Cheryl, Author at Bruce Wilson & Company

Are You Ready for 2030?

Cheryl — Wed, 19 May 2021 22:13:21 +0000

Are you preparing for monumental shifts in commercial real estate segment models? Do you even know how your clients’ business models are changing? Or how changes in their industry will impact changes in yours?

Working with contractors of all sizes and service offerings across the country, the successful ones have one thing in common: they plan. Not only are they looking at the next week, the next month, the next quarter and the next year, but the most successful look ten years beyond.

If you’re not planning for 2030, then it’s not too late to start. What are you doing to learn about what the future of our industry, or your personal life will look like in the next decade? How are you preparing yourself and your team to adapt, train, and take advantage of the opportunities and challenges to come?

I encourage my clients to run their businesses as if they are going to sell it, even if they have no plans to do so. The most attractive companies to buyers are run well, have strong teams, are innovative and are leaders in their markets. As an owner or top manager these things should be important to you and you need to always be working on them.

American corporate history is littered with once great companies that got lazy and sat on their success, only to watch it get ripped away. Take Kodak, whose hesitation to embrace digital photography led to its demise. Sticking with outdated technology and old business practices while your competitors invest in their futures is a failure waiting to happen.

Ask yourself: How will your business be different in 2030? How will you be different? Are you a younger owner looking to build your company? If so, what does the rise in M&A activity mean for you in terms of the number of companies out there for you to buy? Do smaller companies, ripe as a “tuck-in” acquisition, have unrealistic expectations on the value of their company based on what the big players are doing? Is your team rowing in the same direction? Do you have the capacity to assimilate another company? Will your team succeed if you absorb new markets, and customers?

If you are looking to sell, how are you preparing to exit your business? Is your leadership team ready for you to go? Is your wealth tied up in your business? How might that impact the transition and your retirement? Do you have family in the business, if so, what are their expectations?

We have seen great economic change in the last year. We may not be able to predict what disruptions and emerging technologies will be going forward, but we are certain more will occur – how are you preparing for it to ensure your company’s survival?

Your clients’ needs will change. Do you know how? Are you reading what your clients are reading so you can better understand their market challenges? Are you positioning your company as a strategic partner, not just a solutions guy? Production is becoming a commodity. For success you need to differentiate yourself through service, creativity and big picture thinking at a strategic level that helps your clients solve problems they may not even realize they have. Are you preparing for monumental shifts in commercial real estate segment models? Do you even know how your clients’ business models are changing? Or how changes in their industry will impact changes in yours? You should.

The same is true for residential real estate and changes in how people buy and sell their homes and upgrade their lifestyle. You need to understand your clients and how they live, work and play. Everything is becoming more consumer focused. Technology is making access to data easy and mass customization practical. Your clients are being trained in their personal lives to expect information and services in ways they want to receive it, not in ways that are necessarily easier for you to deliver. Their expectations are already transferring over to their business lives, as well.

How is automation going to change your business model? We have seen the Uber-ization of snow plowing begin, so what’s next? On the green side of our business, we have seen radio-controlled mowers lead to autonomous mowers. How will technology move into the snow industry? The Air Force flies drones in the Mideast from bases here in the U.S. How long until we control a skid steer in a Midwest snowstorm from a call center in India? Do you struggle finding employees with driver’s licenses – self-driving vehicles can take care of that problem. Technological change is happening faster then we realize. The technology already exists – it just needs to make it to our industry.

Everything is happening so fast and yet you still need to run your business today, how can you get ready for the future? How can you prepare for what you don’t know? It’s important to keep up with market research, business trends, technology and economic forecasts. Think about attending conferences, discussing with consultants and subject matter experts, watching TED talks, listening to podcasts of futurists. While you look at our industry and your clients’ industries, it’s critical to look beyond to see what is coming.

When you go to trade shows, pay attention to the new technology and product launches. Talk to company reps about their firm’s pipeline for innovation. Don’t just walk away from it because you think it’s a gimmick or a fad.

Don’t be the company that failed to innovate or got caught off guard when the market was transformed by someone who did it better.

