Inside the Boardroom by Dieter Weisshaar

How to achieve Growth

Sun, 23 Jul 2023 11:48:19 GMT

How to create growth in B2B?

Growing the business is on the agenda of almost every board room . Expectations are high, a business plan can be created quickly but achieving growth isn't as easy. To gain market share your company needs to beat market growth but what needs to be considered.

Conceptual approach:

Growth has many dimensions to be evaluated. A Growth Strategy should address the different categories. Already in the 1960th McCarthy the 4Ps were mainstream thinking: Product, Price, Place, Promotion which evolved to the 7Ps: people, process, physical evidence. The Ansoff Matrix is another approach to define the growth strategy which focus on the bigger picture such as Market Penetration, Market Development, Product Development and Diversification.

The Growth Strategy can address organic or inorganic growth through mergers and acquisitions, it can cover strategic items such as a new innovative product or entering new markets or channels.

You can distinguish your growth strategy in short and long term activities, short term may be closer to a growth plan rather than a strategy. Strategies are long term plans but dependent on your industry you have areas which take significantly longer - up to years such as product innovations.

Operationalizing your growth plan:

The main questions you need to address first, excluding the strategic fields such as M&A and Internationlization are the following: What product do we sell to which customers at what price through which channels and what is the goal we want to achieve.

The growth target (goal) should be related to your market size and market growth. If your overall offering is competitive, your growth expectation should at least be market growth. If your market share is not dominant or even low, your chance to outgrow the market is higher, hence your ambition can be set higher. If you have a very unique product which can be seen as a game changer your ambition should target high as well. It becomes harder to beat market if you have a dominant market share and a state of the art product to sell.

It is mandatory that you understand a couple of things around your product and potential customers . First of all what problem does your product solve for your customers and what are your Unique Selling Points (USPs). If your product does not have significant USPs and it is rather a MeToo product or commodity , your main differentiators may be brand or price. In any case you need to understand the value creation for your customer and who are the buying personas at a prospect that you can address exactly these personas with your value proposition at your target customers even if it is only price.

The better you analyze your target customers, buying personas, value creation, the more effective you can place your message and create business. On the opposite the less you understand your target group and USPs, the more money you waste on trying to sell your product to the wrong prospects or personas.

On the longer term you can succeed if you develop a product to gain a competitive advantage by creating more value and unique selling points for your customer than your competition. But it is important that you educate your sales channels, prospects and customers to articulate and understand your value add to position your advantage.

Marketing communication, lead generation, sales methodology and execution need to go hand in hand to create growth out of your value creation at customer.

Pricing strategies are a topic on its own. The price of your product should reflect the value you create at your customer but mostly the price is highly influenced by competition or sales teams that ask for a price advantage over competition. Cost in many cases is a key influencer to pricing, which should not be the case if you create huge value for your customer. But in tight markets your production cost will become important to be able to react to market pricing, hence striving for cost excellence should be part of your DNA in these market conditions.

Equally important is a long term sustainable business model , ideally with recurring revenues. If you are able to land and expand at a customer by having a first product placed at one department or use case and with the great experience you upsell from there that gives you continuous growth within an existing customer base.

You can always create low price entry offers for new customers or even freemium offers if you have a strategy set, expectations positioned at customer and your sales team that the entry price is not the long term price level.

Depending on your industry, your product, your ability to invest in scaling up a sales team across regions, you may consider a direct sales or an indirect sales approach , mostly a hybrid model. There are a couple of things that you need to address going indirect:

An indirect channel needs a sustainable margin for your business partner and yourself.
An indirect channel should reduce your investment in sales while scaling faster through existing customer relationships of your channel partners but for the price of a lower margin.
Your product and organization must be channel ready, that means you need documentation, sales collateral, sales & service trainings for partners and a product which can be handled by your partner without your help if trainings are completed.
You need a channel sales team to acquire new channel partner and manage the relationship.
Avoid major channel conflicts if you implement a hybrid sales model that you do not compete too much with your channel partners.
Finally you need to think about the value proposition to your partner , why should they partner up with you and open up their customer base to sell your product. The partner takes an investment in training, dedicated resources etc.. What does he get in return? Typically, you get a cool product which creates value at customer, has good USPs, adds to your existing portfolio, delivers a good margin and the producer of the product may generate leads for the partner.

A direct sales approach is typically split in growth from the existing customer base and new customers. Depending on your product you may only address a small proportion of the spending the customer has in your product category that allows you with a direct sales or key account team to upsell and expand your footprint within the existing customer base.

Upselling a customer requires a well educated sales team to have great customer insights and building an account plan on how to address the increase in share of wallet. A good sales team can take the first product placement to a reference case and market it further to other departments or use cases.

Creating growth by new customers is a totally different approach. Either you need to find the relevant prospects in your market if the number of potential customers is not so huge that you can't do it effectively, you better find a way that your prospects find you if they have a need for your product.

Target customer selling is addressing a predefined list of customers where your teams think that there is a need for your product. That can be done by cold calling or getting a sales person on board with good relationships to these prospects or by target account marketing in targeting the buying personas of certain companies through social media messaging.

If your addressable market is huge and it is not easy to spot who has a need for your product you need to choose a different approach. You need to create contacts and nuture leads to be handed over to a sales team if prospects desires to buy a product is qualified. Cold Calling into a market where you don't know the demand nor the relevant customers is most inefficient way of spending your sales & marketing budget.

Contacts and Leads can be created in many ways. In some industries and for some products fairs and events are working well, advertising has been reduced in B2B markets as the behavior of decision makers have changed and the internet is the most relevant information gathering platform today, that is why most businesses today use digital content marketing to create leads or a combination. Fairs, events, advertising have a relatively high cost per lead because your spending is high and e.g. the conversation rates from contact to lead in advertising are low. Digital content marketing has a 40% lower cost per lead but requires great valuable content , such as blogs, videos, reference stories, webinars to be pushed through social channels to your target group.

Creating contacts and leads require a highly trained marketing and sales team to run the right campaigns to your relevant personas and a fully automated tool set that a contact is nurtured through to a lead, qualified by a telesales team and than handed over as warm sales lead to your sales team for immediate follow up.

Even if we only touched the relevant components of a growth strategy / plan, you can see that it requires highly skilled people and a good plan how and where to invest to make your growth happen.

Key take aways for your growth plan or strategy:

Understand your market, market growth and your growth ambition
Decide on the more long term activities such as product development and M&A
Understand your product, value generation at customer and the USPs
Understand your market, buying personas and value proposition by persona
Choose your channel strategy to address the market
Have a sustainable pricing strategy to generate long term healthy business
Decide on your split between upselling the existing customer base and new prospects
Educate your marketing and sales team, partners to get your value add across
Execute and automate to get efficient on your go to market approach to have best in class KPIs and SG&A costs.

You can see that growth is not a single dimension and requires typically a couple of activities in parallel but winning in the market place can create a very positive momentum for your whole company and celebrating success is great fun. A successful growth culture attracts talents across the business .

Why is an execution skill key to succeed but hard to find

Mon, 03 Jul 2023 12:41:04 GMT

Foto von Adi Goldstein auf Unsplash

Execution capability is the key success factor

On our famous online book store you find far over 60.000 books on strategy but only a good 4.000 on strategy execution or implementation. There are far more universities that offer marketing and only a few on sales as a major. Creating the ambition, the project goals, the strategy is a cool thing and requires great thinkers . Taking the things to daily execution requires an additional skill which is rare, may be perceived as boring but is the key success factor for every company.

Who haven't seen it - you have attended a board meeting or town-hall with shiny slides and the next big steps or goals have been presented, but later on the project failed or no impact has been created. Actually 70% of all projects do fail or do not deliver the intended outcome. There are many reasons why projects can fail but there is one main topic to address, you need people with execution skills in your organization. That may sound boring but without execution nothing will be achieved.

Few examples from the growth side of the business.

Creating a pipeline is mandatory in most B2B businesses to increase revenue. Creating a pipeline requires awareness and value propositions to share with your audience to convince them to buy. You can create reach or awareness in many ways.

A booth on fair is used for a while to find new prospects. It is quite an investment and your marketing team can do a real great job with a good presence but if your exhibition team isn't actively talking to people, collect the business cards, agree on next steps and log them into a CRM to execute right after the fair, nothing will happen and your investment will not pay out.
Digital content marketing is the current state of the art to create leads. You post valuable content on social media to create awareness and direct people to your website, but if you are not offering a call to action on your landing page or gated content (e.g. whitepaper download) to get the contact data of your visitor or a webcast with login data, there is nothing you can follow up on and your digital advertising money is wasted.

Same applies for developing a project through the sell cycle to close a deal :

Sales processes can be seen as an administrative burden to the creative seller. But customer acquisition cost can range from 10.000 € to 1.000.000 € per deal depending on your business. If you don't take your prospect from one step to the next in the sales process to increase your deal probability or you forget to follow up on something as you may have too many opportunities open, you loose the deal and waste the money and time spent.

We can name a lot more examples, such as introducing a new software without communicating with the user and addressing their expectations.

An Execution Skill is key to succeed. Obviously you need a team that has expertise, ideally experience, project management skills, required tools and resources in what you want to get done. The Execution Skill is ability to do T-Management, that means to understand the big picture, strategy, goals, processes, outcomes but as well the ability to sit down with team and go deep in a step by step mode to see where topics are blocked, bottlenecks exist. The ability to overcome these roadblocks by creating an action plan, ensure approvals or resource allocation, take decisions and use the empowerment to make things happen.

The Execution skill has a great level of strategic thinking , empathy to work with a team on complex or tough situations and the down to earth mentality to dive deep and get things done on a quite detailed level or advice teams to do so. Furthermore it requires the ability to handle multiple of these situations at the same time and keep track of these roadblocks, prioritize and resolve them. It is all about the breaking the big picture down to more detailed process steps or outcomes and compare them with the overall goals and the desired value the project needs to create. Obviously it requires empowerment from the stakeholders to allocate resources and take decisions.

That may not be as shiny as the strategy presentation at the board meeting but that is where real value will be created. By the way this skill is required on all levels - in the board room to get your strategy implemented as well as on your projects to get them delivering desired outcome or in improving efficiency in production.

Back to your lead generation example and the pipeline. Someone needs to take the lead that your teams generate contacts, that contacts become leads by showing interest, that sales is taking the lead to closing. The impact is only delivered when all steps and teams work together and achieve their KPIs or promises throughout the process or project.

People with Execution Skills are

great strategic thinkers
have analytic skills
can take topics to an abstraction level and link them back to the big picture
break down complex topics to manageable tasks, prioritize and measure outcome
brave enough to take decisions
have empathy to resolve a problem and create the right team spirit
good communicators to get the mission across.

Have a look if you have enough Execution Skills on your team and not just the ones with the shiny slides.

How to tackle a complex topic?

Fri, 19 May 2023 08:39:25 GMT

Foto von John Barkiple auf Unsplash

Get to the bottom of the topic you want to solve

You receive a new project and on the first view it looks complex - you need to get your arms around it. How can you structure a complex situation to discover various perspectives and approaches. At C-Level you may not even have all the information or expertise to resolve it on your own but you need to get to a plan . Some ideas that worked for me.

Typically you start with information gathering and discovery, followed by structuring a topic from different angles and finally come up with ideas on how to proceed . It may well be that you need to go back to drawing board if you discover new aspects and start all over again , that is part of the process and not an issue - be self-confident to do so.

Information gathering

Collect as much valuable information and data as you can. Mostly hard facts help a lot. You may discover that some of the information is not available at your finger tips but if it's important make the effort to get this collected.

Talk to people which deal with the situation or topic every day, the people impacted from a process or involved in production, the service. You can do this by phone or web conference which is great. But you need to go where the things happen into the ' machine room ' and get your hands dirty how I would describe it. During a lecture at London Business School, they called it 'the smell of the place' . If it is really important you learn a lot from being present locally and it is much more than you learn from polished mid management presentations.

You will discover new things and factors that influences your topic hence you can ask more questions and gather more information and data.

Talk with your network and experts inside and outside your company if you can. Good M&A processes do like 10 to 20 structured expert interviews to evaluate the market, target company and product. If this is done properly, you gain much more reliable information, opinions, insights and predictions. It is a kind of swarm intelligence and reduces failure.

Structure the topic

There are quite some techniques to structure your topic such as Mind Mapping which actually is quite powerful if you have a complex problem to structure or visualize. If you have a business to reorganize it may be helpful to use a business canvas to cover all aspects. If you have a group to engage in working on the topic MetaPlan Techniques may work for you.

It is important that you discover the value or key drivers for your topic you want to resolve by importance and impact. It is great if you discover 99 influencers on your topic but I bet you will have like 5-10 maximum that make 90% of the impact ( Pareto Optimum applies). At some point in time, adding further details will not drive better results just effort. You need to prioritize and discover where the value will be generated.

Keep an eye on the risk side as well, if you look at key drivers, there may be risk attached if you choose the one or other way.

How to proceed

It is very valuable for you, your stakeholders and later on for communication purposes if you summarize your findings, e.g. in a presentation : the topic, the goals, the data, the analysis and conclusions, the drivers and finally your proposal on how top tackle the topic. That goes from the high level goals down to an action plan with measurable results ( OKR may help). Name the involved functions or people and the responsible action owner with clear time plan at the end of your project analysis to take ideas to action.

