People claim to hate change, but if that’s true, why do they enjoy going on vacation, finding a new favorite restaurant, or getting a tax rebate check in the mail? a
Change Through WSPs
If your staffers don’t like change, then you’re doing something wrong. People resist workplace changes, because these changes tend to be perceived as unexpected, disruptive, and negative. But you can do something to improve all that…
The Power of Wildly Successful Projects™ (WSPs)
Leaders who build a track record of Wildly Successful Projects reach organizational goals that earn them the trust of their staffers and make gaining buy in and cooperation on future projects a breeze. Here’s what every leader and manager needs to know.
First, whenever you introduce a change such as an initiative or project, a software program, a standard procedure, etc. take proper action to avoid making two common mistakes:
Think through the new change completely, from strategy to tactics and execution, before you introduce it. Too often, leaders introduce ideas that lack substance or a plan for their completion, and as a result, those ideas fade into the ether. People waste time trying to figure out what to do with your ideas, and when enough of those unfulfilled ideas go unrealized, staffers lose confidence in what you have to say.
Finish one initiative before beginning another. Studies show that the number of projects that people can work on successfully at any given time is two projects; more than that overwhelms labor and maxes-out resources. Don’t confuse a task with a project. Striking a balance for you and your employees ensures that projects are completed and that your crew enjoys success on the job.
Contrast these two types of managers. Manager 1, Kate, attends a conference, returns to the office excited to share a list of new initiatives with her staff, but the staff already have several unfinished projects on their plates. She drops the ideas on employees’ laps and leaves it up to others to figure out the details.
Manager 2, Kyle, returns from the same conference, but instead of rushing to share all his ideas immediately, he does some research over the course of the next week to be sure that he introduces a single best idea that will positively impact his staff. He explains that the ROI on the project will earn the firm $200,000 over the next year, and that end-of-year bonuses will come from this initiative. Already, even before he has laid out the tactical plan, you can already surmise that this idea has greater potential than Kate’s idea to become a WSP.
Mimic Kyle’s approach to change and watch how workplace resistance to change is replaced with an eagerness for future changes. When you develop a reputation for introducing WSPs, people will love change.
No one wants to be in a situation where they have to raise revenue quickly, but sometimes that’s just a reality that decision makers have to deal with. When a past client who does business in a service industry was facing a cash crunch due to price increases from two major vendors, the only solution he could come up with in two month’s time was to push his sales people to sell more contracts. After we spoke a bit longer, he admitted that he’d done the math and that in the back of his mind, he had serious doubts about the sales team’s ability to bring in the targeted funds in the time frame that he needed.
I suggested that he try instituting a nominal price increase to all his clients. He was concerned, stating that he had a client base of 4000 contract holders, and to make such a move would mean that he would have to have reps visit each client to rewrite their contracts, plus, he feared their negative reaction. But that was his assumption, not his challenge or solution.
We took a closer look at the client base and came up with a solution that would assuage his concerns, bring in the revenue quickly, and address any clients who might call to complain. He sent via regular mail and email a notice to clients that they would see a slight price increase on their next billing cycle. For clients who had small contracts of say $40, the price would move to $42. For clients of $400, the price would increase to $420 and so on.
Still worried that he’d have an onslaught of calls, he manned up anyway and braced for the worst. And then….nothing happened. A few dozen customers called and they made what ever arrangements necessary for the new amounts to be remitted. In the end. the client pulled in tens of thousands of dollars of additional revenue per month without much work.
I credit the success of this business owner’s across-the-board price increases to the tactics which included: a pricing model that would cause the customer to say to themselves “who cares,” a well written letter and email campaign, staffing for the ‘just-in-case complaints,’ the right name for the increase, and an accounting system that had no flaws in posting the increase.
There’s always a solution to every challenge. You just have to be willing to open your mind to new ideas and to swirl those ideas around ‘cyclonically’ until you find the best solutions to your challenges.
United Breaks Guitar video goes viral on YouTube with 3.5 million hits.
The issue with this video is more complex than just damaged guitars; it’s that the industry is still in the Stone Age when it comes to operating everything but the planes.
