Change Management: How to execute a "positive change"

By Virginia Mburu

From the discussions during the Interior Designers Association meeting, Mwakazi realized he needed to up his game (refer to the previous article here). A change of mindset and a totally different way of addressing current business challenges and customer needs was necessary.  

Top on the priority was change of mindset. The “this is how we do” or “this is how we used to do” would cease to be the norm. He thought about businesses that have been growing fast and Funguo property developers came into mind.

The owner happened to be one of his college mates- Kizito Stua. He noted that he would call him up the next day. He would take the necessary precautions to ensure that the change would be smooth.

Below target

He remembered that he had set a meeting with Kusema for the following day at 3.00 p.m. Kusema was one of the Sales Executives who always had one excuse or the other for their action or inaction. 

Remember he was late for the last meeting because he had to go pay electricity bills. Currently, he was way below his sales target.

This time Kusema was spot on time.  “I appreciate the way you get along with the others staff members. You are very supportive of the team”. Mwakazi told him as soon as he was sited.  “Tell me, how are you doing?”

Kusema started his lamentations, “It is the territory I am assigned’, “I am not getting the support I need’, “I am taking a lot of time doing the reports” etc. etc. etc.

His plan

Mwakazi   then asked him to explain what he was doing about those issues. Kusema responded that he was calling up more customers and meeting them but it seems that the customers were not keen on buying, he had also requested for  a change in territory,  a car allowance  to allow him meet as many customers etc. etc.

 And how well are these “strategies” working for you?

Mwakazi asked. Kusema was silent for a while and then responded. “Not at all, my performance is getting worse”, Kusema replied. “What is likely to happen if the trend continues?” asked Mwakazi.  “I may lose my job and that would devastate me and my family”, Kusema replied

“Tell me, do you think those customers who are not keen on buying from you end up having their interiors designed?” Mwakazi asked. “Yes” Kusema responded looking rather worried. 

He did not like the direction this meeting was taking. It seemed that what he feared most was about to happen and he silently prayed. 

“Who do they buy the service from?” Mwakazi responded. “I don’t know”, Kusema replied almost whispering.

A lifeline

“I have some homework for you.   I require the following from you before the next meeting; 

1. A report on whether those customers who did not buy from you ultimately had their interiors designed, by who and why
2. Observe the best performers selling skills and behavior and make a report
3. An action plan that will result in a remarkable positive change in your results.

While at it, take the following into consideration;

• Keep your negative emotions in check so that you can strategically plan the next action. Rather than complain, see the positive in the change
• Identify all the changes you need to undertake in your work life and personal life so as to improve your performance
• Get as much information on the change, how it will impact your lifestyle, position and what the new expectations are. Make sure you get this information from the right sources
• When designing the change, you may need to create a new work and life plan and consolidate both in one plan so that you achieve a work life balance. No more running late on paying your bills. Schedule that in the work/life plan
• What new skills, training, tools will you require? Maybe you could do with some improvement in time or is it task management?
• What attitudes and habits will you drop
• Which attitudes and habits will you adopt? What will be the benefits from that will be realised from the change?  e.g. What  new skill will you have acquired? Which dormant skill will you have utilized?

Our next meeting is Tuesday next week but I want the report via email on Monday afternoon.” Mwakazi concluded.

What do you think were the results of Kusema’s findings?  What kind of a change plan  did he come up with? Share with us in the comments section below.

Whatever you do, make sure it results in less work, more money and positive impact.

Update

Do you know that you can be assisted to set up strong business foundations in “My Business Foundations Model” program? Click here for more details

 Virginia Mburu

The Work Less, Make more Money Passionate Entrepreneurs Coach

Virginia empowers and motivates Passionate Entrepreneurs to realize their purpose and pursue it. She then assists the entrepreneurs to clarify, prioritise and focus on management and marketing strategies and action plans that will get them to work less, make more money and positively impact within one year.   Download some of her gifts- absolutely free lessons on www.biasharacoach.blogspot.co.ke

Business Growth:3 arrows to assist you conquer your business enemies

By Virginia Mburu

Enemies……

We all have them……

Ideally, we do not like our enemies since an enemy = battle ahead. And battles are very costly- financially, fatalities, physical and emotional trauma etc. 