You should outline alternatives or scenarios and risk analysis if possible to make thoughtful decisions or convincing presentations for your stakeholders.

Let me know what worked for you.

Do we get another dotcom bubble burst

Mon, 15 May 2023 15:13:03 GMT

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Is the IT market crashing?

If your are old enough, you have seen the rise of tech companies at the end of 90th of last century. Web Content, eCommerce and startups were the exciting topics, til the point when the dotcom bubble burst . It was the time when salaries went crazy in this sector, the company evaluations and stock markets were on all time high and venture capital market was overheated.

It was the time when IT experts in new technologies were rare. Most companies wanted to have a digital or e-commerce strategy. The baby boomers were between 30-40 years old. It was more an education and skill problem than a resource problem. When the markets imploded there was a pretty large labor force available and unemployment rates in the EU were around 5-10%. After the burst, it was pretty hard for the highly paid experts to find new jobs and unemployment was going up .

That is different today. Todays war for talent has a resource issue as well. Experts on new technologies are as rare as always but we have a large proportion of the baby boomers retiring in the coming years and the pool of talents available to be educated in new technolgies will shrink . Hence we will not face a massive unemployment effect on IT Experts as in the early 2000th. High skill Tech Labor markets will remain tight . On the other hand there is an opportunity as new technologies such as AI in coding software may boost productivity .

The situation on the capital market is only slightly different . Companies in the late 90th of the last century were evaluated high and IPOs provided a lot of cash to the tech companies. A lot of companies were cash burning and when the stock markets crashed, and the cash was spent, the companies went either bankrupt, got sold and restructured. Hence a lot of IT experts were released. That is pretty much the same as today beside the labor market absorbing the IT experts. On the other hand stock markets so far have been pretty reliable despite the war and other crisis. There is still enough money in the market which is looking for good investments even if due to interest rates alternatives are available. Source

But if you don't have a cash generating business model, it is getting far harder to get additional funding today. That will put company evalutions under pressure as some of them will be on firesale. Companies which are not depending on a cash injection are facing a high demand for digitization and that will most like continue to improve efficiency at customer side to stay competitive or creating new digitized business models.

Despite the continued demand for digitization there will be a slower growth as companies adopt their investment in an upcoming recession Source typically. That will force tech companies to build pipeline differently and cause larger efforts to create growth .

Take away : Based on these observations and when the recession will be as mild as expected, there will be most likely continued growth in the market for digitization projects based most modern technologies and skills. The labor markets will remain tight and the war for talent continues . New technologies as the adoption of AI is causing productivity gains on the IT and the business side. Cash burning businesses will be under pressure to restructure and seek fundings if they haven't got a superior business model or technology. Tech experts released will find a new job easily. All of this will most likely not cause the same massive bubble burst as in 2001 ff.

Safe Harbour:

This blog may include predictions, estimates or other information that might be considered forward-looking. While these forward-looking statements represent the current opinion on what the future holds, they are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements, or base any decision on this blog, which reflect the opinion only as of the date of this presentation. Please keep in mind that the author will not obligating himself to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events.

CEO's expectations on Corporate Marketing

Thu, 13 Apr 2023 12:33:49 GMT

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CEO's expectations on Corporate Marketing

Marketing budgets are always a discussion topic. What can a CEO expect if a percentage of revenue is spent for corporate marketing? Have the goals been defined and expectations aligned. Marketing can not meet expectations if the ecosystem is not supportive. Let's have a deeper look in the B2B sector and the dependencies.

Corporate Marketing is responsible for many things like the brand, the employer branding and sales leads. That is a pretty widely distributed responsibility.

Marketing is responsible for the brand but what is branding about and how do we measure it. Branding has many components, it is the brand itself: the identity , the image and the reach . So your brand should be widely known in your target group and serve your values, it should have a positive emotional appeal to create a supportive behavior. Best case it becomes an intangible asset on your balance sheet.

A brand is something on how the target group should perceive your company while the reputation is how the company is perceived. There are short term aspects to reputation which can change it pretty quickly. On the other hand a brand is built long term. More Nevertheless if you define your target group as a set of stakeholders like prospects, customers, employees, talents, business partners, shareholders, press, politicians, public it comes closer together in the way that your company reputation is how the company is perceived and your brand is how you want it be perceived based on certain criteria.

The main drivers are:

Vision & Leadership
Products & Services
Social Responsibility
Work Environment
Financial Performance

It is important to mention that Vision & Leadership are main influencers on your reputation. Hence the CEO in person is a driver of company reputation. Source : Wiedmann/Fombrun/van Riel, 2007

The reputation drivers address your target group (stakeholders) as mentioned above to create an emotional appeal (Admiration, Credibility, Sentiment, Trust) and finally lead to the reputation value which can be measured by the reputation quotient . The better you do on your brand marketing, the closer is your reputation reflecting it.

But Marketing can not do Brand Building on its own. The board needs to agree on the purpose, the values, the vision, the mission and the strategy the company stands for and execute upon. That requires many functions in the company to be aligned such as Public Relations or People & Culture as the reputation reflects on the work environment, social responsibility, ESG etc.. Your products & services need to step up to meet your values and create customer value. It will become really tough to create a great brand and reputation if you have an innovative product but the work environment is challenging or your environmental footprint is not good.

By the way if you manage to create this positive brand and reputation driven by the board and fully embraced by your employees, the likelihood of a great employer branding is high and ability to attract the best talents as well.

Take away #1: Brand and Reputation need to come together but this is a board topic and need the whole company to be aligned. Marketing can drive all of it.

Marketing needs to fill our pipeline and not only with sales leads but with candidates to hire as well - that is true but what does it require.

While building a brand and addressing your target audience Marketing needs to create traffic and reach . Ideally the traffic and reach serves three main topics:

Building the brand
Creating Leads
Attracting Talents

To create reach you need an ecosystem that is ready for traffic. It all starts with what you have to tell - the content . Content has many flavors: Company news, product announcements, strategic advice in white papers or webinars, survey results, hints & tips, customer reference stories, investor presentations.

The content can be created and published by marketing but in many cases marketing depends on the other functions to deliver input, have speakers and giving meaningful insight. Valuable content is key to succeed in creating reach.

Second your ecosystem needs to be ready . That means you need the whole process chain up and running. No matter if you create traffic with events, fairs, advertisement or the below the line approach (online marketing, SEO etc.) there needs to be a corporate website that is able to point the visitor in a user friendly way to the relevant content. There should be a marketing automation software behind to achieve GDPR compliance, ability to identify the visitor and provide analytics. Valuable content can be provided in exchange for customer data such as name, email, phone number (gated content). The m arketing a utomation software will do all of this, follow up with eMails and measure the interest of your visitors. At some point the visitor becomes a lead will be contacted by inside sales and handed over to sales after qualification.

Same applies for your ecosystem on the people & culture side , when traffic hits your website, your ecosystem should be ready to get i nterested talents informed, attracted and easily apply for a job through a real time job portal. If the user journey is great, you get far more candidates.

As soon as you have valuable content and an ecosystem that is modern, user friendly and automated, you create more traffic. Traffic comes through channels, they can be traditionell such as advertisement, TV, Radio, fairs and events or through social media, search engine optimization etc. You need to define your target personas and have a team with the right skill to place your message (content) through the channel to your target persona . This is a clear marketing task of a highly specialized team.

Your cost per lead and candidate will be optimized when your content, ecosystem and skills are excellent. Marketing can lead the effort in creating the content, setting up the ecosystem, managing traffic but it requires IT, P&C, Sales to be supportive and aligned.

Take away #2: Creating leads and attracting candidates is using a similar approach and requires great messaging based on valuable content with an automated ecosystem and highly skilled team. It is a team play across multiple functions and an investment decision for the board.

Executive Summary: The CEO's expectation towards corporate marketing can be that they lead the process of brand building, reputation management, lead generation and candidate attraction but it is a team play that starts with the board, IT, P&C, Sales, Public Relations and many others to succeed. It requires alignment, investment and highly skilled specialists. At the end it is all about leadership.

Scale up a business

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 19:02:01 GMT

Foto von Robert V. Ruggiero auf Unsplash

How to set the growth path for your business - some considerations

Investors and shareholders ask their board members to scale up the business - grow faster than market and create value. That is a fair expectation. Let's have a look on some key success factors and considerations.

Let's talk about an IT business but most considerations apply in other industries as well. First, you need to distinguish between a people and a product business. Different factors apply to scale them successfully.

Product and people businesses scale differently . They have different success factors to grow fast and risk profiles. In principle you can try to sell more of what you have and enter e.g. new countries, you can increase your customer lifetime value by extending your portfolio and get more share of wallet or you apply your capabilities to new industries and extend e.g. into new markets in the same geography. All of this can be a make or buy decision .

Options to scale up your business (beside organic growth):

Sell more of the same to new markets - entering new markets or countries - internationalization
Get more share of wallet of your customers - extend your portfolio to address more business to upsell
Adapt your offer to address new customer segments e.g. industries, customer size

Let's have a look at the options as people and product businesses are very different . The people business such as consulting or software development requires people on the ground, no matter if they are onsite, remote, local, nearshore or offshore. So revenue scales with two main contributors:

Order Entry
Delivery Sk ills

Typically people business has a direct sales model to acquire deals and deliver resources against the order. Even if your customer is a system integrator, you have a sales team to acquire deal by deal.

Some resources are typically local such as sales, project management, product owners, architects or consultants, some may be near- or offshore e.g. back office, software development, marketing, tele sales.

So you need a presence and delivery force to scale which is close to the customer. That can be achieved by hiring new people in tight labor markets or acquiring a company to leverage an existing team. Investments on hiring a new team may take time, ROI is more than a year if you enter a complete new market where you start from scratch. Adding people to an existing team is easier and has a shorter ROI but is more an organic growth topic rather than a scale up strategy.

Buying a company is giving you order entry and delivery capacity from day one, if you buy the right business. Top skilled teams are quite expensive to buy and they are fully utilized right now hence the owners may not be up for selling their company. As labor markets are tight in the Tech Industry, your integration of such a business and the company culture are key success factors as top skilled employees can move pretty fast but Buy and Build is a good option for a people business.

Both options Hiring and Acquiring can serve the three scale up options mentioned above. You have economies of scale in marketing and G&A but not as many as a product business.

A product business i n Tech Markets is different game, let's take a software company as an example. You can scale your business with the same product much more easily by increasing your marketing & sales efforts and adding some resources on the technical side. The main growth driver is

Order Entry

Some topics need to be evaluated. Is your software ready for internationalization ? That does require multi-language support in most cases. Depending on your solution and market segment it can require massive changes to the software as e.g. payroll systems are very different based on legislation in different markets while infrastructure software, marketing automation solution or a CRM system needs very little adoption to address new markets. Selling more of the same needs an evaluation of the addressable market and product readiness.

The internationalization of a product business can be done by direct and indirect sales . It may be less risky, costly and faster to extend your network of business partners to address new markets. Finding good potential business partners by country can be done more quickly and requires less investment. It may reduce your margin on the long run but the partner normally has an existing customer base to address with your product quickly. If you want to build a real international brand and scale up further , you need to be clear on your strategy and communication to your partner network that you may want to add more partner in same market and a direct sales force later on. You may even consider to do digital marketing in all markets to generate leads which can be handed over to the partner network. A good partner strategy is required and needs to adress the long term company direction.

Take away: Think beyond step one how you address a new market long term.

Implementing a team on the ground and establishing your own subsidiary in a new market takes quite some investment. You need to build up all functions which are required and it will take time to create pipeline and turn your business profitable. Crossing 1 M€ in revenues is a good milestone with critical mass and you can estimate how long this will take in number of deals. Buying a potential partner business may be a valid option that can be implemented faster but it requires training and transformation efforts to make them become part of the company.

A product business especially a subscription business will scale fast after the first success as the recurring revenues will add up quickly over time while a people business typically has little recurring revenues.

Buying a software company that addresses the same market like yours is tricky and heavily underestimated. On the revenue side it adds nicely up and your market share will do leap step. But how do you leverage the new company through an integration. These are the pitfalls:

Having two code bases and two products need a strategy on how to migrate the two to one on long run otherwise you will keep two development teams, double support, training and consulting efforts. Your economies of scale may suffer.
If you force a commercial migration strategy to your new customers by offering a migration path to one product at a good price point, you trigger a decision at your customer which may increase your churn rate quite significantly as they may evaluate all products at the market.
If you decide to sunset one product line , you need a challenge for this development team if you want to keep them long term as it its their invention you decide to discontinue that may cause real cultural issues and drive attrition.

Extending your portfolio is either a quite significant investment in new features, services or products to be developed which require s time, money and most likely additional resources. The ROI may be at least a year or more. Or you a cquire a software company with a complementry solution that is easy to integrate with your existing solution, extends the scope of your solution and adds value to your exiting or potential customers. A good technical dues diligence is key. The cultural aspect applies here as well - top talents get a lot of job offers - pay attention on the integration of the team.

