To really transform your organization quickly start with a program I call the Systems Inventory 

The Systems Inventory

The Systems Inventory is a program to determine if the systems in your company are serving you as well as they should. You'll learn which of the systems are doing fine, which are in crisis, and which are fine for now but may break under more stress. Most importantly we'll develop an action plan to improve how your company operates and help you achieve your goals faster.

As I said in the video, systems scale in a similar and predictable way in all companies across all industries. The key is to have the right functions for the goals of your company. This is based on the idea that every company needs to produce the same basic outputs:

• MAKE something people want to buy.
• Find those people and SELL to them.
• SUPPORT the making and the selling with proper management, finance, HR, facilities, compliance etc.
• GROW the company with proper planning, vision, leadership and strategy.

 As the company grows, these systems divide into sub-systems in a predictable way. The Systems Inventory is designed to determine how well those sub-systems are doing to accomplish the goals of the company owners. 

Here's How it Works

Short Version

• I meet with company owners to understand their goals for the company.
• Then I meet one on one with all the managers and some sample of non-managerial employees. They don't need to prep for this - the meetings take 30-60 minutes.
• Then I'll present my findings to whomever you like (just the CEO, Top Leadership team, All-hands - whatever works for you.)
• After the presentation the final deliverable is a plan of action to make the changes to your organization. We'll develop this together.

 I prefer to do this work in person but when covid numbers are too high for safety, we can do it virtually. It takes a bit more effort that way. 

Here's the Long Version

Phase One - Pre Meeting Prep

Tell your people that you've engaged me and why. People are always worried about their jobs when changes are happening, so I suggest you tell them explicitly that you didn't bring me in to chop headcount. (On the rare occasion when that's not true, of course don't lie).

We'll set a schedule of my one-on-one meetings with your team as outlined below in Phase Four.

Before we meet I'll ask you to send me the following:

1. Whatever you have as an org chart or at least a list of employee and their jobs
2. A list of what projects you are personally working on
3. Your most recent Financial reports (don't run them again - just send the ones you last reviewed no matter how old).
4. A list of the regularly scheduled meetings you're involved in.
5. The 20-Questions form explained below

What the Owners Want - 20 Questions

We all want money from our companies. But we also want more than that (unless we're merely a financial investor.) What owners want from their companies is like the musical score for an orchestra. It tells us if everyone is playing the right notes.

I'll send out a questionnaire to each of the owners (including all silent partners and investors) and I ask that you send 30-45 minutes filling it out with each owner doing it separately before you discuss it. The answers need not be identical or even similar, but if there are incompatibilities we'll work on these.

Phase Two -  Connection

When I first arrive, I'll spend time with you and any other owners involved in this project. Give me a tour of your site and let's grab a meal and get to know each other a bit.

Phase Three - CEO Time

Now we'll get to work. I'll spend a few hours with you, the CEO. I'll learn how you work, and what you see as the strengths and weaknesses of your company and your key people. Then I'll let you get back to work, but I'll ask you to log your time in a very specific and simple way till we meet again at the end of my visit.

Phase Four - Your People

I'll meet one on one with everyone in your organization  - for larger companies I'll meet with all the managers and a sampling of non-managers. We'll have scheduled these visits beforehand, but your people don't need to prepare. I want to hear their immediate answers to the questions I ask about their jobs and their interactions.

Phase Five - Presentation

During the time I'm working with your team, I'll be comparing how things work in the real world with a model of best case scenarios. At the end I'll pull these together into a presentation about how all the systems in your company are working (or not). You'll get a good idea of what "working well" looks like.

This presentation can be given to whomever you like - just you, the top Leadership team, all-hands - whatever works for you.

Implementation Plan

Following the presentation we'll put together an implementation plan to make the changes you want to make based on what we've found. The participants in this plan can be the same as for the presentation or a smaller group.

Interested? Have Questions?

Click on CONTACT ME below and tell me a bit about your company. We'll set up a time to talk and see if we both think I can help.