Remember, long-range planning isn’t a once and done activity. Just as you should be looking at your rolling budget each month, you should be looking at your long-range plan on an annual basis. Keep researching, learning, and incorporating what you find into your strategic plan. Each year replace outdated information with your best new expectation of what is to come to keep your snow and ice management company relevant and ahead of the competition.

Snow Magazine contributing editor Joe Kujawa is a senior facilitator and dedicated practice leader for Bruce Wilson & Co. Joe is a 2016 Leadership Award recipient.

Reprinted with permission, GIEMedia Snow Magazine ©

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5 Fundamentals for a Winning Company

Cheryl — Sat, 08 May 2021 21:24:49 +0000

As a baseball-loving kid growing up in New York, opening day for spring training was my favorite day of the year. Summer was just around the corner and everything was good.

Spring training’s emphasis on fundamentals – practicing routine plays, throwing techniques and form, base running, etc. – isn’t all that different from the basics that can also help you and your company win in business.

With talent shortages, market competition and a constant need to perform at the highest level, these fundamentals will help your company get in shape for the season ahead.

Remember the fundamentals when talent shortages, market competition and other stressors overwhelm you.

Market Density.

When starting a new business, we take any business we can get. After a few years, it pays to remember that density is fundamental to strategy. Travel time is dead time; it does not add value to your company or to the customer. So even if you can pass the cost on to the customer and still be competitive, it is what we call a “dumb tax.” Either we pay it or the customer pays it. Additionally, it raises other costs of supervision and account management due to limiting the size of the book of business that supervisors and account managers can manage.

Leadership Bench.

As you build your business, it’s necessary to have a leadership team that does two things: ensures that as an owner, you don’t get maxed out and, that with the right players, your A-Game is exponentially stronger. Creating and developing a high-performing executive team and leadership pipeline that can remain agile over your company’s various stages of growth will provide you with continuity of knowledge and expertise, and give you a senior team you can trust when the going gets tough.

Sales & Operations.

Selling solutions and delivering solutions go hand in hand. But the thread that connects sales and ops is increasingly complex. Automation helps. So does integrated business planning around your entire value chain: the systems and processes of marketing, planning, funnel and lead management, product and service quality, customer satisfaction and revenue stream forecasting. Profitability depends on these functions sharing a real-time view of changing customer demands and a commitment to providing a seamless customer experience at every touchpoint.

Accurate Estimating.

Our search engine world makes it easy for customers to shop. Companies that can quickly respond to requests for pricing and services with timely proposals have a big advantage. Many contractors can deliver pricing with their initial consult or site visit within hours. If a design is required, more time is justified but speed still wins. Develop a good system of delivering fast and accurate estimates to avoid costly mistakes or potential loss of credibility. Your proposal might be the first experience your customer has with your company and can make or break their view of you and your service.

Vision, Mission and Values.

Cultural alignment across your organization, from your front line to the corner office, is grounded in a shared commitment to your company’s vision, mission and values. These fundamentals give your company its personality and its critical path, describe what you stand for and distinguish your business from all others. Alignment starts with hiring value-aligned talent; this is more important than skill in the long run as skills can be trained. Look for value fit by identifying characteristics you value that are inherent in the people you hire, such as: people who are self-starters, team players, tech-savvy or results-oriented, have a positive attitude, or who think like a manager and not an employee, and people who want to learn.

Reprinted with permission. GIE Media. Lawn & Landscape May 2021 (c)

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Strategy is King

Cheryl — Sat, 08 May 2021 21:13:05 +0000

Customers no longer seek landscape companies to execute tasks or simply be good at what they do. There’s a post-pandemic, pent-up demand for not only re-connecting at a relationship level, but customers are expecting their service partners to serve up a winning return on investment. Landscape businesses that cling to their tactically-driven past could lose out to smart and fast-thinking companies that place strategy at the core of their game.

