The Coaching Blog
The question should be: is it leaking?
Take the half-used glass in question. Say you're slowly filling it as we speak. 50% is either used or unused, depending on how you want to look at it. The question that we should be asking is: is it getting filled or is it emptying out?
There are three possible outcomes. Firstly, it's emptying out faster than you can refill it. It's a complete waste to put in the resources to try to fill it, and - eventually - it'll dry out. Secondly, you can refill more than is being lost over a given time. This is better, since it means the loss can be made up. It's still no good because, even after you stop filling, it won't stop leaking. This outcome would mean a never-ending cycle of fill - wait for some to be lost through leaks - fill again.
The third possible outcome is: seal the leaks first. Sure, you may not be able to fill as quickly if you're sealing too, but after you're done sealing, you'll never need to worry about a loss again. Even if you stop filling, you won't lose out on what you have.
If that glass is your business, and the capacity of the glass is the capacity of your business, the questions to ask are:
- What percentage of your capacity are you using right now? How much more could you do with what you have?
- Is there a "leak" of resources? Money, profits, time…all these are resources that companies leak on a regular basis, often without even realising it. And how do we even know if resources are being lost? Is there a measurement of activity and results being maintained? Are there KPI's (Key Indicators of Performance) in place? Does everyone know them and stick to them?
- What is the process for improvement? Is there a system of correcting mistakes found? Are team members hesitant to speak up for any reason?
Here are some common leaks that businesses have (and the questions that should be asked):
- How many leads are being lost? Why are they being lost? How can we improve conversions?
- How much money is left uncollected? Why has it not been received? What systems need to be in place to prevent this from recurring?
- How much activity are the team members doing, versus what they should be doing? How is this measured, and how can it be improved?
Sealing leaks is step 1, it's the Mastery level of the Six Steps. It's fundamental to the long-term success of every business that they get this right. It's also the one of the key areas we'll be covering in the upcoming ActionCLUB workshops (click here to view).
To your uninterrupted success,
Murtaza