For SBT
We’re in the month of the two-faced Janus, the god of endings and beginnings. Some business owners took time in December to evaluate the past year and plan for the next. Most of my clients are busy enough in December doing the holiday dance. January becomes the time for reflecting and planning, such an essential part of running a business.
Of course it must go on all year, but at least once a year we fence off some time to really focus on the process and tune our organizations more closely to our intentions. The more people involved in this process, the healthier for the business.
Where have we been? Where are we going? The first step is to pivot back to this time last year and the goals set then. Spending too much time looking into the past can result in a big pain in the neck. Still, there are rich lessons available through studying the accomplishments of the organization. Where did you exceed your expectations and where did you fall short? Once you have that data, you get into the really useful stuff, i.e., what factors influenced those results?
Then the forward look – articulating measurable goals for 2002 and communicating them throughout the organization. Goals specified, defined and made visible are 80% more likely to be realized than fuzzy ones.
Once you have this shared vision of where you’re going, carve out the support for the vision. Who’s gonna do what, when are they gonna do it, and who will be accountable for it?
Second, take a good look at the health of your relationships: employees, customers, vendors, competitors – well, everyone who touches your business.
Probably nothing is more important. When I left home for undergraduate school, my father amazed me. He had inspired academic achievement throughout my elementary and high school years. To my surprise, as I packed up my green Volkswagen Bug to drive off to the university, he said, "The friends you make at school will be more important than anything else; keep that in mind."
In the backward glance, check out relationships that have changed during the year. Perhaps you consider yourself an "employer of choice," yet four of your stars left to join another organization. It’s essential to understand why. Maybe some customer orders have dwindled appreciably or worse. Gather the important information that helps you understand how the texture of these relationships changed. In this relationship review, check to see if you failed to acknowledge anyone! Then do it. It is never to late to say thank you.
Looking forward, put plans in place to strengthen relationships, and develop new ones that will support the growth of your business. "Stay close to your customers" is almost a theme of business in this century. We need look no further than Harley-Davidson for a shining example of how that works. Forbes magazine, in selecting Harley as the USA’s best company, described the many successful strategies used to keep those riders up close and personal with the company.
Caring for employees, customers, vendors – all those relationships – cannot be just a sentiment that you express in words. Action is the only thing that really counts here, so develop an action plan for the care and feeding of relationships as you plan for the year.
Part of the review involves scanning the environment in which you do business, and how changes in that environment affected your organization. Of course the changes wrought by the Sept. 11 attacks are still unfolding, with astounding effects, and that will no doubt be part of your review. Beyond that (and hopefully we can get beyond that) scan your environment industry-wide, locally, nationally and globally. Look at conditions in the environment now, and those you anticipate. As you look ahead, take these into account. Look at your products. What actually are you selling and what do you know about the demand for it? Is it getting more attractive to more people? Do we need changes here? For example, if your main product is a book entitled "Why Americans Will Never Be Attacked on Home Soil," you probably need to put a lot of energy into R&D.
Peter Drucker says this: "The business enterprise has two, and only two, basic functions: marketing and innovation. It is not necessary for a business to grow bigger; but it is necessary that it constantly grow better."
This process -looking back, looking ahead – can be the pause that refreshes.
Hopefully you will learn some pithy stuff about yourself, your colleagues and the climate within which you’re doing business. All of this can be forged into a greater trust in your own abilities to lead through challenging times.
I wish for you that greater trust and a 2002 that makes wonderful sense to you.
Jo Hawkins Donovan has a coaching and psychotherapy firm in Milwaukee, and can be reached at
414-271-5848 or jo@hawkinsdonovan. com. The firm’s Web site is www. hawkinsdonovan.com. Hawkins Donovan will respond to your questions in this
column. Her column appears in every other issue of SBT.
Jan. 18, 2002 Small Business Times, Milwaukee
