1 - Post Downsize Trauma

Individual
Making people redundant always has an impact no matter how tough a manager you consider yourself to be. Whether as the M.D. owner or a manager, making these decisions about people you probably know is always going to be tough in itself. In most cases the reasons for downsizing are clear, but is this always the case? It is essential that decisions are based on a sound analysis of the causal relationships within the business and the market. At the same time, many whom the company would prefer to stay opt to leave at the voluntary redundancy stage, so how do you help those that remain to re-focus on the future? So in terms of the Quad, we have found that the key areas of healing broken relationships, guiding all concerned in the direction to be taken and reconciling those broken relationships all have a part to play.

Team
Downsizing always causes issues, generating feelings of injustice, bitterness and resentfulness within the team at a time when you most need cooperation to move forward. But how to gain the confidence of the team, help them re-focus on the goal and the pathway to achieving that goal? – this is a real challenge for many like yourself. Here the aspects of healing and reconciling have a substantial impact.

Organisational
At the level of the organisation, assuming the issues of individuals and the teams are being addressed, what about the overall direction? It is necessary now to consider the importance of re-grouping, re-focusing the whole of the business to move towards the goal. What changes must now take place that provide a sound platform for moving forward? Are there new course changes that must be validated and implemented and what skills are necessary to achieve this? When the organisation is concerned, we have found ourselves addressing those issues using all the aspects of the Coaching Quad, each in their own respective applications, but also in a systemic manner to ensure that the organisation itself is able to function properly.

2 - The internal perceptions of management within an SME

As an M.D. Owner, or senior manager, it is easy to think “things will change soon” but when they don’t, it could be too late to steer the oil tanker you find yourself captain of. You may assume the direction is clear and understood, but what if…? There are times when the internal compass could be showing the wrong direction, but how do you check it?

The sooner you seek assistance when you know things are going wrong the more chance you stand of recovery. Having someone to check the working of the organisational compass at this step could prove to be one of the better decisions taken. You may not be the root cause, but you could be the reason the business fails through indecisive action. This is where the ability to both guide and sustain has been shown to be of great value. The ability to have confidence in the direction being taken, even if the Coaching Quad does not recommend a change of direction, is in itself great validation, and if the direction is not clear then the time spent to ensure the right direction is never wasted.

3 - External forces upon an SME suggesting a course change

Not all businesses admit or know they have problems and it is only the good governance and scrutiny of the Board of Directors or Funding Providers that recognises that there may be a serious problem affecting performance. These businesses may need attention at senior management level to check these external demands for course change, and if such change is required, to develop the steps that enable recovery to be attained. Once more the use of the Coaching Quad enables both direction (guiding) and sustainability to be determined, and also the barriers to the changes required. This is about leadership and bringing people on-board, have a clear and compelling vision that all can subscribe to.

Likewise - if a Customer is reliant on the continued supply of a niche product or service, they have a vested interest in the wellbeing of that supply chain business. It may therefore be necessary for the Customer to advise the supplier that quality, price or delivery are no longer acceptable and remedial actions must be taken. The quality, price and delivery of output may not have decreased, but the expectation of the Customer may have grown. Here the ability to reconcile difficulties, change the relationships to win-win, enable the people to sustain the changes required and thus gain the benefits that should accrue is all part of the application of the Coaching Quad.

4 - Business Sustainability

Diversity
The owner, stakeholder or manager who recognises they are in a niche, declining or threatened marketplace should be commended for foresight, but it may not be obvious what to do about it. This is the time to consider diversification, which may not be immediately implemented, but at least “Plan B” will then have been considered. It may require further research, skills, knowledge or funding - but bear in mind that banks prefer to lend you money when you don’t need it rather than when you do! In our experience the application of the Coaching Quad primarily in the areas of guiding and sustaining has proved to be of most value and ensures that the necessary foundation is in place for growth into the future.

Bottom Line Improvement
A business maybe content with the level of turnover for reasons of working capital, workforce or market size, but it can still have an appetite for a greater bottom line return. There is a need to work “smarter” with what you already have and review processes, skill levels, work flow, communication etc….. This is where the guiding and sustaining aspects again have proven capability.

Top Line Improvement
This applies to a business with ambition that wishes to increase turnover, market share and / or portfolio. This growth must be considered, regulated and realistic and ensuring this may call upon skills and experience not within the existing business. This is where the guiding and sustaining aspects again have proven capability, especially when used in conjunction with the Coaching Cycle process.

If you would like further information please contact us by telephone or e-mail. We will usually come to see you and sometimes also your team. We will take you through the approach, how it works and what we would expect a coaching project would look like for you and your team.

TEL: 01664 502860
E-MAIL: tedh@constraintmanagement.co.uk

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