A turnaround process is a long hard slog for the management team, employees and stakeholders of a company.
For management, there will always be times when:
- The whole situation is becoming overwhelming.
- You do not see how you will get to a solution.
- What is being proposed/planned seems impossible to implement.
- Everyone is just tired and fed up!
The good news is that this happens in every turnaround especially when they have been running for an extended period. The bad news is that there is no magic fix.
However, focussing on staying positive and keeping strategic issues in perspective can help you get through the process (and get some sleep at night) and make for a successful turnaround.
Here are a few ideas to keep in mind:
- Successful turnarounds rely on maintaining momentum, particularly where there is a large amount of organisational change required. Delays, getting off track and not being consistent can very quickly lead to everyone simply going back to what they always did.
- Reflect on where you started from at the beginning of the turnaround and the achievements to date. Hopefully you will get a boost from remembering all the good things you have accomplished and the difficulties overcome.
- Solutions can take a while to find, in the interim you just need to ensure everyone keeps turning up and sticking to the required tasks.
- Don’t put pressure on staff and yourself through unrealistic timeframes. Unfortunately turnaround processes take time and always have unexpected challenges.
- You need to stay positive about the process if you want staff to be motivated and engaged in what is always a difficult situation. If you don’t demonstrate your ongoing belief in the turnaround process, you cant expect your staff to implement it.
- Turnaround processes rarely progress in a fully controlled / anticipated way, you just have to be ready to roll with whatever comes each day. Turnarounds are not good environments for control freaks.
Last tip, make sure you don’t get stuck not seeing the woods for the trees!
If you would like a no obligation, confidential discussion about turnaround management and executive solutions, please contact me at svertullo@integralfinancial.net.au