MANAGEMENT
PERSPECTIVE
Mary Elston
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The winners will be those
able to quickly shift gears
Wfor dinner, it’s a loud and lively event.
There’s plenty of food, conversation
hen my extended family comes over
well as incoming dollars (think targeted, aggressive, strategic marketing).
and laughter. Our goal is simple: polish off generous helpings of Italian food and wine and
have a great time.
Reduce costs: In lucrative times, your goal for
cutting costs may have been to hire one salesperson instead of two. Today, those goals must be
more pervasive and collaborative.
With this goal in mind, I hosted a holiday
dinner for 20 guests that didn’t quite play out
as planned.
After inhaling the meal, we played games,
shared some laughs and settled in to watch a
movie. The film was barely half over when my
nephew glanced out the window. The dry
streets and clear night had
turned into a raging blizzard, with six inches of
snow on the ground.
Hold a brainstorming session with your team
leaders and ask yourselves: What do we really
need to keep the business running? Where can
we shift gears?
His weather alert sent the
room into a massive goal
shift. Our simple objective
of enjoying an evening had
instantly morphed into a
new goal: getting home
safely. Faster than you
could say, “Pass the canno-lis,” the entire crowd had
yanked on coats, exchanged hugs and headed
out. The evening was
quickly over and, no, it
wasn’t something I said.
Look at costs line by line on your budget —
particularly the big costs. Consider options
that may include reduced head count or
switching to part-time
workers, tighter inventory, better deals with suppliers, more economical
telephone and Internet access, foregoing the coffee
service for making it yourself, negotiating better office cleaning rates, reducing employee perks and
cutting utility costs by
powering down at night.
While you’re doing this,
don’t be a “Lone Ranger.”
Share your decisions with
your team leaders; get their
buy-in to build support before you put cost-cutting
Changing conditions
require a resilient
and flexible
approach to how
you manage
your business.
As was the case with my family gathering, a
change in conditions can stimulate a shift in
goals. The sudden deterioration in the weather
had understandably altered priorities and shortened our evening.
What about changes in conditions surrounding your business? How do you shift gears and
alter goals to maintain a healthy bottom line?
Even more important, what goals have you set
in the first place?
measures into place. Look at least six to 12
months down the road. This means you shouldn’t
start your measures too late and risk losing bot-tom-line impact when you need it. Look ahead
and be adaptive so you can gear back up quickly
when conditions improve.
With economic challenges that may persist
through 2009, setting goals is a must. If you already have done so, that’s good. But don’t feel
too smug; in a tight market, goal reassessment is
also wise. Let’s consider what forward-thinking
practices must come into play.
Set marketing goals: Next is your core priority
for making money and the goals that go with it.
You’re already improving your odds for black ink
on the bottom line by keeping costs in check.
Now, how are you going to keep making money
in tough times?
Targeted marketing and contact goals for your
customer base are key. Instead of letting market
share get squishy, make it stronger. While you’re
at it, look at expanding your reach. This means
When things get tough, it’s time to hunker
down and look at core priorities. What are the
top three priorities for your business? How
about these mainstays for starters: reduce costs,
make money and grow the business. As a manager, all your goals should contribute to one of
these core priorities.
See Elston, Page 51
This is particularly critical when economic
conditions require every dollar to stretch like
spandex. That includes outgoing dollars (think
cost-cutting, labor and inventory management) as
Mary Elston has spent more than 20 years in
management in the transportation, consulting
and technology industries. She is a member of
the National Speakers Association and author
of the book, “Master Your Middle Management
Universe, How to Succeed with Moga Moga
Management Using 3 Easy Steps.” Contact
her at mary@masteryoursuccess.com.
