Archive for the ‘Organizational Change’ Category

The Power of Domain-based Email

Thursday, December 20th, 2012

By Dr. Renae Sanders

If there is a group of people in the universe who believe in low cost value it is the small business owner (SBO). It’s no secret large institutions spend millions in time and money trying to offer necessary services to SBOs at low costs hoping that attracting more SBOs will reap financial gain. SBOs will, in an effort to keep costs down, make “free” work for as long as possible.

Many even forgo branding their own companies through email by maintaining their free email services despite pressure from coaches, mentors, and blog posts suggesting its past time to upgrade to a domain-based email setup. I have heard numerous “reasons” like:

  • “I have had my email account with {named company} for years”.
  • “Everyone knows my email account; it’s too much effort to change”.
  • “I have a domain-based email account, I just don’t use it”.
  • “I don’t have time to focus on that stuff, I am working my business.”
  • “Business is built on relationship; no one cares about my email address.”

There are several important reasons a SBO should consider a change to domain based email and all are important to business reasons:

Domain-based email builds credibility

Two businesses equal in every way except by their email addresses, jack@bigdaddystrucking.com is perceived as more credible than bigdaddystrucking@xmail.com, especially in the absence of a relationship. Business people still collect massive numbers of business cards that they rely on if they need a future service.

Domain-based email introduces the business

Our interaction with the most successful businesses have taught us to look after the “@” symbol to find the name of the company. We often look here before we register the individual’s name. If your company’s name is listed as xmail then a perception is created about the business. When companies follow proper business protocol we things occur even before you meet the prospect (1) you have sent a positive message about your brand, and (2) you have given them a name – we know Jack works at Big Daddy’s Trucking.

Domain-based email protects the business

When SBOs hire employees and provide them with a company based email account, which is owned and controlled by the company, greater control of business information and continuity is maintained. Consider this true story: A SBO and two business partners open a restaurant. Each person is using their comfortable, well engrained personal email accounts to facilitate business. One is responsible for booking events (wedding parties, company parties, happy hour specials, etc.). One day this person suddenly leaves the business and will not return your calls. Once or twice a week, a party would arrive on site for their event and the remaining managers and staff had no idea. Why? There was no access to the departed managers email account.

If a company provides an email account tied to its registered domain, all of the employees email is yours. You can change the password and lock them out when they quit or released. These controls are lost if you maintain your “free” email option.

Domain-based email accounts are easy to remember

It’s easier for people who now know Jack, to remember jack@bigdaddystrucking.com than it is to remember Big Daddy’s email extension is one of many email providers that I have to look up or save. It must be the desire of every business owner to make doing business easy for prospects and clients.

The final bullet in the list of reasons businesses maintain the status quo, that business is conducted on relationship is quite true. But first impressions are lasting impressions and a company’s name appears in many places and prospects may “see” you before you see them. Your company name may appear on lists of references provided by other companies, on vendor lists, on business cards, in directories, mass email distributions, just to name a few. While your service and price may be the best, you may not be the first business contacted by individuals seeking the product or service you offer.

Trust, branding, management control, and easy-to-remember are important business values. Low cost value takes on new meaning when we critically consider the indirect contributions of a domain-based email account. At the end of the day, free may be costing more than you know.

Dr. Renae Sanders is the Managing Director at KRS Consulting, LLC, a business services and consulting firm specializing in business development and training. Believing people are the link between strategy and success, Dr. Sanders works with organizations, leaders, and managers to strengthen internal practices and business relationships. Email info@krsconsult.com to book an engagement or meeting with Dr. Sanders.

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The Purple Elephant in Our Country

Sunday, November 11th, 2012

By Dr. Renae Sanders

The election has come and gone.  And thankfully so, on one hand, the airwaves are now free of the barrage of the negative political ads that bombarded the airwaves, especially, in the swing states where the ads had become a minute by minute occurrence. On the other hand, for some reality that their candidate had not won would come another day. The tragedy is that we do not have rules or regulations around political advertising when we are asked to make informed decisions about whom we should vote; but that is a separate article.

Today, let’s focus on the proverbial Purple Elephant in our country. The silent, yet ever-present and dangerous animal, that under writes our beliefs, attitudes, and actions.  Yes, its race. And it continues to fester below the surface of our great country. This is bigger than an apology. It’s bigger than reparations. It’s about our collective courage to face, own, and acknowledge that race is as much a part of our current cultural landscape as the air we breathe.