When the coronavirus disrupted business last spring, agile CEOs were building flexible ‘what if’ scenarios that allowed them to scale, shift or pivot with their customers in real time. It was a smart approach that prevented upheaval and they emerged stronger and better, and with a sharper, savvier focus on their customer’s hierarchy of needs.

An analysis of some firms’ 2020 financials showed that many landscape companies made tactical gains and hit or got close to short-term targets. On closer inspection, they had little or no strategic growth in their core maintenance business. This is not to say that tactics aren’t important, but to generate real growth, strategy is the only way to get there.

Think about strategy as a critical leverage point for profitability in developing new business, for example. Identify the types of customers you want to serve in the future and the opportunities that will bring you success. You should know what your customers want from you that’s different from the past and how you can optimize your platform around new paradigms.

Strategy, in this case, should be based on selling profitable work. To do that, you must know what work is the most profitable for your business model and who your ideal customers are since loyalty and retention is important. Also, it’s important to know how to make referrals more profitable.

Referrals drive sales for most landscape maintenance business; however, when they are a result of untargeted selling instead of proactive relationship-building, they can be low-hanging fruit for your salespeople. While referrals can be an important byproduct of excellent work, it’s also true that referrals can lead to less desirable jobs. When you fill your pipeline with low-hanging leads, you run out of room for high-quality leads and your time and resources are spent following up on jobs that may negatively affect other areas of your business.

Prioritizing sales strategies can help you attract better clients in the future and boost your bottom line.

Most landscape companies attract abundant referrals through excellent customer service. But do they capture their fair share of the business that potentially comes from those leads? Sadly, too many of these opportunities are lost due to the transactional nature of some sales teams.

To work leads well, look at the opportunities they present through a strategic lens. Will it be challenging to implement? Does it offer opportunities for scaling, for cross-selling or upselling? Does it align with density goals, have retention potential or align with your mix?

Get as much information as possible. What are the lead’s broad objectives, wants and needs? What was their history and experience with other service providers? How do they feel about landscape value, and what role does sustainability play in their strategic plan?

Most importantly, why would they benefit from what you offer?

CEO involvement in the proposal process can help sales teams win the right kind of business. Proposals can be complex documents, with technical data and supporting information. But the bulk of the proposal should be devoted to what the potential new customer is interested in: his/her return on investment, landscaping and site infrastructure objectives and how your practices and approach can help them achieve a new level of success. Putting their strategy and objectives first will show that you have done your homework and ensure you don’t go home empty-handed.

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A Game Plan for Strategy

Cheryl — Sat, 08 May 2021 21:10:25 +0000

There are any number of powerful lessons we can learn about strategy. Painfully, they often come after we forge ahead without one.

Strategy will always be the way to win the battle for customers. And while most companies consider strategy through annual planning, I wonder if once a year is enough to win the war within your market.

For example, some companies form a strategy around selling their companies to private equity. But what does private equity value besides EBITDA? They are looking for recurring revenue/maintenance-focused companies with good management teams. And, of course, they look at customer retention, market share, profitability and enhancement success rates.

When organizations look at their financials at the end of the year, they typically look at growth and profit first. Unfortunately, if those two numbers look good, or if they grew 10-15%, they are satisfied.This year, many businesses seemed pleased if their financials equaled prior results, especially given the pandemic. But in digging deeper, we’re finding that they hit their sales goals due to construction or unusual enhancements, but contract sales did not grow. In fact, many contracts decreased. From a strategic standpoint, they lost ground on a key driver of value and it may have gone undetected.

Some landscape companies are actively ramping up sales and their first thought is to hire a sales person. I hear little in the way of whether or not they are targeting the right kind of sales person or the right kind of sales.

Today, we have access to an incredible amount of data. If we use market analytics to drive how we look at and execute strategy, we can not only see measurable results, but we can create a business that is both sustainable and attractive to customers and talent.

While most companies consider strategizing, doing so more than once a year might be necessary.

So how do we do that? First, think about strategy by job costing and separating customers by segments: residential, or commercial office, HOA/multifamily, retail, hospitality/resort, municipal, education/institution, industrial and healthcare, or other high-growth segment unique to your business now or in the future, such as senior living or green redevelopment.