However…..

It is by dueling with our enemies; both internal and external that we show the stuff we are made of and by conquering them, we grow to the next level.

Think about it…..How will your business get noticed, establish your position, grow your sales, profits or market share unless you conquer the enemies within and without. 

It is your enemy that will motivate you to excellence.  As you duel, they will find your faults forcing you to clean up your act. You have to work smart to conquer them.

It is your enemy that will cause you to stretch your innovation. Your customers should actually thank them for the improved quality, functions or service!

 You might even turn them into friends and an enemy turned friend is a most loyal asset. 

Let us dig into a case study below;

“The man of God was angry with him and said, "You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times” 2 Kings 13:19

The man of God in the above quote is Prophet Elisha and the “him” is King Jehoash. Prophet Elisha was very sick and almost dying. From this narrative in 2 Kings 13, we are told that he actually died of that particular sickness. All the same, we find King Jehoash running to him crying- in desperate need of assistance! 

He had a major enemy who was giving him sleepless nights- the Arameans. They had captured some parts of the Kingdom and were oppressing and humiliating his citizens.

This takes us to the first arrow in dealing with our business enemies.

Arrow 1.....Clearly identify the  enemy and how it is impacting your business  

Now, let us take a peek in your business - Passionate Entrepreneur…….

Can you identify your enemies and the impact on your business and on YOU as a person?

Let us start with possible external enemies. The list below is just a sample of these enemies. Please add as need be.

 What about those ones that hide within  your business?

Arrow 2.....Get help from the best of the best 

King Jehoash knew where he could   get assistance on how to handle the issue at hand from the best of the best--- never mind that this person was on his death bed!

He had so much faith in him that despite his condition that he cried out to him as “Father, Father… "The chariots and horsemen of Israel!  The Prophet did not disappoint. He took care of his emotional and tactical needs.

 “ Elisha said, "Get a bow and some arrows," and he did so. "Take the bow in your hands," he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. "Open the east window," he said, and he opened it. "Shoot!" Elisha said, and he shot. "The Lord 's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!" Elisha declared. "You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek." (Verse 15-17)

Please note that Elisha put his hands on the King’s hand as he shot the arrow signifying delivery and victory. The King obviously knew how to shoot but now he was learning how to “aim like a prophet”.

Passionate Entrepreneur

• Who can you consult when you have to deal with the enemies above?
• Where can you acquire the best and up to date information and   resources you need?
• What are the best strategies to execute and in which order?

And then Prophet Elisha, like every good teacher, trainer, coach or mentor put him to test……….

Then he said, "Take the arrows," and the king took them. Elisha told him, "Strike the ground." He struck it three times and stopped.(Verse 18)

King Jehoash had not run out of arrows… So why did he choose to shoot only three times? Why did he stop too soon? Did he consider it beneath him to strike the ground? Did he not have a strong belief in himself?

Did it just reflect his level of unpreparedness? In verse 7, we are alerted on the state of the military he inherited from his father King Jehoahaz.

 “Nothing had been left of the army of Jehoahaz except fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers, for the king of Aram had destroyed the rest and made them like the dust at threshing time”

Did he not have a strong desire to completely destroy his enemy? Was he indifferent to the humiliation and distress his people were subjected to?

All in all, the action or inaction of the king determined the answer to his problem. And so it applies to you - Passionate Entrepreneur- the result you achieve is a factor of the actions you take or not take.

Which brings us to the third step……. 

Arrow 3.....Have enough armory and shoot all arrows necessary to  completely conquer the enemy

“The man of God was angry with him and said, "You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times” (Verse 19)

If you thoroughly completed exercises in step 1 & 2, you have all the ammunition you need to conquer the enemy. You have even prioritized who or what enemy to start with based on the impacts. 