Emotional intelligence experts tell us that we must first be aware of our own emotions and what they are if we are to self-regulate our attitudes and thereby our actions.   Very simply, this means its o.k. to feel what you feel, but it’s unacceptable to act any way you want to act in response to those feelings; especially, if they are negative emotions.  Of course, this holds true for any negative response to emotions; but today – we talk race. Secondly, our emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) is higher if we then have an understanding of how emotion may affect those with whom we interact and how to leverage our awareness of emotions in our dealings – personally, professionally, or politically.

A rising tide floats all boats. Well, all decently constructed ones.  But you get the point. Therefore, the notion that the strength of America’s growing minority population will somehow erode the wealth and stature of America’s wealthiest is less than rational. Believing that in a global environment self-imposed segregation is beneficial and will help our kids cope with the rapid changes occurring in our country or their ability to compete is a response to beliefs of loss. Providing a superior education to the economically advantaged and then blame the poor for not doing more to take care of themselves is less than rational as well. The answers to curing the ills of our society lie in our collective engagement toward solving problems, self-awareness, emotional and social intelligence.

This election, and the last, exposed to many what they have feared with the growing demographic changes – that the democratic process would change the course of history. Surely, the British felt the same way, which is why the American Revolution occurred. In order for us to become a more perfect union, we must change as our country changes and we must respect what we have always seen in the defining moments in our history, “the minority will be heard, but the majority shall rule”.   This festering of unchallenged ideology has the potential to harm communities and create underperforming businesses, as morale, trust, teamwork, and knowledge sharing are compromised.

Author David Walsh wrote in his book, “Conversations with God”, that at our actions and decisions are based on the two primal emotions, love and fear. If we drilled down to the source of our behaviors, we are either acting out of love or on fear. War, segregation, political spin, bullying, analysis paralysis, and the inability to reconcile our sorted history are all based on fear.

It’s appropriate to quote, now, the lyrics from one of Dianna Ross’ megahits, “what the world needs now, is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of…”

Dr. Renae Sanders is the Managing Director at KRS Consulting, LLC, a management consulting firm specializing in organizational development and relationships. Believing people are the link between strategy and success, Dr. Sanders works with organizations, leaders, and managers to strengthen internal practices and relationships. Email info@krsconsult.com to book an engagement or meeting with Dr. Sanders.

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Posted in Diversity & Inclusion, Dr. Renae Sanders, Leadership, Multicultural, Organization Relationships, Organizational Change, Productivity, Small Business, Trust, Workforce Development | No Comments »

From Corporate Worker to Entrepreneur: A Major Cultural Shift

Monday, October 15th, 2012

by Dr. Renae Sanders

Research has highlighted numerous reasons small businesses fail. Organizations like SCORE and CreditDonkey.com purport ten primary reasons for failure. They are:

  1. Lack of experience
  2. Insufficient cash
  3. Poor Location
  4. Poor inventory control
  5. Over-investment in fixed assets
  6. Poor credit
  7. Personal use of business funds
  8. Unexpected growth
  9. Competition

10.Low sales

Often lists like those above fail to demonstrate what activities lead to these types of lists. When such research is conducted the activities are bundled into categories. This article focuses on the journey for the career corporate turned Entrepreneur.

Corporate culture

The lingering economic downtown of 2008 sent massive numbers of former corporate types to start up new businesses. These new entrepreneurs were responding to the need to make ends meet or pursue latent dreams prioritized by unexpected layoffs. Far from the characterization of much politicized 47% (victimized, lazy, and mindless), these individuals pursued the American dream.

Corporate employees have the skill to deal with issues facing big companies and they have the big corporate funding to support those efforts along with the corporate resources to needed to execute. One of the first lessons of the new entrepreneur is “I’ve got to do it all”. From ordering paper clips, to writing plans, making sales, to shipping goods and marketing; the new entrepreneur is the nerve center of it all.

This awareness can be quite overwhelming, especially for those organizations lacking the financial resources to hire workers.  Kicking the habits of the corporate culture to the ever changing world of entrepreneurship is major feat. Most corporations, even the nimble ones are slow, compared to the speed with which an entrepreneur changes direction, business model, product or service offering, or competitive position in an effort to survive those first three years and break the $250,000 barrier.

The mind of an entrepreneur is opportunistic. It takes effort and emotional fortitude to move faster, work longer, and push the envelope of personal inertia and see each person as an connection to be cultivated.

