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It is quite common among entrepreneurs and leaders to be a fix-it-all person, all the time looking for a solution. After all, we built corporations by making decisions, solving problems, and overcoming obstacles. However, as your business continues to grow, trying to solve every problem you encounter is counterproductive because it limits your growth and hinders your team’s growth.
It’s necessary that you don’t try to solve every problem you come across. You need to build an environment where issues are raised and solved without your involvement, so you can focus on the strategic level.
This way you can work with your team, structure the process and stop trying to fix the whole lot yourself.
1. Crisis playbooks: Create detailed guides for your team
Perhaps the best way to stop being a “fixer” is to empower your team and empower them to deal with recurring challenges on their very own. This is where creating crisis guides comes into play. A crisis playbook is a step-by-step plan your team will follow when faced with recurring problems of a certain type. But this is not just a list of suggestions; it is a well-thought-out strategy that permits them to deal with emergencies on their very own.
For example, if there are many complaints from customers, you don’t have to interfere every time. Instead, create a step-by-step guide for your team to follow – how to respond, who to report the problem to, and what to do when the problem is resolved. It reduces disruption to your business operations while maintaining a predictable and organized pace.
Useful information: Choose the three commonest problems in your company and focus on them. Develop a detailed motion plan for each of them, explaining who is responsible for what and how the problem may be solved. Teach your subordinates to use these manuals fairly than asking for help in the process.
2. Empower your team: Empower them to solve problems
If your team is all the time waiting for your approval or decision, it is time to change the way you run your team. It’s necessary for leaders to understand that implementing the concept of team empowerment is not so simple as throwing in the towel and saying, “Do it.” The idea is to give them the freedom to make certain decisions without having to seek the advice of their superiors, so long as they fall inside certain established guidelines.
When your team is empowered and trusted, they are more likely to hold themselves accountable for their roles. Becoming self-reliant minimizes your level of reliance, increases your speed of decision-making, and promotes responsibility. It also helps you stop worrying about unimportant details and focus on more necessary strategic tasks.
Useful information: You need to set limits on what your team can do without consulting you. Let them manage tasks themselves inside such constraints and report only those issues that require your intervention. In the long term, you’ll realize that fewer things find yourself on your table and your productivity will increase.
3. Early warning: implement systems to flag problems before they turn out to be a crisis
Instead of waiting for problems to turn out to be major problems, develop early signals that notify your team of potential problems before they turn out to be serious. These systems may be so simple as using an automated program to monitor unusual activity or using regular team meetings to detect small issues before they turn out to be big problems.
If problems are reported from the starting, they may be resolved before they turn out to be a big problem in the organization. This minimizes tension and confusion and allows for a more rational approach to problems.
Useful information: Make sure you use technologies that enable continuous evaluation of your business processes. Whether it’s customer satisfaction, inventory or worker productivity, it is often a good idea to catch problems early before they turn out to be more serious. Schedule weekly or bi-weekly meetings with your team to discuss possible issues before they arise.
4. No interruptions due to minor issues: Let your team handle minor tasks
Not every problem is value your time and energy. In fact, most are not. However, if you are all the time drawn into small problems, you will get bogged down in them and unable to see the larger picture. To ensure efficiency and higher team relationships, create an environment where your team understands that they do not have to report minor problems to you. These may be minor issues noticed by customers, minor issues affecting each day operations, or even issues that employees hold against themselves or the company. You can let your team deal with these issues on their very own, according to the strategies and systems you have in place.
Useful information: Define what is considered minor and what is business critical. For small items, let the team resolve what is best. If they know you trust them to solve these problems, they’ll, and you can spend more time on strategic planning and development.
5. Define priority levels: What is really urgent?
When the whole lot is on fire, nothing becomes a priority that deserves the fire’s attention. There will all the time be competing priorities in any organization, so one of the most difficult tasks is knowing what is critical, what is necessary, and what is less critical.
If your team is still unsure about this, they’ll come to you with all varieties of things just in case. To combat this, you need to establish priority levels inside your team. Set standards for what may be considered a high priority area as opposed to a low priority area. Attention must be paid to emerging issues, while remaining issues must be addressed based on protocols and procedures.
Useful information: Talk to your team members and try to categorize several types of problems according to their importance. Issues that arise may be any issue that is critical to customers or the safety or financial health of the company. The rest must be left to the team or brought up at the next meeting. This way, the team is aware of what really requires your intervention and what they’ll treatment.
6. Focus on long-term solutions, not quick fixes
In many cases, as a substitute of solving the source of the problem, we quickly address the issues and provide a quick solution. This is where many corporations find themselves in a constant state of firefighting. Instead, motivate your team to develop a long-term perspective on the problem.
Instead of quickly solving the problem, ask them to take a closer look: what led to this problem and how can it’s avoided in the future? Long-term solutions may take more time initially, but they’ll save you countless hours and headaches in the future. When your team works on sustainable solutions, your business can be higher and you won’t have the same problems over and once again.
Useful information: Remind team members to all the time look beyond the surface of their tasks. Tell them to look for the root causes of problems and discover methods that may be used to solve such problems and be sure that they do not occur again. This way of pondering will help eliminate many of the trivial problems that arise and give you more time to focus on the necessary issues.
The leader’s role is not to solve all problems that arise in the organization. It’s about creating a team and a system in which difficulties do not turn into problems. So by writing crisis scenarios, giving your team more freedom, putting in place early warning systems, and working towards the future, you can shift your focus from mere survival and focus on success.
Finding solutions is key, but finding ways to avoid problems is revolutionary. It’s higher to spend more time on leadership and planning and empower your employees to deal with problems on their very own, proactively. Result? A more efficient and stronger team and a company that appears like one cohesive unit.