The adoption of your product for other industries may be something which is less risky and costly but requires beside a good solution, a sound go to market approach. Do not underestimate the sales & marketing efforts in new markets or industries. You may need additional resources with good insights.

Scaling a product business is different

You need far less resources to scale a product business but your key success factors are different compared to a people business. Your investment can scale faster in revenues as you are not depending on as many resources on the ground if you make your product ready for the new markets. You have quite some options to scale with reasonable investments either through a direct or indirect go to market model. Think long term and do not make too many compromises for short term success. A product buy and build approach needs a deeper evaluation, clear goals and is more than adding up revenues as you need a product roadmap for what you acquire that should creat e value for your customers.

Hiring, Partnering will bring typically faster ROIs than Acquiring.

Customer Acquisition Cost in B2B IT Markets

Tue, 14 Feb 2023 11:59:09 GMT

Foto von Arno Senoner auf Unsplash

How much do I need to spend to get a deal

This is probably one of the hardest questions to answer. How much do I need to spend to win a customer and close a deal. This varies highly by market, product, target group, persona - let's have a look at the IT B2B market.

Customer Acquisition cost starts at the very beginning. How to I get customers aware and attracted to have an interaction with my company? The world is changing and we obviously moved from from the above-the-line Marketing like fairs, classic advertisement more into below-the-line marketing with sponsoring, public relations and especially social media. It is not an either or but the marketing mix has changed. Have a look at how to build pipeline in my blog as well. It highly depends whom you want to reach and how your message can be placed best. This is about your personas in your target group.

To reach potential customers there are quite some things to do which will cause sales & marketing cost and will drive your customer acquisition cost.

You need company branding hence you need to have your brand guidelines done (logos, colors, key messages, values, purpose ...) and create your marketing material. This can be anything like collateral (PDF or Print), eMail templates, banner, ads, pictures, videos. You need channels to place your messages, like a website, social media accounts or public relations with a network of relevant journalists.

You need IT Tools to automate, process and measure your work. Key elements are:

Web Content Management Software to create and adopt your online presence (e.g. Wordpress)
Marketing Automation Solution to manage GDPR, Contacts, leads, campaigns (e.g. Hubspot)
CRM System to follow through the sales process (e.g. Salesforce)
Analytics to measure all of the above (e.g. in Hubspot plus Google Analytics)

and most important all of the systems must be connected and handover data automatically in real time.

If the groundwork is done you decide on how to get awareness on what you want to position to the market, e.g. brand awareness campaign, employer branding or campaigns to generate followers or leads. You choose your target groups and personas, create campaigns and off you go. Traffic will rise , become meaningful contacts by using gated content to collect name, email address, company etc. step by step from them and nurture these lead s to move up to become a marketing qualified lead (MQL) . Your inside sales team may catch up evaluate the MQL and qualify it further to be a sales qualified lead (SQL) to be handed over to your sales person. Have a look at BANT - Budget Authority Need Timeline - to ask your lead to qualify for further steps.

At the very end your leads will evaluated and scored and handed over from marketing to a sales organization to follow a certain sales process. Along of the process from branding to awareness to attraction, leads, opportunities and orders, you create cost but you have clear KPIs as well. Some things will work out great and others may fail, hence you need to start, measure, adjust or stop .

All of this from the first idea to the order will drive your customer acquisition cost.

Lead Generation and Nurturing Process

To have a Data Driven Sales approach you need to define the relevant KPIs, Targets and measure them regularly. Automated systems which are easy to use are important and help closing the feedback loop if things work out or need change. KPIs and Targets vary a lot by industry, product or service to sell and customer target group. Let's have a look at certain KPIs.

Sales & Marketing Pipeline Mechanics

Creating traffic with relevant content is an absolute a must. The whole company needs to support the marketing team to create valuable insight for potential customers. The conversation rates above on the Marketing & Sales Funnel are typical conversation rates in an IT Software and Services business depending on customer segment and deal size obviously. Large Enterprise deals are different from small SME SaaS transactions. For the deal size of 100.000€ per transaction this is a feasible set of rates for new business.

Customer Acquisition Costs

Finally our example of a mid sized IT Software and Service business with a new deal size of 100.000 € is showing a customer acquisition cost of app. 35.000€ per customer . This sounds quite high but if this is a software deal with a customer lifecycle of minimum 8 years , it is quite reasonable if you create 100.000€ subscription revenue p.a. at a new customer. Don't assume that your sales cost will now lead to 35% of revenue. You have a second bucket which will be far more efficient: the existing customer base which can be farmed, upsold at a lower cost rate. Small SaaS businesses may only pay 1.500 € for customer acquisition cost while large enterprise deals are far above 35.000€. It needs a deeper analysis. and the right KPI setting for your business.

One question might be interesting to discuss. The assumption is that we spend 200 € per MQL . This may vary a lot. The target group in the example were mid sized businesses in DACH and the Personas were C-Levels like CEO, CFO, CDO, CIO, CHRO. An MQL can come from a traditional fair and exhibition. Typically your cost of your own booth may incl. your staff may lead to cost up to 400 € per MQL. From experience your cost per contact on LinkedIn can be 2,50 € and with a conversation of 14% to a lead, your Cost per Lead are 18 €. To get this natured to an MQL it takes quite same actions, like Downloads, Webinars etc. and the Cost per MQL can easily increase to 150€ per MQL. On Twitter your cost per contact is lower and can be around 1,60 € but the conversation rates are lower hence your cost per lead increases to 22 €. This all depends highly on your content and quality of your marketing team, the customer segment etc.

Executive Summary:

Your Customer Acquisition Cost can be calculated. You can move towards a data driven sales approach and clearly defined targets. You need to be flexible as not all campaigns and initiative will be equally successful and it requires a deeper look into the business to drive excellence throughout the process. It is obviously far cheaper to hand over leads to the more expensive sales team to let them focus on real potentials rather doing random cold calling. But you need to get the whole company incl. yourself to create relevant and meaningful insights for your customers and you need a toolset that is easy to use, fully integrated and automated to make it fly.

Why cloud businesses will grow faster and value higher

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 22:15:18 GMT

Foto von Martin Adams auf Unsplash

Subscription business model is the value driver

Cloud application businesses (or SaaS ) achieve far higher company evaluations than traditional software companies. Rightly so, as their growth capability will out perform traditional software licenses and support business models by far. Let's have a look.

Let's take a traditional software company that is in business for 10+ years. The typical split of business at these traditional companies is 25% new licenses revenue, 25% services (project) revenue and 50% support revenue. To accelerate growth at these companies you need to create new licenses deals which will generate (if not completly business partner led) new service revenue and support fees.

The last business line is the growth blocker. Support revenues are normally the most profitable parts of the business but they limit your ability to grow. Here is why: Typically you loose a few customers every year and a good company may have 2-4% churn rates , so your 50% revenue stream is going down by 4%. On the positive side your new licenses sales creates new support revenues with are around 20% of your past years licenses business ( support attach rate 15-22 % ).

Let's create an example :

Year 1 : Licenses 25 M€, Services 25 M€, Support 50M€,

Total Revenue 100 M€ , Growth Rate 10% on new business

Year 2: Licenses 27,5 M€, Services 27,5 M€, Support 53 M€ (50 M€ - 2 M€ Churn + 25M€*20% =5M€ New Support)

Total Revenue 108 M€ , Total growth on 10% new business is 8%

Year 3: Licenses 30,25 M€, Services 30,25 M€, Support 56,38M€ (53 M€ - 2,12 M€ Churn + 27,5M€*20% =5,5M€ New Support)

Total Revenues 116,88 M€ , Total growth on 10% new business is 8,2%

So it becomes even harder or more expensive to accelerate revenue growth. Let's have a look at the Cloud Companies and their typical subscription model. They are depending highly how subscriptions are priced. If you create a price model that has a 5 year comparable cost, the cloud subscription needs to be comparable to 100 € licenses + 5 years support at 20% + a cost for hosting the application of 100€ at the customer side = 300€ in total. Your comparable subscription would be 60€ per year to get in 5 years to 300€. A 3 year model will lead to 100€ license + 3 times 20% + 60€ for hosting and a comparable subscription of 73,33€ per year. This ignores the project cost for the moment. Traditional software companies have an on average spend for project services of 1:1 to licenses while good SaaS companies should have a minimum onboarding fee . That can obviously highly vary.

Any new software deal on a subscription based cloud business will generate 60-75% of revenue plus a minimal onboarding service fee compared to the licenses fees. Let's assume 60% for an example.

(The example is not taking price increases into account)

A good assumption is a customer lifetime of 8 years minimal , where the subscription business will outperform the license business by 40%+ and the revenues are more equally distributed across the lifetime, adding up quickly to the customer lifetime value .

To compare the standard software business model with the cloud subscription model, we need to look at the average deal size (the deal will most likely take a similar effort/cost to close) :

Our company did 25M€ new license revenue in the example on the top. Let's assume the deal size on licenses will be 100k€ per transaction that would lead to 250 deals per year. While on the subscription side to a deal size of 60k€ per year:

The existing software company with probably 15 years of history has 2.500 customers in year 1 while the subscription business had 100 customers in this example. With the same effort in gaining 250 new customers per year and growing this at 10%, the subscription business is growing topline extremely fast if we assume the same churn rate of 4% which may be a little optimistic. In 3 years only, the cloud business will reach already 50%+ of the traditional software company in revenues.

So the growth perspective on the topline is already showing the strength of a subscription model. Here are the key value drivers:

A cloud business with 10 M€+ Annual Recurring Revenues (ARR) can be profitable depending on how much the company invests in new customer wins, so the sales and marketing spendings. Reaching the first 10 M€ ARR is a tough uphill battle but if you compare such a company with an even larger traditional software business, it will be growing faster and produce more cash on the long run hence higher company evaluations are right if you assume the same capability of closing new deals and winning customers.

SaaS (Cloud) companies are evaluated at 6-10 times ARR (Source: https://www.kalungi.com/blog/saas-valuations#saas-value ) depending highly on company size and profitability - trending down since Q4 2022. Software Companies with the traditional business model are valued highly driven by growth capabilities and positive EBITDA at a revenue multiple closer to 3,5 to 5 times revenue . (Source: https://finerva.com/report/enterprise-software-2022-valuation-multiples/ ). The difference makes sense as the growth dynamics as discussed before are clearly in favorite for the Cloud (SaaS) business models.

Overall it can be rightly discussed if evaluations o f beyond 20 times EBITDA will be paying back on the long run in a market with shrinking evaluations.

Die Energiewende floppt

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 10:59:43 GMT

Foto von Riccardo Annandale auf Unsplash

Die Energiewende floppt, da die Politik nicht nachrechnet

Update vom 5.5.2023

Bevor die Kritiker mit Ihren Kommentaren loslegen: Wir sammeln seit 22 Jahren Regenwasser, begrünen unser Garagendach um Wasser zu speichern, produzieren seit 16 Jahren Solarwärme, die letzten 10 Jahre haben wir unseren Strombedarf selbst über eine Photovoltaik produziert, fahren Elektroauto und haben eine Wärmepumpe bestellt - was macht Ihr?

Warum scheitert die Energiewende trotzdem? Die Politik kann oder will nicht nachrechnen. Es liegt an einer kleinen Zahl um es vereinfacht darzustellen: Der Wirkfaktor (Wirkungsgrad etc.) der Wärmepumpe .

Gas kostet zur Zeit 12,1 ct/kwh und Strom ist gedeckelt bei 40 ct/kWh, liegt im Mai 2023 bei 34 ct/kWh d.h. um Wärme mit Strom zu erzeugen und eine Gasheizung zu ersetzen, benötigt es heute einen Wirkfaktor von größer 3 der Wärmepumpe, damit diese zu gleichen Verbrauchskosten die Heizung ersetzen kann. Nun liegen die Wirkfaktoren je nach Art der Wärmepumpe durchaus bei 3-5 ( siehe ), aber wovon bezahlt man im Moment ein Investment von 25.000 - 40.000 € für die Umrüstung im Einfamilienhaus? Von 2 ct/kWh Einsparung sind dies 1,25 Mio. kWh bis zum ROI , d.h. beim Haushalt mit 22.000 kWh Gasverbrauch im Jahr wartet man 57 Jahre, die durchschnittliche Wärmepumpe ist aber nur für 16 Jahre Nutzung ausgelegt. Der Strompreis ist in Deutschland viel zu hoch und dies ist ein Problem der Politik, da er über Steuern und Abgaben derart überzogen ist. Bei unseren direkten Nachbarn in Europa liegt der Strompreis um die 20 ct/kwh und ist damit deutlich günstiger (Quelle: Eurostat). Eigentlich müsste man aus Wirtschaftlichkeitsgründen in Deutschland die Gasheizung behalten oder anders gesagt, in den Niederlanden sofort eine Wärmepumpe nutzen, da es günstiger ist.

