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Part 1 .- .2 .- .3 .- . 4 .- .5 |
The
Five Keys to Building |
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If the first requirement for running
a successful organization is the creation of a vivid and compelling vision
that is supported by a specific and measurable plan, the next step toward
excellence must then be to take action on that plan.
As logical as this might seem, it is unfortunately all too rare in the business
world. I find it curious that a number of the companies I’ve worked
with invested significant time and effort in developing a strategic plan:
then rendered it useless because it was never implemented. My partners and
I call such plans “credenza-ware” because they only come off the
shelf once a year at the annual meeting where a manager simply changes all
of the dates to 12 months further out and puts it back to gather dust. In
stark contrast, successful companies pay attention to the plan! They use it
on an almost daily basis as a touchstone to guide them forward toward their
vision.
I call this critical distinguishing feature of great companies: “a culture
of urgency.” Every employee throughout the organization has a bias for
action and is committed to turning the business plan… into a business
reality.
But how do these organizations get people so focused on “making things
happen?” First, employees must believe that the plan is solid or they
will not give their full effort to implementation. This high level of buy-in
is accomplished by getting the entire company involved in the planning process.
If people have a say in building the plan they will have a much larger stake
in making it work.
1 » Company policies that help people take action, as opposed to smothering them in unnecessary rules and red tape.
2 » Delegation for decision making down to the people closest to the customer. Every time an employee has to ask a manager to resolve a minor problem or answer a simple question – it wastes valuable time.
3 » Lots and lots of training for front-line employees – so they have the skills to make good decisions on their own.
4 » An abundance of open and honest communication so that people across the organization have the information needed to make good decisions quickly (this is so important it will be the topic of a the next article in this series).
5 » A compensation and reward system that strongly supports a culture of urgency and is tied directly into achieving the specific goals of the plan. Personal accountability for results is a must.
6 » And perhaps most important, a senior management team that exemplifies fast decision-making and clearly values employees that take action on the plan. Nothing is more detrimental to morale then having a committee take seven weeks to make a decision, then demand that the staff roll it out within 48 hours.
As the former commandant of the US Marine Corps once said: “A good plan violently executed, is better than a great plan un-acted upon.” The equation is rather simple; the level of success your company will achieve is in direct proportion to the amount of focused action you and your team can apply to your vision and plan. Make it as easy as possible for your people to serve the customer quickly and correctly – now!
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Part 1 .- .2 .- .3 .- . 4 .- .5 |
The
Five Keys to Building |
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© 2008 John Spence - Designed by Flycaster
& Company