Simplicity is the Key to Business Productivity

Businesses can always benefit from simple ideas that result in increased productivity. This is particularly true in a startup environment where a vast amount of work needs to be accomplished in a very short time frame.

Usually, as a result of this scramble, there are a lot of people working in an unstructured way at an extremely fast pace. Yet without process, efficiency is lacking and their efforts can be futile—this is where I come in!

Most of my first-time clients are businesses who realize that there is a lack of coordination across a specific team. For example, I worked closely with a tech startup that was rapidly expanding its marketing efforts. Their way of executing had each team member working on a separate initiative, with no oversight and no correlated timeline. 

From this baseline, I was able to take all of the individual pieces and roll it into a comprehensive roadmap—a higher level framework—for the team to execute in a cohesive way. 

In my practice, I add value to businesses by addressing process issues (and more!) with practical, useful, and implementable strategies such as:  

• Checkpoint Meetings

Unlike large corporations which can be meeting-heavy, startups are generally not. It’s important to find a good balance—we add structure, but not so much it becomes oppressive. 

With startups, I leverage 15 minutes “stand up style” weekly conversations to highlight where there might be roadblocks, dependencies, and room for improvement. At the end of the week, we’ll hold a more comprehensive 30-minute meeting to determine if the week’s goals have been met. By giving up a lean 45 minutes a week for checkpoint meetings we can easily establish goals and gauge progress toward achieving them.

• Meeting Notes

When working closely with a company, I seek out ways to increase productivity. Unique to each company, I teach tips and tricks that are easily applicable and infused in day-to-day work life. I’m often asked what tools I use to stay organized. I leverage a mix of technology and good old pen and paper to track what’s happening in meetings. There have been numerous times throughout my career where my notes have saved the day by capturing pertinent details or commitments that are integral to progress. In an age where everything is texted or slacked, I still find value in being a little old school.

My perspective as a company outsider with a fresh view allows me to craft custom strategies for each of my clients. 

Do you want to increase efficiency and productivity? If so, contact me today! 

The Utility Player Advantange

Any sports fan can define a utility player. What they probably can’t do is name one. Utility players are generally not given the All-Star nod, they’re not seen shaving in a Gillette ad or featured in magazines escorting models to events. Ask someone to name a great shortstop; quarterback or center and the conversation could likely go on for days.  Ask them to name a utility player and out comes their device for a Google search

If the specialists get the glory, the bank and the arm candy, why bother with being good at a multitude of things?

In my big corporate days and now in my consulting career, I’ve always considered myself to be a utility player. The key to playing that part is being able to perform several functions effectively and competently. Effectiveness and competence in the wake of change, growth or shifting economies are things I want on my team all day, every day. While being great at one thing has its advantages so does being able to succeed in multiple roles.

For example, excelling across multiple disciplines will help you:

• Prepare for bigger roles with wider reach – Quick, name a CEO who’s only good at 1 thing! I can’t either.

• Raise your profile throughout the organization – The more you do, the more people know you, the bigger your network and fan base.

• Be invaluable during tough times – As companies are tasked with doing more with less, the jack-of-all-trades becomes the go-to staffer.

Remember effectiveness and competence are critical. It’s not enough to be able to do a variety of things or to be willing to try something different. You have to crush all things equally whether you’re playing first base or playing shortstop.

Who's your favorite utility player? Leave your answer in the comments. Be creative! There are plenty of utility players outside of sports.

Three Strategies for Rapid Problem Solving

Consultants are often brought in to create a strategic assessment of a process or to solve a business problem. By the time the consultant is hired you can be assured that the team has been operating with sub-optimal processes in place and has learned to work around or work within its limits. No consultant ever hears the words, “Take your time figuring it out.” So how do you get to the heart of the problem quickly? I’ve found the following three strategies to be integral to swift problem solving:

Talk it Out: Stakeholder interviews are fundamental to information gathering. Talk to the people involved in the process, consumers of the process and observers of the process. These groups can provide a well-rounded view of what’s happening day-to-day, where the pain points are and how their own jobs are affected by the process issues. You’ll be amazed how in sync opposing groups can be when they’re offering feedback about what’s not working well.

Draw a Map: Whether you use the coolest flowchart tool or a pencil and the back of a napkin, laying out information visually will help highlight disconnects, redundancies and gaps in a way that talking through something never will. It will also help convey a problem to time-strapped execs in a succinct way. I once had a senior technology executive ask me to consolidate a 15-page analysis into three bullets. From that point forward, I’ve made sure I could articulate problems and solutions with pictures.

Find the Facts: Gather as much data as you can up front. Numbers don’t lie. Having solid data in your pocket will give you power to draw irrefutable conclusions and support your recommendations. In a data driven business ecosystem a gut feeling no longer carries the weight needed to secure buy-in for your recommendations.

When time and money are of the essence, the faster you can draw fact-based conclusions the better you position yourself as an efficient problem solver and invaluable resource to your clients.

Using Process to Accelerate Growth

If I’ve learned anything from my big company experience it’s that documentation is key. Very little gets done without an approval or a tick on a spreadsheet that says the VP of XYZ approves this. And with good reason, many industries are regulated and these decision archives become necessities in doing and staying in business.

But what about in smaller, ever-changing organizations like startups? In the nimble start up, often decisions are made on the fly or in the kitchen area over the free snacks and artisanal brew. Documenting decisions or process feels like overhead, when in reality it can be the jumping off point for next-level growth.

Earlier this year I met with a startup CEO with his sights set on scaling the organization. The team had grown exponentially and the reach of its product set was expanding. The company’s growth was outpacing its day-to-day operating model. He asked me how I could help them manage change within the organization. My answer, I’d write stuff down. After a month of working for this CEO, we had a plethora of project plans, process flows and accountability matrices. Laying this information out visually helped the team identify opportunities for improvement that would align standard operating procedures with the current size and scale of the organization. In addition, these newly defined processes were extensible enough to support future growth.

Another client hired me to build a pitch deck for a prospective ad agency. My assignment was to tell a cohesive story about the product, the brand and the market. I asked my client to send me whatever documents she had that I could turn into a presentation. She sent me roughly 20 multi-page emails containing discussion threads amongst the leadership team with cogent ideas, random thoughts, decisions made, decisions overturned, decisions remade. Email was this team’s only way of keeping track of what they were doing. From that stream of information I was able to build an easy to follow presentation that was used as the baseline for investor presentations and business plans.

When done right, taking time to document and archive ideas, processes and plans is an accelerator to growth. After all, you have to know where you are in order to see where you can go.