Now you it’s time to persistently shoot all the “necessary” arrows until you completely conquer the enemy or turn them into friends. While at it, do not spread too thin. Conquer the major ones one after another or similar ones together.

And it came to pass……..

In verse 25 -“Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz recaptured from Ben-Hadad son of Hazael the towns he had taken in battle from his father Jehoahaz. Three times Jehoash defeated him, and so he recovered the Israelite towns.”

King Jehoash had lost his chance. He could   have completely conquered the Arameans and made them an example of what happens when you dare raise a finger against his kingdom. Unfortunately he did not and the Moabites soon came calling because he settled at three tries………

Over to you-Passionate Entrepreneur;

• Have you identified all your business enemies and their impact on your business?
• Have you identified the sources of all information and resources you need to win this war?
• Are you willing to go all the way to the finish line?

Leave your comments below and   share your experiences, views, questions, suggestions etc. with the other Passionate Entrepreneurs on the above challenges.

Update

Do you have the right business model that will assist you duel that enemy? Let us coach and mentor you to set that formidable model through “My Business Foundations Model" coaching program. Click here for more details

Virginia Mburu

The Work Less, Make More Money Passionate Entrepreneurs Coach

Virginia empowers and motivates Passionate Entrepreneurs to realize their purpose and pursue it. She then assists the entrepreneurs to clarify, prioritise and focus on management and marketing strategies and action plans that will get them to work less, make more money and positively impact within one year.    Download some of her gifts- absolutely free lessons on www.biasharacoach.blogspot.co.ke

Productivity Optimization: How you can lower your standards!

By Virginia Mburu

It is early Monday Morning…….

 Mwakazi, Pendo and the children - Jabali and Waridi are ready to start the day. The parents take the children to school and continue discussing the procrastination bug  (refer to previous article here).

“I need to sort out a few frogs in the office”, Mwakazi reckons. “Same here” responds Pendo. They have arrived at her workplace and Pendo alights.

Mwakazi gets to work early as usual. He catches up on news from his favorite paper. An interesting article on the cover page “Baba while you were away……….”  

He briefly scans the other pages and moves to the properties section. He takes some time in this section noting new developments and contacts that are important to his business- Makao Interior Designers.

Meet the team

He gets ready for a ten o’clock project team meeting to be held in an hour. In his team is Juhudi, Kutenda, Furaha, Zawadi and Kusema. Some have been with his company for long while some were recruited recently as the business grew.

He gets to the meeting room on time. Only Juhudi and Kutenda are in attendance.  After the usual pleasantries, he asks about the whereabouts of Furaha, Zawadi and Kusema.  Kutenda remarks that they should be arriving anytime.

Two minutes later Furaha and Zawadi walk in profusely apologizing for being late........

“Let’s get started. Before we get on to today’s agenda I have a story”, Mwakazi says. He goes on to narrate the “another day with the frog story”. He asks each of the employees to identify the frogs that are plaguing their work.

Late comer

As this exercise is going on, Kusema walks in panting.  “I’m sorry Sir, I had dashed out to pay  electricity bills. I got a call that the disconnection crew is at home”. Mwakazi tells him to sit.  “Let me reiterate this for the last time, our meetings start as indicated in the circulated agendas. See me after the meeting”.

The next agenda is on how to handle the new contract- the new apartments on Kona Drive. They start discussing how they have done similar projects in the past.

Kutenda, the last recruit who joined them five months ago also adds on what used to be done in the last place he worked. They ultimately come up with the strategies, action plans, deadlines, performance measures, responsibilities etc.

Mwakazi reminds the team that lateness will not be entertained and reminds Kusema to see him after the meeting. By the end of  meeting, it is a few minutes to one and they break for lunch.

Plain plan

Juhudi- the team leader circulates the Kona Drive Apartments design plan the following morning. Mwakazi does not quite like the plan. It is so, so plain. The usual plan with only minor changes. Nothing exciting!  “If I do not like it, what will the customer think? Something has to change- Fast”, He says to himself.

Mwakazi is a member of   Interior Design Business Owners Association. The association organizes networking events and they have a meeting after lunch today. They have invited a business growth coach and  he is looking forward to listening to what the coach has to offer. He actually arrived earlier to take a front seat. 

