It is and remains a challenge for every company; how do you find the right balance between short-term and long-term investments? Should you invest in innovation while things are running smoothly? Or will you only innovate when things are less rosy?
In family businesses, this discussion takes place between the different generations. Usually, the older generation has provided enough fat on the bones over the years to cope with lesser times. They do what is necessary and are convinced that entrepreneurship always comes with ups and downs. The idea is that after every relapse there will automatically be another peak.
The younger generation, on the other hand, sees the world differently. They are trained with the idea that you should always keep moving and never take anything for granted. Of course, certain traditions should be honored, but according to the younger generation, they should never be leading in business management and decision-making.
The above is of course somewhat exaggerated. But at the core, we think it comes down to making decisions in the short term that will also benefit you in the longer term. But yes, how do you do that?
matter of daring
Make sure everyone knows the mission and endorses the vision of your company. Trust the knowledge, skills and experience of your employees. That may sound like a huge cliché, but they are the future of your business. Therefore, dare to think outside the box. Invite your employees to think along about the course of your company and make it clear that you value everyone's opinion. After all, two know more than one.
In addition, dare to hire people who have a different view of the organization of your company. Navel-gazing has never made anyone better. Critical minds with fresh eyes shake things up again. As a result, some discussions, which may have been held and failed many times in the past, are getting underway again. Times are changing and maybe the ideas weren't really an issue back then, but they are worth considering today.
Also take a look at the current leadership styles within your company. Do they still match the vision and organizational culture of your company? Does your culture still match the employees you currently employ? Ask yourself whether traditions speed up or slow down the achievement of your goals.
Daring to look at leadership styles has everything to do with the time in which you do business. Not only do the market, the technology and the needs of your customer change, the newer generation of employees also differ significantly from their predecessors.
Employees between the ages of twenty and forty expect different things from an employer than older employees. Younger employees are looking for a job that gives them meaning. Also a job in which they are given the freedom to do more than is described in their job description. The new generation would like to make a substantial contribution to the greater whole. They want to be heard, but above all they want to add value to your company across functions and departments.
Time for a new approach
Restrained decision-making processes, which are often the cause of the well-known polder model, are no longer of this time. Before a decision is made, the answer is already outdated. How do you create a streamlined internal organization and ensure short communication lines and do you place the decision-making process where the expertise is located? And how do you ensure a healthy balance between investments and focus on the short term and long-term objectives?
You do this by linking your mission to customer expectations. What value experience do your customers experience when you fulfill your mission? What is the emotional experience of your customer compared to that of your competitors? What makes the customer choose you?
When this is clear, you can look at your internal business operations from the desired customer experience. Check the bottlenecks. Where is there noise on the (communication) line? Where are decision-making processes too long? Who waits for whom before serving your customers? How can we optimize the customer journey internally?
Opt for multidisciplinary teams
Our experience is that the answer lies in multidisciplinary teams, which are formed across departments. They are often ultimately responsible for a value chain, rather than for a part of the chain. As a result, they oversee the entire customer journey and are able to shorten internal waiting times because all relevant employees work together as a team on a daily basis.
By linking every customer journey to your mission and vision, beautiful things are created in your company. Everyone knows what his or her individual contribution or team contribution is to the bigger picture. Working in multidisciplinary teams not only ensures effectiveness, people also get to know the company through and through from the different angles that are represented within the team.
Self-organization important condition
There is another important condition for continuous innovation; organize the decision-making and the mandate within these multidisciplinary teams. This is also known as self-organization. Self-organization ensures that teams can and are allowed to do everything to achieve their objectives. Don't get us wrong, it's not a license to anarchy. Each team that is responsible for a certain value chain or customer journey is given a clear scope and well-formulated frameworks.
Thanks to this scope and frameworks, you can rest assured that traditions will not just be thrown overboard. And that everything that works well is not indiscriminately changed just to change.
This creates a culture based on trust, ownership and meaning within each team and the organization as a whole. This foundation ensures that:
- the focus is on a healthy daily operation;
- there is time and space to work on innovation;
- the soul of your company is carefully treated.
Curious about how you can achieve this within your organization without completely turning the day-to-day course upside down?
