Solving issues usually means coming face-to-face with a people issue or a process issue. People issues can stem from a lack of training, coaching, or vetting when hiring people. Processes can easily go undocumented, especially during the start-up phase, but as operations scale, every project will feel like the first without well-documented processes.
How does an organization identify and solve the right problem without getting distracted? Begin with these three strategies:
- Build a Healthy, Functional, Cohesive Team
When multiple personalities come together to form a team, dysfunction can follow. Patrick Lencioni outlines the primary causes in his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Those primary causes include the absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results.
- View Business from More Than One Perspective
One of the most effective ways to do this is to view your business through the lens of the EOS Model®. We identify businesses as being made up of Six Key Components™. These components include Vision, People, Data, Issues, Processes, and Traction®. You can track your current status in each category through an assessment called the Organizational Checkup™.
- Lean on Accountability
If you don’t communicate and document each employee’s responsibilities, it can lead to confusion about who owns what result. To manage this, leaders need to clearly outline and record key metrics to hold employees accountable.