At Systems Summits, produced by The Philantrepreneur Foundation, we do a deep dive exploring the essential business strategies to manage systems and processes needed to effectively scale and grow a business. Valuable information, however, there are 3 basic systems that may seem obvious, but in our experience, we have found many organizations skip them, have little awareness of their importance, or the biggest factor, taken for granted and assumed they are being done. This creates a gap, impacts effectiveness, and could lead to greater challenges down the road. Also, they often get overshadowed by emphasis on such things as programs, marketing, and sales. In this article we look at the systems you need to grow and nurture the human side of business.
ONE – THE CONVERSATIONS
If your company is just getting started or has been around for a while, what’s really important are the conversations you have between you and your team. Real face-to-face conversations outside of email. It is not hard to accomplish with the technology we have at our fingertips. These conversations can be just as simple as emails but are more effective. Do you have a regular ‘team meeting’ or do you only schedule a meeting when there is a crisis, new project, or you want updates on assigned task? What are some of the goals of the meeting? Is the agenda to run down a ‘to do’ list, or is it designed to engage and motivate the team by asking for feedback and encouraging innovative ideas? The process of using conversations to motivate can be used to grow team engagement.
TWO – THE WORK
You’d be surprised how much of an impact this next element can have on workplace satisfaction and productivity. We all know there is a ton of work to do and especially in small entities where the team is contracted services, each team member’s work is done in a silo. All the small pieces come together to create the final product which might be a marketing campaign, the programs, the budget, it doesn’t matter. When dealing with the ‘work’ it is a series of individual efforts, and each person likes to see the value of their contribution. How do you accomplish that? Individual praise for a job well done? That’s one way but it is time consuming and not as effective as using a business tool that visually maps out the projects and tasks. When the team can visualize how their own work impacts the overall project, they become more engaged and committed. Call it pride in their work. And let us not forget there is always the competition factor (we all are a little competitive).
THREE – THE RELATIONSHIPS
Beyond the work, you need to manage and build relationships – the true human element. If you think about it the first two elements, conversations, and the work, have laid a foundation for building relationships. You are nurturing your team. This also can be applied to your potential or current clients, and donors. You need to nurture them with ‘conversations’ that keep them engaged. Conversations that are relevant to their needs and interest. Conversations that are engaging and valuable and not focused on selling something. There are several ways to keep a conversation flowing. You could implement an email automation for those in your database, you could write a blog containing tips, trends, or current events. You could create a webinar on a relevant topic. And in each instance – ask a question, get their feedback, seek innovative ideas. Does this sound familiar?
Attend Systems Summits – October 27-28, to take advantage of sessions that explore how to be a leader with your human side, time management, and using technology to impact effectiveness.
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