Build a great company on a powerful foundation!
All organizations have goals, no matter what the size. Sometimes they’re clear, sometimes not.
But when the organization gets large, the employees rarely find the goals to be motivating. Instead, they often revert to the lowest common denominator: What do I have to do to keep my job?
This drives leaders nuts.
It’s a great idea to ask for feedback from your employees. It’s part of letting them know you care, and want to improve.
So you gather up your courage and ask people for feedback, both one-on-one and as a group.
But here’s the hard part: showing them that you’re taking action. Why is that crucial?
Because it tells them about your honesty and integrity.
Read the rest of this entry »I was recently honored with the title of Golden Fish! Actually, it is a big deal – for me – even though you’ve never heard of it.
It’s something that we’ve been doing this year in Small Fish Business Coaching to recognize contribution and achievement. The best part is that it’s a recognition of my peers in the company, people I work closely with and deeply respect.
The emotional impact is the most important part. Which got me thinking …
Read the rest of this entry »I started out my career as a software engineer. Software doesn’t tend to be quite as elegant as other forms of machinery, but I totally get the concept that things are beautiful when they run efficiently and reliably.
That’s why I’ve found it amusing that my emphasis has shifted almost entirely to the “people side” of business. People are messy, unpredictably, and endlessly challenging.
I guess it’s because I’m a problem-solver at heart, and people offer an infinite array of problems to work on. Yet, we envision our businesses as that “well-oiled machine,” running like a top.
Read the rest of this entry »Almost 4 million workers in the US quit their jobs in April 2021. That’s just stunning.
And, as we know, it’s a mixture of many job openings, people changing their career paths, and dissatisfaction with current situations. Workers are really rethinking their options right now.
As an employer, I assume that you’d like to keep your best people around. But there’s a problem:
Read the rest of this entry »Last week I talked about creating delightful experiences for customers. But I have to be fair and admit that there’s a flip side as well.
This came to mind just yesterday when I got a new tool for my woodshop. The tool is great, although the assembly instructions weren’t as uniform in their detail as I would have liked.
Then I came to the registration card.
I recently got a new camera. Yeah, a real camera that takes pictures and videos and stuff – not a phone.
And I confess that I didn’t take the photo here – I don’t yet have the talent to use the camera properly. That’ll come.
But my point today is what an absolute delight it is! It’s solid, capable, and seems to have prepared for my every whim.
Read the rest of this entry »The pandemic broke Just In Time (JIT).
I’ve seen many examples of this in the last year, starting off with the toilet paper shortage. Remember that?
It was ridiculous! It’s not like people started using a lot more TP. It’s just that it was in the wrong place, in the wrong format. When people noticed, they started hoarding … but that just made it worse.
The real problem is that we all became accustomed to having supplies readily available. Without having to stock extra.
Read the rest of this entry »Culture is a powerful concept in business, identifying the way people actually work together to get stuff done. It’s connected with other larger cultures, of course, including the community, society and country we live in.
Individuals also bring their own micro-culture — how they interact, communicate, make decisions, and so on.
But here I’m focusing on the culture we all share in our organizations. Our key processes interleave with the way we work together as people. We’d like to think that they’re in sync. When they’re not, everyone gets frustrated and the processes don’t work well.
Read the rest of this entry »I’m involved with several organizations for which this is the beginning of the new year. Not on the traditional calendar, but in the way we think and plan and organize.
January 1st is just an arbitrary date, right?
So now might be a good time – as good as any – to make some decisions.
The Values-Based Business 