Use data to determine which segments provide the best margins, the most enhancement work or customer retention histories. Then use this information to target your sales and marketing efforts.

Although marketing is often considered tactical in terms of its elements, such as flyers, collateral, or other content rich visuals, marketing must be strategically driven and your creative pieces have to be strategically driven, too.

Sometimes I’ll look at a website and it’s unclear what the company’s core business is or in what market it operates. I’ll see a website from a firm targeting commercial maintenance and see images of construction or residential projects. For companies where snow is critical to revenue, I wonder why winter services is an afterthought or barely mentioned at all.

In our conversations about the importance of eliminating silos, we typically think of operational silos – sales and ops, for example, when communication breaks down or there is slippage in service. Silos also exist with things, where flyers and websites and graphics look like they were created ad hoc, by teams or agencies who didn’t talk to each other or share the same data. The lesson here is that if you confuse your customer, either through disconnects in service or messaging, you’ll lose the sale.

To be successful, marketing must be part of the strategic big picture. All tactical elements and creative materials that support and drive sales have to align, just like our operational teams, in support of the greater objective. In other words, everything you execute – from installing plants to plowing snow to creating content – should drive revenue. And if it drives revenue, it needs a seat at the strategy table.

A final thought.

Link strategy across all functions to improve processes. Because processes, like all tactics, is the noise before defeat if it’s not linked to winning.

In my experience, hoping it will collapse into place is never a strategy. But sharpen your skills over time, hone your ability to become a better strategist, better at masterminding your market, and understand your customer and lead your company to stay in play.

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Advising From Both Sides

Cheryl — Sat, 08 May 2021 21:02:27 +0000

There are generally five reasons companies bring in consultants. They include:

Needing expertise not available internally;
Managing change on important projects;
Gaining an objective outside perspective;
Attaining additional resources for internal/existing projects; and
Backing up management’s opinion.

The first three reasons tend to bring more value to the company. The last two–while sometimes may be effective–are generally indicators of other issues within the organization. Having been on both sides of the fence as a consultant and an owner, I have recognized that regardless of the reason you had to bring in some help, there are several key ideas management should jump on to get the most out of working with consultants.

Figure out what is bothering you
Before you sit down with a consultant, spend some time organizing your thoughts and creating an initial project brief. The brief should cover what you think the problem/issue is and how it is impacting your company. It should also outline the results or outcomes you are hoping to achieve and how you will measure the success of the project. It’s better to skip setting a completion deadline; just jot down the results you are looking for.

Good consultants and good clients are flexible and responsive. Consultants build their business through recommendations and reputation. They are unlikely to take shortcuts or make changes to the scope that will endanger that or hinder the success of the project.

Find a consultant that makes sense for you
Finding the right consultant is like buying a pair of shoes: you need to get the right fit. So how do you do that? First, check with other business owners you know, look for recommendations and check references. And like most shoe shoppers who try on multiple pairs, it’s important to check out more than one or two consultants. If you find an interesting lead online, call a few of the businesses on their clients list to get their real review. It’s important these consulting candidates have experience with companies like yours and that they have a good track record. When first meeting with them, ask specific questions that probe to see if they understand your business. Ask if they have faced these types of issues before and how they were able to help the client. Also, watch to see if the consultant ask questions or are they doing all the talking?

Make sure to understand their approach – does it make sense to you? Do you have a good rapport with them? Are they interested in developing a relationship or is this just going to be a transaction to them?

Determine the scope
Work with the consultant to determine the final objectives and desired outcomes for your project, but don’t try to run the assignment by limiting their process or dictating their methods. Let them use their experience to determine the best path for success. Just as you would not want a client telling you how to plow a site, don’t micro mange the project. If you are not sure about what needs to be addressed first, or need to balance budget constraints, consider an initial project to help clarify the issues/problems, then develop a phased approach of smaller projects based on the findings to be completed over time.

