Does it seem like you always have to do EVERYTHING in your company? Sure, you should lead by example and roll up your sleeves to help get things done, but do you find yourself asking questions like these?
Why do I have to be involved in nearly everything my company does?
Why won’t my employees help me cut costs, deliver products on time, or innovate?
Why does it always take weeks for customers to review the contract?
Why aren’t my partners selling as much as they should be?
The best explanation for this is probably that you just don’t make it easy for people to help you. What does that mean? It means that there are probably roadblocks in place that prevent people from doing things the way you want. Maybe you put the roadblocks there. Maybe they are a byproduct of some system you use to manage your company. Whatever they are, you need to find those roadblocks and tear them down.
So, here are some practical things you can do to find roadblocks, destroy them and make it easier for people to help you make your company work better.
Create a list of roadblocks
Start a spreadsheet. Create three columns: one for the customer name, one to write down notes, and one to assign a category. Use this spreadsheet to keep track of anything that seems to slow down a sale. Make a note of any issues that a customer has and assign each item a category such as pricing, contract language, understanding of the product, etc. List each issue as you encounter it. Don’t wait until the deal is closed or dead, you won’t remember them all.
Periodically, sort your list by category and see if there are any common threads within a category. Does everyone seem to ask you to rewrite a particular section of your contract? Does everyone ask you to explain your pricing structure five times? Does it always take three or four meetings before the lightbulb turns on allowing the customer to see the value of your product? Are deliveries consistently late?
Look at every category that has multiple entries and try to think of ways to remove that roadblock. Change the contract language. Simplify your pricing. Improve your marketing. Fix your project management. Train your partners better. Whatever the roadblock is, think of at least one concrete thing you can do to try to remove it. Then make sure you implement it.
Reward desired behavior
People love rewards. I’m not talking about a dusty employee of the month plaque with a person’s name on it. I’m talking about a real, meaningful reward. You set up sales quotas and commissions to encourage the behavior you want, so why not do the same thing with other parts of your business?
If an employee saves you money, by improving process or renegotiating a contract, give them a portion of the savings in return. If you need cash, offer a discount to customers who pay invoices early. Whatever issues you may have, think of a meaningful way to reward the desired behavior. Trust me, rewards work.
Act thoughtfully
When something goes wrong, its sometimes easy to get upset. The next time things aren’t going the way you want, try to view your behavior from someone else’s point of view. What do you look like? Are you angry and upset? Anger tends to cloud thinking. It also often leads to irrational acts. Plus it just makes you unapproachable and no fun to be around. If this is how you are perceived, it just makes it harder for people to come talk to you about issues before they boil over.
So, the next time you find yourself getting angry about work, stop for a minute, go somewhere that you can calm down and write down the issue. Describe what actually happened, and what you wanted to happen. Then go and investigate the issue. Conduct a mini-post-mortem. Try to figure out why things went wrong. Don’t use the investigation to cast blame. Use it to get information. Add this to your list of roadblocks and see if it falls into a category that has a lot of other entries. Then fix the problem.
The next time you encounter a setback and you wonder why it seems like everyone around you is so stupid, take a step back, look around. It’s likely there is a roadblock you can remove to prevent this type of thing from happening again.
What roadblocks have you seen in companies where you work? What have you done to get around them?
photo credit, te.esce
