Categories: General
      Date: Sep 20, 2007
     Title: Get Help When you Need It

It can happen to anyone in a leadership role. Entrepreneurs can fall into the trap.

Small companies experiencing growth can get into trouble. A middle manager can make the same mistake. They all can ignore the warning signs that they need to hire help, delegate work, or add another layer of leadership.

Recognize the warning signs and build your business

It can happen to anyone in a leadership role. Entrepreneurs can fall into the trap.

Small companies experiencing growth can get into trouble. A middle manager can make the same mistake. They all can ignore the warning signs that they need to hire help, delegate work, or add another layer of leadership.

Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs just starting out expect to do administrative work such as billing and answering their own phone. But as the business grows, some fly solo for too long. How do you know? Here are some warning signs:

• You are working until the wee hours, typing invoices and doing administrative work. Your family and friends are expressing concern.
• You are spending more time filling orders than marketing and selling.
• You are spending too much time during the day on bookkeeping, answering the phone and composing correspondence.
• You struggle to find time to provide service on projects or products that are already sold.
• You are missing appointments and your office is a disorganized mess.
• You aren't keeping good records and may not be up to date on payables or receivables.

If these symptoms sound all too familiar, consider hiring an assistant to manage all the non-revenue producing activities, such as making copies, answering the phone, tracking and sending invoices, and filling orders. Hire a good accountant and bookkeeper, but make sure there are good controls in place to keep track of your money.

Most entrepreneurs agree that they waited too long to outsource and hire their first employees. And they are quick to tell you that once they did, they were freed up to focus on what they do best-grow the business.

Small business owners

Small companies usually start out as a mom and pop enterprise, where everyone takes pride in being a part of the "family".

One of the joys of a small business is variety that comes with wearing a lot of hats. But trouble can start once a point of critical mass is reached. Usually that point comes when the business grows to around three dozen employees. Often, the owner keeps control of operations up to that point, with perhaps a point person or three. No one wants the burden of a bureaucratic structure, but unfortunately, without a clear delineation of duties, and a few more leaders to coordinate it all, conflict and chaos can ruin the family atmosphere. Here's what to watch for:

• Customer complaints about dropped balls or messed up invoices are a signal that it may be time to promote some supervisors and define duties more specifically.
• Employee conflicts break out over turf, workload or work habits. These often manifest themselves as "personality conflicts" when, in fact, the core cause usually has little to do with personality.
• The business was growing but has started to slow down. When the number of employees starts to approach thirty, there is more need for work coordination and personnel matters. It's easy to lose focus on growing the business as you get sucked into what is going on in the office.
• A strong personality steps forward and starts acting like the self-appointed leader. Because there is a leadership void, the most assertive and opinionated usually step into this role. If this person is a know-it-all or a bully, this will create turmoil that will monopolize the owner's time.

Middle managers

Middle managers in a larger company are often in back-to-back meetings. Many are involved in projects of their own and involved in cross-department initiatives. As a result, they are often removed from the day-to-day work. Here are some symptoms that indicate a lead person or a supervisor may need to be appointed.

• You have a difficult time doing performance reviews on your employees because you don't really know what they do or how they are performing.
• When you are in your office, there is a long line of people waiting to ask you questions or air their latest complaint.
• Turnover is on the rise. One of the complaints is that you are inaccessible and you don't provide enough feedback and direction.
• You are returning emails well into the night.
• Teamwork is dissolving and conflicts are on the rise.
• You are not spending enough time with employees to hear their ideas and solicit their input on decisions.

If you don't recognize the warning signs, you may end up working harder and longer hours, but things can keep getting worse. This is one time that the saying "Don't be penny wise and pound foolish" should ring in your ears.

http://www.bizjournals.com/extraedge/consultants/at_work/2007/09/17/column282.html?market=portland