We’ve all seen the heartbreaking news photos of people standing in the rubble of their homes or places of business after a tornado has passed through. While the devastation wreaked on your enterprise by the Business Storm Cycle phase we call the Tornado – that period of hypergrowth and tumbling margins—is more fiscal than physical, it can leave you and your staff with that same sick feeling of having barely survived a disaster, wanting to pick up the pieces but not knowing how or where to start. It’s overwhelming and just another reason for your already-exhausted and demoralized staff to bail.
As the leader of your business, you’re probably feeling as battered as your staff – and probably nearly as hopeless. How do you begin to piece it all back together? Your people are looking to you for direction and leadership, but this goes beyond anything you’ve been through before. Where should you start?
If there was ever a right time to call in professional outside help, this is it. Don’t hesitate to get support to help your company through the whole process: assessment, strategy and execution.
Start the assessment phase with people, process and technology. A new pair of eyes can give you that 10,000-foot perspective; an experienced consultant can guide you through this essential first step. If you don’t know what’s broken, you won’t be able to fix it, so an expert assessment is critical. And don’t fall for the IT solutions you’ll undoubtedly be offered by salespeople with a product they claim can repair your broken processes. No one piece of software is going to bring all three of the legs of your business triangle back to where they need to be. Your people, processes and technology have to be reconsidered and righted, and that’s a process, not a prescription.
You wouldn’t slap a Band-Aid on a serious wound; don’t fall for a Band-Aid solution for a complex problem.