Another challenge many former corporate-raised-entrepreneurs armed with great ideas, retirement funds, and passion face includes under estimating how challenging it is switching from a regular payment schedule to an irregular cycle of some money, lots of money, or no money. The psychological adjustment can be quite debilitating from some. However, the lionhearted this change represents an awareness that you are indeed in control of your future. For the faint of heart, the dread of another 15th or 30th passing with no “hit” is analogous to a junky ‘jonesing’ vacillating between horror, debilitating fear, and sleepless nights. The fear often leads to a low confidence and perspective that leads to a self-fulfilling prophesy.

A good business idea is often spawned by observations made while in a current business or industry. However, many business owners newly released from the norms of corporate culture miss having individuals who handle the administrative activities of the company. Gone are the days when the administrative assistant orders ink, paper, paper clips, shipping supplies based a simple comment. Those orders, invoices, surveys, posts are all handled by a much smaller staff or the owner.

At the end of the day, take heart in knowing all is not lost. The paradigm shift can be liberating and lead to a prosperous life. Of course, there are many elements that lead to a success business, all which are more likely to occur with a positive perspective and internal systems that make managing your business activities turnkey rather than dependent on human hands.

Dr.Renae Sanders is the Managing Director at KRS Consulting, LLC, a management consulting firm specializing in organizational development and relationships. Believing people are the link between strategy and success, Dr. Sanders works with organizations, leaders, and managers to strengthen internal practices and relationships. Email info@krsconsult.com to book an engagement or meeting with Dr. Sanders.

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What is Your Change Capacity?

Friday, December 23rd, 2011

by Dr. Wesley Carter
Kevin is a professional, driven, efficient, change agent. Kevin is intent on achieving his personal best in everything he does. Yet, he continues to feel frustrated at the end of every day because he did not successfully complete all of the items on his ‘to do’ list. Perhaps Kevin is too ambitious. Or maybe he is too hard on himself. Kevin’s experience is not unique.

Most busy professionals are on a never ending journey to improve personal efficiency in the hopes of carving out personal time or increasing productivity. Upon discovering new or more innovative strategies professionals must choose whether to change their current practices. Without change, improvement cannot occur. And without improvement, professionals become stagnant and lose their competitive edge.

Before embarking on any change effort, it is important to evaluate your palate for change. Do you typically act on your intentions? Are you able to observe others and imagine yourself performing similar activities? Do you initiate effort and maintain the level of commitment required to complete an action to your standards?

High self-efficacy, your confidence in your capability to execute some action, is a key component of successful change. There are four components of self efficacy; intention, vicarious experience, volition, and faith. Intention is a strong indicator of whether an activity is acted upon. Vicarious experience refers to the capacity to identify and observe how others whether similar changes. This information serves to confirm or dispute the practicality of our intentions.

Volition refers to the power of will. In fact, when we will ourselves to execute some action, we are acting of our own volition. Volition is a combination of initiative, motivation, and commitment. Faith refers to our confidence in our ability to accomplish some objective. Without faith, our efforts will be halfhearted and unproductive. Faith gives us the strength to raise our emotional arousal to the level necessary to sustain our commitment.

While it is impossible to prepare for every change that we encounter, it is totally possible to control how we experience and respond to every change. To do so, we need to make a conscious decision to take 100% ownership of how we navigate change. By owning our power to navigate change we become emboldened to actually achieve our objectives.

High performing professionals never stop driving to self-actualize personally and professionally. Like Kevin, we should all hold ourselves accountable for achieving our personal best. Are you satisfied with your productivity? If not, change.

Dr. Wesley Carter authors a weekly business column in The Charlotte Post newspaper. Carter holds a Doctor of Management (DM) degree from the University of Phoenix with an emphasis in Organizational Leadership, an MBA from the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University, and a B.A in Management from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. This information may not be copied or shared without permission from Dr. Wesley Carter. If you have a question, email wesley@krsconsult.com or call (704) 992-1211.

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Leading through Partnership

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

By Dr. Wesley Carter

Benjamin is one of the top three commercial contractors in his hometown. On Monday morning he arrives at work with an entire plan for reorganizing his operations process. He emails a memo to all of his employees with details of the new strategy and immediately begins implementing changes. 

However, Nathan, also a top three commercial contractor, arrives at work on Monday for an 8:30 am meeting with employees from all levels of his organization to review the results of an employee survey about operational strategy. Nathan’s operation has grown by more than 60% and he invites his employees to provide guidance on maintaining the customer centric and employee friendly environment.

