Re-structuring?

Uninor is a joint venture between Telenor, of Norway, and Unitech in India.

 

All 60 Uninor offices in India are “open offices”. There are no private cabins and there is complete flexibility. A trainee can sit next to senior professionals and even besides the MD. The few small rooms are for meetings and conference calls.

The 2,500-employee strong Uninor says team play and levels of collaboration are much higher amongst employees than in other organisations. It also claims the highest employee productivity and the lowest attrition rate in the industry.

“It is as simple as removing layers and barriers. We have demolished the walls and the rooms within rooms. Problems get solved faster. New ideas come up freely. Basically, when you need to talk, you don’t need to knock,” says Thulin.

So think about how you structure your team and you office  in more ways than one.

The Elevator Pitch

The 'elevator pitch' is so-called because it is designed to be brief, upfront and high impact so that if you make the pitch in an elevator, the listener(s) will stop the elevator to hear more rather than getting out at their selected floor.

 

What it really is of course is a discipline that you should apply to presentations to make them more productive.  You have to think hard about what you really want to say and about your audience (and what they want to hear).

 

So very quickly you need to say something about you, your offering and why this is of benefit to the audience. If you can do this in under a minute, you might hook your audience for a longer timeslot.  If you can't, why should the audience listen?

Non work costs

I used to be a work study engineer ... studying work to see where improvements can be made. A useful discipline with many successes.

However I became aware that more often than not, what was wrong with an organisation - or a process - was not the work ... but the 'non-work' .. the waiting, the delays, the waste.

So when you look at your own organisation, look for this 'non work' ... and fill the time with work by re-arranging the processes. The work will then take care of itself.

Information loading

We know two things about information.  One - we need  it ... as the basis of decision-making.  Two - we get too much of it.  The latter has got worse over recent years as it has become easier to disseminate information.

 

So - when you get the time between reading all the information that lands on your desk - do a simple information audit.  Ask one or two employees about the information on their desks - and how much of it they need - and use. Then work out how to get rid of some or all of the rest ... and you'll have a grateful - and more productive - employee.

Coach to success

Coaching and mentoring is now big business ... presumably because it is effective in changing (and improving) the performance of those being coached and mentored.  After all, if it works in athletics, why shouldn't it work in business.

 

In small businesses, owner/managers often need mentoring but do not have ready access to suitable individuals ... and often (claim that they) don't have the time.  Improving your own performance is something you MUST have time for ... so make the time available.  If you can find the time, you can also find a coach ... go to a business club ... or just use yellow pages.

 

Jus talking through issues with a confidante often helps in itself ... but a coach also has knowledge of perofrmance improvement techniques.

 

Try it - it might make a big difference ... and the risk is very small.

Take a look at the conditions under which your staff work

You can perform good work in poor space and under poor conditions, but it is always easier to do so when the 'environment' is conducive to prolonged effort, provides what is necessary and makes the workers feel good about themselves.

 

So take a look at the conditions under which your staff work. Are they 'up to scratch'?  If not, is it because you really can't afford better, or simply that you haven't bothered to look before ... and have accidentally shackled your workers by not bothering to think of their real needs.

Small may be good ... but its not an easy fight.

Small is beautiful. Right?  Well, small businesses are the backbone of most economies. They end up growing ... or failing ... or, just occasionally, staying as stable, small bushinesses.

Thomas Friedman, in The World is Flat, suggested that technology is a real boon to a small business ... no-one knows you are small from your website .. and you can do things now that only the big boys could do 20 years ago.

However, tech costs. So, small businesses have to borrow (and then they are owned by the big guys ... and especially the banks) ... or they have to tread very slowly (and they get overtaken buy the big guys coming late but with lots of money) or they have to be innovative ... doing things the big guys haven't yet thought of.

What's your 'edge' ... why will you succeed in the face of competition from the big guys. If you don't know the answer, your chances of success are slim.