There are a multitude of first things that need to be done when you take over in an organization as the new person – especially if you are at the top of the org chart.
When I was elected president of the board of a country club, I immediately talked with the key staff and department heads, influential club members, primary vendors, and community supporters to get a good view operations and the business health of the club. I also looked at the books and administration files as well. While on the walk-about, I shared my views and thoughts about governance under the new administration.
When I took over operations as President and CEO of the National Captioning Institute, a promotion from within the organization, I spoke with the key staff and department heads, board members, major clients, primary vendors, and the auditors. This gave me a broad view of how effective the operations were and gave others the chance to see me in this different role.
In both cases, most operations and administration elements were in pretty good shape, but there were several items that had slipped, resulting from the casual and comfortable nature of long-term relationships between staff and external resources. Like contracts which had expired but were extended by handshake between parties – works fine while the same players are in their respective roles. However, when that changes, there is no documentation of the current contract provisions, and the person(s) with specific knowledge are elsewhere.
In a similar situation, the standard operating procedures (SOP) for the organization most likely have changed in practice but not been written down – everyone knows what changed when it happened – so no urgency to document the changes, so the task of writing them down gets further and further down in the pile of things to do. The problem comes when the players change and specific knowledge of SOP goes out the door.
What I have found in the leading change, more often than not, it is these casual agreements and undocumented changes that delay or kill the deal.
Unless, or until, the operations and administration can be substantially documented, innovation cannot go forward, because there is no assurance that the informal, handshake deals will convey with the change. What holds the leader back is fear of a situation where a thoughtful revision becomes nightmare due to negotiation conditions and agreements before “the ink is dry” on the approval document.
Once this is cleaned up, the leader can work on developing materials which present the benefits of the revised program to all stakeholders of the organization.
Business as usual can have too many ‘just because’ elements, which will spook a serious buyer. Better to convert them to ‘here’s how’ before setting up the sales tent.
What lies ahead for the owner – The Final Frontier
If you miss your opportunity to make those changes during the honeymoon, it’s hard to recapture that opportunity. Seems like there is never enough time to prepare.
Keeping current SOP is an ongoing process that gets overlooked due to workloads from what I have seen.
Great point. For the past year I have served as the President for our statewide city and county technology group and that was a huge thing. Especially because the organization became so dependent on our management company. This was my primary focus so that hopefully future Presidents/boards have a solid foundation to build on. It is not the most glamorous task but if you do not have it you cannot grow and cannot innovate effectively.