Both owners are intent on maintaining a competitive advantage and growing their business. Yet, their approaches are totally different. Benjamin drives from the top of the organization and Nathan leverages a participative approach from his business school days. Nathan relies on the insight from his employees to develop strategies and plans.

Both businessmen are successful and both are committed to their respective leadership approach. And while both approaches may be successful, one is clearly more employee friendly than the other. On a deadline crunch, Nathan has been known to put on a pair of jeans and work side-by-side with his engineers at a building site. He makes a point to help out wherever he is needed and enjoys a great relationship with employees at all levels of the organization.

Benjamin is a very successful businessman and while he treats his employees with respect, he rarely involves them in leading the organization. For Benjamin, employees are a means to an end. He pays well and expects total dedication. His company has thrived in a down economy. Convinced of the merits of his leadership approach, Benjamin rarely reveals the details of his strategy to his senior leaders until it is time to execute.

There are advantages and disadvantages to a top-down organizational leadership strategy, as well as, a partnership leadership strategy.  A top-down leadership strategy is grounded in control. Benjamin spends the majority of his time planning, organizing, and commanding. In his mind, Benjamin’s organization is a machine and his role is to drive productivity through the machine.  Benjamin’s autocratic leadership style is quite effective when decisions need to be made quickly. However, extended periods of autocratic leadership can lead to the lack of creativity and lower employee commitment.

Employees in an autocratic leadership environment often experience fear and resentment. Invariably, the lack of employee participation in decisions that affect work tasks fails to uncover obstacles that could be avoided if only they were included in the planning process. Choosing not to consider the ideas and opinions of the employees actually executing the work can have a disastrous effect on operations.

Nathan, on the other hand, engages internal and external stakeholders in developing strategies and plans. He respects his employees and trusts their judgment. Nathan recognizes the influence of technological innovation on the “how” of completing tasks at work. Completing even the simplest tasks requires a degree of mental work by highly skilled professionals. In fact, the confluence of different ideas and skills required to run a profitable business can only occur through partnerships.

Soon, if not already, Benjamin will begin recognize that he cannot keep pace with technology and maintain the quality of his decision making. Ultimately, Benjamin will have to adjust his operational style or suffer the consequences in terms of profitability and/or employee commitment.

At the genesis of his business, Benjamin’s autocratic leadership style may have been very effective. However, he will need to begin to rely on the talent within his ranks if he is to remain competitive. Additionally, he may find that his employees appreciate having a say in developing strategies and plans, since they will be responsible for executing.  

It is imperative that every manager periodically review their leadership style and adjust to the environment as necessary. While there is no one best way to lead, the strategy should align with the situation for optimal results. Have you evaluated your leadership style lately?

WESLEY CARTER DM, authors an advice column that leverages leadership and management strategies to solve common business problems. Carter holds a Doctor of Management (DM) degree with an emphasis in Organizational Leadership, an MBA, and a B.A. in Management.  Carter is a partner at KRS Consulting, LLC in Charlotte, NC. If you have a question, email wesley@krsconsult.com . All submissions become the property of Wesley Carter. Call (704) 992-1211 or email to book an engagement.  This article originally appeared in The Charlotte Post.

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Leading Organizational Change

Friday, June 17th, 2011

Dr. Wesley Carter

It has often been said, ‘the only constant in life is change.’  Indeed over very survival is depends on our ability to adapt to our environment. Our directions change whenever a barrier or road block appears. Households, teams, organizations, and communities change. Change is also a business imperative. How entrepreneurs and other organizational leaders address predictable, as well as unforeseeable challenges is pivotal in the current market.

Protecting the viability of the organization may require a change in the strategic direction, organizational mission, value proposition, and resources (human or capital) to achieve a desired future state. Unfortunately, change management strategies tend to be cumbersome or otherwise difficult to execute, posing yet another challenge for organizational leaders.

Organizational leaders get so caught up running the day-to-day operations, that they sometimes fall short on the time required to evaluate the various change management initiatives available to them. The most effective way for leaders to implement change in any organization, large or small, is to first overcome inertia.

One of the major impediments leaders must overcome is the notion that change is hard. This pervasive view is steeped in the uncertainty of the future state of the organization, a lack of confidence in the ability of the leadership and employees to execute effectively. Sometime the reactionary nature of organizational leaders can lead to ambiguity about the company’s strategic direction. In this regard, companies become easily focused on the next new thing and lose focus on the last change initiative, which can be perceived as frantic by the employees!