“Good afternoon! Today, we look at how you can lower your standards”. The coach said to everyone’s surprise.  Now he had the attention of everyone in the room. “Yes, you can lower your standards and it does not take effort to do so".

Mediocre product

How often do you or your team members keep saying “this is the way we do it” How often do you hear a person who was working elsewhere say,   “this is how we used to do it”. What is likely to be result of this kind of conversation- A standard non-exciting or even mediocre product!

Is it any wonder that you lose that contract to your competitor? Let’s hear from the audience how we can change this sad scenario”

A number of hands were raised and as   the members contributed to the debate, Mwakazi’s mind drifted to the discussions in yesterday’s meeting and the resulting plan on his desk. No wonder he had his misgivings on the plan!

• What can he do to come up with a better plan? 
•  What kind of thinking should his team adopt?

Over to you Passionate Entrepreneur-Please assist Mwakazi by sharing your thoughts in the comments section below

Whatever you do, make sure it results in less work, more money and positive impact.

Update

Do you know that you can be assisted to  optimise your productivity in “My Productivity Optimization Formula” program? Click here for more details

Virginia Mburu

Passionate Entrepreneurs Coach

Virginia empowers and motivates Passionate Entrepreneurs to realize their purpose and pursue it. She then assists the entrepreneurs to clarify, prioritise and focus on management and marketing strategies and action plans that will get them to work less, make more money and positively impact within one year.  Download some of her gifts- absolutely free lessons on www.biasharacoach.blogspot.co.ke

Procrastination: 1 More day with the frogs!

By Virginia Mburu

“One appeared.........

 And then another. Many others….Suddenly there were frogs everywhere.

Tiny ones, small ones, big ones, giant ones- name it. They occupied every space leaving no sitting, standing, sleeping space not even eating space. 

The adults were perplexed, the children’s cries could be heard from every corner not to mention the cacophony of animal cries. Something had gone seriously wrong! What was going on?”, the narrator asked.

At this juncture,  Mwakazi walked into the living room to find his   children Waridi and Jabali  watching the popular Kids TV program. So engrossed were they that they did not even pay attention to his entry. “That is not funny”, He said to himself as he sat in his favorite spot and poured himself a cup of tea.

Not a single child who was in the TV studio audience raised a hand to answer that question. They actually seemed rather afraid. Mwakazi reckoned they must have been imagining how the situation must have been like. “Awful, pretty awful.” 

The narrator continued......The broadcasting stations were “breaking news” and showing pictures of the “frog invasion”. The city streets, the farms, the forests even the Kings Palace! The children gasped. “And then the King was asked to decide when he wanted the frog invasion to end. Would you like to know what the king said? The narrator asked.  “YES YES YES”, the children responded in unison. 

"Tommorrow”! 

“What!!! Another day with the frogs?”   Mwakazi shouted attracting his children’s attention. Just then, the TV went off.  “NOOOOOOOOOOO, What is going on” asked Jabali.  “Black out” replied Waridi. 

“Daddy” why did the King say “TOMORROW”? Why another day with the frogs? asked Jabali.  “How were they to cook, eat, sit, sleep, work with all those frogs?” Waridi asked. Mwakazi had no answers to these questions.

Pendo (his wife) walked in and the children started narrating the story and posed the same questions as they had asked their Dad. 

In the meantime, he was digesting the story and then it occurred to him how often we also willingly spend another day, weeks, months, even years with frogs.

“Jabali”, “Yes Dad”, Jabali responded with annoyance as they had not got the answers they wanted from MUM. “When are you doing your homework?”  “Tomorrow," Jabali replied. “Tomorrow?” exclaimed Pendo and Waridi. “So you want to spend another day with the homework frog?” Dad asked.

“What kind of frogs do we encounter in our day to day lives?”  asked Dad, breaking the silence.

Mama Jabali spoke first- “I actually have delayed preparation of our BIZ MUMS CHAMA accounts. I have been procrastinating this exercise for the last three weeks and our meeting is due in a week!”

