“If it isn’t broken, consider breaking it!” A challenging suggestion for businesses that are enjoying a margin of success, and one that I must say I like.
Why? Because very often when a business is performing well, the silent killer, complacency, drops in. In fact complacency almost always grows from a sense of success and lives long after the success that created it has disappeared. “Good is the enemy of great” they say, and hence the many examples of businesses with good market share, profitability and growth that rested on their laurels long enough for their competitors to catch and overwhelm them.
How then to deal proactively with complacency in your workplace, and keep your business on its toes?
Firstly keep an eye out for warning signs. While each workplace is different, here are some common indications from business writer Julie Bawden-Davis.
1. You don’t have concrete, measurable goals for changing, refining and improving your business.
2. There is no clear vision for the company that starts at the top and filters down throughout the organization.
3. You don’t regularly analyze your customers, competition and environment and then innovate and adjust your strategy in response.
4. You repeat the same procedures and actions at your place of business every day, week and year.
5. The last several months or year of profit and loss statements are about the same.
6. You aren’t seeing a consistent flow of new customers.
7. You haven’t introduced any or many new products or services.
8. No significant changes have been made to your website recently.
9. You’ve made some recent key decisions based on emotions, rather than objectivity.
Secondly there are three areas that are susceptible to complacency. These are people, plans, and processes.
People: Ask yourself of each of your staff members whether that person and the relationship is meeting (or better still exceeding) your expectations. If the answer is no, outline what needs to change, by when and what the consequences will be if this doesn’t happen. Make these expectations clear to the individual and ask for their help in achieving this. In the end, if an individual doesn’t perform, they need to be replaced with someone who does. While running a business is about working with people, it’s also a lot easier with the right people.
Plans: Planning should never be a static event, and any company that wants to avoid complacency should allow regular and generous amounts of time for effective strategic and operational planning. Include the questions: Who are we? Where are we now? Where do we want to be? How will we get there? How are we doing?
Processes: Complacency can easily creep into your key processes over time, and to make sure these are optimized, it’s advisable firstly to identify the key processes of your business (e.g. sales, marketing, operations etc) and then to ask a few key questions: Is this process or step efficient and effective? Is the right person doing this process or this step? Can we improve this process by ten percent or better? Are we applying available technology wisely to this process?
You’ll be surprised by how many answers arise from addressing these areas. And in response to them, good business sense would suggest “change before you have to”.
