8 Areas to change your business

“One day everything will be well, that is our hope.”

― Voltaire

Management by hope is not good.  Managers need to be proactive.  Managers need to try new ways but with a calculated and systematic approach.   The choices are unlimited but here are eight areas you should consider:

1. Physical work environment – If everybody is constantly moving around try a new resting space.   Couches are great.  If everybody is constantly sitting try putting in something to encourage movement.  A ping-pong table comes to mind.  If your space is too cluttered try removing items.  If your space is too sterile add some color with a painting or poster.  The opportunities exist no matter what your physical environment or budget.  Delegate a team to make improvements.  Do not look for policy on what you can do but simply be cognizant of what culturally you cannot do.
2. Meetings – Look for some to cancel and look for some to add.  Look for ways to place meetings in a weekly chronological order.  Change the invitees.  If the content is not confidential consider adding a junior member of the team.  Watch for opportunities to use time of day for bringing out the best in people.  I like brainstorming meetings in the morning and work review meetings in the afternoon.
3. Data and reports – Go through what you receive on a daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis and look for opportunities to pare back.  If you can’t pare back simplify the reports to something shorter and more meaningful.  In contrast, look for reports to add.  Look for opportunities to buy instead of build and build instead of buy.  Ask yourself if any industry source you receive could be improved if you had your own resource to track and build the data or report.
4. Systems and tools – Big data is certainly a trend in business however, I have rarely seen companies that do not have opportunities to create their own spreadsheet models to better analyze small data.  Keep in touch with vendors and look for ways to influence them.  If a system is large and misunderstood try training more users to uncover misconceptions and to build succession and redundancy.
5. Processes – These can be small or large.  Changing them requires understanding the steps.  Look for things you and your team do that are routine and ask yourself if you can list the steps from memory.  Then ask a colleague if they agree.  If you cannot and they do not here is an opportunity to document, reflect, and change for the better.
6. Goals, KPI’s and Responsibility – Make sure you know the differences.  Indicators need to be the warning sign that a goal will not be met.  Try pushing responsibility down the organization.  Make sure you have reports to measure and monitor.   If you cannot count them on two hands then you need to reduce the number.   
7. People – Start by reviewing the attitudes and skills you value. Make sure the attitudes and skills are known.  If you have long review periods look to shorten the cycle.  If you have ever complained about Human Resources look for one or two processes to own internally.  Ultimately people will come and go.  Try to build a cycle of ramp-up, plateau, and ramp-down.
8. Culture – This is the hardest of changes.  It cannot happen quickly but only over an extended period where habits and ways of doing things are challenged and corrected.  The build up of the seven previous areas can get you started but to truly understand cultural change Google “The Monkey Story”.

Your company probably does not to change all of these areas.  Your company may not consider any of these suggestions useable.  However, thinking is the first step to change and if any of these suggestions made you think then you are on your way to change.  Change is good.   Change is inevitable.  Hope is unreliable.