Dealing with Change

September 9, 2019 By // by Andrew Shaffer

By now the kids are back in school. This has an impact in my family. We have new morning routines. As the kids are starting in their schools, they are meeting new classmates and teachers. Although it is familiar, it is different. It is a change, and for anyone that has or has had kids, they know that there is an adjustment period. Even if you don’t have kids, you will notice that there are new traffic patterns as parents with kids are adjusting their schedules and commutes around bus schedules and school drop offs. There is no avoiding it, change happens, and we have to adjust. Today’s post is all about dealing with change.

Dealing with Change

“No plan survives first contact with the enemy. What matters is how quickly the leader is able to adapt.”

– Tim Harford

Every business is constantly dealing with change. Change ranges from problems encountered in new product development, responding to the competition, or it could be a radical shift in your business model. When you think about it, your business has to be in a constant state of change (or evolution) otherwise you’ll soon find yourself obsolete. Competitive landscapes and consumer needs all change and your business needs to change to keep up with a changing landscape. Successful leaders, and businesses become quite effective in dealing with these changes and evolutions. Here are some common characteristics of change, and how to navigate them successfully.

Conflict

When there is change, there is almost always conflict. Conflict can be constructive or destructive. What is the difference?

Destructive conflict is just that, destructive. If allowed destructive conflict will kill careers and if destructive conflict has become part of the culture, it will kill your company. Destructive conflict looks a lot like finger pointing, passing blame, and avoiding blame. It is not a pretty road, and nobody wins in the end, well maybe a consultant when you finally hire one to help save your company.

Constructive conflict is very helpful. I learned early in my management career to welcome constructive conflict. I had one engineer on my team that would “argue” with me about almost everything. It wasn’t a hostile argument, but he challenged almost every decision I would make. I would ask him to come to my office whenever I was trying to work out any challenging issue. And together, through his challenging questions, and my responses almost always came up with a stronger solution than either one of us would have on our own. Through this “conflict” we were able to improve the productivity of our team by up to 50% in some areas.

Communication

The key success when dealing with change in conflict is communication. I don’t know how many times a company was going through changes (restructure, mergers, buy out etc.) and there is absolutely no communication, or worse poor communication! No communication and poor communication just lead to rumors and assumptions on the part of your employees. I can tell you firsthand, that the rumors and assumptions are almost ALWAYS worse than reality. It causes fear and distrust among the employees and leads to destructive conflict, even when it isn’t necessary.

Trust and Respect

I had the unfortunate position of being in a job where we lost a significant amount of our workload. Suddenly I was faced with having not enough work for the number of people I had on my team. Uncertainty was everywhere, and there was the constant threat of layoffs. People came to work everyday not knowing if it would be there last day. Ironically, during this same time, my team’s morale actually improved. How? I was constantly communicating, openly and honestly with my team. And, prior to that I had a developed a relationship based on mutual trust and respect.

To ensure you have effective communication there has to be a level of mutual trust and respect. When you think about this, your best relationships with a spouse, best friend, children, whomever is based on mutual trust and respect. When that trust is broken what happens to the relationship? It deteriorates and eventually disintegrates. Why would companies treat their employees any different? Companies often demand or expect loyalty from their employees on one hand, and then hide information or poorly communicate company strategies on the other. The rationale for this is because “we don’t want people to panic.”

This Week’s Challenge

How is your company culture structured? Are there silos and finger pointing, or communication based on mutual trust and respect? Are all stakeholders brought in for decisions or are people just told to live with decisions being made? Creating the right culture, and integrated culture, will dramatically improve your bottom line!

Give us a call for an assessment and consultation and see how you can start improving your bottom line.

If you would like to discuss more ways to help your business grow or if you feel you have a specific problem that needs to be addressed, please reach out to me.

Corporate Silos

August 26, 2019 By // by Andrew Shaffer

SeOver the last few weeks I have had several individuals express frustration about how their business was siloed or stove piped. This basically means that everyone works within their specific function and ignores everyone else. In fact, in one specific case, it had an employee considering leaving the company. Well integrated, high performing teams and companies cannot operate with this model. Today I am going to talk about the dangers of corporate silos to your business and offer a suggestion for a solution.

Corporate Silos

A few weeks back I talked about Team Integration. In that post, I discussed the importance of teams working towards a common goal. I feel this is important to keep everyone focused on the results, and helps people work together better. However, even when everyone in the company and the team is working toward a common goal there can still be corporate silos. This is evident with statements like:

Don’t tell me how to do my job!
What do you know about …
Stay in your lane!

