Lots of companies have ghosts of things past that haunt them every single day. In fact, there are probably a few ghosts or goblins hanging around the company. Even when you do not see them, they can hide in plain sight and keep your business back from reaching its full potential.
These are not real ghosts (if there is such a thing), but the shadows of poor decisions, former employees and customer relationships that died a slow painful death. Shadows of these events color workers perspectives, preventing risk-taking and undermine interest.
Like most entrepreneurs, I am optimistic and prefer to look on the bright side rather than dwell on the past. If you feel the same way, you may find it difficult to think about exorcising demons you can not see when there is a new contract to track or fresh opportunities on the horizon.
Even so, it pays to take some time regularly to go ghost hunting and you can free your company from this tedious and potentially painful echoes in the program. Items that can haunt your company are continuing impact …
A bad-apple employee undermined confidence and disrupted your company culture.
A poor manager who was divisive and created permanent walls between players.
A customer relationship soured, leaving bitter feelings behind.
A partnership that step, unraveling business and hurt revenue.
Legal issues that promote a culture of fear and reduce risk-taking or innovation.
Financial challenges undermining investment and inhibit growth.
To get rid of these ghosts for good – or stop them from taking up residence in the first place – try this:
Discuss and debrief. When a company is facing crisis, and it is tempting for employees and managers to deal with the issue by pretending it never happened. A healthier approach is to recognize the event with a debrief session to allow people to express their feelings and comments. Minority influence experience allows people to unburden themselves rather than to reduce extra baggage around and suffer from excess weight they carry ..
Learn the lesson and move on. Every situation but to learn, but in the rush to “get back to business” is easy to lose sight of them. Use the debrief session to uncover who was really learned from your team, even if this process requires some searching, poking and prodding. Once you find the lessons, work internalizing what you’ve learned so you do not end up stuck in the past, repeat old mistakes.
Cancel damage. Even after you learn important lessons companies from these events, the loss of echo. Watch ripple effects that linger. This may include subtle cultural shifts as high conservative decision-making, workers fear retribution when risks do not pay off or a general reluctance to stretch beyond the norm. If you notice your team’s boxing themselves in to avoid repeating the painful past, face the problem head on. Mountain openly and encourage the return to a healthy environment.
As founder and principal Claravon Consulting Group, Joellyn ‘Joey’ Sargent provides clarity, vision and insight that leaders need to create a powerful momentum for growth. Fresh perspectives and her no-nonsense advice helps managers, entrepreneurs and leaders of non-profit related to strategic planning, organizational performance and customer experience, delivering breakthrough results with Maximum Impact Market.