Corporate Culture | Teik Oh

How do I quantify my Vision?

Aug 04 2015

I received an email from Joanne who owns an interior design consultancy in Toronto who asked a series of questions about her Vision for her business.

One of the more intriguing ones was:-

“I realize that making the company’s vision statement live is the key to how we fulfill the promise of our unique selling proposition. But I’m finding it hard to explain what I mean in our vision statement to my team and to customers. It seems so clear to myself what I want to achieve at the end of the day but have I got the wording wrong in the statement?”

Her company’s vision statement reads “We believe in taking both our customers and ourselves to the front edge of design so that we both benefit from leading the pack.”

Not a bad vision statement in my book. It describes a journey that involves both the business and the customer so that it creates the feeling of mutually beneficial relationship; it sets their value of being at the forefront of design which also sets the scene for the customer that says “don’t come to us if you want lace and frills”; and it feels inspirational and inviting. When I read that statement I see energy, innovation, and adventure.

No, I don’t think Joanne has “the wrong wording”. So back to her question, how does she explain what she means in the vision statement to her team and her customers?

Before I answer that question let me talk a little about why you need to make your vision statement “live”. Many businesses make the mistake of writing an exciting vision statement and putting it on the wall, but not making it come alive in the business.

Your vision statement is your “brand” and it should guide how you run your business, how you deal with your customers, how you behave day to day and why you are doing it. If your team members understand what it actually means, it takes away all the little micro-decisions they have to make because the vision spells out the way. No longer do they have to get authorisation or seek management advice about who to hire – they refer to the vision, understand what type of person is required, and make the decision. If they are concerned about whether or not to offer a customer extended payment terms, they refer to the vision and if they understand what it says about the desired customers and what service means, they make the decision.

In this way, a well understood vision statement empowers people.

So, how do you quantify a vision statement in such a way that everyone understands how it applies in almost any given situation? This video explains how.

If you choose your perspectives well, and if you really drill down in each perspective, the resulting description or answer to the question “once we achieve our vision how will we…” lays out what your vision statement means.

The website https://teikoh.com have worksheets and templates to help you describe your vision and quantify it, along with many other templates, tools and resources to create strategy, provide leadership and grow your business. Start the conversation, go to our Facebook page and leave a comment.

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Comment 13

Creating a Mission-oriented Organisation Structure

Jun 16 2015

As you start or grow your business sooner or later you will employ people.

Perhaps what started as a micro-business with just you or you and your spouse begins to grow and you need to leverage your time. The tasks that you once divided up between the two of you seamlessly have to be explained to your new staff. You need to draw up “job descriptions” so that everyone knew what they were responsible for, so that you reduced confusion when something might be forgotten. In time this grows in complexity and you need to have different teams looking after different parts of the business.

This can happen with anywhere upwards of three people!

So you start to doodle organisational structures – you know, you at the top, then the people who are in charge of different aspects of the business who report directly to you, then below them the people who work in their sections who report to them.

The problem is, these structure diagrams seem so straight-forward, but are they organised so you get work done – or are they organised so that the focus of all your work is towards your mission?

There’s a saying in management consulting – “strategy creates structure”.

This means that in order to work out the optimal structure for your business, you need to make sure that the structure is created by your strategy. Otherwise “structure forces strategy”, or in other words your strategies start to be formulated in accordance with what your structure implies. For example if you had a structure that included a design team separate from a construction team, that structure may force a strategy upon you that says you will only make what has been designed. If on the other hand if strategy created structure, you may find that you start with the best strategy – to make products that are designed by people in and outside your business. Then you design your structure that either does away with a design team or incorporates them into a “build and design team” thereby increasing innovation and flexibility.

So, how do you create an organisation structure that is mission-oriented?

Get over to the website after you have watched the video and start the conversation. What does your organisation structure look like? Is it mission-oriented or do you find that the structure itself changes the mission?

Subscribe to our newsletter here and get tips, tools and resources like this to grow your business delivered directly to your inbox so that you can watch in your own time.

Comment 13

How to implement lasting change in your business

Jun 09 2015

We know that death and taxes are constant. Well, when you are in business, change is also constant.

There’s an old saying – “if you do nothing, something terrible happens….nothing”.

In business change can be demanded by the market, by your customers changing, by new trends and technologies, by changing team members and by your own changing life goals. If you don’t change, one of these things will jump out an bite you and if you don’t respond, your business will inevitably suffer.

But if you’ve ever tried to change something in your business, have you found that it may have worked for a while, then after some time, people slip back into their old ways. Or, it has been impossible to put through a change because people just don’t want anything to do with it!

Why is that?

Because change has to be implemented by people, and people just hate change.

You know how it is. You get comfortable doing the same things over and over again. In fact you get really good at it that you can do it in your sleep, with your eyes closed! You get so good at it that you start to justify why you don’t need to change – it would cost too much, you would need retraining, it would take a long time to be as efficient as the way you have been doing it because you can do it in your sleep, with your eyes closed.

You even say this when the need for change is staring you in the face.