These are not a sign of a well-integrated, high performing team.

Communication

Companies operating in silos inevitably do not communicate well. Marketing isn’t communicating with sales. Design working independent of manufacturing. Accounting isn’t communicating with anyone. When communication breaks down, there is a lack of mutual trust and respect. Poor communication will cost your business money.

I have seen where a lack of communication has caused projects to overrun budgets by up to 200% or more. On a project I was working on, one engineer worked strictly in his own silo. He’d communicate weekly about what he accomplished. But the other engineers, who were using this design, would regularly find things that didn’t work. Why? Because they didn’t communicate effectively up front so that everyone understood the path forward. They all went about their tasks, and when the two were integrated, it didn’t work and there was a ton of expensive re-work.

Complexity

Siloed companies are plagued with complexity. Why? Because they must add processes and procedures to everything to compensate for a lack of communication. Does this sound familiar? In these types of organizations, when something goes wrong like supply chain didn’t order the right parts slowing down manufacturing. Suddenly there is a new process for ordering parts requiring four or five signatures inevitably from people too busy and layers away from the actual work. Time is added to the process, and there are more questions which mean a longer process. Eliminate this with effective communication.

To add to the complexity, managers and leaders will start protecting themselves so they aren’t blamed for the delays. Infighting backstabbing and more bureaucracy can also enter in the picture.

Solution

Change your decision-making process. Include more communication. Develop decision making teams, at the appropriate level, that include a cross function of support. Any and all stakeholders should be included, and if they are not the meeting should be put on hold. Work all scenarios up front. Set expectations and make plans. Many times, especially on time sensitive projects, people just dive in and get started. While initiative is something that is admirable, jumping in without proper preparation is a formula for rework, exceeding budgets and missing deadlines. Create a culture where people work together, communicate with mutual trust and respect.

This Week’s Challenge

How is your company culture structured? Are there corporate silos and finger pointing, or communication based on mutual trust and respect? Are all stakeholders brought in for decisions or are people just told to live with decisions being made? Creating the right culture, and integrated culture, will dramatically improve your bottom line!

Give us a call for an assessment and consultation and see how you can start improving your bottom line.

If you would like to discuss more ways to help your business grow or if you feel you have a specific problem that needs to be addressed, please reach out to me.

Team Building Ideas and Misconceptions

June 3, 2019 By // by Andrew Shaffer

During a conversation over coffee with my friend Steve Morris, founder of Catylator, we had an interesting discussion on some common techniques for team building and why they fall short of the goal. One thing we both agreed on was that some techniques for team building, while fun, don’t actually achieve any objectives of team building. Steve has a unique, interesting and effective method for team building and problem solving. If you think you could use his help or want to learn more, I encourage you to check out his website. This week I am going to share some ideas and misconceptions of team building.

Team Building

Most of us agree that working on a cohesive team improves productivity, engagement, and business outcomes. The terms “team” and “teamwork” are ramped in job descriptions and prospects inevitably boast about being team player or team leader. Many organizations I know will attempt team building through some social activity as a way to get to know each other outside of work. They might invite teams to a happy hour, lunch outing, or bowling. Is this the best way to build a team?

While these activities are fun, and can help build friendships, they don’t always build teams. I mean think about it, how is bowling or a beer going to help you be more productive at work? Personally, I prefer to have a beer or go bowling (actually golfing) AFTER I’ve established a relationship with someone.

Common Purpose

For a team to be highly functioning, they have to have a common purpose. Sports is the best and simplest example of this. The common purpose of any sports team, at least the good ones, is to win a game or championship. That’s it. Everyone in the organization from the owner, to the GM to the rookie that just signed this morning, all have the same goal. To win games.

In the business world, the common purpose could be a project completion, customer satisfaction score, or sales goals. The best teams I’ve ever worked with was when we were ALL focused on the same goal. The team was diligently working to complete a task. The team leaders were actively removing obstacles that impeded progress. Everyone knew what success looked like, everyone was keeping score, and everyone participated in achieving results. I’m actually getting excited just remembering these successes!

