Lessons of the last few weeks

The last few weeks have been interesting for me, both on a personal level and on a business level. This month has seen my company "grow up", and take a leap forward from being a small business with a small business mentality to a more professional, grown up company (without being stifled or loosing the fun).

We have moved our office in to a new place with a showroom facility – and we have all been excited by the move – but in the midst of all the chaos of moving and building a showroom – some how the communication become a little chaotic too.

I was keen to join our new move with our new business philosophy – our new way of doing things. It was important to do this and do it right.

So we had an all staff meeting where we again looked at the vision, purpose and values of the company to make sure that we are all singing on the same hymn sheet. We looked at the strategy (or at least the time frame we have for building a new strategy for the company). I wanted to communicate passion and for the team to come away with a real sense of excitment for what the company is doing and where it is going.

Looking back – it was a good meeting, and I would do it again. The one thing that I would change though – being much clearer in communicating with the team what the meeting would be about before the meeting took place. They expected one type of meeting, and we delivered another. So – for the first part of the meeting (probably the most important part) – everyone has to re-programme their brains with new expectations.

So – lesson # 1 – be clear about the purpose of team meetings before they take place. Give them information they need at least 24 hours in advance so that they come to the meeting mentally prepared!

The annoying thing here is that Simon, our business mentor and coach, told us this – we just never listened.

So – lesson # 2 – listen to your business coach!