Be Flexible
Consulting projects have many unknowns and often uncover issues not originally considered. It is often better to adjust the scope or the objectives of the project to address these previously unknown issues. Sticking with what was originally discussed despite the introduction of new facts, generally does not lead to the best solution. Good consultants and good clients are flexible and responsive. Consultants build their business through recommendations and their reputation. They are unlikely to take shortcuts or make changes to the scope that will endanger that or hinder the success of the project.

Prepare for Success
Working with your consultant at the start of the project determine what information they will need. In addition, it is helpful to have the best internal resources for the consultant to work with on the project. Also, ask whether it make sense to interview various staff members or if surveys will be more appropriate. It’s important to identify an internal project champion and project lead; this person must have the pull to free up resources and make decisions as needed. Lastly, determine how much buy-in is necessary from your team. The more things change from the current methods, the more buy-in will be needed and buy-in requires time and involvement.

Be Honest
You are working with a consultant because you determined a need – you had a pain point that needed to be addressed. Just like when visiting your doctor, the more forthcoming, open and honest you are, the more you can be helped. Working with a consultant is not the time to put on airs or pretend things aren’t as bad as you know they are.

Talk to your team
Permanent staff may not understand the need for the consultant or what they are trying to accomplish. Your team may understand their part of the process, but not how the whole company is impacted. I have experienced staff becoming resentful that an “outsider” was brought in to fix a problem they couldn’t (or one they didn’t even believe existed). Tension can build as people worry about losing their jobs or having to learn a new way of doing things. It is critical for employers to communicate to their teams that bringing in a consultant does not reflect a failure on anyone’s part. Be honest and open about what you hope to achieve and how this can help everyone involved.

Talk to your consultant
Let them understand your point of view; share your unfiltered experience. Provide feedback to your consultant as you would your own team members. Just like your staff, consultants work better with timely feedback on what they are doing – good and bad. Share with them what you are hearing from your team so they can better understand the team dynamics present.

Don’t take it personally
It is important for the owner to recognize the consultant’s findings as constructive criticism on the business, not the owner. A consultant brings their own perspective and experiences to bear on the problem. Often owners may be too close to the problem or have a blind spot when it comes to their own actions which can be an obstacle to positive change. Both parties have valuable input and should be working toward finding the best solution together.

Snow Magazine contributing editor Joe Kujawa is a senior facilitator and dedicated practice leader for Bruce Wilson & Co. Joe is a 2016 Leadership Award recipient.

Reprinted with permission. GIE Media. Snow Magazine. March 2021 (c)

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Building Blocks for Financial Health

Cheryl — Sat, 08 May 2021 20:57:27 +0000

Most landscape companies have managed to navigate the turbulence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Thanks to the vaccine, we may see the economy and consumer spending rebound this year. However, it is unclear if the damage done by shutdowns and high unemployment will have lingering effects on recovery.

I think it would be wise to proceed with caution until we can see a more predictable future, maybe by the third quarter. In the meantime, keep a close eye on financial indicators.

If you do not have a financial dashboard, it’s a good time to establish one.

Some items that should be tracked monthly. These include:

Balance sheet ratios such as current ratio, quick ratio, debt to equity and return on assets.
Average age of receivables, payable days, cash on hand, credit line balance and available credit and average hourly wage.
Operational labor percentage by service line, overtime hours, unapplied time, gross margin by service line, sales growth and net profit.
Client retention, employee retention and lost days due to accidents.

While this is not everything, and may be more than you think you need, you do need a baseline. Items you should be monitoring daily – or weekly at a minimum – include daily bank balance, receivables received and payables paid. It is really important to do these things, if for nothing else but peace of mind.

I also think it is wise to pay close attention to your account receivable aging and get on top of the over 30-day accounts immediately. Some of your clients may be struggling with cash and start to string you out, so it’s critical to stay on top of slippage.

Building a budget is essential to all businesses. If you don’t have one, do it now. Then track monthly actuals against budget and look for trends. The budget reflects how you thought things would work out, and the actual is how they are actually working out. The sooner you attack variances, the sooner you can limit damage.

