By C.J. McClanahan
ReachMore Strategies
How much productivity do you get out of your staff?
In other words, how much of their time is spent efficiently helping your business generate a profit?
This is an extremely tough question for most business owners to answer. Regardless of your answer, doesn’t it make sense that if you were to increase the productivity of your workforce you would increase your profit?
Of course it does. So how do you do it?
There are tons of great answers including setting better expectations and providing additional management. However, one commonly overlooked solution is fairly simple – making sure that your staff works together as a team.
We all know that working as a team is more effective than individual effort. Then why do so few business owners create an environment that truly values teamwork?
Because, it’s easier for a business owner to manage individual efforts (a.k.a. – put out fires), than it is to create a successful team. Creating a winning team requires planning and other activities that don’t immediately improve the bottom line.
However, a solid team will help you achieve more than even the most talented group of individual performers. In other words, it’s worth the effort.
There are 6 keys to a winning team:
1. Common Goal – Everyone needs to know where you are going.
2. 100% Inclusion – Each member of your staff needs to be involved in the team building process. In addition, it is critical that everyone understands the role of each staff member.
3. Rules of the game – The boundaries need to be clearly set as well as the consequences for breaking these rules.
4. Strong Leadership – The team will not follow a weak figure that isn’t committed to the team and the success of the company.
5. Support Risk Taking – Let your employees know that mistakes are OK, so long as you learn from them.
6. Action Plan – You must clearly communicate a detailed set of actions that will ensure that your team reaches its goal.
This year, make the time to ensure that your staff understands and follows all of these rules.
Does your culture emphasize teamwork?
Do your employees enjoy working together?
How much more productive would you be if they did?
Ignoring the Importance of Culture
Please take a moment to review the following three questions:
How can I get more productivity out of my staff?
What is the best way to bring a new person up to speed?
How can I keep a “bad apple” from influencing the rest of the team?
I guarantee you that there are hundreds, if not thousands of books available that deal with each of these topics. In addition, I am certain that most of the solutions discussed in these books are viable and relevant.
However, in the interest of time, I want to make it simple. Here’s the answer to all three questions – Develop a great culture. Although the answer is simple, developing a great culture is difficult and very few companies have managed to pull it off.
So, how do you do it? I recommend a three step process.
Define your culture. Decide what is really important to your organization and get it down on paper.
Get Commitment from the Team. Have every member of the team review your culture statement and create a large poster that each team member can sign. Hang this poster somewhere that employees and customers can easily see it.
Live you Culture. As the owner, it is up to you to reinforce this culture every single day. Refer to your culture in meetings, memos and any other opportunities to have to interact with your staff.
If you are interested in making a lasting and meaningful change in your company, make it priority to invest in your culture. The benefits will be worth the effort.
Does your culture illustrate the best in your company?
Do you micro-manage your staff or does you culture reinforce positive efforts and attitudes?
What if it did?
C.J. McClanahan
ReachMore Strategies
317 576-8492
cjm@goreachmore.com
