Business Diagnostic

by | 12 Jul 2019

Take a Step Back!

While there is no substitute for great, hands-on Executive management in any business, there is an argument to say that sometimes you can just get too close, become too involved in the day-to-day and not have time, or inclination, to step back and steer the ship.

How many times, as an Executive, do you go home at the end of the week feeling totally drained, having put in too many hours, not really feeling that you have achieved much, and with some ‘homework’ to boot.

  • Is that your life?
  • Do you recognise your business?
  • Are you simply too involved in the day-to-day running?
  • If so, then ask yourself, WHY?

There have been so many occasions in my Consulting career where I have been hired to become the crutch of the exhausted Executive who is ‘living the dream’ above.

Great job, well rewarded, no work-life balance, and no real understanding why the ‘job’, with their innate, well proven ability and skills, simply takes so much of their time.

We help Executives in this situation by carrying out a short, broad but shallow Business Diagnostic to uncover the reasons why so much ‘work’ is going on beyond what is actually required to run the business. In most cases, this falls into the category of ‘Failure Demand’, where a large percentage of ‘work’ is created within the business and becomes ‘the way we do things around here’, offering no value to Clients, or Shareholders.

This usually falls into a couple of categories;

  • In technical ‘lean’ terms, this will come from a plethora of wastes – under the “Seven Wastes of Lean” philosophy.
  • However, it can also be cultural, where the ‘norm’ is to escalate ‘issues’ to the highest level in the organisation – usually the aforementioned overworked Executive – for resolution. In most cases, the root cause of this lies with the Executives themselves, as they have permitted this to take shape and, perhaps, see their role as ‘Master Fire Fighter’ with the skills, experience and aptitude to resolve anything that is escalated in their direction.

As long as that continues, be prepared to give up your weekends until your frustrations reach a level when you have simply had enough. Alternatively, take time, step back, get some help and understand WHY you are working so many hours and then put a plan in place to stop that ‘hamster wheel’.

A Business Diagnostic will highlight, in a very short period, the root causes of your 7 day weeks, develop a solution and help drive your business towards a more process managed, higher skilled, less costly environment that perhaps will offer you the time to determine strategic direction: the things you should be doing as opposed to fixing problems.

Our Diagnostic approach provides independent, trusted resources that will partner with you, share knowledge and offer practical insights to your business needs. We utilise experienced project team members to work on-site, where we can shadow and work with you and your teams’ so they are engaged and involved in the process. Our Diagnostic Report is detailed, underpinned by data, and uses internal and external best practice, identifying non-value costs, realistic cost efficiencies, business improvements including customer satisfaction and an organisation structure that is fit for purpose.

In a recent Diagnostic exercise with a well-known, international business services provider our Diagnostic Report identified a benefit-to-cost ratio of 14:1. This is an investment that can help you take control of the increasing frustrations that you are facing as an Executive.

If you would like to understand in more detail the benefits of a Business Diagnostic, we would be delighted to organise a presentation or video conference to talk through a case study with you and your Executive Team – please contact us directly by email.​