A business is brought to life by an individual/s. As you are starting the company you must fulfill the roles and perform the duties of all the various positions in your company departments.
You become the CEO, Marketing Manager, Public Relations Manager, etc all at same time. This is because due to lack of funds you might not afford to pay salaries yet however as the business grows you gonna need some extra hands to assist in building the company further.
The question that mostly arise from entrepreneurs is that it becomes difficult to work with other people or the handing over of work. And understandably so, i mean you are so used to be hands on in every aspect of your business from pushing sales, invoicing clients, briefing clients, etc and all of a sudden you need to delegate, divide the work and trust the next person to deliver as you would. It is not an easy assignment to carry out but it needs to be done for the growth of the business. In response to this frustrations the one factor i advise them to look into is the Organizational Culture.
What is Organizational culture?
Organizational culture is an idea in the field of Organizational studies and management which describes the psychology, attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values (personal and cultural values) of an organization. It has been defined as “the specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization.”
Employees are not the only people you will interact with. Before you have to deal with them you would have dealt with Customers, Suppliers, other Business Owners,etc. All this individuals are very special in your business and you interact with them on different aspects and levels of your business. By the time you acquire assistance and employ extra people you would have mastered the act of dealing with any of them and those methods you will then pass to your employees – this to me i define as Organizational culture. You will develop this cultures because of the experience you had with them, and as having to have worked with them first hand. Therefore to me as the Business Owner you should be the founder of a series of this values and beliefs through your experience.
This definition continues to explain organizational values also known as “beliefs and ideas about what kinds of goals members of an organization should pursue and ideas about the appropriate kinds or standards of behavior organizational members should use to achieve these goals. From organizational values develop organizational norms, guidelines or expectations that prescribe appropriate kinds of behavior by employees in particular situations and control the behavior of organizational members towards one another.”
For example, you gonna need to pass step by step the rules or a manner of the project execution. For our employees to follow through this organizational Cultures, they will need a very extensive training whether you have hired them on the basis of experience or not so they can adapt to your own set of culture accordingly. See this as an investment. It might take away a lot of time from you and you will seem to follow behind with your schedule but believe me once the one employee master it then they will be able to pass to the next employee.
Two things that need to be done by us Business Owners. It is to be Transparent and to practice Consistency at all times.
Transparency – Your true character as an individual must be known by the people you work with. This makes it easy for them to understand you better, and that will be easy for them to follow through with your organizational culture. For an example: I am known by my business associates and employees as having a “serious personality” or as “a perfectionist”. As much as i tried to deny or find myself explaining this sort of “my personal traits” i just can’t hide them, they define who i am, they automatically happens and therefore this traits have assisted a lot in them understanding me and my work.
Consistency – When you have developed those set of rules to practice in your business you must stick to them always. Do not allow favours to family members and friends at the expense of the business. Because once you allow that to happen it is going to be tricky to try control their misbehaves. It is no secret that families and friends like to take advantage, not realising that with business things are different. If you have failed being consistent in your business how do you expect the people coming in to? Set a good example and Practice what you preach.
Compiled by Miss Dee – On behalf of Matsobanemetja Business Consulting (Pty) Ltd, Coaching Division.
For any queries please get in contact with us here www.matsobanemetja.co.za
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Matsobanemetja Business Consulting Pty Ltd 