When one thinks of high growth, innovation and the new corporate model – one of the first names that comes to mind is Starbucks. In recent days, Starbucks has been in the news because their CEO has announced layoffs, store closings and a slower pace of growth. What – a corner without a Starbucks coffee shop? The shake-up at Starbucks can serve as a lesson for any business or organization.
Growth
The bigger a company or organization grows, the harder it is to stay true to it’s “roots”. Even if quality and image are strictly controlled – as they are with Starbucks (like McDonalds), there mentality, vision and passion of the corner start-up is difficult to maintain. Having a clear mission and staying true to that mission is essential for every location and every employee.
Core Business
When I think about Starbucks I think about coffee, maybe something to nibble with the coffee and a place to work, meet clients or read the WALL STREET JOURNAL or NEW YORK TIMES. While some people may think of it as a place to buy CDs, coffee mugs, calendars or other items, I do not. And it seems that Starbucks began to stray further from their basics. The point – stick to your knitting (your core business).
People
Starbucks is not about coffee – it is about people. People take the orders, people prepare the coffee, people keep the locations clean, and people manage what could be chaos during busy times. There people are the face of Starbucks – not the CEO and not the headquarters staff. While Starbucks has been very public about how people-oriented they are (benefits, training, respect for employees), there is a slippery slope that will be created by lay-offs. A people oriented business that lays people off and shutters locations can soon become just like any other fast food outlet or massive retail chain – cold, impersonal and full of clock watchers.
Overhead
Organizations that grow love to create new positions, new rules, and new bureaucracies and new titles (each requiring their own staffs for “support”). This is not unique to Starbucks. But every dollar that goes to overhead steals a dollar from the customer-facing resources and also from the profitability of the enterprise. Headquarters, regions, areas – each with their own functions, executives and support staffs drain the life out of any business rather than invigorate them. As a business grows, unless every function can demonstrate in some way there are generating revenue or creating value, I recommend the function either be outsourced to support business with that core competency or incremental to “line” (profit-focused) responsibilities.
Down-sizing people and locations will not be the death of Starbucks. But any business or organization can learn from downside of rapid growth as demonstrated by Starbucks. The tendency to grow quickly, lose focus, to treat employees as overhead, to build non-customer facing staffs are not unique to Starbucks. But any entrepreneur or executive with a growing business would be well served to avoid the same pitfalls.
George F. Franks, III is the President of Franks Consulting Group, a Bethesda, Maryland management consulting and leadership coaching practice. Franks Consulting Group is on the web at:
http://franksconsultinggroup.com
George can be contacted by e-mail at:
gfranks@franksconsultinggroup.com
Showing posts with label executive leadership. Show all posts
Showing posts with label executive leadership. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Real Team Building
Much has been written about teams and team building over the past decade. Much of it has been either based on psychology or corporations. I have nothing against psychologists. And I myself, spent many years working for large corporations. But to understand teams and team building you need to understand what teams are, how they form and what makes them successful.
What are teams?
Teams are groups of people brought together to achieve a common goal, objective or purpose. Teams can be large. Teams can be small. Teams can be global or they can be local and co-located. Teams can be people who are all different. And teams can be people who are all of very different backgrounds. So what makes a group of individuals a team? Teams differ from groups of people in that they are brought together or they gather together to achieve a specific purpose as that group.
What do teams look like?
The very best teams have different educations, backgrounds and experiences. They come together to achieve a common purpose. They commit to subjugating their individual needs, goals and desires to those of the group. This does not mean that they do not have individual needs, goals and desires. They do. They just make them secondary to those of the group. The best teams often:
- Meet as a group face-to-face when forming.
- They have many events where they internalize their goals, objectives or purpose.
- They clearly define “success” for the group.
- They establish effective means of communications.
- They define what is common to all members versus what is specialized by individual to achieve their goals.
- They bond through socializing rituals (such as meals, activities or like events).
- They establish success rules (time lines, targets, rewards, roles, priorities, how to communicate outside of the team as examples).
- They define ways to maintain team effectiveness (future face-to-face meetings, regularly scheduled conference calls, group “touch points” and other communal activities).
What do the best teams do right?
The very best teams achieve their goal, objective or purpose through a singular focus, effective communication, flexibility, encouraging innovation by all and displaying respect for all members. Specifically they:
- Set high standards for all members and help one another achieve those standards.
- They do not tolerate those who do not carry at least their share of the “burden” (work).
- They respect input by all but do so in a crisp and disciplined manner.
- They make sure all members of the group know and have internalized the goal, purpose or objectives.
- They make sure all communication is clear, effective and timely.
- They insure that all members clearly understand all roles and responsibilities but are willing to modify them based on the needs of the group to achieve the objective.
- They do not tolerate egos based on prior performance. Every member has to earn their slot every single day.
- Members of the group treat the other members with respect and integrity. Lapses are not tolerated.
- A group mindset that “failure is not an option” is maintained from day one.
Why teams fail?
The list of reasons why teams fail is like a grocery list of human weaknesses and failings. The key reasons that teams fail include:
- Lack of a clearly defined purpose, goal or objective.
- “Team” members who spend less than 51% of their time working with the team.
- Lack of clear or timely communication.
- Team rituals (fun, awards, and other recognition) override the goal, mission or purpose as the reason for the team.
- Egos (putting self before the team rather than subordinating to the goals and needs of the team).
- Sub-elements within the team with agendas other than the goal, purpose or objective.
- Lack of respect for innovation.
- Lack of ability to change as needed (flexibility).
- Lack of integrity by any team member.
- “Failure” mentality as opposed to “success” mentality.
