As an organizational leader, or a business owner, if you are not asking yourself these ten questions, you are not optimizing your organization or business!
As a business owner of over twelve years, coupled with a thirty year career as a supply chain leader, I have found these questions to help drive optimal results, in business and in organizations. I have not only personally applied the application of these questions to my own business, but I’ve used them as an executive coach and business consultant. They provoke you to focus on continuous improvement, it also puts a spotlight on those weak areas that will hold you back from growth and development.
Here’s a deeper dive into the Ten Questions:
- Are you “following the money”?
Cash flow and profitability are the lifeblood of a company. Optimizing your profitability and improving your cash position can drive important investments back into the business, enabling future growth and truly scaling your business.
Conversely, tying up $ in inventory and receivables creates a different challenge, which restricts the ability to meet expense obligations.
Creating the right business and financial metrics are also pivotal in driving financial success.
2. Do you set annual goals and do strategic planning?
Annual goal setting gets the organization aligned to working on key initiatives that will drive the greatest benefits to the organization. It also helps leaders, and their team members measure results and monitor progress throughout the year.
For strategic planning, which spans a longer timeframe, typically a 2-3 year forward look if not greater, it’s critically important to think about future needs based on the direction the company is going in.
What are the resources, processes, technology, that would be needed to enable the long-term growth plans?
3. Do you have the right people in the right jobs?
The “right people” in your organization goes well beyond competencies and functional skills that they possess. While of course it’s important to bring someone into a role who has the appropriate transferrable skills, it’s also about “fit“. Some examples of this include: diversity or thought and experiences, collaborative, shares values that align with the culture in your organization.
Without both competency AND fit, you run the risk of having someone in a role who simply won’t be successful and / or satisfied in the role, and your organization and team will not benefit as you intended it to.
4. Do you have the necessary leadership skills?
There is so much to unpack here, but simply put: Are you the trusted, engaging leader who inspires others? Will they trust and follow you?
5. How are you building relationships with your customers and business partners?
Strong relationships with customers foster loyalty, encouraging repeat business and retention. Being customer-centric helps to best understand their needs and serve them in a way that shows you are listening to their feedback. This ultimately improves customer satisfaction.
Building relationships with business partners can lead to collaboration, innovation, and mutually beneficial partnerships. In addition, strong relationships build trust between parties, fostering credibility and reliability. Trust is a critical factor in business relationships, impacting decision-making and long-term partnerships.
6. Are you developing the culture in your organization?
Culture is a DIFFERENTIATOR for organizations:
✔ It increases retention
✔ It improves employee satisfaction
✔ You can only create the right employee experience when you understand the employees’ mindset, likes and dislikes, interests, needs, and motivators
✔ A positive culture effects morale and employee engagement
✔ It enhances productivity and collaboration
Simply put, a great culture is a GAME CHANGER!
7. Have you optimized your operating processes?
Improved operating processes drive down costs, increases efficiency, and improves productivity to name a few benefits.
It can also increase employee satisfaction, as it can reduce frustration that employees can have from inconsistent or unidentified processes.
Inherent in improved processes is a reduction in variability in manufacturing, which in turn improves product quality and lowers costs.
8. How well do you know your industry and your competition?
Knowing your industry helps organizations make strategic decisions by knowing customer preferences and needs. It also fosters innovation, creates cost and competitive advantages. and mitigates risks.
Knowledge of your competition also has major advantages, namely:
Helps to differentiate you, for example, in pricing, or in meeting unmet consumer needs.
Helps to identify gaps in the market by assessing competitors’ products and services, and business models.
Can help differentiate you from the competition by highlighting unique strengths or superior value.
9. Are you focused on the right products and services?
Focusing on the right products and services effects your profitability, your resource utilization, and the efficiency (or lack thereof) with which you can manufacture and distribute your products.
Focusing on the right products and services helps you to meet your customers where they are at and addressing their needs.
10. Are you investing in the right areas to enable growth?
Knowing the emerging technologies, marketplace needs, and potential resource constraints (in people, processes, or technology) need to be considered to answer such a question.
Being in touch with the consumer data and trends in your industry will give you an indication of what the future needs are, along with the associated cost to keep up with that future demand.
If you’re prepared to discuss your specific situation in more detail, click the Free zoom session button in the top right hand corner of my website! https://richbrunoconsulting.com/