Due to lingering uncertainty concerning COVID and the economy, it’s more important than ever to keep a keen eye on your finances.

Labor is your largest expense. Labor can be managed at a high level by knowing what your head count should be each month. Also, you should know how much, if any, overtime you are budgeting. If your head count and overtime match the budget, you should not be surprised at month’s end. You may have some individual job issues, but the company overall should be okay. More detailed labor trackers are used by many companies that track individual job labor to budget.

You should also place controls on purchasing so that spending does not get out of hand. Limiting the number of people in the process is the best way to do this and not allowing purchases over a certain threshold or type of purchase without your prior approval is an easy way to establish oversight.

For many companies, this is second nature; for newer companies with limited management teams, this approach can be a necessary challenge. Having a good accounting department is an essential part of a successful company and an investment that pays real dividends.

Financial procedures and policies may require new planning approaches. Will you need to add new revenue streams? How much are you allocating to attract new customers, research market trends or bring added value to the table?

Last year gave us an opportunity to adjust our mindsets, develop greater connection with our teams and communities, and to invent new ways to measure what matters.

As we focus on a return to growth across our services and segments, making a commitment to improve financial reporting and performance processes will help you translate lessons learned from 2020 and improve your financial profile for the longer term.

Republished with permission. GIE Media. Lawn & Landscape magazine, February 2021 (c)

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Organizational health: taking engagement’s pulse

Cheryl — Sat, 08 May 2021 20:48:59 +0000

Of the many ways we reshaped our organizations last year, the most important turns out to be how we focused on helping our people and our communities thrive through crisis. The attention we gave to health, safety and well-being – and the high level of communicating we did with employees and customers – made every company one where people came first.

There are countless reasons people-first engagement needs to continue as we move into a post-pandemic reset. Boosted morale, a cohesive culture, everyone connected and aligned with digital processes and systems and improved protocols for service delivery, safety and hygiene.

Once people experience engagement, no one wants to give it up. Keeping teams and customers engaged will not only be essential in this new year, but a key metric for ranking organizational health overall and future success.

Many companies approach ‘happiness’ as a benchmark or rely on happiness, i.e., happy customers/happy employees, to improve retention. But happiness is not the same as engagement. Happiness is an abstraction and subjective. Engagement is based on how much people care.

For example, a company that focuses only on happiness does, in fact, generate high levels of optimism; but optimism does not necessarily translate to caring about the wider business or contributing to the bigger picture. Sometimes an employee is happy if they simply take home a paycheck. Engaged employees, on the other hand, do whatever it takes.

A lot of companies spend valuable resources on ‘touchy-feely’ things to foster happiness. Everyone loves good barbecue or a gift. But afterwards, are people left with feelings of engagement or are they merely satisfied in the moment?

People-First engagement leads to boosted morale, a cohesive culture and improved team organization.

The difference matters. Engaged people drive innovation and are in it to win it. Disengaged people – customers and employees – have an 8-to-5 mentality and do not seek involvement or inclusion.An example of a disengaged customer, for example, is one that may decline to participate in a service feedback survey. They don’t care enough to further your performance by giving you information you need to improve. For maintenance companies, customers that invest in frequent enhancements is a sign of engagement, as are renewals with price increases.

If your team relishes challenges and jumps in to drive revenue, it’s a sign of good organizational health. On the contrary, if they complain that goals are not realistic, assuming that they are attainable, this is not a good sign.

Many owners sense a loss of urgency in their team. I think some of this is a normal evolution of business maturity, but it is an early warning of declining company health. It is a result of complacency. It’s probably a time to make sure you have some young talent coming up to push those that are starting to get too comfortable.

If engaged people are the ones who consistently push your business forward, where do we find these people? Better yet, how do we create and inspire them if they are already on our team? How can we lay the foundation for engagement, and shape the experience people have with our companies that not only benefits them, but is a return on investment for us?

