Can you adjust your business culture?
I have noticed there are a lot of businesses that are consistently at the ragged edge of panic. The staff is stressed, frantic, and running around like their hair is on fire. Why? Some would probably say that is the nature of their business. When a client or boss says jump, you have to ask, “How high?” on the way up. It is out of anyone’s control, right?
I’m not so sure. I suspect it is a cultural thing, a state of mind that CAN be influenced far more than one might think. Stress is just a kind of lowest common denominator. Here are a few thoughts on how a business might begin to reign in a culture of panic and mediocrity.
What is normal?
Self-awareness
How much can I actually get done in a day, week, or month? No really. Line up actual progress with past estimates. How accurate are you? Don’t schedule more than you can do. You can’t do more than you can do.
Expect the Unexpected
Extenuating circumstances come around all the time. How much time, on average, do you need to spend on emergency situations? Go look through past projects to see. Set aside that much time in your schedule. That goes for your overall scheduling as well as for each project.
“They” Will Panic
You know how certain clients tend to run things on their end. You can’t control their madness. However, you can plan for it. Have a system in place for prioritizing and handling quick turn-around items. This will help their panic not become your panic.
Individual Buy-in
Culture comes down to the individual. If the leadership in a company maintains an intelligent and balanced culture, it will be easier for the team to adopt a similar stance. As an individual, if your manager is unable to manage themselves, you can still respond effectively. The larger success of a project may be out of your control, but you can do your piece as well as possible. Admittedly, that is harder to get excited about.
Where are we now?
Do What You Say
Set realistic and specific milestones. Make sure everyone involved knows them. Do what it takes to meet those milestones.
Communicate Failure
Things don’t go as planned. When something goes sideways, let everyone involved know as soon as possible. Reset and re-communicate those milestones.
Be Intentionally Responsive
People learn how to get things done. If you only respond to screaming threats, that’s what you’ll get. Give people the option you want to receive, and reward that type of interaction.
Where are we going?
Go Beyond Functional
Fixing problems only gets you up to zero in the client’s eyes. It is expected to work. Plan time for refining the user experience, actually test effectiveness of key elements, help refine content, suggest improvements, etc. A quiet client isn’t necessarily a happy client.
Prioritize Strategically
Make sure the most important projects get the time they need. This isn’t the noisiest ones. Communicate priorities with the whole team.
Walk Away
Have a system in place for deciding if a client is worth the effort. If not, respectfully hand them off and walk away.
What is the Company’s Larger Goal?
Are you striving for bigger projects? Higher profile work? Cooler clients? Higher quality work? Innovative products? Make more and more money? Just trying to pay the bills? What motivates each employee? If everyone knows the goal, then everyone can move in the same direction.
Some of this seems extremely obvious. None of it seems very easy to pull off when the rubber meets the road. I think there is a big difference between knowing you need to schedule or communicate well, and actually making a concerted effort to make it happen. And that effort might make all the difference in the end.
