April 2008
Set Your Building Blocks in the Right Order
By Toni Roldan
If you were a contractor building a house what would be the steps in your construction process? First, would be laying the foundation (If you were thinking towards the future, you might even lay a foundation that could support an additional floor, in case the household was to grow.). Next, framing the structure. Then, putting on the roof. And so forth. The result would be a house that is stable and secure; any of these steps taken out of order would result in a wobbly structure, sure to collapse at the first sign of distress.
Running and building a business runs a parallel course. The building blocks of a business, if set out of order, could result in a situation that is difficult to remedy. Just like you can't go back and add the foundation to a house if you've already framed, it is very difficult to grow a business that does not have a stable foundation: a solid operational infrastructure and a reliable net profit.
Let's consider some of the specific pitfalls that arise when the building blocks of a business are set out of order; that is, when companies think or get too far ahead of themselves, they tend to skip practices critical to stability. The bottom-line and other results vary from company to company; but generally, a few -- unwanted -- themes develop.
Competing Priorities
Which priorities are important? The answer from senior management is usually "all of them." Equal importance and high urgency of priorities taken in combination with stringent timelines often lead to overload for employees. The reality is all the priorities may be important, but all may not be urgent.
When everything is consistently piled on employees in this manner, the staff is stretched to capacity; and there may not be enough material resources to support the competing projects. By default, some projects become secondary and worked on "when time allows" -- thereby defeating the equal importance declared by senior management in the first place!
Conflicting Priorities
When an organization moves at too fast a clip, communication and focus can wane. The result can be differing, often conflicting directives. Yesterday's focus is not tomorrow's. Resource contributions are pushed aside as new priorities emerge.
When "start-stops" become a recurring practice, frustration and confusion mount as employees start to view their efforts as futile; they're just waiting for the project to be pulled. Even if the company circles back and greenlights the tabled projects it will require additional ramp-up time in order to proceed.
Misplaced Employees
As companies get ahead of themselves, they increasing lack a clear assessment of current employee strengths and skills relative to the needs of ongoing initiatives: Employees are often placed in positions that they are ill suited for and not ready to assume.
Experience and knowledge can be taught on the job but with some assumed risks: errors, longer cycles, frustration, and stress. If an employee fails or a team fails, they may feel de-valued and de-motivated.
Inefficiencies
Inefficiencies in workflows, processes, and operational practices result in rework, ineffective use of resources, and loss of money. None of these are, of course, favorable to any company expecting to remain profitable. Unfortunately, this is exactly what occurs when decisions are shortsighted -- not well flowed or thought out.
Too often, a new initiative is rolled out without a full assessment of impact on employees, consumers, sales, etc. Once it is "live," the weak points in the infrastructure are exposed. The best-case scenario is that the project limps forward, although with small benefit; the worst-case scenario is that the project is pulled completely until it can be retooled.
Confidence in the decision-makers is questioned as employees have to scramble to overcome and "clean up" the results.
Effect on Staff
As we've seen in the discussion above, not only is business made to suffer because of "misnumbered building blocks" but also employees are adversely affected. The result is a staff that is …
- Frustrated
- De-motivated
- Confused
- Overloaded
- Questioning
Conclusion
While change is an expected occurrence in companies, as they look to stabilize or strive to grow, organized change is most effective. Adopting a methodology that focuses on building in the right areas -- at the right time -- will produce a company that is more scalable, flexible, and primed for stability and growth.