Tag Archive for: success

The End

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“Begin with the end in mind.”

Sometimes “The End” is a scary thing to think about.  Not always – the end of a bad situation or rough period of time can be something we look forward to.  But often the simple uncertainty of something coming to a close is enough to cause us not to deal with it until we no longer avoid it.

For the next several posts, I am going to force on “endings” in different forms and why we need to think about the end more often than we do.

Let’s start with a not-so-scary ending:  your new software!

(Okay, some of you may have had a rough time with a new system and totally disagree that software implementation isn’t scary.)

Implementing new software is a big decision for most companies. It is an investment in time, money, training, and change management at a minimum. You will probably have a lot of decisions to make, data to clean or archive, etc.  No one should enter into this change lightly.

When I am working with clients on new software or systems one of the first things I think about is reporting.

Why reporting?

Because the reports you need to make good business decisions will drive the data you need to capture, how data is organized, and the other systems and sources of data your software will need to connect to.

Sometimes I will even create a mock-up of reports we believe we require so we can verify in the evaluation stage if a particular system will need our needs.

Understanding how you will use a program and the outputs you need from it are critical to your success.  It is easy to get enamored with the bells, whistles, and slick marketing of new software, but if it doesn’t meet your specific needs for running your business, it is not the right fit.  And that can be a terrible thing to realize after you’ve implemented it.

So, start with the end in mind when you are evaluating your software needs.

If you are facing an ending and don’t know what to do, reach out to us at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmatt/ or CONTACT US.

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Good growth

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Growth is good – until it isn’t.  If you grow too fast, you can damage your brand, compromise your product, and burn out your team.  Good growth is managed and planned.

Let’s look again at a lesson from recent history. Toyota has long been recognized for their quality. That reputation took a hit in the first decade of this century.

In the early 2000s, Toyota was on a roll. They were expanding and manufacturing all over the globe.

It all started with a single episode of unintended acceleration in a Lexus ES 350 in California. The car accelerated out of control, collided with another car, and went down an embankment. Four people lost their lives.

Ultimately, there were many other complaints about unintended consequences. Floor mats, accelerator pedals, software, electronics – everything was suspect.

It became a PR problem and their reputation suffered.

In a hearing with the US House of Representatives, Toyota said they grew too fast. They outgrew their engineering resources. Their products became more complex.

They made changes to prevent this issue but more importantly they made changes to how they responded to problems as an organization.

The point here is that even large, well-funded companies can grow too fast and outstrip their capacity.

In this case, growing too fast meant lower quality that had real impact on their customers.

Growth is good, but you must manage it. Media often praises and reward fast growth, but there is real danger to a company’s future if it grow so quickly that it forgets its customers and damages its reputation.

Plan for good growth that you can sustain without your product, employees, and customers suffering because you grew too fast.

Contact us at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmatt/ or use the CONTACT US page.

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Management and culture make a difference

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If you don’t believe that management and culture make a difference in your company’s success, you are wrong.  Let me give you an example from Toyota that I learned about from a recent podcast.

When Toyota was making their first moves to manufacturing in the US, they teamed up with GM. They formed NUMMI and needed a manufacturing facility. The choose the old GM Freemont plant, considered the worst workforce in the US automobile industry.

Before NUMMI, GM’s Freemont facility was in disarray. Quality was terrible, there were serious personnel problems, and chaos reigned. Workers even intentionally sabotaged the vehicles they worked on. The factory was ultimately shut down.

NUMMI re-hired most of the Freemont workers but made changes – BIG changes.

Seniority rules changed.

They focused on teamwork – the same uniforms for everyone and cafeterias served all levels of employees.

Emphasis on quantity changed to quality, and stopping the assembly line to correct an error became the right action.

Training, continual improvement, and consensus decision making became the norm.

In two years, Freemont’s production was as efficient at Toyota’s Japanese plants, and quality as measured by the number of defects was similar to Japan’s as well. All that was done with with what was once the worse workforce in the industry.

The lesson here? Culture and valuing the right things matter. How management leads the company is important. Leaders make a difference.  Good leadership turned an entire manufacturing plant around by changing the style of management and culture.

If you have trouble with your team, have you thought about how the company’s management team may be contributing to the problem?  We can help you.  Contact us at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmatt/ or use the CONTACT US page.

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Culture Matters

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I recently received an email from a new vendor telling me they were going to miss an appointment. I couldn’t have been happier.

Not the usual response, is it? The vendor was making a schedule change for all clients due to weather conditions. They informed me of the action they were going to take so we could be on the same page for a common goal.

I terminated their predecessor because they didn’t communicate, weren’t proactive, and didn’t do a good job. As I onboarded the new vendor, we discussed my expectations and asked how they provide their services. We had a mutual understanding from the beginning.