Your product is getting old. New entrants into the market are using mobile apps to deliver your product. Yet you say “they’re not as good, they don’t go into the detail like your hands on approach can provide”. While that may be true enough your customers are voting with your feet. Remember Kodak had the best film processing chain in the world. They stuck to what they knew because it was so good. Meanwhile customers started buying better and better digital cameras.

So, how do you implement change in your business that will “stick”?

Here’s those 8 steps again:-

Comment 13

Asking the right question is the first step in effective communication

May 25 2015

I was talking to an auditor one day. He asked me “When your client bought these widgets, were they on sale-or-return basis?”

“No.“

“Well then, where’s the statement that shows how much is owing to the supplier?“

“Oh,” I said, “so your first question really should have been ‘can you show me the statements from the widget supplier?’“

“That’s what I asked,” he said.

Now you know why I’ve stopped dealing with auditors.

We talk about the need for effective communication (and I have a great tool for you, but I’ll tell you later) and yet we listen badly and many of us ask poor questions. More often than not, our conversations with people are conducted partly in our heads before they are conducted with other people.

I think the conversation in that auditor’s head went something like this:-

– That’s funny, I can’t find a supplier statement for those widgets.

– I can see payments being made, and income from selling them but there doesn’t seem to be a pattern.

– Maybe there’s a non-standard contract for them.

– I wonder what that non-standard contract could be?

– Perhaps it’s on consignment or sale-or-return?

– I need a supplier statement but if they’re on sale-or-return maybe there’s no statement?

– I’ll ask him: “So are the widgets on a sale-or-return basis?”

Huh? I’m sorry but I’m not telepathic. Ask the right question and that could be the start of a beautiful friendship (sorry Humphrey Bogart).

Effective communication is about ensuring that you are understood, but first ensuring that you understand. So, lay out the premises and assumptions first, or else ask very precise questions about what you want. Use closed questions (“Do you have a statement?”) that requires a yes or no answer to define what is possible, then use open questions (“What is the process around those purchases?”) that allows exploration of the circumstances.

Ultimately though, if in order to be understood you must first understand, you need to listen effectively in order to communicate effectively.

Here is a great tool to help with effective communication that starts with listening, and it’s called LACE.

It’s an acronym for Listen effectively, Acknowledge what you hear, Check and confirm your understanding, and Explore the idea.

First, listen effectively.

You can only listen effectively if your mind is focused on the speaker. How many of us attempt to multi-task while talking on the phone? Perhaps you are typing out an email as you converse, or you’re gesturing to someone in the room. Even face to face, how much of you is actually listening to what is being said rather than preparing to answer?

So the first step is to pay attention as someone else is speaking. Do not try to work out what your reply is – just listen!

Second, acknowledge what you hear. This is related to the first principle.

Have you ever spoke to someone who either looks out the window while you are speaking, or just looks at you with a blank stare? It’s hard to know if they are actually listening isn’t it? When you are listening, listen actively by nodding, acknowledging by saying “yes” or “uh-huh”. Doing this will not only create an interactive experience for the speaker assuring them that they are being heard, but also tune your mind ands body to understand what it is they are actually saying. You focus.

Third, check for confirmation.

At the appropriate pause, ask “So when you said ‘statement’ did you mean a monthly statement or any statement?” Or confirm facts, premises and opinions – get to know what they actually mean and where they are coming from in terms of a starting point.

This can remove confusion, ensure you both are on the same page, and it readies you to formulate a reply that is actually appropriate and…yup, focused.

Finally, explore the idea. It is only once you have heard exactly what it is they are saying, understood their premises and assumptions, can you decide to explore if there are other possibilities. Many people listen while composing a reply and in doing so ask and answer a lot of “what-if” questions in their mind. Leave the exploration until you know where you stand.

It’s actually important to take the steps in order – Listen, then/and Acknowledge what is being said, then Check for understanding, then and only then Explore. Don’t be tempted to jump the sequence!

When I talk to that auditor again – and let it be a long time before I do – whatever he asks I’ll remember to say “What is it you actually need?”

Indeed the right question is the first step in effective communication, but it needn’t be the first question!

Now, it’s time for you to ask the right question.

Get over to https://teikoh.com and leave me a question or a comment. While you’re there, leave your name and email and I’ll make sure you get new tips, tools and resources to grow your business sent directly to your inbox.

Comment 13

The difference between Leadership and Management

May 22 2015

Your business needs both leaders and managers.

At different times, you need leadership that says “up and at ’em, follow me!” and you need management that says “let’s make sure we have enough resources”. The best situation is that both leadership and management come from the same people but they bring out what is required for any given situation.

Neither are characteristics you are born with – both leadership and management can be developed.

But, what is the difference between leadership and management?

How can you develop both leadership qualities and management qualities in your people?

Comment 13

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Category - Corporate Culture

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How do I quantify my Vision?

Creating a Mission-oriented Organisation Structure

How to implement lasting change in your business

Asking the right question is the first step in effective communication

The difference between Leadership and Management