Archive for Turnaround
It takes guts, to start with lean training in a turnaround!
Posted by: | CommentsIt takes guts, to start with lean training in a turnaround! That’s what Bob Weiner did with PAS Technologies (B901 Podcast). When you think about it, what better way to get buy-in of the employees than starting to build a lean culture.
Can you imagine what your first day would be like in a turnaround? That day one meeting with the employees, they are sitting there thinking about getting fired. A very different message is communicated when the boss calls everyone together dispenses with the mumble jumble and spend time talking about a Lean Transformation. When the boss lays out the actual training that is going to take place to the employees, he shows commitment.
It will not do a lot of good to expose just a few people to a lean transformation. With everyone taking part in the program, you create uniform language and system that can be used throughout the company. Training and development programs help shape the culture and attitudes of the business. Lean education is the best way to stop the finger-pointing and gain individual responsibility.
What is a Lean culture? From a recent blog post, John Shook, Senior Adviser at the Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc., said: ” Toyota -> revolutionized the technical side of lean production with inclusion of product complexity (for customer benefit). More importantly it revolutionized the social dimension, respecting workers brains as well as their hands (so factory workers become knowledge workers, the scientists).”
You can hardly move quick enough in a turnaround situation. Sometimes education of an employee is imperative for them to know what is not their decision to make. In a lean culture, seldom is just one person isolated in making a decision. So the chance of making a smart mistake will be reduced but may still be possible. But making a smart mistake twice is very unlikely. It also will ensure a mistake to be handled quickly and efficiently, when they do happen. Some employees may not survive the transition. However, the fittest and most willing will adapt and be the survivors. Your company turnaround will be defined by the people that are willing to participate in it.
Lean training is not learned in the classroom. It is learn in the application and participation in kaizens, waste walks and other lean tools. But to pass the correct knowledge on you need very proficient lean people in key roles to lead these events. You know training is the right thing to do, but it still takes a lot of guts to do it!
Are you an Ideal Customer for a Turnaround Consultant
Posted by: | CommentsMplan for a Turnaround Consultant: "My ideal customer has a privately-owned company which has had negative profitability for a period of time, typically more than 18 months, or they have a recently-started company which may never have achieved profitability.
The driver of these losses is often accompanied by reduced market share, quality issues and employee morale. The reality is that, even with an infusion of capital which is difficult if not impossible to get, without intervention into how the company is being managed they are most likely to fail. If the owner still believes a capital infusion will correct their problem, they are not a likely candidate."
If that sounds like you, embedded inside the plan is an outline for an assessment that the consultant would perform, and it goes like this:
"The trial stage is a paid assessment that is based on: 
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Financial Ratio Assessment
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Sales and Marketing Evaluation
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Operational Assessment
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Organizational Assessment
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Present Cost Structure
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Product Mix Analysis
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Future Viability of Product(s)
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Cash Flow Projections"
Seldom can an assessment be done without the use of a consultant and I recommend that you consider one. Objectivity is what you need at this point and seldom will you find that in-house. Take a look at the entire plan, even though it is written for a consultant it spend a great deal of time on the customer side.
This is an excerpt from a sample Marketing Plan for a Turnaround Consultant. The entire plan can be seen on Marketing Plan Pro Website .
P.S. To be completely transparent, I wrote the plan.
Can you use the Obama plan to be successful.
Posted by: | CommentsI am going to print a trillion dollars to make it through the next couple of years. That is good
sound advice that I can give you and let YOU IMPLEMENT IT! If you pull it off, I can be the hero. By the way can I have a referral?
Oh, you want an alternative strategy, then deal with reality. Take you budget, reduce your sales income, balance your expenses and get efficient so you can make money. The most important requirement to be successful right now is common sense. You are embarking on a journey that will make your company more successful than it ever has been.
Start think like a turnaround, it is not hard, put yourself in survival mode now. Begin by asking 4 simple question:
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Determine where you are at now in each category and from each perspective. The categories you can start with are Financial, Human Resources, Customer, Product/Services.
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Create your vision. Where do you want to go and don’t be afraid to think long term. Where would you like to be in 3 to 5 years.
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How are you going to get there? What strategies are you going to use. There is lot to this step and you may find out a few of these do not work but you must get them in place and carry them out.
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Set your objectives and measure them. Hint: If you can’t measure them, quit doing them. This will be the one thing that will keep your on course.
That is it. Now, I could probably throw in action plans to carry out the objectives but here is the real secret: I just described the One Page Business Plan to you. Go out and build one for each department, for each person and your company will survive and you will not have to spend a trillion dollars to do it.