Deutlicher wird es bei großen Wohneinheiten , im konkreten Beispiel gibt es eine Anlage für mehr als 40 Wohnungeinheiten und alle haben Fussbodenheizung. Ideale Voraussetzung denkt man, aber weit gefehlt. Die meisten Hersteller haben kaum Luft-Wasser Anlagen die zwei 200 kW Gasbrenner ersetzen können im Programm und diese Großanlagen haben dann einen Wirkfaktor von 3 für die Heizung bei 40 Grad, aber 25% wird für Warmwasser im Umlauf benötigt. Warmwasser muss nach Legionellenverordnung mit 60 Grad an der Zapfstelle ankommen. D.h. 70 Grad im Speicher sind notwendig, hier fällt der Wirkfaktor auf unter 2, dies macht im Schnitt einen Wirkfaktor von 2,75 oder eine Erhöhung der variablen Kosten für Heizung und Warmwasser von 12%. Zzgl. müssen nun noch weit über 100.000 € Investition getragen werden, die die Kosten weiter erhöhen . Dies hilft nicht für bezahlbaren Wohnraum. Aus den 2,5-3,5% Rendite der Eigentümer lässt sich dies kaum bezahlen.

Die Warnung der Bundesnetzagentur vor Stromausfällen zeigt das zweite Dilemma der Politik. Die Umstellung unseres Haushaltes von Gas auf Wärmepumpe und den Ersatz eines Fahrzeuges gegen ein Elektrofahrzeug hat den Strombedarf des Haushaltes mehr als verdreifacht. Die Versorger möchten nun gerne die Wallboxen und Wärmepumpen teilweise abschalten, da die Netze und die Stromerzeugung dafür nicht ausgelegt sind. Eine Strategie ist nicht erkennbar, wie die Netze zur Zeit ausgebaut werden können, um die dreifache oder höhere Last zu transportieren und zu managen. Ich bin gespannt, was passiert, wenn die ganzen bestellten eAutos und Wärmepumpen ans Netz gehen. (siehe auch Meldung der Vonovia vom 5.5.2023)

Final hilft es aber auch nicht, wenn wir zwar alles auf Strom umstellen, der aber zu 50% mit fossilen Energieträgern (vornehmlich Kohle) produziert wird. Quelle

Möchte die Politik die Energiewende wirklich, dann müssen folgende Probleme gelöst werden:

Der Strompreis pro kwh muss in Deutschland auf zentraleuropäisches Niveau gesenkt werden, damit sich Wärmepumpen und auch Elektromobilität rechnen.
Die Investitionen zum Austausch fossiler Technologien müssen gefördert werden, je mehr, je höher der Strompreis liegt oder im Umkehrschluß, je weniger, je marktfähiger der Strompreis.
Das Stromnetz muss ausgebaut werden
Der Erzeugermix muss von Verstromung fossiler Energieträger zu anderen Technologien wandern und speicherbar werden, dies sollte ergebnisoffen passieren, da an einigen Tagen in diesem Winter weder Wind noch Sonne vorhanden waren.

Die Politik sollte nachrechnen, handeln , Strategien und Zeitpläne offenlegen, damit dies gelingen kann. Zudem braucht man wettbewerbsfähige Industrien, die im globalen Wettbewerb bestehen können, damit die Steuern auch weiter bezahlt werden um solche Investitionen und Transformationen umzusetzen. Wasserstoff ist sicher ein interessantes Thema, welches auch zur Speicherung dienen kann. Auch hier steht sich die Politik im Wege, da die Gasversorger keine sichere Regulierung für Wasserstoffnetze haben und somit kaum investieren ( Quelle ). Aber wer sollte es sonst tun?

The desire for expertise

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 09:50:27 GMT

Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash

New Leadership skills are not good enough

Every single day, when you read on Social Media, you got told that there are New Work and new leadership skills. It is indisputable that leadership has changed from decades ago and that is rightly so. In the light of the new resignation and war for talent , great leadership skills are fundamental for every company. But we should not miss out Expertise as a skill.

FutureSkills and values like Learnability, Empathy, Trust, Giving Purpose, Communication, Teaming, Diversity are mandatory to become a good leader in the modern world but they are not good enough. We all can agree that a leader does not need to be the best expert in the company, it can be even blocking the person away from being a great leader. We should have great expertise in our teams to develop our business.

If you lead a company and your role is the development of a vision, purpose and a strategy with your leadership team, it can be questioned if that is as authentic (which is a FutureSkill) if you neither understand the market, the product or the service well enough to be seen from your team as a thoughtful leader or you even take wrong decisions. A certain level of Expertise is a must and it is highly undervalued in the current discussion. The same is true for Experience which is helping a leader to draw conclusions based on the experience she or he gained throughout the career path. It is not about the past and should not hinder innovation but expertise and experience can help to drive good decisions with your teams faster, gain more trust from your employees and that makes you as a person and your company more resilient because it reduces stress and failure in critical times.

We don't need look to much into the past for great technical expertise to drive the greatest innovations of our time such as the PC, Mouse, Smartphone, Internet, IoT, Electric Cars, Metaverse and the people who had mastered this. The responsible leaders may have failed on FutureSkills in the one or other dimension but they had passion, communication skills, could build an unparalleled purpose and most of their team members had trust to their leadership based on a great expertise and vision.

The bold statement ' we are hiring for potential ' and the rest can be teached, may be true for the lower levels of the organization where your career path is ahead of you and you have time to learn. Some expertise takes years to gain and understand at least the necessary leadership levels such as cyber security, AI, construction, architecture, defense, pharma and healthcare just to name a few. If you are put to the board room without the right leadership skills and expertise at this level, your chance to fail is much higher same for the company risk.

We all have seen management failing if they could not get across that they understand the market, product, services or businesses to create a great future for the company and vision. At some point in time employees and customers stop to follow and move away.

Yes , we need all these FutureSkills in modern businesses but without expertise and experience it is not good enough for the board room.

Does age matter when filling top positions

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 19:53:34 GMT

Photo by JD Mason on Unsplash

Officially age is not a criteria and it should not be one but...

Hiring a top manager or executive should be driven by best fit to the role, not by age, gender, ethnic etc., something almost everyone can agree on in the modern world. Is this really true for the age? Age is not experience. Experience is gained by the time being in relevant positions or exposed to challenges but you need to be a couple of years in business to be experienced. Digital natives, self-motivation, energy and drive may be more present in younger generations.

This not about discussing if aged executives have a tougher way to go to get a board seat or that younger people have better and modern skills. It is about a realistic judgement if age matters.

Experience is a big plus of longer serving executives. Experience comes from exposure to business situations and challenges in different roles over time. But experience although comes from the past and it needs to be evaluated if the patterns can be transferred to the future. Depending on the position, it can be discussed if the new executive needs 5, 15 or 25 years of relevant experience which influences the age of the relevant candidate set.

Understanding latest trends and changed consumers behaviors may be something younger position holders can bring to the table. It may be a plus on the decision matrix if you are a digital native with deep knowledge on social media to run a young consumer driven B2C business. These skills are more likely to be present at younger candidates but it can be a false quick assumption, so a check is important as there are really great B2C executives at different ages.

The company culture may as well be a factor as an aged executive may not work well in start-up culture where the average age is below 30 years. At least it may be considered a higher risk to choose an elderly executive.

The work life balance requirements have changed between generations. Baby Boomers were used to work long hours to achieve their goals; the job in many cases had come first and results would pay out in career development. Today work-life balance is rightly far more important and younger generations may not accept to take a role where work-life balance can not be achieved. The perspective on how to master a top position can different between the generations.

All the soft factors for choosing a candidate like empathy, strategic thinking, leadership skills can be achieved at almost all ages in business life. This will not make a huge difference. It is more about looking at the relevant skills for the role.

Perspective may be most relevant. It makes potentially less sense if you hire a 60 year old board member who intends to retire at 64 if you build up the future leadership of a company. You may well ask this person to join the advisory or supervisory board to coach younger executives. But if you are in a transformation phase like a tough economic situation where you need to act fast, this person could be the right choice to act from experience quickly and with high confidence. Going for the next decade leadership team your target age is more likely in the 35-50 year old target group. Having enough relevant experience and time in business to make a long term difference.

Diversity is important to great teams and will drive performance and innovation - no question. Age is just one of the criteria of diversity. Having a good gender and ethnic mix is something every company can achieve but is this really true for age in every boardroom. Age is much more depending on the challenges and goals ahead to choose the right candidate to lead your business. Restructuring, raising money or selling a company is nothing you can do perfectly without any experience.

Führen in der Krise bedarf Resilienz, wie kann diese gesteigert werden?

Sun, 11 Sep 2022 17:07:53 GMT

Photo by Anne Nygard Unsplash

Resilienz wird eine Kernkompetenz in der Krise

Die Wirtschaft steuert im Rahmen der Energiekrise, Inflation und des Ukrainekrieges auf eine Rezession zu. Die Krise mag erhebliche Auswirkungen auf Unternehmen und Menschen haben. Führen in der Krise war in den letzten 15 Jahren ein kaum geforderter Skill, da Geld vorhanden war, die Märkte wuchsen und die Rahmenbedingungen stabil waren. Sind die Führungskräfte von heute auf Krisenmanagement gut vorbereitet? Wie wird Resilienz aufgebaut?

Geschwindigkeit

Es verändern sich einige Parameter, wenn in der Krise Führung gefordert ist. Dies hängt natürlich an der Schwere der Krise in der sich das Unternehmen befindet. Sind die (Geld-) Mittel begrenzt und die P&L dreht in eine Verlust- und negative Cashflow-Situation, ist Geschwindigkeit von Führung ein entscheidender Faktor. Gleiches gilt z.B. bei Ransomware Angriffen.

Müssen fundamentale Entscheidungen in hoher Geschwindigkeit getroffen werden, verkürzen sich Abstimmungsprozesse und partizipative Führung mag nicht mehr möglich sein. Oberste Priorität haben schnelle Entscheidungen und eine unmittelbare Umsetzung, bevor eine Insolvenz zu einer neuen Situation oder zur Abwicklung des Unternehmens führt.

Weniger partizipative Führung bedarf einer anderen Kommunikation mit den Mitarbeitern und Führungsteams. Entscheidungen werden schneller gefällt und nicht jeder wird eingebunden, trotzdem ist eine unmittelbare Umsetzung wichtig. D.h. das ‚Buy in‘ des Teams muss über eine noch offenere und transparentere Kommunikation über die Situation erreicht werden. Neben der klaren Problembeschreibung sowie der Dringlichkeit, muss der Aktionsplan erläutert werden, sodass das Gefühl entsteht: Wir sind in einer schweren Krise, aber wir haben einen Plan und unterstützen das Top Management. Ein ‚Warten wir mal ab‘ ist keine Option.

Unsicherheit

Für das Management heißt dies, dass man sich über Bedenken hinwegsetzt und den einen Plan umsetzt. Die Zeit für Diskussionen ist begrenzt. Dies gilt auch für die Informationsbeschaffung als Grundlage für gute Entscheidungen. Früher konnte nochmal ein Team mit der Analyse der Situation beauftragt werden. Dies ist in einer schweren Krise meist nicht möglich, sodass auf der Basis der vorliegenden Information und Erfahrungen entschieden werden muss. Die Unsicherheit auf der die Entscheidungen fallen, wird in der Krise höher sein.

Flexibilität

Damit geht einher, dass Entscheidungen falsch sein können oder in der Krise sich dynamisch die Situation verändert und die Entscheidungen nicht mehr zur Lage passen. Führung in der Krise bedeutet dann eben auch: offen zu sagen, dass Fehler passieren können und zweitens die Situation regelmäßig überprüft werden muss , um eventuell Entscheidungen zu revidieren oder neu auszurichten.

Für Führungskräfte bedeutet dies, sich mit Entscheidungen gegen größere Widerstände durchzusetzen, Diskussionen zu beenden und in die schnelle Umsetzung zu gehen. Die Unsicherheit aufgrund unvollständiger Informationen schwerwiegende Entscheidungen zu treffen, muss geübt sein. Trotzdem der ‚Mannschaft‘ offen den Plan zu erklären und zur Umsetzung zu motivieren, obwohl vielleicht harte Entscheidungen auch Einfluss auf die Mitarbeiter haben werden. Führungskräfte haben in vielen Belangen in den letzten 15 Jahren genau gegensätzlich geführt. Partizipative Führung, Einbinden und Überzeugung möglichst vieler Stakeholder ging vor Geschwindigkeit und der Kompromiss lag vor der Stringenz. Rücksicht auf alle Gruppen im Unternehmen ist wichtig, aber in einer Krisensituation nicht immer möglich.

Druck

Der Druck auf Top-Führungskräfte nimmt erheblich zu, da die Widerstände größer werden und viele harte Entscheidungen zu erklären und rechtfertigen sind. Dies ist für positive partizipative Führung aus der Wachstumsphase ein Kulturschock. Einschnitte in den Leistungen anzukündigen, Mitarbeiter zu entlassen, Kündigungsgespräche zu führen oder Standorte zu schließen, wenn es für das Überleben des Unternehmens notwendig sein sollte, ist ungeübtes Terrain.

Dies kann schlaflose Nächte bereiten und neben den langen Arbeitstagen in der Krise den physischen und psychischen Druck weiter erhöhen. Ich habe gestandene Führungskräfte gesehen, die diesem Druck nicht standhalten können und in der Krise nicht die Führung ausüben können oder wollen, die in der Situation notwendig ist. Widerstandsfähigkeit oder Resilienz wird ein wichtiger Skill. Die Fähigkeit unter großem Druck zu funktionieren, ist essenziell.

