Pavlina Tsvetanova’s article, published in Your Business Magazine

Let’s suppose we have decided to make some changes in the company because it is obvious that problems exit and need to be solved quickly. Where to start from? It is easy: from the narrowest place.

Once we have allowed a narrow place to appear, this means that we were short either in resources, or time for management, or knowledge. We find help, make a plan and start. The plan is for our orientation how much time would the project need, what resources are needed, what would be the result. During the process we try to reduce the time but not on quality’s account. Out temperament and the company status dictate the speed:

1. Some owners prefer to make the change slowly, with the current personnel, who worked for them for years. These owners hope that their employees would wake up, would show initiative (which they have never done so far) and the firm would go ahead …, when the time comes. I don’t want to disappoint you but if till now this personal moved slowly-slowly, why do you expect that at once everyone would be excited to work harder and these efforts would shoot the company in the top 10?
2. Other owners prefer quick change, change of personnel, but no change in their mentality. Have you noticed that we hire people with the same characters like ours? The best motivator is the personal example – thus we should not only require but we should show full engagement to the project, even if we need to change ourselves first.
3. Third group owners prefer a rapid change where and when is needed. If all of us were in this category, the perfect competition would also have existed. On other side, if you are in this category, you have already taken the needed actions to make the proper change.

We shouldn’t be afraid of the big workload that has to be done. We may achieve it step by step. You can eat an elephant bite by bite every day.

Possible steps that can bring a successful transition

1. Audit from external expert about the processes, documents, people. The audit includes recommendations and a plan for “healing” the ill areas. Such periodical checks are very useful and are our compass about our movement direction.
2. Creating clear and achievable plan with tasks, responsible people and deadlines. Our efforts for change and to go ahead start from here. Everyone engaged with any process should put on his sleeves and act in the set deadlines, nevertheless the difficult moments that would come.
3. Change the employees, who even loyal long years do not bring progress to the company. Change the employees who harm the company.
4. Creating or adapting the internal rules and procedures, that are obligatory for everyone. Procedures are often underestimated by the small and middle business and thus delegating here is so difficult. The procedures are a manual who is doing what in the chain, they show the responsibility and way of work – so the business is running even when the boss is absent.
5. Control – the highest form of trust. We are all people and make mistakes; but some people do mistakes deliberately. Thus, after we do the change, we need the measure the pulse of every department periodically, by the control mechanisms, implemented via the procedures.

The changes must be prompt, but planned and controlled. They must lead to pre-written better performance level and better finance result. The proper structured changes open the door for the next management level of resources, optimizations and higher profits. And looking through the changes we see that they are not necessary evil, but a chance to grow.