“And you Waridi?”   She is hesitant to speak as Mum looks at her. “ Eh eh eh  I…. I also have not cleaned my bedroom” 

“And I am off to the gym”, Dad retorts as they all scuffle to do away with the frogs.

As Mwakazi works out in the gym, his minds wanders to his business- Makao Interior Designers. The entrepreneurial bug bit him when he was working with a leading interior design company.  He felt the need for more freedom to exploit his passion and have more freedom to pursue personal interests. Five years down the line, there seems to be a mega frog invasion over there.

“How do we end up with all these frogs?”  Mwakazi wonders

As the work out gets more intense, so does his analysis.  “One by one, day by day”. He thinks about those tasks in his IN tray. Some have been there for days, weeks, months.....

Analysing  each of those tasks, he realizes that some of them have been lying there for so long because 

• He does not like doing them,
• He is not good at some, 
• They are not critical to his passion,
• He is spending too much time sorting problems, firefighting  etc. 

“I will get rid of all those frogs starting now. I have not had some Family Time in a long while. Time to go” 

Over to YOU- Passionate Entrepreneur; 

• Which frogs are you spending your personal, family, social and working days with?  
• What do you plan to do with these frogs?  

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below 

Whatever you do, make sure it results in less work, more money and positive impact.

Update

Do you know that you can be assisted to  optimise your productivity in “My Productivity Optimization Formula” program? Click here for more details

Virginia Mburu

Passionate Entrepreneurs Coach

Virginia empowers and motivates Passionate Entrepreneurs to realize their purpose and pursue it. She then assists the entrepreneurs to clarify, prioritise and focus on management and marketing strategies and action plans that will get them to work less, make more money and positively impact within one year.  Download some of her gifts- absolutely free lessons on www.biasharacoach.blogspot.co.ke

Workplace drama: 3 scenarios to deal with

By Virginia Mburu

THE DONKEY HAS REFUSED!

The  above cartoon featured  in the  The Standard Newspaper on Wednesday 10^th September, 2014.  The rider is  ordering the donkey to “Stop moving” but the donkey has a mind of its  own “Forward it is”. 

Trust the cartoonist to add a funny angle to the whole story---- the rider is facing backwards! I will leave you to decipher the meaning. 

This cartoon reminds me of another donkey…Balaam’s  Donkey in Numbers  22.  In this story,  they are progressing  well towards Balaam’s destination when all of a sudden , the donkey stops. 

Balaam urges the donkey to move but it refuses. Balaam beats it until the  unbelievable  happens—it speaks in a language Balaam understands!

Over to you- the Passionate Entrepreneur and your business. Do you have  situations  when you find that you – the entrepreneur or your employees  seem to  be reading from different scripts. I bet you  get the  feeling the two riders aforementioned must have  experienced-how comes you cannot keep your team under control?

What could be happening in the two instances?

Scenario 1. The  headless chicken syndrome

Of course  without a head the chicken  cannot see what is   ahead. The  head and the  body will be  moving in different directions as they  as they are now disconnected.The donkey and the  rider do not have a  shared  vision. The donkey can see what Balaam cannot see- An angel  ready to strike Balaam with a sword. In the cartoon, one wants a referendum and the  other does not.

Now to your business, Passionate Entrepreneur;                                  

a. Do you  have a vision, mission, values and  objectives statements?

b. Are they clear, simple and communicated to everyone involved in your business  such as employees, suppliers, customers etc?

c.  Can they easily recite the vision and mission without having to refer to a manual?

d.  Are you asking the right questions to ensure that everyone understands the vision?

e.  Do they  all understand such that they should at all times and circumstances live, eat and sleep that vision/ mission? 

f.    Are their decisions and  behaviours aligned to the vision/mission? 

g.  Do you have  continuous, effective,  open communication that   promotes support  from the  majority if  not all involved? 

h.  Can everyone involved in the business visualize how the destination looks like, feels like, smells like, tastes like and sounds like for them and their significant others?

i.   Are you actively listening so that you can hear what is not being said verbally or via  body language? Are you reading between the lines?

j.   Do you have performance standards for every role (employees and relevant partners) that are also aligned to your  business goals? It is important for  the stakeholders to understand their unique  worth and the value they contribute to the  objectives and be proud of their work.

k.  Have you designed to  celebrate  short term wins at the  business and individual levels so as  to motivate the stakeholders? Keep in mind people love  to follow success.

l.   Are you leading by example?  Are you confidently  walking the talk? Remember –they will pick your ques. Can they trust you to lead them to the promised land?

