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How to reach your business goals

There are business owners who continue to grow their business and always seem to go from strength to strength. Then there is everyone else who is well intentioned but struggle with the time to manage their business, let alone set goals and then work on achieving them.

It is a proven fact that most small to medium sized organisations do not have a written business plan. No documented business plan means that objectives and strategies are not captured, resulting in a business that lacks direction. In addition, an organisation without a business plan will often lack the confidence to solve their business issues. When business issues remain unresolved they can adversely affect cash flow, revenue and profitability.

The truth is that this lack of formal business planning is one of the major causes of business failure.

A business plan sets out what a business proposes to do and how it proposes to do it. Here are few practical steps to help create a powerful business plan to drive the success of your organisation.

Step 1 – Look at the strength and weaknesses of your competitors. By researching your competitors you are better equipped to understand why clients are attracted to your competitors (i.e. their strengths) and what gaps or niches exist in the market place (i.e. their weaknesses).

Step 2 – Outline the strengths and areas for improvement in your business.

Step 3 – Define the vision for your organisation.

Step 4 – Define your goals. These are areas you want to improve. Typically objectives tend to be financial, operational, business development, staff and IT related. Objectives should be quantifiable by an absolute amount, a percentage and have a specific timeframe for achievement.

Step 5 – Create the strategies which will deliver performance improvements, i.e. how your business will get there.

Step 6 – Identify a timeframe and owner for the achievement of each strategy.

The process of creating a business plan is more important than the document itself.

The process of business planning is beneficial because it gives you:

  • A chance to stop, reflect and learn from past mistakes or wins in your business.
  • An opportunity to discuss and exchange ideas with members of the team.
  • A forum to think critically about goals, e.g. revenue and profit, and this results in targets being set which motivates the team to improve.

High-achievers in the small-to-medium size business sector admit that the turning point in their business was when they prepared their business plan.

Once you have created a sound plan, it is then essential to implement the plan with the support of the right process and people resources. In addition, it is essential to identify intervals for the review of performance against all objectives e.g. monthly, quarterly, annually. This will give feedback as to whether your strategies are working and give you an opportunity to change strategies if need be.

A well thought out business plan is the key to the long-term success of any business. Whether you are just starting a business, buying one already established or perhaps in need of extra finance for expansion you will need a business plan.

If you have questions or want to talk further click here to get in touch with us today.

If you want to re-used this article in part or whole, we are happy for you to do that. All we ask is that you reference us either within the article or in the footnotes, with a link that points back to our article.

Conflict in the workplace - do you know what to do?

Everyone has experienced conflict in the workplace; however, few people are able to escape its fallout. And while no office is immune to conflict, how we manage conflict can make an enormous difference to the outcome(s), the impact on others and workplace culture.

  • So, as leader, what do you do about workplace conflict?
  • Are you even aware it is happening?
  • Do you actively identify when it is starting to affect work place morale and productivity?
  • Do you get caught up in the middle of the conflict?
  • Or do you do nothing, hoping the people involved will eventually sort it out themselves, or leave?

As a leader in your organisation, you are responsible for creating a workplace environment that achieves productive outcomes, values the individual and encourages sharing between team members. Leaders are also responsible for mediating conflict in their teams even though many leaders aren't comfortable with this, or simply don't have the skills or training to know how to manage and resolve these situations.

Possible sources of conflict include:

  1. personality differences
  2. disagreements about goals and objectives , or
  3. vastly different work practices and behviours, to name but a few.

 

Conflict in the workplace doesn't just affect the people at the centre of the conflict, rather disagreements and tensions can affect the whole office, creating an environment of discomfort, fear, unhappiness and negativity. This consumes the workplace and affects individual and team morale, productivity and delivery of work, and increases the risk of litigation, if not well-managed.

