Like the doctor with his patient, a history followed by examination of all aspects of the firm from the products, finance, the people and markets and competition might give you a glimpse into what needs to be done.
Remember that the people you found there might hold the key to your success or failure.
Consult with them on all aspects of the business and see for yourself who is best in, and who must go.
Not only do they know the problems, but some of them also know the solutions.
Q “How can I restore confidence in a team I am managing? My predecessor was rather high-handed and many of the team members say they feel they need to rediscover themselves”
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Beginning of the year is as good a time as any to address your question. After the generally welcome end of the year activities, it is yet another time to reflect on the achievements and shortcomings of the past year.
For many, 2021 was what Her Majesty the Queen described in 1992 as her ‘Annus Horribilis”. The economic and social challenges globally in part brought about by the pandemic have to a large extent shaken the fabric of society across the globe. This new year holds hope for greater stability, growth and prosperity.
Your question, therefore, is a fit and proper starting point for a measure of self-reflection and examination.
In your case, we would like to know the circumstances that led to the departure of your predecessor. Did he for example have to resign under a cloud of financial inappropriateness? Did the board push him out or did he jump?
How long was the process of getting him to go? Was it fast and furious or did the situation fester for months and years? This latter point is critical because he might have forced good people to leave before it became obvious that he was the problem.
A few years ago, a well-established manufacturing company got into some problems, and as would turn out, it had failed to keep up with competition on several fronts including composition of the board.
The board consisted of well-respected men, all of whom had had distinguished careers in public service. Because of their sound educational and loyal service, they had been appointed to the various boards, in reward for loyalty. None of them had started any company from ground up and their business skills were theoretical rather than practical. Their limitations were obvious.
To deal with some of these problems, they asked for the services of a respected young man who was introduced to the board as the expert of change management. So impressive was his report, that the board asked him to oversee the plans he had for the company.
To their surprise, the company went down and had to be wound up two years later. The expert had failed to save the company, much as a doctor who makes the wrong diagnosis might not be able to save the patient. His youthful enthusiasm turned out to be misplaced and lethal. He had jumped into the job headfirst and had ‘sacked’ all employees and asked them to reapply for their jobs.
All the best performing members of his staff got jobs elsewhere, and only the worst performing stayed, to help him oversee the collapse of the company. You must be careful not to fall into this trap of inexperience. Before you condemn your predecessor, make sure you get the right diagnosis of the problem before your advice on the solution. In this case the problem was the Board and no changes in management would lead to any meaningful change in the company fortunes.
In other cases, it might be that the business environment has changed fundamentally and the products you are now making are no longer relevant.
Mobile phones for example have killed the business of some types of cameras. It might also be that the company lacks adequate capital to compete with new entrants. It might also, as it seems in your case that a bad man was at the helm and that indeed the right person (you) are destined to save the situation without any other changes.
On the assumption that you are right person and that you got this job on merit, it would be incumbent on you to seek to understand what went wrong and how the company got to where you now find it.
Like the doctor with his patient, a history followed by examination of all aspects of the firm from the products, finance, the people and markets and competition might give you a glimpse into what needs to be done.
Remember that the people you found there might hold the key to your success or failure. Consult with them on all aspects of the business and see for yourself who is best in, and who must go. Not only do they know the problems, but some of them also know the solutions.
Their formal engagement in the process of diagnosing the situation might be the start of what you call team building, which in a formal sense, includes, solving any team problems, better defining areas of ambiguity in the teams, and making sure that the team goals and targets find clear definition.
This is perhaps what the team members mean when they tell you that they need to have confidence restored and that they need to self-discover. The people are asking for the opportunity to help you!
