And now for something completely different

As the Monty Python team put it, “And now for something completely different…”

We can get so caught up in the day to day activities of our business we forget to take a step away from what we are doing to consider alternative ways of working.

As a director, I made sure applicants from other trades and experiences for jobs advertised were considered, thus insuring a good mix when it came to opening thought streams for alternative ways of approaching a task, objective or goal.

It is challenging, especially in today’s economic climate, to be brave enough to take these chances but be assured, it is probably the least risky approach of expanding your businesses productivity, knowledge base or marketing awareness.

Frequently we stick with people from within the industry, but consider that some will leave a job because they do not get on with a particular person or, more commonly, they do not like the way they are expected to do a task. So they move to another company where, after the honeymoon period, find it is just the same there too, imagine that!

New blood brings fresh approaches. A thirst for knowledge but also to share new ideas otherwise not considered as we normally fish in the incestuous pool everyone else swims in.

Albert Einstein quoted “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”. This is not to say there’s insanity in your organisation but more the fact that if you repeatedly do the same thing, the same results happen.

Much like taking a different approach to employment, have you considered some of these areas:

• Giving staff the trust to work from home?
• Development Change – Those you make to improve business procedures. Such as improving existing billing and reporting methods. Refocusing marketing strategies and advertising processes.
• Transitional change – Those you make to replace existing processes with new processes. Such as experiencing restructures, mergers or acquisitions.
• Transformational change – Those you make to reshape your business strategy and processes or shift in work culture. Such as adopting radically different technologies. Operating changes to meet new supply and demand.

Whether you are a successful business or one that is struggling to get the break, there are fundamentally 6 areas that change is needed for it to survive:

1. Products/Services – Do not react when something goes wrong but proactively experiment with new ranges or demographics.
2. Branding – Does it still reflect your business? Branding should remain consistent but that doesn’t mean you should never spruce it up?
3. Marketing – How ‘Alive’ is your web site? Do you use all/any of the Social Media channels? What of post? Do you actually test to the effectiveness of your marketing strategies?
4. Staffing – How effective are the team members? Have you assessed how effective staff are in their current role or could they improve by shifting them to another function?
5. Technology – These evolve quickly but it is imperative you keep abreast of communication, marketing, presentation, hardware etc.
6. Partners – Steven Covey put it as “Interdependency”, combining being independent with dependency. In business we need others to help us succeed. Look to network with others, open your eyes to potential opportunities.

Wherever you or your business are at, always look to do something that little bit different to insure you stand out from the crowd.

Coaching to success specialises in Change Management as well as enabling you to come up with fresh ideas you may not have considered previously so reach out and contact Neil on 07761 187238 or email neil@coachingtosuccess.co.uk where you’ll be assured a warm welcome to discuss how we can help. You’ll get a better understanding of Neil too by watching our interview video at https://youtu.be/RvCwOL4hPco