Tag Archives: Oversight

How Do You Manage Growth in a Difficult Economy? Seven Suggestions

Situation: A CEO’s company has struggled due to difficult business conditions during the last year. Top among the challenges has been poor execution in hiring quality people, not because they weren’t available, but due to uncertainty. He is also concerned about infrastructure issues, particularly in IT. How do you manage growth in a difficult economy?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Focusing on IT, a key element for success in IT is having a clear definition of company needs. How does IT serve the company? What are the goals and objectives of the IT system? What kind of load must it be able to handle? What aspects of the system are most critical to company success?
  • Finding quality talent with the necessary experience is a challenge; particularly if solid goals and objectives haven’t been developed.
  • One CEO shared success managing IT. The company hired two IT professionals and had them report to an internal committee. This committee then communicated effectively with management.
  • Another CEO observed that some IT people look at their job as a process rather than a function; they just show up and fix things. Management of IT was improved by establishing clear objectives and holding the IT staff accountable for their performance against these objectives.
  • Another CEO told the story of terminating their IT person due to lack of consistency. IT must operate under management oversight, with clearly defined goals and objectives, and accountability.
  • Outsourcing some IT functions can help if used with care. On-site staff can focus on system maintenance and fight the inevitable fires.
  • IT costs should be thoroughly reviewed. They can be expensive. Look at IT costs as a percent of sales and compare expenditures with others in the industry sector.
  • Take a similar approach with other functions needing attention.

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How Do You Stay Focused When It’s Busy? Five Points

Situation: A CEO and his COO find it difficult to focus on core tasks when business is booming and everyone is busy. The company is small but has been very successful. However, the pressure of simultaneously attending to key customer relationships, training new people, and formulating plans is overwhelming. How do you stay focused when it’s busy?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • If the CEO and COO are doing a mix of corporate and project tasks, the first step is to delegate so that top staff focus on strategic areas rather than execution.
    • Over the next week, keep a record of what the CEO and COO are doing. At the end of the week sit down and determine which activities were corporate activities, and which should have been delegated to staff.
    • As an example, training of new personnel should be a key role of someone else. The CEO and COO will be involved, but only tangentially. The bulk of onboarding should be handled by staff.
    • Similarly,restrict sales activity of the CEO and COO to high level discussions and decisions.The rest should be handled by sales staff.
    • What must the CEO and COO be involved in?  Intellectual property development, high level decisions about new service offerings, high level decisions on business expansion opportunities, and occasional oversight of company operations.
  • It is important to focus. The first priority should be the company’s principle revenue stream.
  • The second priority should be new service offerings which are central to efficient delivery of the primary revenue stream.
  • Meet with top staff and develop a five-year vision. The order of priorities that are developed will determine where to focus.
  • In the process of developing priorities, ask the following questions:
    • What do you love and what do you need to love?
    • Analyze the comparative importance and urgency of each activity of the CEO and COO. Which require top level input, and how much? Which are better delegated to staff?

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How Do You Structure a Small Company Board? Five Suggestions

Situation: A small tech company’s Board of Directors is made up primarily of founders and advisors. The CEO wants to know how other companies structure their Boards. Concerns include increasing accountability of management, obtaining an objective view of company operations so to counteract group-think, and accessing opportunities for strategic alignment. How do you structure a small company Board?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • In a small company, the fewer the number of board members and owners, the better. There are two considerations: control of the destiny of the company and complexity of the transaction in case of an investment or buy-out opportunity.
  • It is important to differentiate major from minor shareholders, including incentive-based owners.
  • What are the advantages of a Board of Directors?
    • Sounding Board – a group that can help management evaluate product and market opportunities.
    • Accountability – Board meetings provide an opportunity to assure that leadership and management are focusing on the best opportunities for the company.
    • Exit – knowledge of the industry, ties and introductions to potential acquirers.
  • Given new Federal regulations, the proper role of a Board has changed. Key responsibilities of Boards include:
    • Oversight of Corporate Governance.
    • Fiduciary Responsibility – to the shareholders.
    • Work with local or regional experts on Board role and structure. Experts can provide introductions to potential Board members that fit the company’s needs.
    • Good Board members will want Directors and Officers Insurance coverage.
  • Consider developing an Advisory Board, to compliment a stronger Boards of Directors.
    • Look at the key talents that the company is missing internally.
    • Ask friends, business partners and associates who they know who can add these talents.
    • Before kicking off a formal Advisory Board, start with informal discussions. Consider a facilitated dinner to share ideas.
    • One company has eight outside advisors who each receive 1/8 of a percent of the shares of the company for three years of service. The share offer required for service may be a function of the eventual forecasted exit value of the company.

Special thanks to the late Bill Rusher for his insight and contribution to this discussion.

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