Category Archives: Management

Deals, Management, Sales

Perspective and Point of View

1 Comment

We have all been in the position where we have had to predict some performance or business event. It is a key part of leadership and management whether you are in general business, sales, or any other business discipline. There are those that are good at it and those that “needs improvement” if I may use the ratings jargon that we are all familiar with.


 


I have found that those that are good at this type of predictive management have the gift of not only assuming others points of view – being able to look at things from where others do, but also have the ability to assume the perspective of others – being able to look at things how others do. It seems that the difference is subtle but the results can change dramatically.


 


The key here is that when we look at issues from others points of view we still have the tendency to ascribe our preferences and biases to the view. Someone who is risk averse may not see the same opportunity as someone with a higher risk tolerance regardless of the point of view.


 


It is these perspective mismatches that can then lead to the issues. What may be blatantly obvious to one regardless of where it was viewed, may make no sense at all to another regardless of how it is described.


 


Successful business and sales requires you to not only look at things from where others are standing, but also to try and look at it through their eyes. You can not ascribe your preferences to others because then you are always expecting others to “see it your way”.

Management, Planning, Strategy

Dilbert Was Right About Strategic Plans

Leave a comment

Strategic plans are essential to the continued well being of any business. We are all aware of this. I have been involved in organizations where the strategic plan was considered the most important document in the organization, and I have been places where it was considered a necessary (or unnecessary) evil. Wherever I have been, I have invariably found that the most successful strategic plans have adhered to what I call the Dilbert Rule for Strategic Plans.


 


When asked by his (pointy haired) boss for his suggestions for the strategic plan, Dilbert responded with


 


“Why don’t we find out what we make the most money at, and do more of that…”


 


Of course this was rejected out of hand as far too simple for a strategic plan. I would agree that for an entire strategic plan it probably is, but for a starting point I don’t think you could do much better. It requires a self analysis of profitability and competitive situations that will be the cornerstone of what the business is doing and will be doing going forward.


 


The key here is to identify your strengths and to build going forward from them. Too many times we tend to identify traits that we want to be strengths instead of those that are strengths, to build our future business on. It is by looking at both the current and desired capabilities that a good strategic plan can be created.


 


Next week I’ll be looking at the Jethro Bodine Clampett school of ciphering in your business. This topic covers the “goes into’s and goes out of’s” of your business. Its basic but it also works.

Humor, Leadership, Management

Read the Management Book Satires

Leave a comment

In this Blog I have refered to several management books as good reference material on how to conduct both sales and your business. Despite our best efforts we invariably will find ourselves in a position that can only be described as comical. Someone will ask you a question, or senior management will give you an order that will cause you to stop, and look for the hidden camera that must be around to capture your response. It is times like these that make me glad that I have read some of the very good satires of management books.


 


Stanley Bing has two great satires out on books that I have recommended. “What Would Machiavelli Do?” and, “Sun Tzu Was a Sissy” are great examples of what really good management content can become in the wrong hands. I would be very surprised if you have not run into a manager as described in these books. It also gives you an idea of what can happen when fundamental principles are practiced (or twisted) to the extreme.


 


That also brings us to Scott Adams and the quintessential “Dilbert”. Despite its skewed view of business and management, I have learned many things and seen many truisms in Dilbert. I have also caught myself in more than one instance where I was going to act or say something that could have been featured there.


 


A broad sense of humor is essential for leadership. Without it we run the risk of becoming a characterization of what a good manager should be. Characterizations and satires help us to understand what the extremes of a good thing can look like. They also help us laugh, and sometimes the best thing to laugh at is ourselves.

Management, Sale, Training

Machiavelli Was Wrong (About Sales)

2 Comments

In his book “The Prince”Machiavelli states that leaders “must assume that all men are wicked and will act wickedly whenever they have the chance to do so.” To tell you the truth, I have not found this to be the case. In fact I have normally found the exact opposite to be the case. In most of the organizations that I have been in, I have found the team members to be ready and willing to do the correct and proper activities when they are given the chance.

 

The key here is to enable the team to do the right things. Make sure your sales team has the product training and competitive knowledge to successfully compete in the marketplace. If they don’t know what their product can do or what their competition is capable of, then the chance of their misstating your product or corporate capabilities increases. They will take some of the blame for not having the information, but you should take some of the blame for not making sure it was provided.

 

The sales team has the unenviable job of trying to please two masters; the customer who buys their product, and the management of the team that supplies the product. The sales team wants to tell the customer the truth and set expectations appropriately (as well as get the order) so that the customer will not have issues regarding the product performance and the perceived value it brings. The sales team also wants to meet the goals and expectations of their management in order to receive their rewards and maintain their positions.

 

 In business and sales there will always be issues. By providing the right information, capabilities and incentives to the business and sales team, they will be enabled to do those activities that they need to do right, and to continue to prove Machiavelli wrong

Leadership, Management, Solutions

Quit Complaining

3 Comments

Many times in business you will see foolishness occur, even in your own enterprise. Opportunities that are clearly visible will be missed. Improper directions will be issued. Bad courses and strategies will be followed. It is your responsibility to bring them to management’s attention when you see them. When you do this, remember two things: Bring a good alternative or corrective action, and don’t complain.

 

Bringing solutions to topics and issues that you raise is seen as good leadership. Everyone can see a problem. A leader will take the initiative to bring the accompanying solution.

 

Complaining on the other hand is a pastime that almost everyone participates in at one time or another. However, complaining about topics, issues or directives, without proposing an accompanying solution to your complaint will make you appear ineffective as a leader. Complaining is a non-action oriented event, and a good business leader is action oriented.

