Founder Turnaround Talk
Distress does not happen overnight, and the process of saving a company is not as simple as pushing a few buttons. The true test of a business rescue plan is the execution of an overall business turnaround strategy.
After stopping the bleeding there are a number of other steps that distressed business owners need to go through in order to turn their companies around. In the second article for Forbes, which was written by Kash Shaikh, he discusses what comes next for these businesses.
Effective communication
After stopping the bleeding, which my aforementioned article discussed, steps two, three and four, which I’m focusing on in this piece, are all about effectively communicating through the turnaround writes Shaikh.
Step No. 2 requires leaders to explain early and often to team members why cuts are necessary. Tell them why the pain of necessary cuts can lead to a brighter future. Because leaders often take swift action, it’s easy to overlook the importance of explaining changes. Shaikh made this mistake about a decade ago in his first opportunity to turn around a few functional units. He thought that because he was hired to drive the turnaround, he could quickly make necessary changes at breakneck speed. However, his team didn’t understand the reasons for my decisions.
Shaikh points out that it was a colossal mistake, but he was lucky it didn’t negatively impact business results. It did, however, negatively affect the team’s psychology. Six months in, the business unit was performing like clockwork, but not without bruised and battered egos. When he asked his executive team, “What’s on your mind?” The answers came back: “Kash, you came in with your mind made up. You were just telling us what to do and not listening, learning and adapting. You were more focused on what wasn’t working vs. a balance of understanding what was and what wasn’t working to fix the unit.”
Shaikh didn’t celebrate and communicate what was working. He learned that you could have commercial success but psychological failure. This underscores point No. 3 to listen, listen and listen. Listening is a three-way street:
- The listener needs to absorb the information.
- The listener then needs to rephrase their understanding of what was said.
- The first speaker can then verify or clarify what was heard.
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Listen twice as much as you speak
Shaikh points out that if he had only taken his mom’s words to heart when she used to say, “Kash, there is a reason God gave you two ears and one mouth. Listen twice as much as you speak.” Excellent listening is active, not passive. But many of us often tune out when we should be tuning in.
It’s a difficult balancing act for leaders with dozens of people who need to know they’re really heard. So, ask questions, listen to understand and speak less. Use silence to your advantage by taking two- or three-second pauses. Silence creates space for listening and understanding the insights the speaker is sharing.
Once a team member is heard, the leader must develop instincts to know when to take action vs. when to not take action. This requires asking the right questions, as well as having a keen filter to evaluate if the advice is objective, adds value and focuses on solving a critical problem. Remember, time is a precious commodity that can’t be recouped. Don’t waste time solving the wrong problems during a turnaround.
Communicate and be supportive
Shaikh points out that after listening to your team, it’s time for step No. 4: The leader must continue to effectively communicate to keep the team supportive of why something is done. To be successful, constantly communicate seven times in seven ways. The idea of “seven ways” goes back to the seven learning styles of children: visual, aural, verbal, physical, logical, social and solitary.
Shaikh believes leaders can use these different learning styles in the workplace to help communicate with employees. For example, speaking to your team could allow you to connect with aural learners, while others may prefer written material, group discussions or interactive presentations. Be mindful of finding seven ways for teams to absorb important information with the support of various communication tools like email, video calls, small team meetings and in-person interactive sessions. And keep in mind we all can have a cognitive bias. In his experience, we’re more likely to believe a familiar message than a new one. So, keep sharing your message in different ways. The more people hear it, I’ve found the more they will believe in it.
This isn’t only true for a turnaround but also for all important communications. Currently, Shaikhs company is working to communicate the behaviors we value to employees, and these behaviors have been discussed during our town hall meetings, on LinkedIn and in other channels. We’re finding seven ways to deliver the same message seven times to meet each person’s learning style.
In a turnaround, you must drive a sense of urgency. However, patience must be front and center to make sure the team has bought in for a sustainable outcome. A turnaround starts by abruptly changing the business to stop the bleeding. It’s a shock, followed by loss and mourning. Active listening and constant communication, with a focus on bringing everyone on board for the necessary changes, lead to a new dawn — and a fresh new morning.