There are five requirements for effectively executing a change management plan. First, for optimal results, the entire leadership team must commit to the change. Team members from all levels of the organization should be recruited to lead the change initiative to ensure that plans are actionable. Next, organizational leadership should conduct a thorough environmental scan to identify best-of-breed strategies and applicable lessons learned. This is probably the most valuable and often overlooked step in change management initiatives. 

Third, organizational leaders should seek feedback from all levels of the organization. The success, or lack thereof, of a change initiative is largely dependent upon the degree of acceptance and use by organizational members. Too often, leaders take a top down view of the organization and instigate change initiatives that are not practical or adaptable. An interesting analogy comes to mind – - while leaders generally have a view of what is going on in the conference room, the employees are the ones with the view of what’s actually going on outside the conference room. The feedback should be leveraged to create action plans to implement the change.

After the plans have been operationalized, leaders should develop and execute a comprehensive communication plan through the entire change process. Set expectations by providing a clear vision of the new state including a plan for how the change will occur. Identify “culture carriers” at every level of the organization to influence stakeholders in and outside of the organization.

Lastly, it is important that organizational leaders conduct a postmortem to capture lessons learned to improve future initiatives. Executing purposeful change requires leaders to constantly monitor and experiment, keeping what works and discarding the rest. With these tools and tips under your belt, change becomes just another day at the office!

WESLEY CARTER DM, authors an advice column that leverages leadership and management strategies to solve common business problems. Carter holds a Doctor of Management (DM) degree with an emphasis in Organizational Leadership, an MBA, and a B.A. in Management.  Carter is a partner at KRS Consulting, LLC in Charlotte, NC. If you have a question, email wesley@krsconsult.com . All submissions become the property of Wesley Carter. Call (704) 992-1211 or email to book an engagement. This content originally appeared in the Charlotte Post.

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Negotiating the Gap between Paradigm and Organizational Design

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

By Renae Sanders

A paradigm is the set of beliefs, assumptions, values, and processes that determine perceptions of reality in communities and organizations. Organizational paradigms may be so deeply ingrained; leaders are unable to perceive when changes to organization design or the business model are necessary. Tschmuck (2003) explained the power of paradigm and the delayed recognition of innovative change, suggesting when radical change so upsets the certainty experienced in the market, the ensuing uncertainty and chaos which follows creates an immediate rejection of the new. When innovation (or the need for innovation) emerges outside the boundaries of traditional thinking, at first it is ignored; and precious time is lost as the new normal takes root and forces organizations to adopt a new way of thinking about the newly changed environment (Tschmuck, 2003). This perspective might broadly explain the delayed response by large financial organizations charged with stimulating the economy through lending.

Large organizations are most susceptible to the dinosaur syndrome, where the historical success of organizations lulls them into a static state; unable to respond to rapid environmental changes. Several characteristics exists to help determine if organizations are at risk of becoming a dinosaur: (a) arrogance due to past success; (b) mammoth size; (c) centralized control and decision making; (d) limited or uncommitted contact with customers, employees and environment; (e) internally focused human resource management policy; (f) functional organizational structure; (g) measures of success are internally focused; (h) strict hierarchy of decision making; and (i) keeps doing what has always been done (Lawler & Gailbraith, 1994).  Don’t be fooled, new companies where principals espouse out dated management practices are also susceptible to dinosaur tendencies.

Avoiding the syndrome involves supporting innovation; redesigning the organization to more rapidly transfer information and knowledge among workers and leaders; moving decision making and accountability down into the organization; and instituting a culture of excellence, where listening and operating outside leaders’ comfort zones spur new ideas (Lawler & Gailbraith, 1994). Organizations must establish performance improvement processes, information inputs, and set indicators and measures to improve as well as challenge current practices. In short, beliefs drive organizational design. As leaders, we must find new ways to challenge our modes of thinking which allow us the ability to more successfully manage in a dynamic environment.

 References

Lawler, E. E., & Gailbraith, J.R. (1994). Avoiding the corporate dinosaur syndrome. Organization, al Dynamics. 23(2), 4-17.

Tschmuck, P. (2003). How creative are the creative industries? A case for the music industry. Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society. 33(2), 127.

Posted in Dr. Renae Sanders, Management, Organizational Change | 7 Comments »