Resilienz, Erfahrung und Vorbereitung

Resilienz kann verbessert werden. In der Krise wird der Druck niedriger, wenn die Führungskraft auf Krisensituationen vorbereitet ist.

Vorbereitung kann über Simulationen und Szenarien erzielt werden. Sich mit den möglichen Krisenszenarien vorher auseinanderzusetzen und (Notfall-)Pläne oder Szenarien zu entwickeln, hilft. In der Krisensituation kann dann Erarbeitetes schnell abgerufen und muss nicht neu entwickelt werden. Sind einige Entscheidungen bereits gut vorbereitet, reduziert dies den Druck. Auch bei der Abwesenheit des finalen Entscheidungsträgers helfen diese Notfallpläne, da klar definiert ist, was zu tun ist ohne auf Entscheidungen von Gremien oder C-Levels zu warten. Kann Vordefiniertes oder Geübtes abgerufen werden, erhöht die Geschwindigkeit und reduziert Druck.

Krisenkommunikation kann inhaltlich und als Fähigkeit vorbereitet werden, d.h. neben der Vorbereitung von Kommunikation zu verschiedenen Szenarien, können spezielle Medientrainings helfen, überzeugend und authentisch unter Druck in der Krise zu kommunizieren. Gute Kommunikation schafft Vertrauen und das hilft bei der Unterstützung der Umsetzung der Aktionspläne.

Weiterhin sind Erfahrungen wichtig. In der Krise auf gemachte Erfahrungen zurückzugreifen ist wertvoll, da auch hier schnell abgerufen werden kann, was zu tun ist. Erfahrungen können über Krisensimulationen, Trainings oder Coaching erworben werden, wenn man keine Chance hatte, selbst schon große Krisen zu managen. Ein guter Coach oder Mentor, der aus überstandenen Krisensituationen Erfahrungen teilen kann, kann Führungskräfte in der Vorbereitung und der Krise unterstützen.

Letztlich ist auch Diversität im Team ein guter Weg, sich die Erfahrung im Krisenmanagement zu holen. Erfahrende Führungskräfte zu haben, die bereits existenzielle Krisen erfolgreich gemanagt haben, sind ein echtes Asset in dieser Situation.

Führen in der schweren Krise ist anders als Führung in wachsenden Märkten; der Einsatz und die Auswirkung auf das Unternehmen und seine Mitarbeiter können erheblich sein.

Führungskräfte müssen sich im Angesicht der aktuellen geopolitischen Entwicklungen vorbereiten, damit sie sich persönlich und auch das Unternehmen darauf vorbereiten . Der Druck intern und extern steigt dramatisch in einer Krise und Fähigkeiten, wie Empathie, Kommunikation, Analytik, Entscheidungsfähigkeit und final die Resilienz sind elementar für das Überstehen der Krise als Unternehmen und die persönliche Fähigkeit zu führen.

Empfehlung: Workshop: Führen in der Krise im 4. Quartal 2022

eMobilität - Langstreckentest über 1800 km

Fri, 02 Sep 2022 17:34:06 GMT

Photo by averie woodard on Unsplash

Langstreckentest über zweimal 900 km - gemischte Ergebnisse

eMobilität auf der Kurzstrecke oder im Stadtverkehr ist unkompliziert. eMobilität ist günstiger und komfortabel. Geladen wird nachts an der Wallbox. Auf der Langstrecke entscheidet sich, ob eMobilität durchsetzungsfähig ist. Zu viele und lange Ladestops führen zu geringer Akzeptanz.

Mit dem Testfahrzeug - einem Audi etron GT - sind wir in der Klasse der schnellstladenden Fahrzeuge am Markt unterwegs. Ein 800 V System mit echten 22 Minuten von 10 auf 80% Ladezustand sind erreichbar. Aber wie ist der Realitätscheck ausgefallen?

Teilstrecke 1 : Essen - München bei sommerlichen Temperaturen: 623 km, 7:13h, Verbrauch 27,2 kWh pro 100 km

Die Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit mit Laden lad bei 86,5 km pro Stunde. Angesichts der Verkehrslage ein guter Wert. Erster vom Navi empfohlener Ladestop nach 190 km in Bad Camberg West an der A3 , die Säule liefert bei Ionity nur 150 kW statt der möglichen 300 kW. 37 kWh werden in 17 Minuten geladen auf 71% . An der Belegung der Säulen lag es nicht, da ein Promotion Team von Hyundai zwei von vier Säulen komplett für Fotoaufnahmen ohne zu Laden für einem Fussballclub blockierte.

Nächster Stop wird in Dettelbach empfohlen nach 153 km bei Aral mit 258 kW bei 10%. Bei 60% Ladezustand liegen immer noch 178 kW an. Nach 19 Minuten sind erstaunliche 80% (+60kWh) Ladezustand bei immer noch 86 kW erreicht - absoluter Spitzenwert.

Nach weiteren 158 km wird der nächste Stop empfohlen. Die Ladesäule in Kinding ( Fastend ) liefert bei 27% 240 kW. Nach 18 Minuten sind 40 kWh geladen und der Ladestand liegt bei 71%.

Wir erreichen die Münchener City mit 125 km Restreichweite oder rund 40% Ladezustand. Die 7:13h Reisezeit teilt sich in drei Stops mit 0:54h Ladezeit und 6:19h Fahrtzeit auf.

Teilstrecke 2: München - Ahrntal, 285 km, 5:01h, Verbrauch 21,3 kWh pro 100 km, zähfliessender Verkehr und Stau in und um München rund um die European Championships drücken den Verbrauch und die Stimmung.

Erster Ladestop bei Brunnthal an der A8 nach 35 km bei 32%, da das Hotel und Parkhaus in der Münchener Innenstadt keinen Ladepunkt hatte. Ladung: 22 Minuten für 44kWh auf 63%.

Nächster Stop am Brenner in einem Outlet Store, Ladesäulen im Parkhaus von Ionity, die leider nur 148kW leisten. 13 Minuten Ladezeit bringen 23,5 kWh.

Ankunft im Ahrntal, geladen wird im Hotel mit 11 kWh, Durchschnittsverbrauch 21,3 kWh pro 100 km bei 57 km/h. 5:01h Fahrt, davon 35 Minuten Ladezeit. Die niedrige Geschwindigkeit lässt den Verbrauch auf Herstellerangabe sinken. Es zeigt sich, dass das eAuto mit den guten Beschleunigungswerten ein exzellentes Fahrzeug für Alpenstrassen ist.

Das erste Fazit lautet nach rund 910 gefahrenen Kilometern, 12:15h Gesamtfahrtzeit, davon 1:30h Laden: Der Verbrauch lag bei 25,3 kWh pro 100 km. Geladen wird in der Realität alle 150km im Schnitt 18 Minuten. Es gab immer eine freie Ladesäule und keine Wartezeiten. Die Ladeleistungen der Ladesäulen erreichen meistens nicht das angeben Niveau. Im Durchschnitt werden 63% der maximalen Ladeleistungen erreicht, dies verlängert die Ladedauer. Die Kosten lagen bei 0,501 € pro kWh.

Teilstrecke 3 : Die Rückfahrt im Kurzformat, 935 km in 12:01h mit einem Durchschnittsverbrauch von 24,2 kWh pro 100 km. Das Navi führte uns an einem verkehrsreichen Ferientag über den Fernpass, dies ergab 78 km/h im Schnitt.

Ladestopps: voll gestartet

Dietmannsried, 43,7 kWh in 21 Minuten nach erstaunlichen 317 km,

Steinsfeld: 43,9 kWh in 19 Minuten mit 234 kWh,

Goldbach: 47,8 kWh in 21 Minuten mit 196 kWh,

Montbaur: 48,5 kWh in 23 Minuten mit 196 kWh geladen.

Ankunft in Essen mit 24%.

Gesamtsicht:

1865 km, Ladung alle 169 km im Schnitt, Verbrauch im Langstreckenmix bei 24,7 kWh pro 100 km bei gut 80 km/h Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit. Die durchschnittliche Ladezeit lag bei 19 Minuten pro Stop; 24:16h Fahrtzeit davon 2:54h Ladezeiten also gut 12,5% der Gesamtzeit.

Es gab eine gute Verfügbarkeit an Ladesäulen über die gesamte Strecke und keine Wartezeiten. Lediglich auf der neuen Autobahn 3 um Würzburg muss man gut planen, da HPC Säulen rar sind. Die kWh kostete im August 2022 an den HPC Säulen 0,501 € (Mix aus ADAC und Audi Ladekarte). In Italien am Brenner lag der günstigste Ionity Preis bei 0,31 € pro kWh. Der Durchschnitt über die fallende Ladekurve liegt bei rund 2,2 kWh Ladung pro Minute.

Als Gesamtfazit kann festgehalten werden, dass Langstreckenfahrten mit dem 800V Audi kein Problem sind. Aufladen nach 1,5h Fahrt kann auf Dauer als zu oft und störend empfunden werden. Mit dem Benziner wäre es sicher bei 5-6 Tankstops statt gut 10 Ladestops geblieben, die deutlich schneller ablaufen und die Gesamtzeit könnte sich um 1,5-2 h reduzieren. Die reinen Ladekosten lagen bei rund 0,124 € pro km (47% des Benziners). Beim Benziner in einem vergleichbaren Fahrzeug lägen die Kosten bei rund 0,264 € pro km.

Nicht jedes eFahrzeug lädt in 22 Minuten auf 80%, daher können sich die Werte je nach Fahrzeug deutlich verschieben und die Gesamtzeit erhöhen, wenn die Ladegeschwindigkeit des Fahrzeuges schlechter liegt.

eMobilität - Reichweite reicht nicht für den Erfolg

Sun, 14 Aug 2022 19:49:02 GMT

Photo by Ronny Rondon on Unsplash

Die Reichweite ist nicht alles, damit eMobilität funktioniert

eMobilität muss Sinn und Spaß machen, damit es ein Erfolg wird. eMobilität ist günstiger in den variablen Kosten. Aber macht eMobilität auch Spaß? Die Beschleunigungswerte sprechen dafür. Die Ladezeiten können ein Problem sein.

Zum Thema: Wer eMobilität auf der Kurzstrecke einsetzt, nachts an der Wallbox lädt, hat kein wirkliches Problem. eMobilität im Stadtverkehr funktioniert gut, wenn eine Lademöglichkeit vorhanden ist. 11 kW sollten es sein, die Haushaltssteckdose reicht wegen der langen Ladezeiten nicht aus.

Aber eMobilität sollte auch auf der Langstrecke funktionieren, damit sie erfolgreich ist. Alle diskutieren über die Reichweite, dies greift viel zu kurz. Zum einen hängt die Reichweite von vielen Faktoren ab: der Jahreszeit, Aussentemperatur , Geschwindigkeit etc., d.h. die Fahrzeuge werden im Tagesbetrieb öfter Ihre Normreichweite nicht erreichen. Siehe auch den Test bei 130 km/h im Vergleich zum Eco Test .

Die Reichweiten auf der Autobahn bei 130 km/h schwanken zwischen 300 und 400 km und im Winter gerne 30% weniger, d.h. die Langstrecke ab 250-300 km bedarf dem Nachladen und hier kommt es gar nicht mehr auf eine theoretische Reichweite an, sondern alles entscheidet sich an der Ladezeit.

Wie lange dauert es, dass wieder 250-300 km gefahren werden können?

Dafür benötigt es zwei Dinge : das eAuto , welches schnell laden kann, um diese Reichweite zu erreichen (gemessen in Ladezeit von 10% auf 80% der Batteriekapazität) und der Ladesäule , die die Ladeleistung des eAuto bedienen kann. Ladezeiten von 40-50 Minuten von 10-80% sind nicht ausreichend, da sie die Fahrzeit für 600 km deutlich verlängern. Hingegen ist eine Ladezeit von 20 Minuten von 10-80% eine wirkliche Hilfe für die Akzeptanz auf der Langstrecke. Entlang der Ladekurve des eAutos entscheidet sich nun, was an Ladeleistung benötigt wird, damit 20 Minuten erreichbar werden. Im Falle eines Porsche Tycan oder Audi etron GT wären dies 270 kW. Aus eigener Erfahrung lag die beste Säule bisher bei 259 kW. Dies trifft aber nicht immer zu und es passiert schnell, dass eine HPC Säule nur maximal 150 kW liefert. Das führt trotz der Fähigkeit schnell zu laden zu langen Ladezeiten.

Eine gute Akzeptanz erfordert mögliche Ladezeiten bis 80% von maximal 20 Minuten und zukünftig weniger. Eine gute Übersicht findet sich bei der Autozeitung . Sollten Sie sich also für ein eAuto für die Langstrecke entscheiden, dann sind gute Reichweiten nicht genug. Die Ladezeiten entscheiden , ob der Spaß an der eMobilität da ist oder zu viel Zeit an der Ladesäule verbracht wird.

Öfter Laden ist besser: Weiterhin lädt der eFahrer nicht auf 80% auf, sondern nutzt den Verlauf der Ladekurve, der deutlich schneller bis 60% lädt als darüber. Praktisch gesprochen : der eFahrer erhält mehr Reichweite, wenn zweimal 10 Minuten geladen werden als einmal 20 Minuten. Gute Navigationssysteme sind in der Lage die Ladestopps zu optimieren; eine gute Ladeapp tut dies auch.