First, the airline industry could easily borrow technologies from other industries to cut the handing of baggage in half by employees. The problem is very much tied to baggage handlers being unionized. There is very little incentive to replace people with equipment and yet if UPS and FedEx worked in the same manner as the airlines do, you’d get your packages a week later.
The solution is baggage that is tagged at the gate and then transferred via RFID (or some other technology) to the plane and then in some situations directly into the hull. This would require sophisticated technologies and cooperation between manufacturers and firms that manufacture robotics and conveyor systems.
The benefits would be huge. FOD (foreign object debris) would be drastically reduced for airlines. Payroll would decrease and so would Workers Comp expenses from bag-related injuries. Passengers would get their baggage to the plane without damage, as well as receive the baggage at the other end. Tracking and total weight can be accessed at any time for CG, the weighting of a plane. The list is endless.
One may argue that the airlines are not doing well, and I’d argue that the airlines are in this position due to poor investment in technology, poor contracts with unions, and poor orientation to the future. Some of this tied to, in the US, the government’s handing of the industry including air traffic control systems that should have been updated long ago.
The good news is that if innovation curves are any indication of the future, the airline industry will be forced over the course of the next 50 years, to either make significant technological changes to keep pace or find itself prey to industries that will, such as improvements in holographic and digital meetings that eliminate the need for business travel. In other words, business travel, which provides a huge source of income for airlines, will be reduced and/or other modes of transportation will gain traction.
A bullet train from Boston to Washington DC or from San Francisco to San Diego and many other traffic lanes could reduce air passengers.
If you fly, you know that if an aircraft is late, there’s a good chance that you’re going to miss your connection or be late for something else in your day. It’s the reason the government and outside companies monitor the on-time arrival of airlines.
Here’s a simple solution. You might apply this thinking to your own business.
Let me give you the background first. During each college semester, I make 4 to 5 trips to NYC to teach two courses at NYU. In each case, I couldn’t tell you if the plane left the actual gate early or late. But I can tell you that on all 5 flights, the plane arrived before the scheduled time. I felt, and I believe others did, too, that we got a bonus of time by reaching our destination early. Although it’s a mental game, it’s mentally real.
What if the airlines added a buffer, say 10 minutes to every aircraft’s ETA. A 9AM arrival time is now stated as 9:10AM. The airline publishes the times and the passengers and travelers work around the numbers.
Now here’s what’s going to happen.
The plane leaves on time, or late, no one cares unless it screws up their next step. With the buffer the aircraft then either arrives early….WOW or on time.
Consider the implications. I travel a lot and very infrequently do I make a call to my ground transportation about a flight based upon 10 minutes either way. I don’t spend that much time on the length of time compared to the price and the route. I hate getting stuck in certain airports. Here the buyer is more interested in on-time arrivals for the purposes of their next meeting (personal or business) than they are for actual flight time.
Then travel agencies could give options differently. “You can take the 6 AM through DC into Miami arriving at 11:20 or the 7:40 AM arriving at 2.” With an overall edit to the system, everyone would be on par with similar flight systems and layovers.
Airline management, their unions, and the technology being used today have made limited progress in improving the system. They still load bags onto planes by hand. And it appears there is nothing coming down the pipe line that would radically improve the situation, so why not try a simpler fix. Besides the airlines have cut back on routes so modeling of new traffic patterns most likely would not be a terrific challenge.
Why is it that when people hear about a corporate bankruptcy, they become authorities on how it could have been avoided? It’s always easy to say you know better than someone else. Especially when you’re parked safely on the sidelines or looking at the situation in hindsight. But do you really know what you would do if put in the same position?
There are a lot of reasons why companies get in financial trouble. Some firms die because they deserve it. They’re mismanaged or they have products that stink. Others are good companies that make one mistake and pay a hefty price. Perhaps they don’t adapt to a market change quickly enough. Or maybe they tried to grow too quickly and ran out of cash. With so many elements to juggle, pinning down the “why” is not always easy for the outsider to determine.
Spiegel filed Chapter 11 in 2003. Spiegel was started in 1865. It’s parent to Lifestyle, Eddie Bauer, and Newport News. Its first catalog was produced in 1905. In nearly 140 years, Spiegel managed to do a lot of things right. When it hit a rocky patch, Joe Blow from down the street knew he could have done better. Really?