Belonging

Being part of a team, is more than just having a role to fill. Being part of a team was a sense of belonging. I’ve been coaching little league baseball for several years now. One of the most exciting days for the boys are when I hand out the uniforms. Actually, from the first day of practice I generally have someone asking when we’ll be getting uniforms. Why? Because when we all have our uniforms on, we feel like we’re part of something. I make sure the coaching staff is always dressed like part of the team as well. Again, we ALL belong and it makes a difference.

When someone belongs to something, they recognize they are part of something bigger. Being part of something bigger tends to help us be less concerned about “me” as we are about “we”. When we’re concerned about “we” then we can help each other and the team improve.

Trust

Trust is a foundational aspect of any team. I need to trust that the other members of my team will be there when I need them. Going to back to my hobby of coaching little league. Sometimes my pitchers get focused on getting a strike out, and will get frustrated when players get a hit. When this happens, I’ll remind them that it’s OK, and there are 8 other players on the field that are there to make a play. Actually, the other players are hoping the batter hits the ball so they have something to do!

Trust is essential to everything in business and in life. My kids trust that someone will pick them up from school each day. My wife and I trust each other to uphold our responsibilities in the family. I trust my employees to do the jobs they say they are going to do. When the trust breaks down, the team breaks down and sooner or later you stop winning. Once trust is broken it is very hard to repair.

This Week’s Challenge

I want you to think about what you do to build a team at your company. Does it help you work towards a common goal? Does it foster a sense of belonging? And, does it help build trust?

If you would like to discuss more ways to help your business grow or if you feel you have a specific problem that needs to be addressed, please reach out to me.

Continuous Improvement

May 6, 2019 By // by Andrew Shaffer

Because it is Spring, and most of my “free time” is spent with my boys and their various sports, I find myself finding many lessons in watching them play. Just last week, I was coaching my eldest’s baseball team and we just decisively won the previous two games. I was watching the boys play, and I had been coaching a some of them for a few seasons, and have observed others as they played on other teams. I commented to my wife, how fun it was to be able to watch these kids grow over the last four or five years.

As coaches we are continuously trying to improve the performance of our players, through coaching, instructing, and sometimes even motivating. All this with the purpose of changing behavior. The irony here is in the business world, we don’t often use the same approach. Today, I will talk about continuous improvement in the work place, and ways to be more successful as you make necessary changes to be a winner today and in the future.

Continuous Improvement

At every company I have ever worked for, there was always a push for continuous improvement. Companies spent time and money looking for process improvements or new software that could streamline a process. How do we do it faster, cheaper, better? Great question! Who doesn’t want to do more with less?

The trouble with new processes or software is they don’t always improve efficiency. They don’t take into account the people actually needed to make the change. People are creatures of habit. To understand this, we need to understand what a habit is. A habit is an automatic response to a trigger, which is anything that causes us to take action. Let’s explore how improvements are often implemented in companies.

Changing the Response… The Hard Way

Companies spend a lot of money working on infrastructure updates, new tools, systems and processes, in order to achieve more efficiency. Then when a new system is in place, they spend even MORE money training employees to learn the new system. Then, after all this money is spent, they don’t see the efficiencies they had hoped to see! WHY!?!

In the work place we are still humans, and still creatures of habit. We receive an email (trigger), we respond (response). And on it goes. When there is a change to a process, or a new piece of software is added to the mix, people are being asked to respond differently to the same trigger. This creates confusion and disrupts their habits. It makes people uncomfortable. It is essentially the same as setting your alarm clock when it is time to go to sleep! You wouldn’t expect someone to have a completely different reaction to the sound of an alarm clock! Why expect them to change responses to the same trigger in the work place?

People will naturally resist this kind of change, complain about the new software or process. It may take longer to accept the change, or people may go back to doing it the old way. That is more comfortable, and after all, it’s worked for so long already!

But Process Improvements are Necessary

I know what you are thinking, process improvements are necessary. The new software is needed because the old stuff isn’t sustainable anymore. How do I get people to adopt to new processes?

Changing the Trigger… The Better Way

Just like any change in habit, change the trigger. At one point in a former career, I was being reassigned. It was requested that I train my replacement during a transition period. The reasoning behind this was that I could smoothly transition my tasks to my replacement. This caused some issues with the team, and the confusion slowed the transition.

As long as I was there, the team would look to me for answers and direction. This was what they had done since the project started. The team looked to me to run the staff meetings and a whole host of things I normally did. In this case, my presence was the trigger. They came to me with status and problems as the response. It wasn’t until I removed the trigger (stopped attending meetings) that the team started relying on my replacement and made the transition.