Ein Fazit - 12 Monate Erfahrungsbericht eMobilität

Fri, 05 Aug 2022 18:18:02 GMT

Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

eMobilität funktioniert mit kleinen Einschränkungen

Vor ziemlich genau 12 Monaten habe ich einen Audi etron GT gekauft - spontan, aus dem Urlaub, da ein Fahrzeug verfügbar wurde und mein Kfz auslief. Vier Wochen später waren kaum noch Fahrzeuge lieferbar. Das Auto macht Spaß, erzeugt positive Emotionen und spart Geld gegenüber einem vergleichbaren Benziner. Gut 20.000 km sind auf dem Tacho, dies lag auch an der Pandemie. Zeit für ein erstes Fazit.

Zuerst sollten einige Unterschiede zwischen dem konventionellen Autofahren mit einem Verbrenner und dem Elektro-Fahrzeug erwähnt werden:

Das eAuto lädt öfter, aber kürzer, dies ist für Langstreckenfahrer relevant. Ein Elektrofahrzeug fährt normalerweise nicht bis zur Reserve und tankt dann voll, sondern die Regel ist, dass man entlang der Ladekurve bis maximal 70-80% lädt. Die typische Ladekurve lädt bis 50% auf dem höchsten Niveau, bei 60% Ladezustand sind es noch 80% Ladeleistung und bei 80% werden noch 30-40% der maximalen Ladeleistung geladen. D.h. mit zunehmender Ladung nimmt die Ladegeschwindigkeit deutlich ab. Man lädt also besser öfter, kürzer und damit schneller die benötigte Reichweite während einer längeren Fahrt. Mit eigener Wallbox im Stadtverkehr taucht das Problem nicht auf, da über Nacht in 8 Stunden bei 11 kW/h die gängigen Modelle vollgeladen werden und die Ladethematik nicht zum Problem wird. Die Reichweitendiskussion macht sicher Sinn, aber die entscheidende Frage ist, wie oft muss das eMobil geladen werden und wie schnell lädt es tatsächlich. Die Ladegeschwindigkeit in Kombination mit einer realistischen Reichweite ist auf der Langstrecke entscheidend.

Der Audi etron GT hat mit seinem 800V System hier natürlich einen echten Geschwindigkeitsvorteil und lädt in guten 22 Minuten von 10 auf 80%. Als eFahrzeug-Fahrer lädt man also auf der Autobahnfahrt jenseits der Maximalreichweite gerne öfter und dann auch nur 10-15 Minuten, beim Audi etron berechnet dies das Navigationssystem voraus und die übliche Strecke liegt bei ca. 210-250 km zwischen dem Laden.

Auf der Langstrecke können schlechte Ladeleistungen schnell zur Nervenprobe werden, da 40 Minuten nachladen und dies womöglich mehrfach, die Fahrtdauer deutlich verlängern.

Die Beschleunigung eines eFahrzeuges ist beeindruckend. eMobilität macht Spaß, die Fahrwerte der meisten Fahrzeuge lassen den ein oder anderen Sportwagenfahrer erblassen. Auf der anderen Seite ist die Ruhe beim Fahren auch entspannend. Die Geräuschkulisse ist deutlich reduziert und erholsam. Andere mögen sagen, der Sound fehlt - eine Frage der Perspektive. Trotz mehr Stops zum Laden im Vergleich zum Tanken lassen sich 600 km auch im normalen Verkehr mit über 100 km/h Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit fahren, viel mehr schafft man mit dem Verbrenner auf der Strecke tagsüber in Deutschland kaum.

eMobilität ist günstiger. Nach 12 Monaten liegt der Durchschnittsverbrauch des Audi bei 29,9 kWh pro 100 km. Dies lag an einem hohen Anteil an Autobahnfahrten. Die Ladekosten lagen in der Kombination Wallbox und Ladesäulen bei 0,112 € pro km. Der vergleichbare Benziner hat 0,246 € pro km im Jahr davor verbraucht und dort lagen die Benzinpreise deutlich niedriger. Die Wartungskosten sind auf den ersten Eindruck niedrig und die Kfz-Steuer entfällt. Zusätzlich verkauft der eFahrzeug-Besitzer seine CO2-Zertifikate, dies macht im Falle des etron eine Einnahme von 328€ in 2022. Die Versicherung liegt im vergleichbaren Bereich.

Im Winter steigt der Verbrauch des Stromers deutlich an, aber die WLPT Werte sind im Sommer bei entspannter Fahrt gut zu erreichen. Auf der niederländischen Autobahn bei 100 km/h werden sie sogar unterschritten. Die Rekuperation funktioniert gut.

Im Großen und Ganzen sind die deutschen Autobahnen gut mit Schnellladesäulen (HPC) ausgestattet und das Laden ist wirklich kein Problem. Es gab nur einmal eine Wartezeit und dreimal einen Umweg zur nächsten Säule in 12 Monaten. Um Würzburg gibt es eine Durststrecke an HPC Säulen und in den einigen Innenstädten ist das Netz zur Schnellladung dünn. Zum Geschäftstermin von Essen nach Frankfurt und dann während des Meetings laden, um ohne weitere Ladung zurückzufahren, funktioniert nicht, da Frankfurt wenige und keine wirklichen HPC Säulen in der Stadt bietet - Schulnote 5.

Der Audi etron GT gilt als echter Designwurf, so passiert es durchaus, dass er Fussgängern mit Daumen hoch ein Lächeln ins Gesicht zaubert - dies erzeugt positive Emotion. Aber Audi als Hersteller hat keine Software DNA und diese ist nach wie vor extrem anfällig, wöchentliche Fehlermeldungen sind nicht ungewöhnlich. Der Support ist hier überfordert und hilflos.

Das Fazit lautet eMobilität macht Spaß und erzeugt positive Emotion, das Laden auf der Langstrecke kann technisch noch verbessert werden, aber die Einschränkungen sind verkraftbar. eMobilität spart Geld und gibt das Gefühl, das Richtige zu tun. Ich würde das eAuto jederzeit wieder kaufen und fahre ohne wirkliche Einschränkungen gegenüber dem Benziner.

Gehen uns die Führungskräfte aus?

Sun, 05 Jun 2022 10:11:47 GMT

Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash

Wo ist der Führungskräftenachwuchs?

Investieren in den Job und dann kommt die Entlohnung mit der Zeit? Viele junge Leute wollen genau das nicht mehr, siehe hierzu den Artikel im Spiegel von Janne Knödler und Timm Seckel. Unendliche Überstunden, die irgendwann in eine Gehaltserhöhung münden, dann kommt die Beförderung, die noch mehr an Arbeitsleistung verlangt. Dies ist das Bild , welches viele junge Leute, aber auch einige Unternehmen mit der Führungslaufbahn verbinden.

In der Tat, zu meiner Zeit, als ich zwischen Fach- und Führungslaufbahn entscheiden musste, wurde die Karriere und der Erfolg so definiert: Du hängst dich richtig rein, bist immer verfügbar und gehst die Extrameile. Die Arbeitswochen können gerne oberhalb der 60 Stunden liegen, im Urlaub ist eine Telko kein Problem und dann kamen die Ergebnisse der Führungslaufbahn - die höhere Gehaltsklasse, der Handlungsbevollmächtigte, der Direktor, das eigene und größere Büro, das Sekretariat und natürlich der Firmenwagen in der richtigen Klasse.

Kleiner Exkurs: Eigentlich gehören die deutschen Firmenwagenpolicies abgeschafft: Erstens macht man es niemandem recht; sie sind Zeichen des Statusdenkens und zweitens gibt es heute so viele Mobilitätskonzepte, die jeder Mitarbeiter für sich und seine Lebenssituation entscheiden können sollte; ein Budget würde völlig ausreichen.

Vieles davon war nett, aber war dies wirklich die Motivation um Führungskraft zu werden?

Gestern wie heute müssen m. E. ein paar Rahmenbedingungen stimmen, dazu gehört die Bezahlung, eine gute Arbeitsumgebung die motiviert, die Inhalte der Aufgabe; die Basics halt. Die Basics mögen heute anders definiert sein als damals, da hoffentlich keiner mehr nach den Fensterachsen seines Büros schauen würde und welche Klasse der Dienstwagen hat. Aber all dies sind nicht die Faktoren die Führung attraktiv machen. Es sollte auch nicht die Macht sein, die man in einer Führungsposition ausüben kann. Es geht vielmehr um die Möglichkeit zu gestalten und Wert zu erzeugen. Eine Führungsposition sollte die Möglichkeit bieten, die Dinge in die Hand zu nehmen, die man sich vorher anders gewünscht hat - Gestaltung eben. Ein tolles Team aufzubauen und Dinge erfolgreich gemeinsam entwickeln. Wenn die Inhalte und die Kultur stimmen, entfaltet dies eine großartige Motivation.

Natürlich steigt mit größerer Verantwortung auch die zunehmende Möglichkeit der Gestaltung der Inhalte. Diese Möglichkeit kommt nicht ohne Preis. Verantwortung für ein Unternehmen zu übernehmen, erhöht auch die Risiken und man muss diese Verantwortung tragen wollen. Es kann zu interner oder öffentlicher Kritik kommen und auch eben diese Exponierung gehört dazu. Die Erklärung der eigenen Handlungen - die Kommunikation - bekommt ein stärkeres Gewicht.

Wenn junge Leute heute also nicht der alten Muster wegen in die Führungslaufbahn gehen wollen, dann ist dies verständlich, da die Work-Life-Balance in den alten Modellen nicht ausgewogen war und die Belohnungssysteme heute nicht mehr zeitgemäss sind.

Ich glaube aber, dass junge Talente sehr wohl über die Inhalte und den Gestaltungswillen für Führungsaufgaben zu begeistern sind. Hier muss nicht auf die Quantität der Führungsarbeit, sondern auf die Qualität abgestellt werden. Ein aktives Coaching hilft, dass sich eine junge Führungskraft nicht alles mit viel Schweiß, Tränen und vor allem Zeit selbst erarbeiten muss, und somit das Thema des New Way of Working sowie ein moderner Kulturansatz Einzug halten können. Trotzdem sollte die junge Führungskraft lernen, dass Verantwortung schwer wiegen kann und der Mensch in höheren Positionen sich exponiert; dies mag nicht jedem zusagen, es gehört aber dazu. Kommunikation vor dem Team, für das Team und anderen Stakeholdern ist nicht abwählbar. Resilienz gehört zur Verantwortung dazu.

Wenn Unternehmen die richtigen Wege gehen, die Führungskräfte von morgen zu entwickeln, dann werden sich auch hier Talente finden, die in modernen Unternehmenskulturen Verantwortung übernehmen möchten, welche sich an Inhalten und Gestaltungswillen orientieren.

Experience matters

Wed, 18 May 2022 21:04:11 GMT

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Experience matters

I was promoted at IBM to become a sales manager when I was 29 years old, 3 years with the company right after university, had 10 sales reps reporting to me and got a quota of 110 M$. That was really early and my management took a risk. Experience was definatly nothing I could bring to the table. I had other strengths and it worked out well but I need to admit I had a great coach with my manager who actually took that risk. He was obviously older, far more experienced and had always an open door to seek advice, so I got access to experience to succeed.

You can say it is a point of view older managers typically take. I am now 30 years in business and what else than experience is a contribution I can bring to the table because of age. Young people have more a modern view, other perspectives and values. They are the future customers. I think that is the false perception and not black & white.

Age does not always bring great experience to the team. I have seen managers been 50 years plus but stopped learning . Their believe on e.g. lead generation has not changed, it was about sales people finding customers by cold calls or in their network and trade shows but completely ignored that digital content marketing is one of the largest lead generation channels in modern B2B business in particular in COVID times; very targeted and highly efficient if you have the right experts and approach. Or you work in the software industry and meet people who have not really understood what SCRUM can bring to your software development projects in terms of productivity, time to market, user feedback, user acceptance and successful completion rate of software projects.

Experience is partly defined by age but it is much more influenced by the exposure a leader had throughout their career and the learning path the person took in the past years. If you find people with exposure to interesting business challenges and a strong learning skill, you may get the most experienced leaders that can support your business.

Why is experience important?

Managing a business with little experience makes every decision point a new challenge which needs to be evaluated. That actually takes more time compared to a leader with experience who can take a good proportion of decisions based on experience and needs to evaluate only really new situations and key decisions more deeply. Have a look Thinking fast vs. Thinking slow by Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman. Sharing the experience with the team brings even better joined decisions as they are based on more data points. I have seen people taking e.g. CFO roles with no operational experience and that blocked the organization as no decisions have been taken at the pace to run that business due to uncertainty .

Especially in crisis situations where fast decisions may be needed e.g. at cyber attacks, shit storms, strikes or other external threats - experience matters. If you have been exposed to situations before or you are trained on certain critical situations you can take well prepared and educated decisions faster and achieve better results. The amount of stress in crisis is reduced and your resilience increases that leads to better decisions and finally to better business results.

