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ATLANTA - Yep, this company looks like it's going to make it. All those years of sweat, worry, hard work and hands on attention are starting to pay dividends - or are they? We've hired some bright, energetic up and comers. We're gaining new residential and/or commercial customers. We've even talked about starting a new division in the company. Revenues are up. Cash flow has greatly improved, and it looks as though as we are headed for the best year we have ever had.
I can't put my finger on it, but staying focused on the right things around here seems to be tougher than ever. Our management meetings last forever. We debate and discuss, but we never get closure on things. Everyone seems to have an agenda of their own. We have a lot of brainpower in the company, but we never seem to agree on the things in which we should all share a common stake.
Sound familiar? They're called growing pains, and all successful companies go through them. Trouble is, some never seem to get over them. Pretty soon that great team of up and comers starts getting frustrated, breaks apart and heads for either a competitor or a startup company of their own. You are left scratching your head wondering what happened.
There are lots of names for this phenomenon - failure to provide leadership; failure to focus; failure to plan and prioritize; failure to communicate. Generally, the cause is more basic than all of these labels. It has to do with the things you were able to balance and juggle before your company grew to its present size and required you to delegate these accountabilities to all those smart folks you either hired or promoted. They are the accountabilities that drive your business. Some folks call them key results areas.
Typical examples of key results areas are things like growth, profitability, expense management and quality, service and productivity. These areas are identified in terms of goals and objectives. You and your team should work hard at defining them with hard numbers and measurements to know how you are performing against them. Not everyone's stake in these goals is equal. Some managers and their departments have a greater level of control over the results than others. You can manage these disparities by assigning weighted values to the various areas based upon influence and control.
Weighting the results you desire now gives you a method to reduce the potential for sub-optimization in setting these goals. By this I mean that everyone now has a stake in the desired results that will ensure the company's success. If certain key company goals are not achieved, then everyone is affected. The same is true when these goals are exceeded.
Establishing this type of discipline in a level of detail that makes sense for your company helps give you a core set of high priority goals that give focus and direction for everyone. Sure, everyone will still have his/her agendas, but they will be defined and played out against a common set of goals that all agree are critical for the long term success of your company. Try it - it works!
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