Six Sanity-Saving Scenarios to Turn a Massive Breakdown
into a Powerful Business Breakthrough - A Success Tip
by Melanie Benson Strick
Published on this site: September 30th, 2005 - See
more articles from this month
There I was. Depressed, frustrated, and overwhelmed. Despite
my best efforts to have a smooth running ship and organize
my event, I realized I had a significant breakdown in my process.
I admit, it wasn't the end of the world, but come on, I teach
this stuff! It was one week before we went live on our new
program, we were preparing the workbooks for production, and I realized, no
one ordered the right tabs! Yikes!
It got me thinking how a client of mine had shared a great
story about their direct mail marketing campaign. A lot of
money had been invested in buying a list of qualified candidates.
But every step of the way there was breakdown in the process
- the guy who formatted the list didn't set it up right, the
assistant didn't have the proper envelopes, and they had no postage when they
needed it. My client laughed as he told me this, but I knew
he was frustrated!
Well, I've learned over the years that a breakdown means
that something very valuable is happening - I have new insight
into how I can improve my process, my attitude, or my belief
so that problem never happens again.
Let's look at a few examples of how breakdowns can occur
in our business or life.
- A business partnership goes from the honeymoon phase to
the divorce phase, all from a simple miscommunication around
"who is doing what" with the budget.
- After training your new team for six months, you realize
a key person continues to not follow through on your requests
in a timely manner. You are worried you may have to let
them go, even though they seemed like a perfect fit at the
interview.
- Many late nights and nose-to-the-grind-stone days later,
you realize that your big speaking debut will not be flawless
because your brochures and products did not get shipped
by the supplier.
- A wonderful new client suddenly becomes a nightmare when
they keep adding new deliverables to the project agreement
- but don't want to pay you any additional money.
These are typical scenarios that many of my clients and associates
have experienced. What I have noticed is there can be a difference
in how people handle these types of breakdowns. Some people
might freak out, scream and yell, and blame everyone else
for the breakdown. That tends to be the "victim-mentality"
type who struggle in life. The "success-oriented"
type is the one who says, "OK, how can I make my process better?" Here
are Six Sanity-Saving Scenarios that can turn that breakdown
into a breakthrough.
- Strengthen Communication. When you have a miscommunication
with someone, it is usually a sign that someone "assumed"
something along the way. Make sure that you use the "listen
first, speak second, confirm your message last" method
to make sure everyone is on the same page.
- Delegate Effectively. There are 3 key elements
for effective delegation: what you want, when it is due,
and how to communicate completion. If you miss one of these
steps, you will most likely have problems with the tasks
you delegate.
- Improve Skills. Often times, when something is
not done properly, it is because the person doesn't know
how to do it. Find out what skills, education or training
they need so they can complete the job properly.
- Improve Your System. If the skills are there,
then most likely the system (or the process to complete
it) is broken. Identify in writing using a checklist, flow
chart or written request what exactly needs to be done.
Make sure that every element that can impact the quality
of the end result is included.
- Slow Down. Ever heard the saying that someone
is like a "bull in a china shop?" That means they
are racing forward breaking everything in their path. Often
time's people move so fast they leave a massive path of
carnage - including their teams, their clients and their
families - in the wake. Rome was not built in a day. So
slow down.
- Be a Leader. If you feel like mutiny on the bounty,
perhaps your team doesn't understand the vision anymore.
Being a leader is inspiring others to support and follow
your vision. If they aren't following, you are not leading.
Revitalize the vision - it will work wonders.
The bottom line is that life happens and breakdowns will
occur. We have all heard the saying, "breakdown, breakthrough."
Well it is true. I have experienced enough adversity in my
life to fill an ocean liner. It is up to us to choose to respond
to these situations with a positive attitude to make them
work for us - not against us. So take those challenging situations
and look for the opportunity to strengthen your personal mindset
and your business systems.
Now, it's your turn. How will you take a breakdown in your
life and turn it into a breakthrough? I encourage you to take
note of where the problems occur and brainstorm with your
team, your family, or your friends to come up with possible
"breakthroughs!"
Melanie Benson Strick, also known as the Entrepreneurs'
Success Coach, helps entrepreneurs and service professionals
get more money, freedom and prestige in their business. Success
Connections offers keynotes speeches, mentoring, training
and products designed to get people out of overwhelm and onto
the success fast-track. For your FREE copy of "The 5
Massive Mistakes that can Put you Out of Business...and How to Avoid Them"
visit
http://www.SuccessConnections.Com
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