August 2022 Volume 4

OPERATIONS & MANAGEMENT

Leadership and Management FAQ Answered By Joel Strom

FAQ 2 Here is another one that I have been asked many times:

In the past, I have written management related articles covering numerous topics for FIA Magazine. Then, in a recent conversation with FIA President JimWarren, he had a great idea -- a management column utilizing a FAQ format. This gives us the ability to cover more than one management topic per column, while addressing the most pressing and current management issues facing member companies. For future columns, I welcome members to submit FAQs that they would like answered. Since this is our initial column and I have not received any member requests, I picked two that are often asked by manufacturing company leadership. FAQ 1 I will start with one that I wrestled with myself as CEO of a manufacturer. Coincidentally, the answer fits perfectly into this column’s format. Is there a way to vet new ideas and concepts from my teams without negatively affecting their creativity or having them believe I don’t like anything they suggest? This is an important question because creativity and innovation are so crucial inmanufacturing today.The last thing any leader wants to do is discourage new ideas and innovation. Yet there are times when the new ideas may not be as good as they seem, or they may just need a little more thought. There are probably numerous ways to accomplish this vetting that could lead to successful results, but I found a way that worked really well for my organization and that I have seen work in other companies as well. I instituted a process that utilized FAQ and press releases. When a person or team came up with an innovative new product, process, or methodology, they were required to create then answer a list of FAQs before presenting it for approval. They then had to create a press release announcing their innovation. What that did was force the person or team to seriously think through their idea or concept. At times, while attempting to create the FAQ or press release, the team would realize that perhaps they needed to rethink some of the basic premises of their innovation or even scrap it entirely. What typically happened was that the idea was tweaked and modified through this process. The result was that much stronger ideas were presented for approval. If the process resulted in a scrapped idea, it was the innovators themselves who scrapped it.

I need to get my teammembers more connected to the company and feeling more involved. What are some ways to make this happen? This is really a great question because it’s such an important issue if you expect to create an extraordinary company. You cannot do it alone. You need the rest of your team totally committed and involved in meeting the goals of the company. Like most management issues, there are many ways to accomplish this. However, in this FAQ there are a few underlying necessities for success.Thefirst andprobably themost important is communication. I believe that as a leader you can never communicate too much. The more team members know about the company and its plans the more connected they will feel. Enabling team members to have a sense of ownership in the company should be your goal. Share with them where the company wants to go and how it plans to get there. Share as much financial information as you feel comfortable with. The more you share, the stronger their sense of ownership will be. As CEO, I formed a special group that we called the Future Navigators. Its members came from every area of the company including production departments, finance, sales, engineering, and marketing. That group met regularly and learned about how the company was doing, what was anticipated, and what new ideas we were working on. At those meetings, they also worked on their ideas for improvements for all parts of the company. Following the meetings, each of the Navigators met with their departments to share what was discussed and to gain their co-workers’ thoughts and recommendations. The Navigators concept resulted in truly improving everyone’s involvement and connection to the company. If you like the idea of a group like my Navigators and think it might be right for your company, just connect withme (via email or phone) and I would be glad to share more details to help you get started.

Joel Strom is the Founder and CVO at Chief Value Officers. He has spent the last 4 decades accelerating manufacturing company value as an owner, CEO, and advisor. His recently published book, CEO to CVO, Moving Your Business from Ordinary to Extraordinary, has received excellent reviews. He can be reached at joel@joelstrom.com

FIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2022 37