How Do You Run Your Company?

I find it very interesting and somewhat ironic that at a time when we are implementing several process reengineering projects at Opportunity Knocks, things have a way of putting themselves into prospective.

While these reengineering projects, as you know, can be frustrating in the short term, it is nice to be reminded that we are already doing several things correctly!

I recently read a great article that truly changed the way I think about strategic thinking and problem solving.

This simple reminder I speak of came from a long yet inspiring article entitled “The Google Model.”  Many small and medium-sized businesses easily write off trying to implement “The Google Model” for running a company.

But, why? 

Many of the methods simply created better results, advanced company agility, and most importantly, promote employee engagement.  And guess what…making your business more efficient will not cost you any money.

You can start by following these four steps and creating a better work environment for everyone. 

New Product or Advertising Launches:

Even the brightest and most important people at Google cannot foresee what new software or platform will turn into a large user base.  What they do is they find a way to launch quickly and then test to find what is working. Advice:  Ask your customer’s questions then use that information to establish your best bet for success.

If you Fail, Fail Quickly:

Do you constantly try new advertising methods and channels?  Well, believe it or not, some businesses actually fail in their approach. The most important thing is making sure you can recognize the failure and move on.  Take what you learned and make sure not to do it again.

Advice:  Ask your team a few questions: What have we learned?  What worked really well?  What can we do next time to ensure it will be successful?

Empower Your Employees:

Advice:  Let your team know that they shouldn’t need to ask for permission to fix a problem or find a solution, and if they mess something up, forgive, as they were trying to take on responsibility.  Once this is made clear, your employees will be ready to act quickly and take initiative.  You can choose to reward them for out of the box thinking or create incentive for finding quick fixes and solutions.

The Customer Experience:

Your clients, customers, or users should be the primary focus of your business model.  Every single product, service, or adverting channel should be connected to a problem or challenge.

Advice:  You can start with the question, “What solution can we provide for our customers problems or concerns?”

Find the Missing Link

One of the best examples of a strong business culture is making sure you and your team shouldn’t just try to find the missing link to a broken piece of your business, you are absolutely responsible for it. Everyone should, without question, spring into action as a team until it is found and put back together.  If everything is running smooth, then make sure everyone starts thinking outside the box finding new ways to create value and growth.

By ensuring that the company’s main focus is making the customer experience better while empowering employees to be responsible for the growth and development, you will foster an easy growth plan for instant trajectory.  This creates a team atmosphere that is by far the best way to lower turnover and grow your business substantially.  So take it one step at a time and remember, free lunches are completely optional.