To be clear, experience is not the only skill which is needed to be a good leader, there are many other skills a talented leader need to have to be successful. Even if you are most talented and smart person, but you miss the experience, you may not be as successful or even fail. On the other hand experience and learning comes with exposure to challenges over time and it is a key development step that you try, fail, learn and redo. It is a trade off and how much risk your company stakeholder want to take..

How do we get the best leaders in place?

The option is not to hire seasoned executives only but rather use experienced successful leaders to coach your smart and future talents to ease their path to become experienced leaders for the benefit of your company. As usual diversity brings the best results. Young people provide e.g. new views, other values and technology adoption to the team. The combination of experience through coaching with your future talents will unleash the potential of your organization and through the combination you can take more brave moves to promote young people early on if they deserve it.

The Definition of Done - seperate Ambition from Success

Sat, 14 May 2022 14:17:00 GMT

Photo by Eden Constantino on Unsplash

The definition of done - seperate Ambition from Success

The definition of done or where the rubber hits the road makes a major difference to succeed. Get things done is more difficult than it sounds. German Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz announced on April 26th 2022 to deliver (heavy weapons (e.g. Gepard tanks) to Ukraine two months after the war started. On May 13th 2022 the CEO of Rheinmetall (weapon manufacturer) stated that they received not a single government approval to deliver heavy weapons to Ukraine and the Magazine Focus stated the Gepard now need to be order by the Ukraine Government at KraussMaffei. Obviously the commitment from the German Bundeskanzler has not hit the road and the task is not done. An announcement stays at ambition level at best but it is not succeeding as long as it is not done. Same applies in the corporate world.

The definition of Done (DoD) is used in agile project management and it gets very transparent in software development. The DoD has acceptance criteria's by its customer that means a task is done when it is completed, passed the acceptance criteria and is ready to get into production to create value . That is when the rubber hits the road. A piece of software (release) either passed its tests and is ready for deployment or go live but it can hardly be half ready to function.

On the German tanks: The acceptance criteria may be defined that tanks arrived in Ukraine, with ammunition and ready to get deployed that they can create value for Ukraine. That is not done and may be there is too little focus on get it done.

Same happens in corporate live: project decisions are taken by executives and they assume in many cases that they have done their tasks. That is a faulty assumption . When a CEO approves a business case, they should follow up if the rubber hits the road or in corporate terms - does the project start to create value for the company .

In many companies good business cases are approved and teams start engaging - money will be spent. But how many projects do fail ( actually 70%) , that is quite a significant number and most of the investment is lost. There are a couple of reasons: lack of empowerment to the team supposed to execute a project, lack of sufficient resources to succeed with project, clear goals and criteria , company politics (not invented here or we have other priorities than supporting this project).

Let's say you want to launch a new product which requires a marketing team , a specialized and trained sales team to go to market. The project owner starts to execute on the plan but the HR department is responsible for hiring new staff and a year later, they have delivered only 70% of what the plan expected in 3-6 months. HR states great progress as it is almost done. The product portfolio team have created a good overview on the product but missed out to create a value proposition, target group, sales collateral and sales training . The project owner faces lack of execution as many task are almost ready but not done. The value creation would start if marketing runs campaigns to attract potential customers, sales is picking up the leads and develops the opportunities to create a pipeline and finally order entry.

Reality is that the team is incomplete, the r equired prerequisites aren't there and results are pipeline is not build and orders are not booked. So the CEO calls this project a no starter. That is completely wrong as competition swiftly executed and brought a similar project to market with great success.

What is problem? The ambition was right but many tasks have not been executed and completed in time which makes the project fail. Everyone supporting such projects need to understand the definition of done. It requires swift execution and deliverables which passed the acceptance criteria's.

Obviously the project owner was dependent on other teams to contribute hence the issue is either the empowerment and the lack of resources.

How can this been avoided? If the project owner would have had a stronger empowerment and the CEO made this project a company priority that would have helped but a regular communication channel to the CEO or the Executive Management to highlight roadblocks and get them removed would be the best support the Board can provide. Important is that the C-Level is not interfering on the plans from all angles but empower the project owner to get things done and start creating value for your company.

Same is true for strategy execution : If you define a strategy, most companies suffer from taking a good strategy to execution. The strategy gets down to strategic goals, OKRs and initiatives. If you follow the advice above and you follow up till value creation starts on every initiative and task, you get your strategy to execution, but it requires commitment from the C-Level.

A second good advice is stop starting, start finishing. Do not start too many projects as long as you haven't finish the first ones and value creation has started. It makes the prioritization of your projects even more important and you spend more time on the selection process where to put your investment money.

Anreize sind besser als Verbote - der Klimawandel und das Tempolimit

Mon, 25 Apr 2022 15:01:27 GMT

Photo by Andrés Alagón on Unsplas h

Klimawandel funktioniert besser mit Anreizen

Das Fahrzeuge mehr Energie benötigen, wenn sie schnell fahren, steht ausser Frage. Es werden die Unfallstatistiken ins Feld geführt oder der aktuelle Krieg in der Ukraine, um ein Tempolimit einzuführen. Beides erreicht die relevanten Zielgruppen kaum, um eine wirkliche Veränderung in Richtung Klimawandel zu erzeugen. Verbote und Beschränkungen werden in Deutschland kaum zum notwendigen Wandel führen. Anreize sind hier zielführender und überzeugender.

Die Klientel der Verkehrsteilnehmer, die über 130 km/h pro Stunde fahren, sind in der Regel mit Fahrzeugen ausgestattet, die diese Fahrleistung nachhaltig abrufen können. Dies sind meistens Fahrzeuge der Mittel- oder Oberklasse. Sie fahren entweder aus Freude am Fahren schnell oder müssen regelmässig z. B. beruflich längere Strecken fahren. Sie wollen Ihre Geschwindigkeit Ihrer aktuellen Situation oder Ihrem Bedarf anpassen. Hier werden die vorgebrachten Argumente, um eine generelle Geschwindigkeitsbeschränkung einzuführen, nicht Überzeugen.

Die Unfallstatistik zeigt, dass nur 7% der Unfälle mit Personenschäden und 12% der Unfälle mit Todesfolge auf deutschen Autobahnen passieren, hingegen 58% der Unfalltoten auf deutschen Landstrassen zu beklagen sind, auf denen in den meisten Fällen ein Tempolimit gilt. Um kein Missverständnis aufkommen zu lassen, jeder Unfall mit Personenschaden ist einer zu viel, aber das Argument Unfallstatistik ist nicht wirklich überzeugend.

Energieverbrauch durch Geschwindigkeit : Der Luftwiderstand verdoppelt sich bei einer Geschwindigkeitsveränderung von 120 km/h auf 170 km/h, die notwendige Antriebsleistung für den Luftwiderstand steigt um mehr als das 2,5-fache. Dies gilt bei eMobilität wie beim Verbrenner.

Es stellt sich die Frage, ist es zielführender möglichst, viele Kraftfahrzeuge auf eMobilität umstellen oder Ihren Energiebedarf durch ein Tempolimit zu begrenzen.

Der Energieverbrauch eines Elektrofahrzeuges liegt z.B. bei 18 kWh pro 100 km, dies ist nichts ungewöhnliches und entspricht 2,1 Liter Benzin auf 100 km oder 1,8 Liter Diesel. Ein VW e-Golf ist mit 15,3 kWh pro 100 km angegeben und ein fast vergleichbarer Golf 1.5 TSI mit rund 96-100 kW Leistung liegt bei 4,8 Litern Benzin pro 100 km. Damit verbraucht der Benziner fast 2,7-mal soviel wie der Stromer, wenn man den Energiebedarf umrechnet.

CO2 Emission: Der Liter Benzin erzeugt 2,37 kg CO2 und eine kWh Strom wird in Deutschland im Jahr 2022 mit 311 Gramm CO2 Emission eingeschätzt. In der Gesamtbetrachtung würde der VW e-Golf also pro 100 km im Normverbrauch 41,8 % der CO2 Emission eines VW Golf 1.5 TSI ausstossen. Nun ist davon auszugehen, dass der CO2 Ausstoss der Stromerzeugung in Deutschland weiter zurückgehen wird, wenn der Anteil der erneuerbaren Energien steigt, während der CO2 Ausstoss bei Benzin oder Diesel eher konstant bleiben wird.

Da bei höheren Geschwindigkeiten der Energiebedarf zwischen Stromer und Verbrenner ähnlich steigen wird, schreibt sich der Vorteil bei unterschiedlichen Geschwindigkeiten fort.

Der deutsche Verkehrssektor verursacht 165 Mio. Tonnen CO2 von den Gesamtemissionen von 810 Mio t. Das Tempolimit soll Einsparungen von 1,9 Mio. Tonnen CO2 (130 km/h) ergeben. 62% der Emissionen des Verkehrssektors entfallen auf den PKW Bereich , d. h., wenn 10% der PKW auf eMobilität wechseln, werden geschätzt rund 5,94 Mio. Tonnen CO2 ohne eine Veränderung des Tempolimits eingespart.

Die These: Der Ausbau der eMobilität um 10% bringt Faktor 3 eines Tempolimits an CO2 Einsparungen bei heutiger Stromproduktion. Sollte die erneuerbare Stromerzeugung Ihren Anteil ausbauen, so verbessert sich die Bilanz weiter.

Um eine höhere Dynamik ins das Thema eMobilität zu bringen, sollten die vermeintlichen Nachteile reduziert und eine positive Einstellung erzeugt werden. Dies gelingt nicht nur über die Themen Klima, Tempolimit und wir müssen sparen, sondern auch über Spaß , den Elektromobilität mit Ihrer Leistung erzeugen kann. Gerade wenn die Mittel- und Oberklassefahrer umsteigen sollen, dann ist zur positiven Einstellung zur eMobilität ein Tempolimit hinderlich. Stattdessen sollte man den Umstieg ohne Einschränkungen in den Vordergrund stellen.

Wie ist dies zu erreichen?

eMobilität macht Spaß. Die Fahrdynamik eines e-Autos ist deutlich höher als die eines vergleichbaren Verbrenners. Die Beschleunigung und das ruhige (leise) Fahren sind beeindruckend. Das gute Gewissen fährt jederzeit mit. Eine aktive Positionierung von eMobilität bei Mittel- und Oberklasse-Fahrzeughaltern mit den Faktoren Fahrspaß, entspanntes Fahren, gutes Gewissen und ohne Einbussen, würde die Migration zur eMobilität beschleunigen.

Was ist noch zu lösen?

Reichweiten müssen deutlich steigen, d. h. Fördergelder in die Forschung geben, um die Speicherleistungen und effiziente Motortechnologie zu verbessern.
Gleichzeitig die Ladezeiten reduzieren , 15 Minuten auf 80% wäre ein Meilenstein in Kombination mit hoher Reichweite.
Anzahl Ladepunkte mit hoher Ladeleistung erhöhen.

Die Kombination der drei Punkte verringert die Ladestops und Ladezeiten, sodass die Unterschiede in der täglichen Nutzung zur Verbrennertechnologie so gering werden, dass eMobilität ähnlich komfortabel wird.

eMobilität wird attraktiv und komfortabel. Dies gelingt mit Anreizen und Verbesserungen und spart am Ende deutlich mehr CO2 als ein Verbot oder eine Einschränkung. Ganz nebenbei mag der Eindruck richtig sein, dass eFahrer Ihre Batterien schonen und langsamer fahren, ganz freiwillig und Ihrer aktuellen Situation angepasst; sie können selbst entscheiden.

Ganz am Rande ist eMobilität günstiger : 4,8 Liter Benzin pro 100 km kosten rund 9,6€ während 15,3 kWh Strom rund 5€ entsprechen (Stand April 2022). Die steuerlichen Anreize sind gesetzt und die Wartungskosten sind niedriger. Die Restwertfrage (Gebrauchtwagenmarkt) der Elektrofahrzeuge sollte von der Industrie ebenfalls beantwortet werden, z.B. durch Reparaturpakete für Batterien oder längere Batteriegarantien.

Es wäre also möglich, einen vergleichbaren Komfort und Fahrspaß für die Hälfte der Kosten zu erhalten und dabei den CO2 Ausstoss um das 3-fache zu senken. Es lohnt sich, dies zu diskutieren.

Führen in Krisenzeiten - können wir das noch?

Wed, 23 Mar 2022 15:38:42 GMT

Photo by USGS on Unsplash Neuer Text

Sind wir auf das Führen in Krisenzeiten vorbereitet?

Veröffentlicht auf Unternehmer.de

Früher (meine Kinder lieben diese Einleitung), gab es regelmässig Probealarm, um unsere Katastrophenalarm-Systeme zu überprüfen und wir wussten, was die Alarmsignale bedeuten. Man kannte die nächsten Katastrophenschutzräume und die notwendigen Schritte waren klar. Diese Vorsorge und das Wissen ist uns weitestgehend abhanden gekommen. Es gibt Generationen, die glücklicherweise dieses Wissen nicht benötigt haben.

Gilt gleiches nicht auch für unser Management? In der Arbeit und dem Mentoring von Nachwuchsführungskräften fällt auf, dass viele Menschen mit 10 Jahren oder mehr Berufserfahrung gar keine Wirtschaftskrise kennengelernt haben. Es ging immer nur aufwärts , die Inflation war niedrig, Jobangebote immer verfügbar und Wachstum war gegeben.