 

If you can not find a suitable alternative or solution to an action that you find disagreeable, then say nothing. There probably wasn’t one to be found prior to the action being taken. Any other comments will be seen as complaining, and few people like a complainer.

Focus, Long Term, Management

Activity and Progress

Leave a comment

Lulls happen in business. It is very rare that there is a prolonged period of non-stop functional engagement. Holidays, vacations, general economic and market changes occur so that sometimes there is just not as much business to conduct as there is at other times.




It is normally at times like these that management comes by to see what you are up to. We’ll talk about this in another article.




What we will talk about here is the difference between doing something and making progress. Remember how your mom would always think of something for you to do if she found you relaxing or watching TV. That was activity. The management equivalent can be the number of reports, plans and strategies that you will be asked for as a result of any changes to the general business, market or economic conditions that may arise.




Progress for your mom was you moving from elementary, to middle, to high school and beyond. Sure there were report cards every quarter, or semester, but the overall progress toward the goal and objective of graduation had a significantly different and longer time line. The current management equivalent for progress is not so easily quantified. We seem to be in a quarter (3 month) over quarter cycle where year to year changes have lost their importance.




The key is to realize that progress takes time. Activity can be immediate, but can the advancements it generates be sustained? Perhaps, but we seem to have become very focused on immediate responses and gratifications. We need to understand that activity is immediate and short term, and to also understand that there may be quarters where the activity may not put us at the levels that we want. We need to keep our focus on the longer term goals and objectives if we are going to really make progress.

Leadership, Management

Office “Rumours”

Leave a comment

Back in the 1980’s one of the biggest musical bands of the time was a group called Fleetwood Mac. They were great. One of their biggest albums of the time was an album called Rumours. It was a great album. However, from a business point of view “rumours”are no good.

 

Rumors are what occur when you do not communicate regularly with your team. They will invariably be worse than just about anything that reality can offer. If people are presented with a blank page, the story they write will be worse than the one you will tell them.

 

Once started rumors take on a life of their own. You only lend credence to them even when you deny or rebut them. It almost seems that people would prefer to believe the worst hearsay instead of the actual information – if they hear the rumor first.

 

The key is to get ahead of the curve. Regular team or all hands meetings enable everyone to hear what you have to say, and to get questions and concerns out of the way. It is more difficult for rumors to get started if everyone has the same level of information, and all heard it at the same time.

 

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours wasgreat to listen to. All other rumors in the office shouldn’t be heard.

Decision Making, Leadership, Management

No Peanut Butter

1 Comment

You’re running your business. You’re paying attention to the big issues and the details. You’re on your targets, making your numbers and living within your budgets. Life is pretty good. Then at one of your boss’s staff meetings you are told that there is a headcount reduction scheduled and you are told what your participation in this activity will be. It turns out that other functions are not performing as well to their targets as you are, and now all are going to have to participate in the unpleasant task at hand.


 


It is the dreaded “peanut butter” effect.


 


The peanut butter effect occurs when it is easier to take an overall general action than it is to take a focused and specific targeted action. It can be 10% reduction across the board instead of a greater number in the offending groups, or a travel or a hiring freeze for all instead of just for those declining functions. I think we have all seen it.


 


Peanut butter provides a disincentive to good business performance. If a function that is performing must participate in a down side activity to the same level that a non-performing function does, you are mitigating the cost of poor performance to the underperforming function.


 


Fast forward to now, and you are now the leader. If your business is not performing to its overall requirements, and you are looking to take actions early on to try and bring its bottom line back on track, make the effort to understand where both your good performance and your problems lie. Take specific, focused business actions based on the businesses performance. Don’t spread peanut butter.

Management, Marketing, Planning

What’s a Cycle?

Leave a comment

We have all heard the phrase “cycle time”, but what does it really mean to your business? The simple definition of a “cycle time” is the amount of time it takes to complete an operation or activity. It has now been adopted by, or applied to just about everything in a business. Again, simply put, you need to know and understand the various cycle times – how long it takes to do things – in your business.


 


Each aspect of your business has an associated cycle time. Your sales cycle time is the time it takes from when you initially introduce the sales opportunity to the customer, to when you get their signature on the order. Your production cycle time is from when you get the order to when you actually have a completed product meeting the order specifications ready to ship. Your development cycle time is the time from product concept to generally available deliverable product.


 


Another lesser know but equally important cycle time is the Marketing cycle time – The time from when you introduce a marketing program to when you actually see a change in the sales volume from it. It will take time for the market to understand the program. The program will then (hopefully) modify buying behaviors and change the sales cycle time. It will then appear as a change in sales volumes.


 


Although we might all want our business actions to take immediate effect, we must understand the cycle times we are affecting when we do things. We must understand how long it takes for effects to be seen. We do not want to tie up scarce resource resources waiting for the effects, but we also do not want to be caught without resources when the effects are manifested. Understanding the cycle times of a business enable you to plan and schedule business instead of react to changes as they occur.

balance, Leadership, Management

Be Cool

Leave a comment






I mentioned in an earlier post that two of the essential traits for a successful leader to have are being opinionated on, and having a passion for your business. The counterbalancing trait that will also be required is composure. Being passionate and opinionated can make you a strong and decisive leader. Lacking composure will make you appear to be a rash and foolish manager.


 


It is always better to act in a measured way than to react in any way. Coming off as a hot head will greatly decrease your effectiveness as a leader. Maintaining your composure in the face of difficulties will present a much stronger image and leadership trait for your team to follow.


 


Maintaining a calm demeanor while demonstrating a passion for your business is a difficult balance to achieve and maintain. The key items I try and keep in mind are:


 



  • It’s important but it isn’t life and death
  • This too shall pass……
  • We’re supposed to be having fun here

 


I just wish I could get better at it faster.