Do Business Well

A healthy partnership is based on one crucial understanding: Neither partner is perfect. If potential partners are afraid to admit their imperfections, or are trying diligently to correct them, or are reluctant to ask for help, neither will be on the lookout for a productive partnership. They will be nervous of confessing to too many faults and suspicious of anyone who offers.

Strangely, most companies actively encourage this kind of behavior. Job descriptions, for even the simplest roles, run to two or three pages, presumably in hopes of capturing every minute task that the perfect incumbent should be able to perform. Training classes and development plans target those few behaviors where you consistently struggle. Everyone talks of the need to “broaden your skill set.” Continue Reading »

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Who are your subordinates? Your co-workers of yesterday. They are likely to find your changed position an adjustment too. They may show approval and pride, or resentment and scepticism.

But whichever way you look at it, sound relationships with all your subordinates are essential if you are to get your new job done. They, in turn, are dependent on you to satisfy their needs and to help them grow.

Here are some strategies to build a winning team from the start:

Get to know your team

Get to know your team members, their strengths and their weaknesses. Spend time individually with the people who work for you. Ask them about their jobs. Get them to show you what they do. Find out what motivates them. Continue Reading »

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i. Each team member should have a clear, updated job description with well- defined accountabilities and levels of authorisation. However, don’t create rigid reporting systems that will stifle creativity. Promote a culture of participation, innovation and sharing.

ii. Team members should be encouraged to take ownership of their business unit, section or area. They must be encouraged to take total responsibility. In return, you must treat them as partners. Ask them for their input and advice. Consult with them on changes. Involve them as deeply as possible in all aspects of the business.

iii. It has been said that human beings can never get enough recognition. We all hunger for praise, compliments and being somebody special. So honour, respect and stroke those team members who earn it. And do it with sincerity and integrity. Go out of your way to catch people doing something right. Celebrate outstanding achievements. Continue Reading »

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Your new assignment may sound like a “mission impossible”:

• You’ve been chosen to direct an important new company project, which involves putting together a group comprised of both new and experienced employees.
• You’re the manager who has been brought in after a takeover and asked to shape up a department.
• You’ve survived a merger or reorganization, but your new job— streamlining the department you’ve been managing—may prove to be an even bigger challenge.

Naturally, you’ll feel anxious about building a new staff or department. To proceed with fewer problems, keep your mission in mind and follow these three steps: Continue Reading »

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An increasing number of CEOs are relying on teams of subordinates to share corporate decision making, according to a Conference Board study. The report finds a trend in “the CEO’s utter dependence on a strong executive group. It is underscored by the increasing delegation of authority and a new emphasis on leadership rather than traditional professional management.”

For middle managers, this change is significant. Major shifts that start at the top filter down, and the manager who can adapt early will be in a good position when the trend becomes widespread. Even if participative management is not yet evident in your company, there are good reasons to try this management style in your work group: Continue Reading »

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A growing company has things happening all the time. There are new promotions, marketing campaigns, new people joining, incentive-scheme announcements, new products coming on to the market, and so on. To maintain excitement in your network, hold demonstrations for all new products that are introduced. Invite your team to a special ‘product launch‘ evening with fun prizes, maybe a give-away or a guest speaker, and tell your team about the product. Get excited about its possibilities and what it can do for you. Learn the product features, the talking points and the benefits. Then get your entire team of immediate downliners into action telling their downliners what it is all about. Continue Reading »

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Every Company is driven by an underlying philosophy and logic. These may never have been articulated by the founders, either verbally or in writing. But they are there, whether the owners and employees realize it. The philosophy and logic may be expressed in your efforts to decentralize decision making in the company. They may be expressed in your decision to finance the company entirely from earnings rather than seek outside money. The section on the company is where you spell out your company’s philosophy and logic—its reason for being, its identity. This section of the business plan should cover four principal issues:

1. Company strategy. “Strategy” is a fancy term for your company’s overall approach to producing and selling its products and/or services—and its goals for maximizing success. You should have some guiding principles to the way you operate that allow you to succeed and that distinguish you from the competition.
2. Mission statement. Increasing numbers of executives are concluding that, in addition to an overall strategy, they should develop some kind of statement that encapsulates their companies’ values and overall purpose in life. The mission statement, when articulated and used effectively, can unify a company’s employees.

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As you begin to write your executive summary, consider not so much what you want to say, but what a prospective investor (or acquirer or key employee) wants to read. That person wants to be convinced that your business is going to be a winner. When you read your executive summary, you must constantly ask yourself: If someone handed me this executive summary, would I seriously consider investing in this company?

The best way to write your executive summary draft is to draw on the building blocks and to study well-done executive summaries.

• The building blocks. Each stage in the planning/writing process, if done right, makes the next stage easier. You should already have some written material on which to base the first draft of the executive summary. Continue Reading »

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The quality of the people running the company is a critical link in making the strategy believable. Clearly, if there’s a history of company accomplishment and growth, that speaks for itself. For a company seeking to convince outsiders of its ability to succeed in the future, the quality of the management team becomes extremely important. Many investors and other outsiders are known to turn first to the descriptions of the management team when reading a business plan. They know that the people are key to determining success, and they are looking for clues to tell them that the people have what it takes to guide the company through growth stages.

The two most common management team problems are best described as follows: Continue Reading »

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2. Investors. Investors are most interested in factors that can help predict growth, because growth is essential for them to get an attractive return on their investment. These factors include the market’s likely future, the management team’s experience, evidence of fast-growing sales, and so forth. They want to see their investment go into marketing rather than R&D expenses. The existence of tangible assets is less important to investors because they aren’t as concerned with being “repaid” in the same way. But investors do want to see a concise plan—preferably 40 pages or less. Continue Reading »

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