Accept that Failure is Possible

Process improvements can’t be about changing responses. That is ineffective and it just doesn’t work. If you really want to maximize the benefits of improved systems and processes the key is to identify and change the triggers. Replace an existing trigger with a new trigger, and then you’ll get people to have a different response without the struggle of changing habits.

This Week’s Challenge

Find one area where you know you can be more efficient. Identify the trigger to change the response, and see your efficiency improve! This type of continuous improvement is essential to your business success.

If you would like to discuss more ways to help your business grow or if you feel you have a specific problem that needs to be addressed, please reach out to me.

Continuous Improvement

Use Culture to Gain a Competitive Edge

March 4, 2019 By // by Andrew Shaffer

I had the privilege of sitting down with my friend Ben from Global Harvest Networks to share ideas on how to help companies grow. When I first met Ben, his story of growth in his company inspired me, and he hasn’t stopped growing. When Ben and I were talking, he shared that he is always amazed at how his team is willing to step up and take on new challenges. His company has developed a culture that gives him a competitive edge. In light of this conversation I thought I’d share with you how you can use culture to gain a competitive edge!

Use Culture to Gain a Competitive Edge

There are two things I know about your business. First, if you are not making money, you are going to go out of business. Second, your business cannot operate without people. Businesses either grow or die.

According to aei.org: only 12% of the Fortune 500 companies in 1955 were still a Fortune 500 company in 2015. It doesn’t matter how good your product or service is, or how your proprietary information gives you an edge. Without people to sell, develop, and produce the product or provide the service, nothing will get done.

The other little secret, your product or service can be the absolute best today, but if you don’t continuously improve, you’ll soon be left behind. Need proof? Remember the Motorola Razor phone? What happened to Motorola? When I was a kid, everyone in the neighborhood had an Atari 2600 game console. Atari isn’t even in business anymore. Not to mention the number of airlines, car companies, and electronics companies that no longer exist.

Last month we discussed the importance of developing proactive leadership. To take this discussion to the next level, your leaders should be creating a culture that gives you a competitive edge!

Challenge the Status Quo

When you find something that works stick with it. Right? I mean that sounds like good advice. My dad used to tell me, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This advice was probably sound, when my dad saw me taking a screw driver to the VCR because I wanted to “see how it works” but this mentality can be detrimental to a business.

I have met business owners that have done a decent job of building themselves a profitable business. However, after several years, they find they can’t increase revenue or market share, and sometimes they are even losing revenue. They call in consultants (like me), and when I suggest making changes to the business model, I get immediate resistance. They built their business doing it a certain way and come hell or high water, that is the way it will be done. In the meantime, their competitors have found a way to solve the same problem cheaper, faster and smarter. Who is going to stay in business longer? Create a culture that is as proactive as your leaders.

Develop Friendly Competition

Anther struggle I see in businesses is a culture of cut-throat competition. I mean that culture where everyone is out for themselves and not for the company? Friendly competition is fine, fun, and productive. It is when the competition is mean, undermining, and counterproductive that it becomes toxic to a company.

Let’s use a manufacturing company as an example. This company runs three shifts a day to produce their product. Management decides to help motivate the production floor, that they’ll have a competition over the next month to see how may products each shift can make. In a culture of friendly competition, each shift would work hard and try to produce the greatest number of products. They would get creative to find more efficient and effective ways. Ideally, each subsequent shift will do this. Each team wins, because they learn how to be more effective and efficient. One team may win a prize (or bragging rights), and the company benefits from improved productivity and profitability.

Now, if you have a cut-throat type culture, the results will be extremely different. Here you may have one shift trying to sabotage the next shift. They could damage or “lose” material. They certainly wouldn’t be creative and find innovative ways to be more productive. In this type environment each shift would be out for themselves, and may even hinder production on the other shifts if they thought it would give them an edge.

This Week’s Challenge

This week I have given a couple examples how a culture can help your business gain a competitive edge. By developing a culture that challenges the status quo. What are you doing well today, and how can you make that better? Develop opportunities for friendly competition. This can be in sales, marketing, manufacturing, wherever. Create a culture that encourages innovative and creative thinking, and watch your competitive edge sharpen!

If you would like to discuss more ways to help your business grow or if you feel you have a specific problem that needs to be addressed, please reach out to me.

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