After this article, you will know:

• If your management is working.
• Understanding your turnover goals.
• Why communication is important.
• The power of delegating.
• Problem-solving.

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🚧 Is your Management Working?

Do you feel as if you are the glue holding everything together? Is your team or set-up operating at its peak performance? Are there any bottlenecks and are the right people in the right place… at the right time?

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Many business owners do not realise or know that the team is underperforming. They have all become settled in their ways which is a comfortable but numbed cycle as they have proof of some success in the past and that's where a new outside and independent perspective not tied emotionally or politically really shakes things up. The team and yourself could probably be doing a lot more with just a few painless changes. You and the team could be bringing in much better results with just a small lift leading to growth at the rate you want and need.

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So how do you know if your own leadership or management team are working well or even if you are a one-man operation the same systems apply?

Here are 4 things to look for straight away.

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📈 1. What Is The Turnover Goal?

When you start with Saint, it’s not all about hitting an out-of-this-world turnover figure like some of the salespeople out there pushing you to sign up and reach the “7 Figures turnover target”.

By being more realistic about what your real turnover figure is that you need now and what resources and capacity you have at the moment to be consistent and then move up in stages is a better way. It's a balance.

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It’s about aiming for the right threshold for your business model. Hit that and maintain it, so your business keeps progressing, getting stronger and more efficient.

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This immediately helps exhausted business owners to stop and take a breath. Before they were just working with no rest for example or really over-stretching, it can be done a lot simpler. When you just keep taking on job after job you may feel where are we going with all of this, it's just getting out of control…

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The need to be a bit kinder to yourself is a big thing as the thought of more success right now can just feel like it equals more pain and energy. We can work with you if you need to have more constant work or look for the signs that you are working over your capacity and that's when things like fighting and stress on cash flow appear and it does not need to happen.

Big businesses operate like this so why not you? Talk with us, we are trade only and this works for one-man bands to multi-million firms.

Key Points

• Having a turnover target helps us measure which brings a first level of control
• It will show if you are taking on too much work or at the wrong time or are there quiet times we look to fill.
• Sometimes it can be we are working for a disorganised client and we cannot turn the work down as this lets others in - Having a target lets this conversation start - Are we mad or does the client bring the madness?
• Plan rest or quiet times.
• Feel more in control.

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🤫 2. Communication

Where we differ so much from other coaches is we understand the trade, the industry and that has some good points but it also has the same age-old problems and communication is one area.

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People in the trade are not just selling off-the-shelf items or providing a simple service. The construction industry plays havoc when managing people, time and results just because of the nature of the beast. Trying to get your message across, ways to get people to perform or asking people to do things another way is a challenge. As an owner, you need to get so many points over without all the drama. We work with you to develop new approaches and it's why coaching works.

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We look to calm things down and bring in tried methods through systems and communication to help build an element of trust with your workforce.

The second point is understanding. As I said it's all simple stuff but if you do not stop to at least consider what they are saying or pressures and they do not listen or understand where you are coming from with all your pressures in regards to the outcome then it will not run well. Take a moment that's all, maybe they have a better way and you could be just trying to control everything which is exhausting.

You will get pushback from them not wanting to commit to your way of thinking. Being a bit sensitive and aware of managing this as two-way conversation is a must.

Handling someone who becomes very angry or ignores you is not funny. All this takes its toll and leads to the old line ”I won’t bother now in future I will just do it myself or just send a text telling them what to do“. If you find yourself saying this then you have a management problem. Don’t be hard on yourself, it's just something that needs tweaking in the business. Do not take it personally, as it is business not personal but it needs to be resolved one way or the other and again we can help.

Key Points

• Man management in the industry is hard.
• Owners have to pass timelines and pressure from their clients to the workforce.
• Losing our temper or being angry is not always the best way to lead or get results.
• Aligns team direction and clarity.

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⏳ 3. Delegating but not really delegating.

If you are always behind on a job or tasks then this is a sign of poor time or performance management… If you feel as if you have to be there to push others or it would not get done or it could also be you micromanaging which stops them from ever really delivering for you. But that is not the worst bit, you can start to live like it without knowing and it becomes comfortable and things stay like that for years. Talk to a Saint Trade Coach and get a better approach in place for you but more importantly help those around you to step up. It improves the mood and people stay/work harder.

Key Points

• If you keep things all under your control it's very exhausting
• People always do things differently to you, that's all but the job gets done and letting go lets you focus on what you should be doing.
• Improve in the areas you feel where you can drive the business forward.

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🔥 4. Problem-Solving

Are you running around fire fighting, putting problems out all day or did you already have them anticipated and can deal with them quickly and efficiently as they come?

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Do you feel if it was not for you it would all fall to pieces? Maybe you are catching the problems just at the right time… We often see “good managers” and they are on top of everything, resolving problem after problem.  What we should be looking for is more of a balance. The balanced manager is king. It's the one with the least amount of recorded or reducing problems that means it's working as there will always be problems.

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If you are always firefighting and just getting through then this is exhausting. We have many techniques and one of them would be for you to monitor yourself or your manager. If you have 80% problems all day that's what we want to try to reduce this somehow re-organise, is there anything we can do to stop these same problems over and over?

We are looking for less problems so less firefighting. If you say this to the manager they can take offence and a wall goes up with no discussion. They are hurt as they feel busy and doing their best. What you're really doing when you look into this for them is to try to be the one that may be able to help stop some of these inbound recurring problems for them whereas they have just got into a habit. It sometimes needs an outside opinion to see the change. That could be confronting someone who you do not want to but if you do it then it changes everything and sometimes they just put this off. The process and organisation then less stressed and you have great consistency.

Key Points

• Take a step back from your business and see what's not working but also what is working.
• It sometimes takes brave action to repair bad habits that everyone may have fallen into over time.
• See changes through, staff always want it to go back to the old comfy way but if things need to change then they will know when you say it you mean it.
• Lead by example, not just words.

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🎉 That's a wrap!

We deal with construction businesses day in and day out so we see all these problems. The Owners even know they exist most of the time but either time or energy is not there and things just get left and fall down the pecking order.

When you work with a Saint Trade Coach they list these out and then begin working on them but the Coaches can help talk through the longer-term benefits. Sometimes it's not the staff but the Director who is holding everyone back and with a few changes the staff really pull the company ahead giving the Director time to refresh.

If you would like to have a quick chat with a Saint Trade Coach even if you do not know where to start, please let me know by getting in touch with us here. Just take this small step of action and the ripple will start.  

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