In a recent meeting with executives and business
owners, I heard a common theme. Whether an
individual owned the business or not, he or she had
the same business concern - they were too caught
up in the day to day details of the business and
didn't spend enough time on its strategic intent.
At RCR, we define strategic intent as the reason a
business exists, the reason people work so hard to
see it succeed. It involves staying focused on the
values and actions that enable a business to achieve
its goals, rather than getting distracted by the daily
firefighting that is an inevitable part of any business.
As our discussion continued, we agreed that a lack
of time is our number one enemy. With this in mind,
we identified practices that would help us focus on
the strategic intent of our business and achieve the
results we wanted.
Here are the 4 practices we defined.
(1) Quarterly Review
Current Practice
The majority of the group had a business plan,
but many admitted that their plans sat on shelves
collecting dust. Everyone acknowledged that each
New Year, they started off with the best intentions
to conduct a quarterly business review. All made it
through the first quarter review, some made it
through the second. But just a few conducted a third
and fourth quarter review.
Future Practice
All agree that along with their management team,
they needed to spend at least half a day per quarter
(ideally a full day) conducting a business review.
These reviews would involve:
- Assessing the previous quarter to understand
what went well and what challenges they
face.
- Reviewing financial results and projections -
comparing actual results to expected results,
understanding the deltas.
- Identifying issues and the actions needed to
resolve them.
- Defining opportunities and how to address
them.
- Identifying changes that need to happen to make
desired results happen.
(2) Customer Visits
Current Practice
Most agreed that they spoke to their customers, but
not on a consistent basis. They also said that
conversations tended to focus on the current
business, not the future.
Future Practice
Make it a practice for you and your management
team to visit your customers on a regular basis.
During these visits, include the following:
- Solicit information from your customers. Ask
probing questions that let you understand your
performance and their level of satisfaction and how
you can help them better.
- Learn about their business, their challenges and
successes.
- Ask what their future business projections look
like, explore how you can support those
projections
(3) Board of Advisors
Current Practice
The majority of the group had some sort of advisory
help, some were more formal than others. Those
with a more formal structure agreed that their Board
of Advisors (BOA) was critical to their success.
Why? Their respective BOAs gave them an unbiased
perspective to their business. As one participant
said, The business experience and connections my
BOA has brought to the table has been
immeasurable.
Future Practice
Develop a Board of Advisors for your business. A
Board of Advisors is an outside group of professional
peers that meets on a regular basis to provide
executives and business owners with objective
advice, support and assistance.
The size, complexity, stage of development and skills
needed for your business will determine the number
of members you'll need for your BOA.
Your BOA should be comprised of members who are
experts and successful business people from different
disciplines and industries.
(4) Employee Excellence
Current Practice
When the discussion turned to employees, everyone
stressed how important it was to have a "right hand
person: or "second in command," a person they
could
rely on, someone who they trusted, and had the
same
goals and ideals.
Future Practice
Hire wisely. Hire to build your future. For every role
within the organization, hire only the best - your
future depends on it. When hiring, make sure you
hire people who will fit into your culture and who
have enthusiasm for their work and a desire to
succeed.