Avoiding the issue will result in rising tensions. Issues (perceived or actual) will grow commensurate with the growing resentment. As is often the case with built-up resentment, this may conclude in an outpouring of this resentment that is highly emotional and inappropriate, and often at the worst possible time, i.e. in moments of high pressure and stress, looming deadlines or difficult project circumstances.

Getting caught in the middle of the conflict can have equally damaging results. Your ability to be impartial becomes more and more compromised as you become the 'confidante' to the affected parties. Your ability to mediate the situation can be viewed mistrustfully by those affected, as your involvement may be construed as promoting your own agenda in the resolution process. High personal involvement in the conflict may also take its toll on your own personal wellbeing as you get caught-up in the negativity and emotion of the situation.

  • So, how do you manage conflict effectively?

The following steps can help you manage situations that could otherwise cause damage to your team and your organisation.

1. Identify the conflict early

Early intervention will mitigate the potential fallout from the conflict. Your ability to identify the conflict may rely on your ability to read non-verbal cues such as body language and identify who is involved. And, sometimes, it can be as basic as actually acknowledging it is occurring - not hoping it will just go away.

2. Meet with the participants together

Holding separate meetings with the people involved can affect your impartiality, expose you to highly emotional outbursts and compromise your ability to manage the situation without impacting on the rest of the team. Meeting with the participants together demonstrates your commitment to a fair resolution that doesn't take sides.

3. Clearly outline the issue

Ask the participants to outline their issue factually and without any additional emotion or making any personal attacks. The objective here is to ensure each part gets their turn to talk and that each person understands the other.

4. Negotiate outcome(s)

Then ask participants to identify what they see as the solution. This is the starting point for the negotiation, where you will be looked upon to help reach a fair and equitable outcome if the participants are unable to reach agreements themselves. In this instance, you will need to drive the setting of agreed outcomes, as well as establishing review timeframes.

5. Monitor the situation

The hard work isn't done once the meeting is over. You will need to monitor the agreed outcomes, and ensure they are being met. You may need to meet again with the relevant parties.

As a leader, understand that you may only be able to progress the situation so far, and that you may need to involve your HR team or the services of a specialist mediator to get the best outcome. However, mediating conflict resolution is a skill that is vital in your managerial tool kit. While you will never eliminate conflict in the workplace, effective and early intervention can stop disagreements escalating and the dispute impacting on the people around you. If you don't have the right skills, training and/or coaching can assist you.

  • Do you know what to do?
  • What will resolving conflict do for you and your organisation?

If you have questions or want to talk further click here to get in touch with us today.

If you want to re-used this article in part or whole, we are happy for you to do that. All we ask is that you reference us either within the article or in the footnotes, with a link that points back to our article.

Eliminating a culture of blame

"Is your organisation emotionally charged because it suffers from a culture of blame? Do you feel like you have lost control of your staff? Discover today one of the best tools for effective staff management!"

"A great workplace culture is integral to the success of your organisation". Yes that's right – that touchy feely area that many of us don't really understand might be the mystery ingredient you are missing to build a truly great organisation.

In this article we will look at the number one problem in most organisations today – that is a "culture of blame" and what you can do to change this culture so that your organisation can focus on the important areas that contribute to success.

So why does a culture of blame run rampant through some organisations?

Sometimes it results from bullying leaders who create a culture of fear. Sometimes it results from a "good news" culture which is created when the leader is only interested in hearing good news. In such organisations staff tend to shy away from passing on bad news because it is common practice to "shoot the messenger".

How does a culture of blame impact an organisation?

1. Blame has an emotional context. Cultures of blames usually operate with emotions of fear, anger and resentment which create dysfunctional relationships and poor staff morale.

2. Blame shifts energy and focus. As a result of fear-based emotions linked to blame, staff shift their energies from the interest of the group towards self-preservation.

3. Blame creates biases. As mental energies shift to defending one's own position, biases are introduced that alter the accurate perception and assessment of situations.

4. Blame inhibits creativity. When blame is prevalent, fear exists and individuals tend not to take risks or to think creatively, favouring instead the avoidance of blame.

