? Hopefully.
You won’t improve if you aren’t looking for ways to advance. And that springs from cultivating a curious nature within yourself and your team. Curiosity and constant improvement are core values at Petra Coach. We constantly ask, “Why are we doing this?” and we coach others to do the same. At every level of an organization, team members should be asking “why?” and looking for meaningful ways to improve.
Need to rally your team behind this new way of thinking? Make it a contest. Collect ideas and reward the most impactful ones. Make no mistake, creating a culture that supports constant and proactive reflection is a big undertaking. You have to inspire your team to take on this high-level thinking and support members that are willing to ask hard questions and create sound solutions.
Creating efficiencies, for some, feels as though they’re stripping the amount and, consequently, the value of their work. You have to shut this attitude down. The value brought by a team member that improves a business function is far greater than the value brought by one who shows up, puts their widgets in the widget box and goes home. Make sure your team knows this.
When it comes to troubleshooting and brainstorming, anything can be done. It may cost too much or take too much time. It may be completely out of the scope of reality. But, if you don’t start with outlandish thoughts for how to create efficiency, you won’t land on the exponential improvements that will make significant differences. Instead, you’ll settle for the small moves that, as mentioned earlier, will have you heading toward irrelevance at a snail’s pace.
In order for everything in the company to be open for improvement, you have to be willing to be questioned as a leader. This isn’t easy, and it’s not fun. But, if you want to have an innovative culture, you have to know when to check your ego at the door.
We live and work in a time of rapid change. Sure, change can be hard, and not all of us like it. But I guarantee you’ll like irrelevance less. Use these tactics to change the way you, your teams and overall business think in order to stay relevant.
This story was originally published in The Tennessean.