Engagement pulse points:

Improve satisfaction. Coincidentally, this will also increase happiness and morale.
Communicate. Involve people in outcomes, problem-solving and planning, and include them in things that matter.
Delegate. Give people room to work and think in the way they work and think best.
Create a continual, consistent feedback loop; make recognition and course correction a conversation.
Make training, career growth and professional development a priority.

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Beyond the virus: 5 Takeaways

Cheryl — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 19:23:12 +0000

After a rough start to an unprecedented year, landscape organizations within our portfolio have not only regained their equilibrium and optimism, but the crisis has provided opportunities for growth.

Company founder Bruce Wilson says that 2020 offered meaningful crisis management lessons for landscape business of all sizes and companies that did well, did so by adapting quickly.

Owners looking to strengthen their position in 2021 are turning to peer groups and we’re seeing increased interest from C-suite landscape leaders across all segments who are looking to collaborate with other executives as a way to hone their leadership for a new era.

Peer group facilitator, executive coach and senior practice leader, Joe Kujawa, said that peer group membership definitely provides opportunities to network and interact on issues more than ever before.

“If a CEO has a safe space to work on key priorities and not feel like they have to tackle everything, a peer group lets them think out loud and sort through what might be holding them back.”

With 2021 in sight, Joe adds that his peer group members are taking steps now to crisis-proof their organizations and says there are five things CEOs can do to steer their organizations to future success:

Communicate – there is no such thing as too much information. Keeping the conversation going is good for business and good for people.
Measure what matters – engage in scenario game-planning that includes metrics to assess how each scenario is tracking.
Prioritize agility – seize the moment, there is no more business as usual.
Clear the clutter – identify what you can do less with and more of to streamline organizational productivity.
Improve engagement – invite more stakeholder voices to the table to encourage new leaders and innovators to emerge.

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Agility is Key to Improving Performance

Cheryl — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 19:14:43 +0000

2020 taught us that no matter how fast we move, business, unlike NASCAR, is not just a series of predictable left turns, but instead a track with multiple twists and turns like an Indy car event. Success demands not only speed, but agility – an ability to navigate the changing landscape at record speed without losing control and crashing.

Quickly adjusting the way we deliver services and overcome unforeseen hazards – whether a global pandemic, economic downturn or disaster – while maintaining critical momentum, gives us the inside track over less flexible competitors, allowing us to survive and, in some cases, thrive despite unexpected hardship.

What does an agile company look like and what sets it apart from others that appear, on the surface, just like it in terms of service offerings, people and equipment? These race tips will help you smoothly navigate those unseen hairpin turns that may derail less agile competitors.

1. Produce an operating budget and stay informed on the state of the world.

Get input from your team on the budget so that they own it with you, and then don’t just stick it in a drawer or in a binder on a shelf. Refer to it religiously; make it a part of your monthly financial review, updated regularly to reflect the constantly changing business environment. Agile companies are always looking ahead, adjusting their operating budgets and business plan based on a real-time understanding of the economy and markets. Regularly reviewing trusted business periodicals can help prepare you to spot trends requiring quick action long before they become an issue.

2. Lose the paper.

Paper requires time to handle. Before hitting the print button, ask: Is this piece of paper critical? How will it benefit my customer or my employee? Can the information it contains be shared or stored differently? Consider collaborative platforms, such as Google or Teams, or digital formats. Don’t push print just because it has always been done that way. Agile companies work in the cloud and make information broadly and easily accessible to those that need it without the need to generate, handle and file mounds of paper.

3. Develop consistent, streamlined processes, procedures and job descriptions.

Good processes cut down on ambiguity and specializing job duties, where practical, allows for greater accountability, control and proficiency. Agile companies have a deeper understanding of how to do the job well, cutting out unnecessary steps and bottlenecks which cause delays. Need a starting point? Gather your team together and list the processes they spend the most time on daily, weekly or monthly. Prioritize the list and brainstorm ways to shorten and improve the process for the most critical tasks. Document the procedures and update them as necessary.

4. Fully utilize systems to get up-to-date, meaningful data and reports.

Less is more – a management dashboard that distills many different operating reports into just the critical, need-to-know information used to make timely business decisions is paramount to avoiding “paralysis by analysis” syndrome. Agile companies react to rapidly changing or unexpected market conditions and make important operating decisions faster than their competition.