5. Blame is expensive. Blame has very real costs to an organisation via poor quality, service failures and lost customers. In addition, poor staff morale and high staff turnover add increasing costs to the business via recruitment and training. Finally, the lost opportunity costs of low innovation, inability to create better products, quality and service will lead to a substantial negative impact on the revenue streams of the organisation.

Playing above or below the line – a model for managing cultures of blame

What is playing below the line? In an organisation whenever you find people deflecting attention from the real issue either by pointing the finger and/or looking to blame others – then we have someone playing below the line. Blame, excuses and denial become the norm and this in turn negatively affects workplace culture.

Below the line behaviours: blame, excuses and denial.

What is playing above the line? This involves staff in an organisation accepting responsibility for their actions and behaviours. Once all people in your organisation (especially leaders) start living and breathing the principles of ownership, accountability and responsibility a positive culture is created.

Above the line behaviours: ownership, accountability and responsibility.

Playing above the line is not easy, but it is very rewarding and empowering. This is because we grow-up (start displaying adult behaviour) and we get to experience the power of our choices and our actions, and we are no longer "think and feel" we are helpless victims.

Here is an example to illustrate the difference between playing above or below the line. An employee arrives at work and says "I am late because I got caught in a traffic jam". Now the traffic jam could have been due to an accident that no one could have predicted. Below the line language would be: "I am sorry I have kept you waiting. I got caught in this terrible traffic jam...." and go on and on with the story justifying your lateness. Above the line language would be: "I am late and I apologise for keeping you waiting". Here the individual demonstrates ownership and takes responsibility for being late and its impact. The reasons for lateness are not important.

Ways of eliminating a culture of blame

The elimination of blame from the culture of an organisation can be a complex and slow process, but here are a few practical tips that might help.

  1. Share your mission with the team and clearly define the role each person plays in achieving the big picture.
  2. Have a values, behaviours and process focus instead of blaming people.
  3. Use effective communication techniques which consider other perspectives and check assumptions before reacting.
  4. Use the playing above or below the line model and make sure everyone in the organisation (especially leaders) are accountable.

When leaders focus on values, behaviours, processes, sharing purpose and communicating effectively - blame based behaviours gradually lessen over time. Most importantly, trust among team members is enhanced and staff can begin focusing on improving organisational processes and achieving outcomes.

To get the best results for your organisation, you have to get the best out of your people and your human resource management processes will greatly assist in maximising the benefits to your organisation.

If you have questions or want to talk further click here to get in touch with us today.

If you want to re-used this article in part or whole, we are happy for you to do that. All we ask is that you reference us either within the article or in the footnotes, with a link that points back to our article.

Failing to plan is planning to fail

Business planning is one of our most popular services as it is such an important part of driving business success. The following case study demonstrates the benefits of developing and executing a business plan.

What gets measured – gets managed and done!

One of our clients had been in practice for over 10 years and he had developed a successful business, but worked long hours and felt his overall return in profit and salary was not commensurate with his effort and time invested. He was also concerned that the hours he worked impeded spending quality time with his family. When he first contacted us his revenue was not increasing and his profitability was in decline.

When Best Practice Consulting began working with him, his plan was in his head and he informed us that he wanted: 'to deliver excellent service to his customers, have a well run and efficient practice, to make more profit and spend more time with his family'.

This information was used to develop a concise two page business plan which had measurable objectives and specific strategies.

With the assistance of some of his key staff, we implemented the strategies in the business plan and we have seen a dramatic change in his business revenue which increased 49% (or $845,508) and a substantial growth in operating profit - up 48% (or $229,305) over last year.

This is a great example of using a business plan to bring focus to the practice and deliver the saying 'what gets measured - gets managed and done!'

If you have questions or want to talk further click here to get in touch with us today.

If you want to re-used this article in part or whole, we are happy for you to do that. All we ask is that you reference us either within the article or in the footnotes, with a link that points back to our article.
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