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Ever
heard of “time is money.” Well, it’s never more true than when it
comes to making changes to your business. While change is not something that
most people embrace quickly or open-heartedly, if it’s done too cautiously
it can flatten revenues, eat profits and lead to business failure. This is
particularly true for small businesses where the resources are limited and
the margin for error is slim.
Consider
the effect of a slow change on a software company whose owner is a lead
software developer. In analyzing the business, he decides it is best to
focus solely on being president and letting go of his developing
responsibilities. While this may be a wise business decision, if it isn’t
carried out swiftly and convincingly, product releases could be delayed for
more than a year, upset customers could flee to competitors and business can
come to a halt. The key is to have a plan and stick to it. If the same
business committed to the decision for a change, made a timeline, and
communicated the plan to the entire team, there would be little to no
confusion about who was responsible for what and when it was to be
delivered.
Adopting
some guiding principles will help to make quick changes easy and effective.
Always carry the attitude that even massive change should happen quickly and
across all aspects of the business. Specify and require clearly defined
results, but leave execution details to those doing the executing. Adopt
performance-related bonuses and pay structures. Having a clearly laid out
transition will give you clear performance expectations. Most importantly,
communicate the changes and the expected timeframe. A communications plan is
critical and should be a high priority of any change plan. Use newsletters,
management speeches, intranets, regular meetings, bulletin boards, signs and
key team members to convey to the entire team and your customers what is
going on and when.
While
no one speed of change can fit every organization, it is important to assess
how nimble your organization is and how readily it can change. When taking
on a massive restructuring of an organization or shift in direction,
remember to break down the goals and objectives into smaller pieces. Not
only will it give your team a smooth transition and realistic performance
objectives, but a few small successes and results help build more enthusiasm
for the rest of the planned changes.
Remember
the longer disruption goes on, the more costly it is too your business. By
clearly defining the outcomes and the strategy for achieving them, you save
yourself and your team a lot of headache and, ultimately, your
business—money.
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