This got me thinking of company culture. There are many articles and blogs currently about culture in light of work from home (WFH). People worry that culture won’t be maintained.

I disagree with that view. Vision and values are the first components of culture. Those should be firmly entrenched in the minds of the team and the company DNA.

Just as important are the expectations of how you work together, desired results, and processes. These should be known throughout the organization too.

The real change with WFH then is how you communicate and interact using technology rather than in person. You can’t just drop in at a co-worker’s office or go to lunch together. Maybe new expectations need to be set and identified or done differently. (Virtual lunch on Zoom or Teams?) Managers and teams can work on this together as new behaviors are learned and tested.

I challenge leaders to make sure their vision, values, and expectations are clearly known. Ensure your strategy is still relevant. Make adjustments so your tools and processes maximize your efficiency and output. These steps will go a long way toward maintaining your culture in the midst of change.

Make sure your culture drives decisions and behavior regardless of how your team works.  If you need help, you can CONTACT US  or find us at LinkedIn.

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Act now

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The hill was more than I bargained for.  It was a struggle and I should have realized earlier that is was time to act now.

I had all kinds of excuses: the weather was bad.  I didn’t have time.  It could wait another day.  I had other plans.

No, I wasn’t hiking up a steep section of trail or riding my mountain bike up a hill.  I was mowing my yard. If you have ever used a manual reel mower in a bermudagrass lawn, you know what I am talking about.

You can’t put off cutting the grass or the work required to cut it goes up exponentially.  The grass grows taller and thicker every day.  It is much easier to stay on top of it before it gets out of control.

The issues we face in business or life are the same.  Avoid, ignoring, or putting off the issue rarely makes it easier to deal or go away.  Usually it just makes it harder to deal with later.

For example, an employee who isn’t a good fit isn’t going to just change.  They will create friction with others on the team or not produce the results you want.  You either must intervene through giving feedback, or you have to remove them from the team or the company.

And while you wait to take action, the damage they cause continues to mount.  Bad attitudes become contagious.  People leave to find

Decisions and actions about upgrading your infrastructure, replacing your software, adding or removing products and services you offer are no different.  And you aren’t going to magically get in better shape physically or strengthen relationships with inaction.

If you need to make a change or address a problem, act now.  Don’t let it become a bigger challenge than it has to be.

OPG can help you assess your situation and walk with you as you take action. You can reach out to us here CONTACT US or connect with us on https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmatt/

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Facing change

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Sometimes you initiate change, and sometimes it is forced on you.  Regardless of how you got there, you must deal with it.  Facing change isn’t always easy or wanted.

Key employees leave.  New technology disrupts the market.  Your exit strategy or timeline changes.  Maybe your business has grown beyond your capacity to manage it all effectively.

As a business grows, business owners eventually come to a point where they need a leadership team to share the load.  Depending on the where the company is, hiring full-time executives may not be needed or even financially realistic.  The decision to expand the leadership time is a change you initiate.

The sudden loss of a key leader is but one change that is forced on you.  You must decide how to re-organize the workload and responsibilities or to find and replace that leader.

In all these situations, a fractional COO can step in.  They can be a part-time resource to bridge the gap until you are ready and need a full-time executive.  They can also help define the COO role so you can find the right candidate.  Whether you need someone for a few hours per week or several days per week, you can keep the business moving forward.

Opal Partners offers COO Bridge as a way to help businesses bridge the gap when they need to add to their leadership team but aren’t ready for a full-time resource.

If your business is facing change and a fractional COO can help you, CONTACT US  or find us at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmatt/.

 

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Turn ideas into reality

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Business owners can be idea machines.  Your business started as an idea, and ideas keep the business fresh and relevant.  By themselves don’t accomplish anything unless you turn ideas into reality.

Unless you can accomplish something by the stroke of a pen, you have to dedicate time, staff, and resources to a project to bring ideas to life.

Do you have more ideas and initiatives than you or your staff have time to actually execute? You aren’t alone.  Augmenting your team with a temporary resource may be the answer.  Engaging a fractional COO for a project is often a business’ first foray into the world of fractional executives.

Fractional COOs have the experience to understand the goals you want to achieve, provide leadership to the project team (both internal and external), and guide the project from planning through execution.

Hiring a fractional COO for a project gives you the additional horsepower you need when you need it for as long as you need it.  It’s a cost-effective way to do more with less.  At Opal Partners, we have a service called COO Project to fill that need.

If  you need help to turn ideas into reality, contact Opal Partners at CONTACT US. You can also check us out at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmatt/.

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A master class in customer service

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Recently, I had two very different experiences with customer service that proved to be a master class in how to deal with customers.  Both situations concerned lost packages, and I spoke with the shipper rather than the company selling the product.  The difference was stark and provides insights on how a company views customer service.

