Simplifying to Solve Business Challenges Head-On

With all that’s going on in the world, it’s hard to believe that it’s nearly the end of 2021. Yet here we are, staring the fourth quarter right in the face.

2020 and 2021 threw new and unexpected challenges at all of us, and there’s certainly a lot to think about as we plan for the future. Many companies have significant obstacles to overcome that are unique to the times we’re living in.

No one is saying it will be easy, but now is the perfect time to start planning for a strong year-end, looking at goals and objectives for the coming year, and building the plan for 2022 as best we can.

Looking at the Challenges Ahead

When planning for 2022, there are many challenges to look at and work through. A few of the questions that come up when I’m talking with business leaders about planning and the state of their business are:

• How is the business doing financially?
• Is the hybrid/remote work paradigm working for your organization?
• How do the people feel?
• Have you been able to train and mentor the people who need it to advance their careers?
• How about talent acquisition and increased wages?

The issues that stem from the answers to these questions seem to be a trend with many organizations right now. The current situation is definitely challenging to say the least.

Getting your arms around which issue to tackle first can be a real struggle. Everything is important -- but how do we work on everything?

Keep It Simple

For me, I’m keeping it simple. Most of the business leaders I interact with are choosing to do the same. Overcomplicating won’t get us where we need to go.

Next week, our leadership team will go into our annual two-day planning session to prioritize our issues, set our 90-day Rocks, and start tackling them.

When we start simplifying the issues as much as possible, I have a feeling we’ll see that, while the circumstances might be different, these are the same types of issues we normally deal with – but with a twist.

As EOS tells us, the root of most issues boils down to one of three categories – People, Process, or Data. When we simplify, address our People, Process, and Data issues, and have a good Vision, we’ll get better results from the business regardless of the times and the unique challenges we face.

Have a great October!