Contrain Supply and Innovate (or die)

Innovate or die. In nature, the axiom typically plays out in glacier time. But in business, you are "top of the world" one moment, and before you know it, you are the guy who mistook the black-tie event for a costume party (hard to hide when you are dressed up as a woman with a two day old beard...).

Constraining supply is a method to spark innovation. Here is an example to consider. During a recent project we focused on reducing the cost to process client RFQ (requests for quotes) associated to a service which was very technical in nature. On average, we were spending about US$100 to process a RFQ. But there was a challenge beyond fixing the problem. Though the sales team was on-board with the idea of reducing RFQ costs, the team was reluctant to fundamentally change the process status-quo. The sales team preferred the as-is process due to familiarity and the natural reluctance to change. To break the log-jam, we proposed to constrain an important element of the process to force innovation. The element we constrained was the time invested by a Sales Engineer to support the RFQ process. The original processes included a full time Sales Engineer plus time from senior technical staff. We reassigned the Sales Engineer role to no longer support the RFQ process, which forced innovation. With the assistance of senior technical staff, tools were developed to empower the sales team to generate quotes with no or very little technical support. With the Sales Engineer role out, the sales team had incentive to innovate since the Sales Engineer was not available to support quote development. With the tools developed by senior engineering staff, and more importantly, the tools, training, and incentative by the salesteam to develop quotes, the end result was a 50 % reduction in RFQ costs and 30 % increase in RFQ turnaround time.

No question, companies must innovate to survey (or die). Constraining the supply of a critical element of the process will force innovation.

--Raj

Recruiting Talent - Job One (or at least Job Two)

Working for a small company (less than $50 million in revenue) has a lot of benefits. I know since I work for one. One of the benefits is a less bureaucratic environment to navigate through to get the job done. Also, a small company offers a workplace which is more like an addition to my family vs. a place to work where I punch in and punch out. Though there are benefits for working for a small company, one area which is a big challenge is recruiting talent. Small companies are at a disadvantage when recruiting talent. Many times I'm "competing" with Fortune 1000 companies. Though the pay and benefits may match my "rivals", in general, talent gravitates to large, well-known companies. There may be many reasons for this, such as, a perception that bigger companies are "safer" as it relates to employment or the prestige that comes from working for a "name brand" company. In the end, one of my challenges of leading a team for a small company is recruiting talent. If you are managing a team, recruiting talent is "job one" or a close second. Before a product can be sold, assembled, shipped and invoiced, talent is required to sell it, make it, ship it and invoice it . Keeping an eye out for talent is important. Here are a couple of ideas which may be helpful. I work with my HR team to schedule at least one interview each month for a position of interest though an immediate need for talent may not be present. Having a steady-stream of talent to interview and consider gives me an idea of the type of talent out there, and provides me a leg-up if I'm faced with a hiring opportunity. A second idea is joining professional organizations and attending meetings and symposium associated with your business. This allows you the opportunity to keep an eye-out for talent you may want to recruit, in addition to building-up your professional network. Keeping your fingers on the "pulse of talent" is essential when managing a team, and if not "Job One" then it's "Job Two."

Raj

New Hire (First Week is Critical)

It's Monday morning and a new teammate is joining your department. She reports to you and will manage a very important team under your scope. IT has been contacted to setup a laptop, software, phone, and HR has a number of orientation meetings setup during the week. But have you thought about sitting with your new hire during the first week and detailing the major "anatomy" of the position and your expectations? The first week is critical to help set tone, and share thoughts and your vision, which will be referenced to as the teammate get her arms around the new assignment. For your new hire, her continued success boils down to four very important functions.
(1) Project Management. Remind your new hire that what got her to this next step in her career is her skills to manage a number of actions and priorities, and the interpersonal skills to work with all stakeholders to get the job done. Her project management skills are essential for her present assignment.
(2) Managerial Skills. Solid managerial skills are essential for hiring, growing and sustaining staff . Make clear that one of the underpinnings of success will come from managing, recruiting, inspiring and retaining her talent.
(3) Strategic Leadership. As your new manager gains operational control of her department, eventually she will gain enough experience to think strategically (or better, will bring this insight on day-one). Point out that she has the authority and responsibility to help develop the department's charter and future development path.
(4) Department "Face." Point out that she is the "face" of the department. Her tone and action set the stage concerning how her team will act and work. Also, remind her that she is the department representative so how your new manager interacts during intra-department meetings will reflect directly on her department.

The first week of any new job is challenging. Sitting down with your new hire during the first week and identifying the anatomy of the new position will shorten the time required to get her hands around the new assignment and and shorten the time to success.

--Raj