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Building the Right Culture in Tough Times

Besides this blog and my regular RCP column, I publish a newsletter associated with my company, Acumen Management Group. In my latest newsletter, I mention the concept of creating a continency plan in case you have not built adequate pipelines/sales/marketing strategies to compete in more challenging environments. We recommended a plan if revenues drop 25 percent for what specific actions you might take. It's a good time to rate/rank each employee in each department, etc.

However the most critical aspects from a leadership position are to:

  1. Communicate often. Hold monthly employee meetings, send weekly presidential e-mails that address the rumor mill and provide insights into your thinking, and give some positive news.

  2. Avoid negativity. You need to bring energy to any situation, not drain it. Remember your body language, eye contact, voice and words are being carefully weighed by everyone.

  3. Take the initiative. Look for actions to take that are meaningful and show your focus.

  4. Promote teamwork and collaboration. When departments are combined or when you need two departments to work together more closely (sales/delivery), schedule regular meetings to discuss issues and address inefficiencies.

  5. Confirm all new business priorities and plan to explain/sell them to all employees often.

Have you added this blog to your RSS feed or passed it to a friend? I am looking for ideas that you might want addressed in future articles, blogs or newsletters. Write me or check out my Web site.

Posted by Ken Thoreson on February 13, 2009


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