Many companies, organizations and other groups try to spend part of a day or a weekend together once a year to “team build”. Team building is not about a day or even a weekend. For a group to become a team and then to succeed as a team requires many elements – including time and often shared adversity – for an organization of any size. By applying the elements outlined in this article, any organization can more effectively operate at the “team” level.
George F. Franks, III is the President of Franks Consulting Group - a Bethesda, Maryland management consulting and leadership coaching practice. Franks Consulting Group's clients are businesses, associations, other non-profit organizations and individual leaders. Franks Consulting Group is on the web at:
http://franksconsultinggroup.com
George can be contacted by e-mail at:
gfranks@franksconsultinggroup.com
Visit Franks Consulting Group's free quarterly career and leadership e-zine:
http://careerandleadership.com
What are teams?
Teams are groups of people brought together to achieve a common goal, objective or purpose. Teams can be large. Teams can be small. Teams can be global or they can be local and co-located. Teams can be people who are all different. And teams can be people who are all of very different backgrounds. So what makes a group of individuals a team? Teams differ from groups of people in that they are brought together or they gather together to achieve a specific purpose as that group.
What do teams look like?
The very best teams have different educations, backgrounds and experiences. They come together to achieve a common purpose. They commit to subjugating their individual needs, goals and desires to those of the group. This does not mean that they do not have individual needs, goals and desires. They do. They just make them secondary to those of the group. The best teams often:
- Meet as a group face-to-face when forming.
- They have many events where they internalize their goals, objectives or purpose.
- They clearly define “success” for the group.
- They establish effective means of communications.
- They define what is common to all members versus what is specialized by individual to achieve their goals.
- They bond through socializing rituals (such as meals, activities or like events).
- They establish success rules (time lines, targets, rewards, roles, priorities, how to communicate outside of the team as examples).
- They define ways to maintain team effectiveness (future face-to-face meetings, regularly scheduled conference calls, group “touch points” and other communal activities).
What do the best teams do right?
The very best teams achieve their goal, objective or purpose through a singular focus, effective communication, flexibility, encouraging innovation by all and displaying respect for all members. Specifically they:
- Set high standards for all members and help one another achieve those standards.
- They do not tolerate those who do not carry at least their share of the “burden” (work).
- They respect input by all but do so in a crisp and disciplined manner.
- They make sure all members of the group know and have internalized the goal, purpose or objectives.
- They make sure all communication is clear, effective and timely.
- They insure that all members clearly understand all roles and responsibilities but are willing to modify them based on the needs of the group to achieve the objective.
- They do not tolerate egos based on prior performance. Every member has to earn their slot every single day.
- Members of the group treat the other members with respect and integrity. Lapses are not tolerated.
- A group mindset that “failure is not an option” is maintained from day one.
Why teams fail?
The list of reasons why teams fail is like a grocery list of human weaknesses and failings. The key reasons that teams fail include:
- Lack of a clearly defined purpose, goal or objective.
- “Team” members who spend less than 51% of their time working with the team.
- Lack of clear or timely communication.
- Team rituals (fun, awards, and other recognition) override the goal, mission or purpose as the reason for the team.
- Egos (putting self before the team rather than subordinating to the goals and needs of the team).
- Sub-elements within the team with agendas other than the goal, purpose or objective.
- Lack of respect for innovation.
- Lack of ability to change as needed (flexibility).
- Lack of integrity by any team member.
- “Failure” mentality as opposed to “success” mentality.
Many companies, organizations and other groups try to spend part of a day or a weekend together once a year to “team build”. Team building is not about a day or even a weekend. For a group to become a team and then to succeed as a team requires many elements – including time and often shared adversity – for an organization of any size. By applying the elements outlined in this article, any organization can more effectively operate at the “team” level.
George F. Franks, III is the President of Franks Consulting Group - a Bethesda, Maryland management consulting and leadership coaching practice. Franks Consulting Group's clients are businesses, associations, other non-profit organizations and individual leaders. Franks Consulting Group is on the web at:
http://franksconsultinggroup.com
George can be contacted by e-mail at:
gfranks@franksconsultinggroup.com
Visit Franks Consulting Group's free quarterly career and leadership e-zine:
http://careerandleadership.com
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Business, Leadership and the Writers' Strike
The end of the writers’ strike, which brought the world of entertainment to a near standstill in the USA, brings several points to mind for managers and executives in all industries and markets.
- Understand the needs of your suppliers – both internal and external.
- While the bottom line is often shareholder value, it is essential to understand those who contribute and how they benefit the overall enterprise.
- Listen.
- If you say “no”, make sure you understand all the potential consequences.
- Never underestimate the power of any group (writers, customers, regulatory agencies, production workers, parts suppliers, etc.) to bring your business to a halt.
- Always have a “Plan B” and ideally a Plan C” too.
- Even after you say “no” be willing to negotiate.
Obviously many articles, white papers and books will be written about the writers’ strike. Perhaps even a couple of movies too. Hopefully, managers and executives beyond the world of entertainment will learn some lessons from the event.
- Understand the needs of your suppliers – both internal and external.
- While the bottom line is often shareholder value, it is essential to understand those who contribute and how they benefit the overall enterprise.
- Listen.
- If you say “no”, make sure you understand all the potential consequences.
- Never underestimate the power of any group (writers, customers, regulatory agencies, production workers, parts suppliers, etc.) to bring your business to a halt.
- Always have a “Plan B” and ideally a Plan C” too.
- Even after you say “no” be willing to negotiate.
Obviously many articles, white papers and books will be written about the writers’ strike. Perhaps even a couple of movies too. Hopefully, managers and executives beyond the world of entertainment will learn some lessons from the event.
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