It should just work. People should do what they are supposed to. Yes, I guess that is true to one extent.
But that is not the reality.
Your team should work at a high level, and the business should function at a high level. But when you see this same deficit happening repeatedly, then it should tell you there is a gap.
I think the gap that often exists is a lack of appreciation around management. A business is ultimately a way of doing something for a customer.
No customer, no business. And if there is no “way of doing” something, then you only have chaos.
If you want to increase profit or throughput, then you put a lot of emphasis on systems and processes. The way things are done matters. Everything from how you source supplies and talent to how you service a customer has to be done well.
And if you neglect it, then bad habits tend to arise. It becomes extremely hard to change later. People assume that their inefficient ways of approaching something is the norm.
We underestimate management because the pain tends to come later and we respond to the urgent. We discard what allows us to grow a business for what is expedient or pragmatic.
Running sales in your head, for example, may work for a small scale. But then it becomes unmanageable with a full pipeline of twenty deals. Then you find yourself unable to get to 50 deals, 100 deals or more. You don’t have a system to enable you to get it out of your head. Just because something works on a small scale does not mean it works for a larger scale.
That is where management fits in. It is a tool for scaling. Here are the signs that you neglected the value of management:
- You have a revolving door of talent
- You don’t have continuous business
- You lose deals all the time
- You lose relationships because you don’t attend to them
- People don’t come back or don’t return your calls
- There is no growth
Ultimately, you are hitting a glass ceiling, and can’t get past it. The world is telling you something is broken. It’s fine if you are content with the results you are getting. But to scale, you have to approach things differently. You have to get your work done through systems and people in a more methodical way.
Yes, it takes time, patience and creativity. But it’s not something you can shortcut. Management helps to tame the chaos and bring order to an otherwise random business that may have exhausted the charisma and hard work of its founders or owners.
So, it might be wise to see where you are stuck. You may not notice it because you are used to it. But if you can, then ask a bigger question:
What if you were able to bring in powerful ways to manage things? Could there be more predictability and growth?