Caution: Speed Bumps Ahead

We’ve all been there. Whether it’s working on your strategic plan or a sales plan, that point where you say to yourself, “I still believe in the plan but we’re not making the progress that we should be making.” Your business results may be satisfactory but you’ve hit a ceiling. Generally, not a time to panic but rather to objectively assess where you are in the process. It’s a good time to get your team together and have a candid discussion about your progress, identify what some of the stumbling blocks are and brainstorm how you can overcome this setback.

What’s in Your Way

Your people, your plan and your teams’ perseverance are three of the critical factors that you should focus on to transform your business. You may be trying to grow revenue or trying to change the company to one that enjoys a more relevant and strategic position with your clients.

Your people are the heart and soul of your business. It’s important to establish your expectations and communicate how you’ll evaluate them regarding their overall fit within your business, their performance and the contribution they can make to your ultimate success. While this may sound pretty basic, it’s one of the biggest factors that I see was missed when teams aren’t hitting their stride.

Your plan includes targeted goals and milestones, a definition of your core business as well as other initiatives you might be perusing, your growth and diversity opportunities and how you’ll use technology to connect and enable all of these dots. Make sure that these key success factors were not concocted in an echo chamber. Each of these should be carefully vetted and aligned with the overall direction of the business.

Perseverance, the last of the three P’s. This can be the area that will test you and your team. Here are six key elements of this section that shouldn’t be overlooked.

1. Execution, execution, execution.
2. Most original plans fail to meet their objectives, so make sure that you are able to pivot to your plan B.
3. Watch, listen and adapt.
4. Keeping score and taking action. How you measure and communicate your progress is important, especially when the going gets tough.
5. Make the difficult decisions. This is often a major contributing factor in your success. It could be a decision about a project, technology or a team member. While not making a decision is sometimes an option, it can also become a major impediment to your progress.
6. And don’t forget, execution. Don’t get caught up in the project of the month.

Ok, so you got it now, right? Working on the everyday aspects of your business comes natural to you and your team. Working on your business is an area that may require additional time and focus, but may be just the way to break through the ceiling that was holding you back. Good luck in your execution and let me know how you’re doing.

Mike Philie can help validate what’s working and what may need to change in your business. Changing the trajectory of a business is difficult to do while simultaneously operating the core competencies. Mike provides strategy and insight to owners and CEOs in the Graphic Communications Industry by providing direct and realistic assessments, not being afraid to voice the unpopular opinion and helping leaders navigate change through a common sense and practical approach. Learn more at www.philiegroup.com (launching soon), LinkedIn or email at mphilie@philiegroup.com.