Four Questions to Improve Your Business – Part 4
4 Questions to Improve Your Business is a 4-part series for business owners. Super short read. Here’s Question Four!
Who is on Your Team?
Do you have enough horsepower in the building to get the plan done?
Now that you have developed your Vision, Blueprint and Scorecard, do you have the right people to execute the plan? Are they doing the right tasks? – to borrow from Gino Wickman – do they Get it, Want it and Can they do it. Watching your scorecard and holding your team accountable to it will help you determine that.
Develop next generation leaders and train your current staff. I know a company that supported a temporary employee in getting his GED. He became a regular employee and over 10 years achieved a degree in computer programming. He designed and wrote most of the company’s software that got detailed information into the hands of customer service on a timely basis.
Once you have granular information available you can empower and hold middle management accountable by letting them make their plans (customer / plant / process) and present them to the team.
But who will hold you accountable? – Do you have an advisory board? Properly constructed, they add outside experience and expertise in to your critical processes. An advisory board can help for the owner and senior management do deep dives into topics so you can clarify your position and ferrets out weak assumptions or things you did not know (“Unknown unknowns”) The board is a source of great ideas from people who “have already done that”. Saying you are going to do something to the board is a powerful incentive for you (or your team) to perform.
Your outside advisors can also perform these functions. Your Vision and Blueprint will help guide your professional advisors toward the goals you want to achieve. Bringing everyone together and sharing the Vision keeps issues from falling through the cracks.
Putting the time into creating your Vision, Blueprint and Scorecards is the beginning of clarity and alignment for your organization. The right people and training give you the horsepower to finish tasks and pivot when the market demands it. With the Blueprint and Scorecard, you can communicate to and empower your team and hold them accountable for their work.
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