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Taking a step back to improve Process, People and Communication will help you grow Revenue and improve Profitability. It will also build the Value of your business for the long-term, setting the stage for your succession or exit plan – with you deciding when and how.

A focus on business process improvement that becomes part of your company culture will feed growth. Staff engagement is enhanced with a clear plan and objectives communicated throughout the organization. We rarely take time to build a plan, even though we know it is critical to staying focused. Read more for the questions you’ve been meaning to ask yourself.

Think about it:

– If you communicate your objectives and the company’s priorities; and
– If you effectively hire, train, treat and engage your employees; and
– If you have clear business processes throughout your operations,

Then, you will have created the essential platform for growing your business and building the value of the company!

When you do Process, People and Communication the right way, sales, operations, accounting, customer service and all the rest will flourish.

Process

You have heard the buzz words, heard about the “systems”, perhaps been part of business process improvement programs or tried to implement a process approach. What we see out there is a confusing mix of bad information, lack of understanding, bad advice and often very poor implementation.

There are dozens of things that you know need attention within your business. Getting consistent

processes in place (along with the right people and effective communication) can pull you out of the day-to-day to focus on more strategic issues. Which of these sound familiar?

• Your business is not ready to sell.
• Customers are seeing your mistakes.
• You want to go after larger customers but you do not feel ready yet.
• Your employees are making mistakes, they just don’t seem to get it.
• You are working harder but the bottom line does not seem to move in the right direction.

A focus on business process improvement that becomes part of your company culture will feed growth. The entire system functions much more smoothly. Clients will stay, staff get engaged and your vendors become part of your efforts to build your client base.

People

With the constant frenzy of managing a business, we often just get “bodies onboard” without taking the time to truly assess their skills against our needs. This may seem like the thing to do in order to quickly fill that gap, but the wrong hire quickly becomes apparent. Thinking through a few key steps will help ensure a solid foundation for growth.

Now that you have the right processes in place, you can create the job descriptions in detail:

• What does each role really require?
• What background and skills are needed to fill that position?
• Do you have the right staff member in the right role?
• Is further training necessary?

Get a read on the culture as it is and what you might like to see in the future. When you go through the hiring process, consider the candidate’s fit with culture, as much as the skill sets.

• What is your company’s culture?
• What should it be?
• Are your employees working together and getting along in a way that is positive and productive?
• Do your current employees fit with the company culture you envision?

Communication

Staff engagement is enhanced with a clear plan and objectives communicated throughout the organization.

We rarely take time to build a plan, even though we know it is critical to staying focused. A clear plan

– and ensuring that your staff understand that plan – can be a significant step toward growth and building value.

– By the way, a plan should not be hundreds of pages – some of the most effective plans are just a handful of pages!

I suggest sharing virtually all of the plan with your staff, even the financials. This may be a decision you need to make with your management team but we find that being open with your staff goes a long way to their commitment and engagement in the company’s success.

Taking a step back to improve Process, People and Communication will help you grow Revenue and improve Profitability. It will also build the Value of your business for the long-term, setting the stage for your succession or exit plan – with you deciding when and how.

David Shavzin, CMC
Shavzin & Associates, Inc.
dshavzin@shavzinassociates.com
678-795-1750