Scenario 2.    Behold The drama Queen/King !

You better identify the  drama queen/king  in your business. You can easily spot them.  

He/ She is likely to manipulate situations through emotional blackmail (think of the two year old toddler tantrums), withhold information, steal ideas, be jealous, envious,  play victim,  only  see the bad in the other employees, or basically blow matters out of proportion. 

They could be that competent/ perfectionist employee who cannot tolerate others. You might actually need to gracefully identify the same traits in YOU!

 So, how can we handle our drama queen/king?

a.  Set clear Human Resource (HR)  Policies that clearly states that No Drama  Will Be Entertained

b.  In an article posted by John Halter, he advises that you quickly deal with drama before it escalates to unmanageable proportions.

c.  Understand the drama players- the victim ( Woiyeee- the I’m Blameless who is looking for love), persecutor (I’m right- the fault finder who is looking for power) and rescuer (I’m good- the peacemaker who is looking for acceptance).

d. Keep them under the radar. He recommends that you monitor their moves and know what is likely to instigate them, how it is likely to play out and what your action plan will be. 

e.   The drama affects the whole team. Call a team meeting with the aim of having the team set “Team Standards of Conduct”. In the meeting, do not discuss the situation and stick to “The Standards of Conduct” agenda only. Do not take sides or get emotionally involved. What you need is an agreed rules of engagement plus and an agreement that any issues will be sorted out between involved parties or their supervisors without involving other parties.  This code  of  conduct will be useful as……….

f.   Soon, the drama queen/king will be at it again and you can now individually deal with them. Read them the riot act based on the HR Policy and the previously agreed “Standards of Conduct” while reiterating their value to the business and request for a change in behavior. You just hit two birds with the same stone- dealt with the undesired behavior and the rest of the team knows you will  not entertain drama. 

g.   Be ready for the next drama. Now you know that donkeys can speak!

Scenario 3.    A brewing conflict 

 The conflict could arise from lack of information, poor information, no information or misinformation regarding roles, responsibilities, resources (as in the two cases above) as well as decisions based on emotions. 

As it is with the drama king and queens, deal with conflicts fast  

a.  Set a meeting where each party explains their position (without interference) as well as specific actions they expect of the other party. What can they do more of, less of, stop and start doing etc.?

b.    Remain calm, actively listen to both parties and do not take sides.

c.  While at it, stick to issues not personalities, avoid blame game and concentrate on seeking conflict solutions.

d.  Find a common ground and obtain a mutual agreement on action plans, set progress review timelines and affirm your belief in their capability to resolve the conflict.

e.  Celebration time! Appreciate the effort both parties have extended in solving the conflict and what better way than to toss to that over a cocktail, lunch or dinner? Please invite me……

What about you - Passionate Entrepreneur?

• Which of these scenarios have you experienced?
• How did  you deal with it?  

Please share your experiences, suggestions and questions by leaving your comments below.

Whatever you do, make sure it results in less work, more money and positive impact.

Update

Do you know that you can be assisted to  set up strong business foundations in “My Business Foundations Model” program? Click here for more details

   

Virginia Mburu

Passionate Entrepreneurs Coach 

Virginia empowers and motivates Passionate Entrepreneurs to realize their purpose and pursue it. She then assists the entrepreneurs to clarify, prioritise and focus on management and marketing strategies and action plans that will get them to work less, make more money and positively impact within one year.   Download some of her gifts- absolutely free lessons on www.biasharacoach.blogspot.co.ke