Look at the photo-film industry. Kodak offers good quality products. It was kicked in the face with the K-Mart bankruptcy, but managed to sustain the blow. Over the past 5 years, Kodak has made major adjustments to its product line to insure future success. Fuji Photo Film was a heavy competitor on price. The growing use of digital cameras threatened all film companies. Yet Kodak and Fuji were operating while Polaroid filed for bankruptcy.
On the surface, it was easy to see that Polaroid wasn’t adapting to the changing market fast enough. It didn’t offer competitive products. It didn’t market as well as other leaders. But WHY did executives at Polaroid make the decisions that they did? WHY would they “white-knuckle” their niche of instant imaging when one-hour photo processing and digital cameras were eroding their market share? What was going on behind the scenes that ultimately forced Polaroid to file Chapter 11?
Enough about everyone else. Your time is better spent focusing on how you can avoid damaging mistakes. Here are some tips:
1. Be an information gatherer. Start internally and look outward. What are your key deliverables? Are you defining what you really do? For example, are you a trucking firm or in the business of logistics? Canon says they’re in optics. Kodak says they’re in “memories.” That’s a selling proposition, but what do they do? Learn markets, talk to experts, and then make up your own mind.
2. Improve your management skills. Quality. Think BASF: “We don’t make the products you use, we make the products you use better.” Improve yourself to keep pace. Take courses to learn new tools. Read books in addition to magazines and papers. Look at trends and where you’re weak. Focus on one or two areas and not 50. You’ll be stronger for it.
3. Envision a realistic destiny. Make sure the picture you paint is one you can truly believe in. Most executives, owners, and managers can’t do this. If you’re one of them, watch out. This is an area where you can’t be wishy washy. Know where you’re going before you set out on the trip.
4. Be the driver. You can collect data and insight from others, but the direction comes from you. Your role as a leader is to lead, not get “group think” to the point that your company is crippled. As you move forward, you’ll gain new knowledge that might steer you in slightly different directions. Flexibility and adaptability are good. But make sure that you’re leading, not reacting.
You can’t fix a firm from the sidelines no more than you can play a game from the bleachers. When you see what’s happening in the world around you, don’t waste your time on second-guessing. Take what you can as a lesson and focus on your own firm. What you learn will bring solutions and strategies. You and your firm will be stronger for it.
I know someone who spent a good deal of his summer lounging by a pool, vacationing with friends, and overall just kicking back and enjoying life. Oh yeah, he was a manager, too. How did he have time to manage his employees and amass so much leisure time, too, you may ask. He didn’t. He chose hanging out over working hard, but he had a good reason.
As he explained to his superior, a regional manager for the firm, the “economy” was bad in the area. He was even generous enough with his time to take the regional manager, who was unfamiliar with the ins and outs of this particular city, on a joy ride through its worst slum…boarded up windows and gang-sign graffiti offered “proof” that the man with a tan couldn’t be blamed for his office’s poor sales.
The vast majority of the beautiful city was running quite smoothly, but the regional manager didn’t get that tour. He was shuffled straight to the airport before he got a sniff of the truth that his local subordinate opted to darken his tan rather than increase his office’s sales.
Yes, I realize the economy has hit most of us in one way or another. Some of us have gotten pummeled worse than others, too. And while sales have taken a hit in many industries, I hope that you’re able to separate reality from perception.
Be careful not to discount your ability to perform on the job because the economy is suffering. There have always been and will always be those who bend with the times and create opportunity.
Also, be fair with yourself. The same assets you brought to your job are those that can help you now. Don’t forget that you have those strengths and you might just need to change your perception of reality to begin to utilize those strengths today.
Companies like ebay and Amazon.com have to adjust to the economy and the current market conditions to continue to realize healthy profits; and adjust is what they do. So where are you adjusting what you do to continue to thrive in today’s business environment?
It’s not just about persistence it’s about changing tactics to bring in new business.
On the program Hell’s Kitchen, the restaurant undergoing a business makeover gave away food as a way to announce the reopening of the restaurant. Their marketing tactic was successful, and the next day the restaurant was full.