5. Create high-functioning teams unconstrained by location or function.

Cross-functional collaboration is critical to innovation and improved performance. Working together in harmony – like a finely tuned pit crew – ensures we can deliver and meet unseen demands customers may place on us. Agile companies communicate a clear sense of purpose and hold each other accountable across multiple segments and divisions, creating a culture of continuous improvement and greater levels of commitment.

If implementing change within your organization feels like making a U-turn in a semi, it’s an opportunity for your teams to learn to turn on a dime. Gather your team together, pick one of these tips and start tearing down the walls. I bet you will discover an agile race car ready to take the checkered flag.

Reprinted with permission, GIE Media/Lawn & Landscape magazine. https://www.lawnandlandscape.com/article/agility-is-key-to-improving-performance/

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Organize the Org Chart

Cheryl — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 19:11:45 +0000

Org charts are essential components of business strategy. Yet, as companies go through different growth cycles, their organizational needs change while organization chart models remain unchanged. As a result, there can be a degree of dysfunction and things seem harder to control.

This is a symptom, not the cause. With business continuously evolving, nothing stays the same for long. Roles and responsibilities and shifting work structures can be disrupted during rapid growth – is that what is happening? Or is it something deeper?

CEOs are under increasing pressure to keep pace and structure, and systems and processes need regular fine tuning. No matter how well the org chart is set up, the root cause often centers on span of control and owners and subordinates question the number of direct reports.

In our peer group meetings, when owners bring this issue to the table, the conversation inevitably jumps to the number of direct reports. Unfortunately, this can lead to adding more hierarchical layers.

Many organizational problems are caused by poor performance. Before you start restructuring the boxes or adding positions, think about each position’s KPIs, and evaluate strengths and weaknesses objectively based on performance against them.

For example:

Crew Leaders: High-performing crew leaders seldom have jobsite issues. Strong crew leaders take a lot of pressure off production managers, and account or project managers. If a crew leader underperforms or if the position is a weak link due to turnover or not being able to find or develop new ones, the slippage trickles up the reporting ladder, overwhelming supervisors, managers and so on. Adding a new position or level does not fix the root cause if it is at the crew leader level.
Account Manager: The weak link can be at other levels, too. Ineffective account management can result in unhappy customers, renewal issues and have a detrimental impact on bigger, more rewarding opportunities for company growth. Is the account manager weak or is the problem weak crew leaders?
Turnover: High turnover compromises consistency and impacts an organization’s ability to run like a well-oiled machine. New people are learning on the job, there’s poor morale and new hires struggle to fast track. Turnover can create weaknesses at all levels.

Ask good questions to fix what’s broken:

How does your company’s dysfunction, inefficiency, conflict or tension show up in your day-to-day?
What issues make you feel that you have an organizational problem?
Can greater functionality be addressed through training, upgrading, upskilling, DiSC assessment, culture improvements?
At what level are your issues the most severe, and where are the problems originating?
Are you happy with the performance of the people you have in key roles?
If you fixed the weak links, would it solve the problem?
How do your people feel about how things are actually working? They experience stress differently than people at the top.
An obstacle to fixing the org chart is trying to work around people in the chart. You should try building the chart without names then put people in the slots. You will get a more functional org chart.
How efficient is your current workflow? Do people have two bosses, or is reporting complicated?
How can job design and requirements be modified to deliver greater accountability?

If, after going through this exercise, you feel that disconnects still exist, then it might be time to look more closely at creating fundamental change. Many times, org charts can look good on paper but don’t work in practice. And while these challenges may seem operational, they could be a byproduct of organizational decision-making.

You can improve the odds of company alignment by making sure your org chart matches your strategic intent. Every position on the chart should, ideally, support your goals and work together to achieve them.

Reprinted with permission, GIE Media/Lawn & Landscape magazine. Published November 2020. https://www.lawnandlandscape.com/article/organize-the-org-chart/

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