A priority for all business professionals is to align the interests of the various constituencies necessary for success: team members, leaders, customers, vendors, investors. Today's best performers are the quickest and most proactive in continually realigning as markets shift, customer interests change, and they learn from experience.
Alignment means that everyone has complementary goals and everyone works towards those goals. Today, all of this is changing rapidly, and the main role of a manager is to be a master of alignment. My view of this role is outlined in a classic book: Rapid restructuring, It is written by George Labovitz and Victor Rosansky, two experts in the field.
While the fundamental alignment framework of strategy, customers, people, and process has remained the same, the pace of technological, competitive, and societal change has accelerated at an astonishing rate. Most business professionals recognize the need to pivot periodically, but many forget that pivoting typically requires a recalibration effort to get all stakeholders back in sync.
At the highest level, new venture owners need to remember Stephen Covey's famous words: “The most important thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” This means that in the midst of cross currents of change, all parties and all organizations need to stay focused on what matters. Along these lines, there are some important principles to follow:
1. Move slowly, then fast, then faster.
Experts recommend taking the time to listen, learn, and gather data at first. Then accelerate through a series of ambitious efforts, and finally do everything in your power to involve all constituencies in lasting change. False starts and outright failures can undermine even the best course corrections.
2. Revisit your vision and values.
Make sure the inspiration that sparked your business vision doesn't get lost as you pivot and the market shifts — of course, you may need to realign that vision with your team, investors, and all other stakeholders — and not doing so could confuse many people.
3. Re-adjust every element of your plan.
Too often we speak with business owners who still don’t have a social media plan, even though most of their customers use social media as a key part of their purchasing decisions. If you have to pivot from the consumer market to business customers, you’ll need new pricing models and new sales channels.
4. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
If you want effective team collaboration, you must communicate effectively. When I was an executive, a common complaint I heard was, “Why didn't anyone tell me about the change?” A rule of thumb says that you need to deliver an important message four times in different ways before everyone hears it.
5. Change team members as needed.
Business leaders need to understand that restructuring teams often means replacing members who can't handle the change. They will likely have to acquire new strategic partners and market to new customer segments. These changes can be more costly than changing the product.
6. Update your delivery systems and processes.
Reevaluate your current processes and establish metrics that better represent your new sales, operational, and service needs. Then you must face the reality that it's time for a new system, software, or vendor contract. Building a culture of continuous improvement is a great way to facilitate the realignment.
7. Pay special attention to component alignment.
For inexperienced new venture owners, pivots and restructuring are often the biggest source of disagreement and tension with investors: family, angel investors, VCs, etc. If not handled openly and fairly, it can easily lead to CEO/founder replacement and funding freezes.
Simply put, to survive long term in today's business world, you need to recalibrate quickly. Executives need to realize that they can't achieve this recalibration alone. They need to enlist the cooperation of all members of their team and the extended team. Make sure it's not deprioritized too much.
