I dropped the ball.
These were the words I had to say to my team a few weeks ago and I wanted to share the story (and lessons learned) with all of you.
I say I dropped the ball, but honestly, I’m not sure I ever even had a grasp on it.
You see, I was planning an end of the year get together (virtually) for my growing team. We are all in different states and time zones and I thought it would be fun to schedule a class we could take together. A hands-on, interactive team building experience.
Reaching out to my team, I found a date and time that worked for everyone, which was a slam dunk in itself. But then, when I contacted the company I wanted to use for the class, I discovered their lead time was 6-8 weeks out, even if we chose the DIY option for the needed materials. Never having had this experience, I drastically underestimated the lead time. I did do plenty of research and gathered as much information as I could before having a conversation with the company owner who informed me of the time crunch, yet reassured me they could still do it. In the end, there were supply chain issues. I feel like I should have thought of that possibiity and planned farther in advance.
I had to go back to my team and tell them we could certainly still have our get together, but the class would have to wait. It wasn’t my favorite thing to do.
I share this because I believe when we open ourselves up to our communities and our team, we find real connection. Do you agree?
“I find that when you open the door toward openness and transparency, a lot of people will follow you through.”
~Kirsten Gillibrand
There are three T’s that come out of my story that might help you in your business planning for 2023.
1. Time
Even though I manage my clients’ calendars, I guess I wasn’t managing my own as efficiently as I’m capable of doing. Typical, right? The shoemaker’s kids have no shoes. I thought I had all the time in the world to schedule the year-end event, when I truly needed to be thinking about it months earlier than I did.
How is time affecting your business? Are you thinking weeks, months, years ahead? Or do you feel so bogged down in your current daily operations that you aren’t able to work on the future vision?
Is your lead time on your product or service lagging because of a bottleneck? It could be anything from your onboarding process and getting people trained to your own bandwidth and spreading your time equally.
Does time align with your goals? For instance, I just made a chart for one of my clients showing all the hours she has committed to private/group coaching clients, networking events, personal needs, etc. and she was able to assess what new clients and projects she could realistically take on with actual data guiding her.
Is time on your side? Is it your slow season, your busy season? How can you utilize that as an opportunity? If work is slow, this could be the time to look at your current systems and processes. Everything from the free gift on your website and the automation sequence that follows to how you schedule guests on your podcast to how you submit yourself for media opportunities.
Time is fleeting and we all need more of it. Since you are just one leader, manager, employee, etc. you need the second T below.
2. Talent
My team is very important to me. They are the reason I have been able to expand my business to levels I hadn’t imagined. I wanted to hold this get together so they would be able to spend some time together, feel comfortable working together and share who they are and what they do on a personal level.
Team building and team morale should be at the top of any leaders’ list in 2023. What are you doing for your current team? How are you showing your appreciation, taking the time to listen, opening up the floor for conversation, erasing any communication barriers, etc.?
What are you doing for your future team? Yes, those who haven’t even walked into your doors yet or shared a Zoom screen with you. Is your hiring process smooth? Are you hiring in enough time so people don’t feel thrown into the mix without time to adapt? Are you hiring people that align with the values of your company?
Have you set your team up to work remotely with success? Do you need to look at communication channels (like Slack) or provide people with devices, printers, lighting equipment, etc. Would your team benefit from a training or online workshop?
Talent can also come from your network. Do you have professionals you can turn to that would be able to jump in on a project with you or offer their expertise as you plan for an event or other opportunity?
And finally…
3. Transparency
This is what it all really boils down to. Being transparent with your team, clients, vendors, network and even yourself.
The thing I didn’t mention was that I had already told my team about this class we were going to take, BEFORE I had the dates secured. I had to be transparent that I did, in fact, drop the ball.
Transparency with your team is so important. If your team feels they can be honest with you, and they know you in turn will do the same, it helps your organization grow. Communication is the foundation for everything.
Being transparent with clients allows the relationship to be built on mutual respect and trust. You aren’t going to hit a deadline, you had a family emergency come up, you made a mistake, you need to increase pricing, etc. The way to maintain a solid client base is to be solid in the communication efforts.
If you want to talk about your Time, Talent and Transparency going into the new year, schedule a virtual coffee with me. We can create a plan together so that instead of dropping the ball, you are consistently winning the game.