This last week my wife presented me with a multi-purpose tool with bottle opener, lights, cutters, screw drivers. Separately, she asked me to put new batteries in a 4th of July light-up necklace for the grandchildren. I pulled out my trusty Leatherman® mini-tool, opened it to the Phillips head, unscrewed the battery cover. Of course we did not have the right button battery cells. After a trip to the store and outlaying $5.99 for each of the three cells needed, I installed, checked, inverted and reinstalled, checked, then put the battery cover back on. This time I preferred to use the eyeglass flat screwdriver option. Oh, I forgot how I had to use the scissors to get into the childproof packaging for the batteries. One tool did it all. Not really, as I had to use the car to go to the store, use the internet to determine the equivalent battery cell for the LR 1130. So, it was not just one multi-purpose tool that got me through that relatively simple job. But, my wife and the grandchildren are happy.
How about in your business? What problems do you have? Do you have a single, multi-purpose tool for all your problems? Sometimes I think that purveyors of tools believe the problem can always be solved with working on your culture, or training all your sales people. The solution might be a new ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) program. Maybe it’s a focus on quality in every department. I’ve personally been there in the corporate world where leadership has driven everyone to participate in some “program of the year” solution to all our growth and cost problems. While there is some truth in some of the tools, these approaches don’t go over well with the entire employee workforce. And, it can be hard to get outside resources and contractors to sign up for these programs.
A better approach is to listen to the leaders and the employees to understand the challenges from their perspective. Wade through the perspectives and biases of the people involved to uncover the core problems. Too often what we think is the problem is actually a symptom caused by the underlying problem. There is no one tool that will solve all the problems and challenges in a business. There is no magic multi-tool that will fix it all. A good athletic or business coach has a variety of tools they can draw from to connect with the athlete or the business leader. It has to be done in such a way that the coach gets the message through to the athlete or business leader. If the athlete is a “feel” person, then the coach will have to take his arms and legs and demonstrate what they need to do. If the athlete is visual, the coach will need to show him films of himself and others. God forbid the athlete is an engineer and the coach will have a real problem connecting. I know first hand. The same is true for leaders and employees of a business.
Understanding these differences and challenges, here is my 7-Step REV Up Process. REV comes from revving up an engine to get more speed, torque, power. REV is an acronym for Revenue, Earnings, and Value.
- Initial Conversations
- Investigate, Discover, Survey, Analyze
- Discuss Analysis, Misalignments, Findings, Proposals
- Assess Priorities, Timing, Budget
- Plan Roll Out
- Review & Approve Plan
- Communicate, Execute, Monitor, Adapt
1. Initial Conversations
Notice that conversations is plural. One conversation will not be enough with the leader to understand what is going on in the business, why the leader feels/thinks/sees things that way. Time is needed to uncover the underlying needs of the leader. Getting to the heart of what the leader’s values are, what the perceived mission and vision is from their perspective. Give it time now, or everyone will regret it later. This step is a lot like a TV detective interviewing a key person and taking lots of notes, not knowing what will be important later in the process.
2. Investigate, Discover, Survey, Analyze
Now, it’s time to dig deep and investigate everything possible. Various tools might be used, just as that police detective will use his associates and lots of tools to figure out what was happening at the time of the crime, before the crime, and what might have motivated people to behave as they did. Behavioral analysis, benchmarking, analyzing financials are some of the many tools that might be used.
3. Discuss Analysis, Misalignments, Findings, Proposals
Now it’s time to discuss with the leader what has been learned, what is now known and what is suspected. Various tools will have been used in step 2 to determine if the several leaders or key people in the business are “on the same screen.” (It’s no longer a page). Discussing and recognizing the differences and their impact can be difficult for anyone to do. Some discussions will be one-on-one while others will be done as a group. From this, some proposals for how to REV up the revenue, earnings, and value of the business can be considered.
4. Assess Priorities, Timing, Budget
By now you have likely learned that there are more issues than you thought, it’s going to take more time than you thought, it’s going to cost more than you thought. Therefore, you will need to have a tool to help you prioritize the many actions that you can take to select those that you will take and focus on in a sequence. Based on the way that buyers assess companies during due diligence in the process, the return on investment for improving various aspects of your business can be determined. This is combined with assessing priorities based on what actions are foundational and what items are built upon others. This is why some attention to values, mission, vision is often needed.
5. Plan Roll Out
Many business transformations falter because a careful project plan that everyone buys into is not prepared. Remember, you still have a business to run profitably at the same time that you are working hard to improve it for the future.
6. Review & Approve Plan
Treat the transformation plan just like you would for any new product or service offering that has to be developed. Think of all the people that must participate in a new product. The transformational “product” will take that and much more. Don’t think in terms of just the leader or leaders reviewing and approve. Look to a wider audience to buy in to the plan.
7. Communicate, Execute, Monitor, Adapt
You’ve probably heard of Plan-Do-Check-Act. However, that won’t work without upfront communications and continuous encouragement of everyone involved in the process. Communicate and make sure you have buy in. Execute something small that can have positive results quickly. Take that positive momentum and communicate it for additional buy in. Monitor how you are doing with as much accountability as you would for any new product or service. Adjust and adapt as you learn along the way. Make sure to celebrate the successes.
Scaling your business, turning it around, getting it ready to sell or transfer, making it easier to run all take time and effort that must be carefully determined, planned, and executed. Be careful to use the right tools at the right time to solve the right problems in your business. Yes, you may need a new ERP software program in your business. That’s one tool. It won’t solve all your problems. It will likely uncover a number of other issues and take up to two or more years to implement.
Let’s have an initial conversation: https://calendly.com/paul-ba