If you suspect that the economy has become your crutch, toss it aside and take responsibility to walk on your own two feet again. Adjust strategy and tactics, get creative with marketing and sales, and find ways to revive assets that have been nearly dormant since the downturn started.
Someone’s always doing well…it might as well be you.
When thinking about disaster recovery, you want to develop a plan so that in the event that everything goes haywire, your organization can be back up and running as soon as possible…that is, if there are no more disasters.
The management team of a company executed a practice run of disaster recovery plan. But the process ran into a couple of snags. First, the assistant to the man who was supposed to execute the practice run was informed on his way to the office that his brother-in-law died. Then the two back-up personnel, leaving from two different airports, each ran into 3-hour delays.
In essence, the key people running the disaster-recovery plan ran into disasters of their own.
Consider how during the last big disasters, 9-11 and New Orleans, transportation and telecommunications shut down. Those obstacles were tough enough to work around. Now add in the human element including that some team members will not wait around to save your company’s neck. They might want to be home taking care of family or heading for the hills.
This means that you want to automate the process as much as possible and not leave the success of the program in human hands; human interaction should be reduced, even eliminated so that what needs to be done can be done with the greatest probability of success.
It’s not nice to think of disasters occuring on such grand scale, but during the execution of most true disaster plans, the ripple effect of a flaw in the design can prove to be more challenging to deal with than those designing the backups are capable of solving.
If you’ve ever done any weightlifting, you know that the typical progression flows like this…your endurance and strength improves as you continue to lift more and more weight week after week. Your first week’s 10-pound weights are replaced by your second week’s 15-pounders, and by week five, you’re pumping 25 pounds or more. If the progression continued, you’d eventually lift 700 pounds, but of course, that doesn’t happen. At some point, your ability to increase the pounds you lift maxes out.
If your goal is to get in shape and improve health, that’s no problem. But if you’re working out hoping to transport appliances or tow vehicles, you realize pretty darn quickly that you’re going to need some outside assistance, such as a lever, lift, crane or hydraulics, if you’re going to achieve substantial gains.
The same holds true in business and organizations.
Before you get all gung ho about new initiatives, run a common sense assessment of your organization’s assets to see if everyone has what they need to reach those lofty goals.
Arm your staff with the tools employees need to be successful.
Groups often make the mistake of believing that just by working together (and especially if they have a successful track record of having worked together in the past), they can solve challenges, take advantage of opportunities, and achieve success. However, just as the well-intentioned and disciplined weight lifter eventually hits a ceiling, your team might need some fresh supplies to soar to new heights.
The areas I’m talking about are new knowledge. new technologies, fresh sets of eyes, new approaches to strategy and tactics, and reformulated group dynamics. Without them, you can still grow and possibly do quite well. But if you want to make significant jumps or differences, you have to consider some upgrades.
Upgrades are not just for computers. People need upgrades, too.
You’ll find some answers by asking yourself and then your staff questions along these lines:
What technological upgrades, such as software programs, do you think would make your job easier, would enable you to make fewer mistakes, would empower you to do your job more independently, and would assist you in providing superior customer service?
What common problems seem to continually appear that you think a new system, standard procedure, piece of equipment, etc. would prevent, solve, or eliminate altogether?
What relationships–with vendors, customers, complementary businesses/organizations–could be strengthened or developed to make our organization more competitive in the marketplace?
You can also uncover weaknesses that hinder growth and development by surveying the customers you service, the vendors you buy from, the partnerships you’ve developed, and the staff you employ from the top management team to the front line.
Your role is to maximize the potential of your organization’s assets.
When leading your team, be on the lookout for weaknesses and keep filling the gaps in order to maximize potential and enable your people to make significant gains.
A business woman I met named Tiffany told me that her business is doing well despite the economy due to both location and product offering. The only problem Tiffany has is that her marketing manager hasn’t for years performed up to expectation.
At one point, Tiffany started looking for a replacement over a year ago when the economy was bustling. However, she found that hiring some one with the talent she wanted would mean paying anywhere from $80,000 to $120,000 more than she could afford.
