According to Forbes, here are 3 ways to jump-start your business growth this month.
1. Establish your responsibilities and goals with your immediate supervisor.
This may be the CEO, shareholder or the board of directors. When your department is new within the company's organizational structure – it may be recently formed or a department you are tasked with building – it is essential to establish roles and goals.
The company's other divisions and employees may not completely understand your duties and responsibilities, and they could risk undermining your authority if it is not clear who is in charge of the tasks delegated to your team.
Even if your department's functions fell under the owner, CEO or a shareholder, having the responsibilities transition to another person without the power also transferring could mean certain doom – as in bankruptcy. The best, most recent, example of this is the international clothing brand Forever 21. A skilled manager will prevent such situations by sorting them out upfront.
2. Create a growth team of top managers.
This team is collectively responsible for setting and reaching high-level end goals. They make up a group of people connected by one goal, with some added resources, values and relationships. In terms of size, I recommend teams be limited to the "two-pizzas" rule created by Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO. He postulates that an organization's internal groups should be small enough to be fed with just two pizzas.
Your Growth Team should include the CEO, CCO/CRO, CMO, HRD, along with the CLO, CFO, CTO and leadership from the quality management department if there is one. Such groups or executive managers connected by a single goal can quickly fix or prevent the problem of a "circular firing squad" that could heavily affect the company's rapid growth.
3. Introduce a SMART culture for processes and establish a set of unconditional principles to which the company and its parties adhere.
Introduce the SMART approach to goal setting; that is, any task should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound.
The SMART approach includes correspondence; for example, e-mails should have a clear purpose, addressee, terms (if an action or answer is required) and limited input from listening members of the team. For instance, if other members should be aware of the issue without responding, copy – CC – or blind copy – BCC – them on the message. Using SMART for meetings and negotiations should improve the company's processes within a month after its implementation.