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Automotive Industry

Needed: your ideas

Automotive Design & Production, Nov, 2003 by Ted Pollock

A business is like a bicycle. Unless it moves forward, if falls down. That's why virtually every company's long-term strategy emphasizes growth. It moves the business forward, making many things possible.

For the company and its shareholders, growth is the key to increased profits. For the firm's customers, it funds the research and development that result in new and improved products. For employees, it's the best guarantee of bigger and better opportunities.

"Wonderful," you say. "But where does growth come from?" Basically, from ideas. "And where do ideas came from?" From people, of' course. And the most likely people are its employees--you as well as the people who report to you.

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After all, who knows the business better than you? Who else sees, on a daily basis, where needs exist ... where improvements can be made ... where opportunities beckon?

Such ideas occasionally pop into mind, seemingly out of thin air. Learn how to coax them into existence, however, and you will not only get more of them, you will get better ones. Here's how.

Take a good look at your company. See it for what it is--not just another company manufacturing a product or rendering a service, but an organization geared to offer a range of products and services to the public, providing it can identify what the public needs or wants. Think! What additional products or services might your company offer its customers?

Put on your various hats. You're not just an employee. You're a citizen, a homeowner, a taxpayer, a wife or husband, a parent, a consumer. You eat, dress, drive, play, shop, travel and do many other things. In your various identifies, you use a variety of products. Which have been unsatisfactory? How can they be improved ... or replaced?

Cash in on your expertise. No matter what your job, there is some aspect of the business that you know better than almost anyone. Build on that. In terms of your own department, function, territory or responsibility, how can your company enhance its market share of some product or service? Are there any smaller businesses it might acquire that appear to Fit into its organization?

Brainstorm with others. Two heads are frequently better than one. Therefore, on the job, at lunch, during a break, talk things over with your colleagues. What should your company be doing that it isn't? What opportunities is if overlooking? What unique strengths ought if be taking advantage of? Talk to people in other areas of the business who may bring new perspectives to your thinking. Such informal task forces can often produce startlingly good ideas.

Tap your own sources. We all know people outside our business who are especially resourceful. If may be your spouse, a bridge partner, a neighbor--anyone. Tell them what you're looking for and pick their brains. Ask them what they would like to see in the way of new products and services. Most people are flattered to be asked for help. And you never know when lightning will strike.

And those are some of the ways in which you can keep your company's bicycle moving forward.

Set Realistic Goals for Your People

When committing plans to paper, in an effort to make themselves look good, some managers are sometimes tempted to set deadlines that are unrealistic, or ask for too little money for a project, or claim that they can get a job done with fewer people than are actually necessary.

In order to keep their promises, they then set goals for their people that are overly ambitious. In turn, they either end up putting in a great deal of overtime, or they submit shoddy work.

The remedy: before handing out an assignment, make sure you have enough people to get the job done; make sure each employee is the best possible choice for the assigned job; and make sure all deadlines are realistic.

You may not end up looking heroic, but you won't look foolish, either.

Fight Pessimism in the Ranks

Pessimism can be virulently infectious. The employee who always sees the worst side of things, who moans about how badly things are going, can spread his feelings to others. Unless corrective action is taken, a cell of unhappiness can multiply rapidly, murder morale, and adversely affect productivity.

One way to prevent the pessimist from doing damage is to give him as little to work with as possible.

The pessimist will magnify an office rumor into a portent of doom. Antidote: don't let rumors start. Communicate frankly and regularly with your people; scotch wild stories before they get started.

Griping can be healthy, up to a point. But don't permit gripe sessions to become too regular or too protracted. Complaining can become habitual and, if it does, a paralysis of the spirit can sweep through an organization.

Finally, make sure you aren't at fault. People often take their clues from the boss. Before complaining about the crepe hangers, therefore, be sure you aren't inadvertently encouraging them by example.

Don't Just Stand There--Do Something!

Automotive Industry

Needed: your ideas

Automotive Design & Production, Nov, 2003 by Ted Pollock

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