The Systems Approach

| Posted: 30-06-2008 | Comments: 0 | Views: 2 | Rating: (52)

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Going the systems way is more often than not the time for reappointing yourself as something other than the CEO or managing director. Sometimes letting go of your company’s reins is the only smart choice. That doesn’t mean you have to like it. When the decision is taken to let go the reins of controlling every aspect of the business, there are bound to be convulsions. Giving appointed managers the nod to run the business with their personal authority intact means no peeping over their shoulders as a way of keeping a tether between you and your ‘baby’. You too will need to learn to follow the systems and procedures that are to be put in place. It’s time to break yourself of old habits – and it may be hard to do so.

If the business has grown well beyond the start-up stage, it will almost certainly demand new things you aren’t able to provide. So there will inevitably come a time to take yourself out of the chain of command, put a management team in charge and, where necessary bring in outside consultants to help develop the systems needed to keep the company healthy over the long haul.

People need order, structure and predictability; they need to know what they are walking into when they come to the office each day. Mostly business has to be predictable and organised. A business eventually reaches the point at which it can sustain itself on its own cash flow and, when it gets there, it moves away from that critical infancy stage with all the problem-solving challenges and begins to develop a whole new set of needs – management, stability and structure.

In other words, delegation. But delegating authority doesn’t always come easy: it’s very difficult to change the way your business is run – going from one-person rule to professional management.

The first challenge may well be to find someone else to manage the transition to professional management for you. This is not to say you must seek out a new CEO, but it does mean a new management system. If your strengths do not lie in convening or facilitating meetings – for example, running a staff meeting with 10 people discussing how things should be done – then it may be better for someone else to lead the process. This could be a manager type, or a consultant type; there are consultants who specialise in such transitions. After all, if you are an entrepreneur, a long-range plan is a week; for a manager, a short-range plan is a year.

The second challenge you may be facing over this transition is to redefine your role in the business. If you aren’t going to be running the business any more, how are going to spend your time? Identify your strengths and play to them. If you are good at sales be the face of the business to the key customers. If it is product development, roll your sleeves up and become involved in sussing out market opportunities and checking the customer base for its needs. Perhaps there’s an export market that needs some investigation? Get on a plane and speak to the key people.

If your goal is to hand over 100 per cent of your authority to the management team, then monitor this milestone. In some businesses, the decision-making can shift from 100 per cent to zero – that is, where you don’t have to make any decisions at all. This does require a certain mindset: ‘As long as the managers stay within the budget and meet the financial goals, why should I care how they do it?’

You may instinctively prefer a total controlling style of management, but however difficult the transition, what you prefer should not be the main point; rather, if the business has reached a certain stage then what it needs is more important than what you need.

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Article Tags: Business Coaching, Autopilot, Business Systems, Business Acceleration

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Murray Priestley works with business owners to deliver more bottom line profits, while working less hours. This is possible through the use of the Business Autopilot methodology. For a Free Autopilot Assessment where you can find out how easy it maybe to autopilot your business and increase your profits from 25 to 100% within 180 days guaranteed, please visit http://www.systemised.com/assessment

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The Systems Approach

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