Friday's Think BIG! Business Success Tip

It's Not One and Done-Part 8

“Growing Productivity”

Every business needs productivity.  Productivity that enables the business to achieve desired results and also aides the producer in growing their individual expertise and value to the business.  When productivity is at its optimum level, business moves forward and success fills the air with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.  If only that were the case 100% of the time, what a world of utopia we would experience.

As every business leader and owner knows too well, there are also times when productivity is not at its optimum level.  There are times when a “business slump” occurs and this causes the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction to be forgotten. Also there are times when performance is acceptable; but, not at the level that the team is capable of achieving.  Unless this “slump” or lack of maximum productivity is faced and overcome, its impact can be devastating regardless of the business or the industry.

How do you attack these “business slumps” and regain your “mojo” or move your business results higher?   Try these simple tips that can enable you to refocus and begin to soar in times when your best efforts are not being realized.

1)  Come together with your team, talk openly and decide to accept responsibility for your performance.  If you research the situation you find yourself facing, it is almost a certainty that there is a sound reason for the underperformance. Examine what you were doing prior to the slide and refocus. The bigger issue is to realize that all things begin with ourselves both good and bad.  Once we accept personal accountability, positive things can happen. 

2)  Refocus on your business plan.  If you can’t get excited about your plan, reexamine the plan and what you wanted to accomplish.  Plans are roadmaps and when followed they can lead us to the destination we seek.  However, we must have some enthusiasm about the journey and if the plan does not provide that potential, better to take a second look and develop a plan that you can get excited about.  

3)  Place greater attention on your goals, desires and solutions.  So much more can be accomplished by seeking solutions versus praising problems.  Once you have that commitment to focus on what you really need; understand what it will demand; and, how to leverage your strengths to produce new opportunities, your positive self-image will enable you to alter your direction. 

4)  Never fear asking for help. Whether you use a professional business coach; a trusted mentor; or, a fellow business owner or leader, having an “outside set of eyes and ears” can provide you with insight that can guide you to a new dimension.  Seeking help does not mean you are weak.  On the contrary, it shows your strength and your strong desire to finding solutions.

5)  Put things info perspective.  Interact with your team and come up with ideas that enable you to recommit to doing the right work. Upgrade your standards.  Be interested in anything that can lead you to regaining growth.  

6)  Stop worrying and start winning.  Think about your clients and potential prospects.  Focus on solving their problems and addressing their needs.  Realize that your success depends upon how effectively you and your team satisfy those problems and meet those needs.

7)  Reexamine development needs.  Sometimes solving client needs or pushing results higher  demands a new approach or potentially a new educational attainment so that you are better positioned to deliver value.  Continuous learning at your profession is a good thing. The more you know, the greater your potential for understanding and satisfying needs; and, the more effective you can be positioned to become.

8)  Challenge your attitude.  We hear so much about the value of attitude as we approach various issues. Too often we allow it to slip by because it has become so common place.  That is a gross error.  Attitude does matter!  In fact, I am going to repeat the fact that “Attitude does matter!”  When your attitude is bright you see possibilities.  When your attitude is dim, all the wold’s issues come crashing down on you.  Success in any business undertaking demands, yes demands, that your attitude is such that you see the glass as half-full not half-empty.  Therefore, challenge the attitude of yourself and your team and insure it is brightly guiding you to find the possibilities you need.  

9) Get to work.  Your correction activity may demand more publicity or advertising.  It could cause you to make more calls or send heavier volumes of direct mail.  It might direct you to ask for more referrals or to simply involve yourself in enhanced client service activities to increase contact.  Whatever it demands, becoming engrossed in your business activities will allow your mind to begin to work. It will produce activity which in turn will heighten your physical motions and keep you busy.  Busy people will find ways to be successful.  That is why the old adage of idle hands being a prelude for bad things to happenbecomes so important to remember.  

In our business careers, we will face the perilous task of dealing with productivity.  Our success or shortfall will be determined on whether we take control of our actions when this occurs; or, whether we allow our situation to control us.  Stand firm and stay in control.  You have the power to make the defining difference in the success of your business.  When you refocus and begin to think, act, grow, influence and overcome your shortfalls, opportunities arise and greater success will be possible.    

For more information about how Think BIG! Coaching and Training might be of assistance to you and or your business, contact us:  herman@thinkbigcoachingandtraining.com / 304-839-5101 or visit our website...

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