Company A is a large well-known online store that uses its own delivery personnel as well as other carriers.  Company B is a quasi-governmental entity that delivers to every address the U.S.

Interacting with the companies

With Company A, I was able to chat, submit an inquiry online, or ask for a callback.  The response was prompt.  After explaining the situation (lost package), the company immediately sent me a replacement and extended my membership with them by two months for free for the inconvenience.  They took responsibility for contacting the seller and handling any transactions between them.

Company B only gave me the option of filling out an online inquiry and asked for information that I, as the recipient, did not have.  I received a call the next day and was told nothing could be done until the shipment had been delayed for 30 days.  The person I spoke with said she could help me if the package was lost in the city she was in but since it hadn’t been received from their initial shipping facility, she couldn’t help me.  She suggested that I should just have the originating company send me a replacement.

The results

The first company was quick to address the problem and make it easy on me, the customer.  The second suggested that someone else pay for their mistake by replacing the product, had rules that prevented them from helping me, and ultimately yielded the same result as if I never contacted them.  They checked the box and closed the issue without accomplishing anything.

Which company do you think improved my opinion of them and which one didn’t?  Easy call. I will go out of my way not to use Company B.

What does this mean for you?

As you think about your business and its interactions with clients, ask yourself these questions:

  • Do our processes and policies improve or damage our reputation?
  • Do we make it easy for customer to work with us?
  • Is our goal to check the box or resolve the problem for our customer?
  • Is a customer problem an annoyance or an opportunity to build a relationship?
  • If you were a customer of your own company, would your view of your customer service change?

You can improve or damage your reputation with every interaction with your existing customers.  Which are you doing?  Let OPG help you make improvements.  Connect with us at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmatt/ or click here to CONTACT US.

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Learning about business from sports

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On a Saturday morning walk, I witnessed something so common we ignore the lessons it teaches – a tennis match.

On the face of it, it was nothing extraordinary.  Three matches, three courts, and twelve players. No umpire, no coach, no scoreboard, and no announcer.  Just a regular competition between two teams.

What caught my attention was the fact that twelve players all assembled independently at an appointed time and location to begin playing.  No one directed them on the sidelines.  They called shots that were out of bounds or winners.  They all knew the score.

They had clarity.

The tennis league has rules, and the coaches had given the players instruction on how to be their best.  The game itself has rules agreed to by all.  Because of these things, the teams knew what they were supposed to do and simply set about doing it.  The objective – beating the other team while having a good time – was clear to all.  Everyone agreed on how the game, sets, and matches were scored.  Players knew what to expect from their teammates.

Wouldn’t it be great if our businesses operated with the same clarity?  Businesses can learn from the world of sports.  Think how well your team could function if your company had the same clarity of goals, rules of engagement, and KPIs as a sports team.

If your team isn’t operating at its best, perhaps you could take a page from the sports world.  Make sure everyone knows their roles and your expectations.  Establish clear goals and measurements.  Hold people accountable.  Coach employees so they can perform better and break bad habits.

Opal Partners helps small businesses with challenges like these. If your business can learn from sports,   Contact us or connect at https://linkedin.com/in/cmatt to discuss how you can help your team excel.

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What were you made to do?

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Each one of us is wonderfully and uniquely made.  We were made for something purposeful.  Are you doing what you were made to do?

This question applies equally to your personal life and your work life.

No one else has the same mix of gifts, skills, education, experiences, and personality as you.  There are certain things you love and derive great joy from, whether it is solving a problem, crunching numbers, closing a deal, supporting others, teaching, or creating something beautiful and one-of-a kind.  When you use your talents and experiences while doing the things that bring you pleasure, you are in a special place.

For me, I have a passion for small businesses. They create local jobs, bring opportunity to the communities they serve, and have a sense of purpose and pride in what they’ve built.  I was fortunate to have learned much from my time at companies both large and small and get to apply those things to companies and people to help them succeed.

My education as an engineer allows me to naturally think about logical next steps, structure, and scalable processes.  I like solving problems once so they don’t continue to be issues.  I enjoy helping businesses work through these challenges.

Sometimes we fall into jobs and learn we have skills or abilities that allow us to excel.  Other times we learn that we don’t like a particular type of task, responsibility, or industry.  What we learn by trying new roles and new industries can help guide us to roles that were seemingly made just for us.

If you are not doing what you created to do, you may feel overwhelmed, tired, or frustrated.  It may be time to make a change.  If you have the ability, you may need to delegate or offload some aspects of your job to someone else; it will make you more productive and possibly help someone else find their niche at the same time.

When you do what you were uniquely made to do, you will find more success and satisfaction.

Feel free to CONTACT US or connect with us at https://linkedin.com/in/cmatt.

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