Now that the economy has changed, her marketing manager stands out like a sore thumb and Tiffany’s patience has run thin. Her challenge is how does she make the change without spooking the employee or even others within her organization?
Here’s an approach you might use.
Set up a phone line directly to your home or to a separate cell phone number where you can receive calls without anyone in the organization knowing what you’re doing. Then set up an email account that’s not connected with the company. This could be a gmail, yahoo, or earthlink account. Then start marketing in online sites. In 2009, you can expect people of high caliber to be searching all sources for a job.
*You also could act like a head hunter and call someone at a competitor since you really don’t know what’s going on in their business and they might be falling on tough times.
In the ad, forward all information to these private contact points so you have a buffer where you can review resume’s or screen calls without announcing it to your staff. Once the desired talent is found, do a simple phone interview to start to weed out those marketing more than they really possess and schedule an introductory phone interview. I always love phone interviews as a start, because you’re less limited by looks and can focus first on qualifications.
Next set up a meeting at a restaurant to discuss what you’re offering. The distance allows you to see how the individual works in an open setting. I personally hate when people don’t say please or thank you to restaurant staff. The way one treats their waiter is often a great indicator of how they’ll treat subordinate staff within your organization. If they’re not respectful during your restaurant meeting, take their actions seriously into consideration.
Then finally, when you’ve closed in on your decision to hire, you can introduce the prospective employee to your organization.
This is not unlike how a head hunter might work. They check out prospects, notify someone discretely, arrange a private meeting, and then announce the recruit.
The upside for people who want to hire new talent during this economy is that there are smart, talented people out there who have been displaced and need work. They’re more willing to work for a reduced pay just to get the paycheck. Now’s the time to swap out your non produces in this hirers’ market.
In the post-internet boom, the world witnessed a transformation of working arrangements. Foreign employees of firms such as IBM were laid off only to find themselves returning back to their home counties to live once again. When business volume increased, employees who were still working knew that they had a friend who used to be in the business who now lived overseas. Given the cost of living difference, the past employee said, I’ll do the work in my home country and charge you a different rate. Due to the connective digital lines under the ocean, the work could be easily completed.
We’re now seeing a similar condition, only the employees who are either being asked to work from home or are being laid off live down the street. Just picture a similar scenario happening all over again, however slightly differently. Firms such as Nissan Motors are asking employees to work from home because their physical building is too costly to operate. With advancements in video, audio and virtual private networks, the same individual no longer will have a tangible office to return to. They are now part of the virtual workforce.
Those laid off will face a similar scenario to the post-internet boom. “Carol has been laid off and already knows our business. No need to re-hire her. Let’s see if she will do this job as a part-time, outsourced employee?” With the rise in unemployment rates and the likelihood that many people will be out of work for a long stretch of time, employees like Carol might jump at the chance to earn income once again, even as a part-timer home-based employee, forever changing working relationships and conditions.
The outsourced and virtual company is no more than a decade away. Add some holographic meeting space, and we’re going to see this type of dispersed work structure as more common, because of the recession…depression.
As the global recession spreads, so, too, will more decision makers move employees from physical offices into virtual work-at-home offices. The trend will mimic that of the post-internet boom in the early 2000′s.
If you fly, you know that if an aircraft is late, there’s a good chance that you’re going to miss your connection or be late for something else in your day. It’s the reason the government and outside companies monitor the on-time arrival of airlines.
If you suspect that the economy has become your crutch, toss it aside and take responsibility to walk on your own two feet again. Adjust strategy and tactics, get creative with marketing and sales, and find ways to revive assets that have been nearly dormant since the downturn started.
Now that the economy has changed, her marketing manager stands out like a sore thumb and Tiffany’s patience has run thin. Her challenge is how does she make the change without spooking the employee or even others within her organization?
In the post-internet boom, the world witnessed a transformation of working arrangements. Foreign employees of firms such as IBM were laid off only to find themselves returning back to their home counties to live once again. When business volume increased, employees who were still working knew that they had a friend who used to be in the business who now lived overseas. Given the cost of living difference, the past employee said, I’ll do the work in my home country and charge you a different rate. Due to the connective digital lines under the ocean, the work could be easily completed.