Wie bereiten wir unsere Führungskräfte wieder darauf vor, in Krisenzeiten zu führen ?

Die Wirtschaftskrisen waren gerade in der IT- und Technologiebranche selten und deshalb sind die jüngeren Führungskräfte nicht mit Szenarien konfrontiert worden, die andere Maßnahmen und Handeln erfordern.

Wer 2001 in der New Economy unterwegs war, weiß, dass nach den Anschlägen auf das World Trade Center nicht nur die Börsen rasch eingebrochen sind, sondern, dass binnen weniger Wochen die extrem hohe Nachfrage nach Webseiten-Entwicklern und eCommerce-Spezialisten dramatisch eingebrochen war. Der Markt ist in diesen Bereichen in sehr kurzer Zeit um 50-70 % zurückgegangen und die IT-Mitarbeiter und -Mitarbeiterinnen waren ohne Beschäftigung und gleichzeitig gab es keineStellenangebote im Markt. Viele Firmen der New Economy haben dies nicht überstanden und sind heute keine Top Employer Brands mehr.

Internationale Konzerne und IT Service Unternehmen haben als Reaktion auf die Knappheit von Softwareentwicklern und IT-Supportkräften und natürlich auch wegen der Kosten Ihre IT Abteilungen in den 1. Welt Ländern um große Offshorezentren in Indien, aber auch in Afrika und dem Mittleren Osten ergänzt. Ägypten hatte eine ganze Internet-City außerhalb von Kairo. Mit dem Arabischen Frühling 2011 kamen aber die Mitarbeiter und Mitarbeiterinnen zu Tausenden nicht mehr in Ihre Büros und konnten auch Remote nicht arbeiten. Die Unternehmen, die keine Ausweichstrategien hatten, konnten nicht mehr liefern und kundenkritische Systeme hatten das Risiko stillzustehen.

Wer in den letzten Jahren exzellente .net, Java- und JavaScript-Entwickler zu guten Preisen suchte, ging nach Belarus und in die Ukraine. Ganz aktuell (2022) suchen Groß- und IT Service-unternehmen Ersatz für bis zu 200.000 Softwareentwickler, die durch den Krieg nicht zur Verfügung stehen. Kritische Infrastrukturen können von diesen Ressourcen abhängen. In Europa gibt es in dieser Größenordnung kurzfristig keinen Ersatz. Der Ausfall der Lieferung von Kabelsträngen aus der Ukraine hat in der Automotive-Industrie zum Stillstand ganzer Produktionsstätten geführt.

Die Bedeutung von Chips in der heutigen Wertschöpfung hat deutlich zugenommen. Viele Chips werden heute in Asien gefertigt (China und Taiwan). Auch hier können Krisen zu weiteren weltweiten Auswirkungen führen, die deutlich umfangreicher sind, als der heutige Chip-Mangel.

Jüngere Führungskräfte haben die Erfahrungen von Wirtschaftskrisen, den Ausfall ganzer Märkte oder der Lieferung von Vorprodukten weltweit in Ihrem Berufsleben nie erlebt. Die Szenarien, die bestenfalls durchgespielt wurden, waren kurzfristige externe Ereignisse, die für das Unternehmen existentiell sein können und im Idealfall gibt es hierfür auch Notfallpläne :

Gefahr von Cyberangriffen - Simulationen mit Vorgehensweisen
Kommunikationsstrategien im Falle eines Shitstorms in den sozialen Medien
Nachfolgeplanung für den Ausfall von Führungskräften und Wissensträgern
Ausfall einzelner Produktionsanlagen

Die Vorbereitung unserer Führungskräfte auf die großen Krisen hat zwei Facetten:

Denken in größeren Szenarien und die Vorbereitung auf diese:

Wegfall der Zulieferung von Grundstoffen
Ausfall ganzer Geographien durch Krieg, Atomunfall etc.
Umgang mit Embargos (Absatz- und Bezugsmärkte)
Pandemien

Resilienz unserer Führungskräfte

Beide Themen hängen natürlich zusammen. Durch den Wegfall ganzer Geographien auf der Absatz- oder Einkaufsseite die langfristiger Natur sind, müssen Führungskräfte nicht mehr auf knappe Arbeitskräfte schauen, sondern möglicherweise ganze Einheiten schliessen, bevor die Verluste und der Cash-Abfluss zur existentiellen Krise des ganzen Unternehmens wird. Hier werden andere Führungskompetenzen gefordert, die Kommunikation verändert sich, die notwendige Entscheidungsgeschwindigkeit erhöht sich deutlich und die Unsicherheit in der Entscheidungssituation ist größer.

Purpose, Diversity, Collaboration, Growth, Digitization sind die Themen der Führungskräfteentwicklung der letzten Jahre, und das war gut in den Wachstumsszenarien der europäischen Friedensordnung der 2000er Jahre.

Wirtschaftskrisen mit Inflation, Kriegen sowie Rohstoffknappheit und in der Konsequenz mit dem möglichen Abbau von Personal als auch Schließung von Produktionsstätten oder Niederlassungen kamen in den Szenarien nicht vor, noch sind sie erlebte Praxis. In vielen Ländern gibt es keine Kurzarbeit und dort wird Arbeitslosigkeit nicht vom Staat abgefangen, sodass das Handlungsszenario aus Deutschland nicht übertragbar ist.

Führungssituationen, die weder Teil eines möglichen Denkansatzes waren, noch die Möglichkeit zum Rückgriff auf Erfahrungen bieten, erzeugen bei den meisten Entscheidern Stress . Die Unsicherheit nimmt zu und die Konsequenzen von Handeln und noch mehr von nicht Handeln sind groß. Sie können Unternehmen existenziell gefährden.

Wir wollen natürlich nicht unsere wertebasierten Führungs- und Leadership-Prinzipien über Bord werfen, sollten uns aber auch klar sein, dass Krisen veränderte Mechanismen erfordern, die teilweise erlernbar sind oder in der Person des Leaders angelegt sein müssen. Führung in Krisenzeiten erfordert Zugang zu Erfahrungen und Szenarien, um in Unsicherheit gute Entscheidungen zu treffen. Es erfordert Entscheidungsgeschwindigkeit und -klarheit, wenn es notwendig ist und damit andere Entscheidungsfindungs-Prozesse und vor allem Führungskräfte mit Resilienz.

Kurzer Exkurs: In den 80er Jahren des letzten Jahrhunderts im kalten Krieg war es normal, dass an der Grenze zwischen NATO und Warschauer Pakt tausende Panzer standen und mit der Nato-Nachrüstung auf beiden Seiten tausende Atom-Raketen ohne große Vorwarnzeit die Bundesrepublik erreichen konnten. Eine deutsche Panzerbesatzung hatte im Kriegsfall eine Lebenserwartung von wenigen Stunden.

Diese drastischen Erfahrungen sind unserer jungen Führungsgeneration glücklicherweise erspart geblieben und die Bedrohungen waren bis vor kurzem sehr abstrakt und weit weg. Es standen andere drängendere Themen wie der Klimawandel und die Energieversorgung auf der Agenda. Menschen im Kalten Krieg sind mit möglichen Bedrohungen konfrontiert worden und lernten damit zu leben.

Ähnlichen Druck verspüren Führungskräfte möglicherweise, wenn sie wissen, dass sie Teile der Belegschaft kündigen müssen, um das Überleben des Unternehmens in der Krise zu sichern oder wenn sie Gerichtsverfahren ausgesetzt sind, die zwar inhaltlich unberechtigt sein mögen, aber für psychischen Druck sorgen. Schlafmangel, gefühlter Stress, viele Überstunden in Krisenszenarien sind typische Begleiter einer Krise. Resilienz bekommt eine Kernkompetenz.

Wir sollten unsere jüngeren Führungskräfte in Denkszenarien einbinden, die tiefgreifende und schwierige Entscheidungen beinhalten und sie auf Krisen vorbereiten. Dies können Wirtschaftskrisen, militärische Konflikte oder neue globale Machtblöcke mit unterschiedlichen Konsequenzen im Welthandel sein.

Neben der inhaltlichen Auseinandersetzung und dazugehörigen Workshops zu den neuen Herausforderungen, ist Mentoring durch Führungskräfte mit dem Erfahrungsschatz aus Krisenzeiten ein Königsweg, um jüngere Führungskräfte vorzubereiten, damit Ihre Resilienz zu stärken und Unternehmen besser aufzustellen. Übung macht auch hier den Meister und natürlich sind Entscheidungen, auf die eine Führungskraft vorbereitet wurde, leichter zu fällen und reduzieren Stress in einer angespannter Situation. Wir hoffen auf Frieden und Wachstum und bereiten uns inhaltlich für verschiedene Szenarien vor, damit unsere Unternehmen jederzeit auf gut vorbereitete Führung und Leadership vertrauen können.

Gerne verweise ich auch auf Prof. Peter Bienert und seinen Blogbeitrag „Yin & Yang“ statt „Naiv vs. Brutal“ Leadership zwischen Rückfall und Resignation.

... und einen Workshop, den wir gerade gemeinsam entwickelt haben um die Thematik ' Führen in der Krise ' zu adressieren.

Sense of urgency - why is this difficult

Fri, 18 Feb 2022 18:30:44 GMT

Photo by Kaylah Matthews on Unsplash

Sense of urgency is about feeling responsible and being supported

Especially if you worked in corporates you have experienced situations where customer are complaining that it takes far too long and nothing happens, but why? Get an offer approved to submit to a large B2B customer or get a delivery issue fixed, customer gets upset. But why does this take so much time in some cases? Why is nobody taking immediate action to make things happen?

In large corporates it is quite simple: People who are taking brave action expose themselves. They are taking the lead under uncertain circumstances . They take action to improve the situation for the company and serve a customer well to keep him on board. But what happens if things go wrong or you push peers who are not willing to move fast to achieve a good result - that depends highly on your company culture. Is this kind of solution oriented action taking rewarded or are you exposed as the person who is pushing the limits and being difficult.

Showing the sense of urgency and taking leadership on topics or actions to achieve results which are time critical is exposing yourself and you are taking risks. Risks are about failing or pushing other people or teams to deliver something on high priority while they are already very busy. In large corporates are far more people that have no interest to put their own career on the line when trying to push the boundaries to achieve great results for the company. It is far easier not to expose yourself but being the one calling for a meeting and raise concerns, ask to stick to the process knowing it will fail to make deadline. If things have been tried but have not achieved to make the tight time line happen, these people show up and say, I raised this concern but you decided on a different path hence you are responsible. Let's call them doubters. It is always good to have multiple views and exchange opinions but in critical and time bound actions, leadership is even more important because it may cause a 0/1 situation when you miss the time line. But calling in many people to meetings and escalate to many executives, you can say I raised my hand but if there is nobody taking brave actions and get things moving, that has not created value. Doubters and Politicians do not help you to get time critical topics resolved.

Tip: You need to distinguish between doubters and people trying to help by raising concerns in a constructive manner. Asking a few question normally helps. What have you done so far to solve the problem? What are your plans to solve it? Doubters have normally little to no answer to this as their intend is not to lead to a solution.

Taking leadership if sense of urgency is required, is not about breaking the fundamental rules, it is about demanding different priorities and using best efforts to get things moving faster or differently or going the extra mile.

People need to feel responsible for a problem and being supported and rewarded if they take the action required. If the organization make you feel good about taking leadership , you are willing to do so. If company culture is not supporting you, you will not step up next time and let it fail.

In small organizations there are far less people to slow down issues and socialize problems without adding value as smaller organization can hardly afford as many people doing so . In SME's people are used to take concise actions to solve problems because there is rarely another business unit to delegate to without adding value that becomes pretty obvious soon.

Looking for people which are able to take concise action in situations where sense of urgency is required you need to get a few things right:

a culture which supports trying to fix problems for the good of the company, knowing it will not always work out but trying is better than doing nothing or postponing,
support and delegate authority to people who take leadership with an agility hack (empower the leader on the job and delegate the ability to pull resources from the company to make critical things happen) that will last til the escalation or problematic situation is over. Other line managers need to support and stop discussing for the timing being,
communicate about successes & failures and create a culture of learning , why have we been in a time critical escalation mode and what is our change to avoid being in such a situation.

Most important is that you understand being in a critical situation which is highly time bound where people need to step out of daily procedures, your organization most likely failed . So think about, why we have been in this situation and change things for better.

If people get the feeling that taking leadership beyond their daily job is rewarded and not damaging their career, you can unleash potential within your talent pool. If the organization understands that the sense of urgency is supported when required and that you will be supported, it becomes a part of your company culture. It is just one piece part to become a high performing company but an important one.

Fahrspaß Elektroauto - ein Wintermärchen

Mon, 07 Feb 2022 11:17:19 GMT

Photo by Kimon Maritz on Unsplash

Fahrspaß Elektroauto - ein Wintermärchen

Elektro-Mobilität macht Spaß , dies hat sich für mich als begeisterter Autofahrer nicht geändert. Den Umstieg von einem Sport SUV auf den Audi etron GT habe ich nicht bereut und er erfüllt meistens die Erwartungen. Die Reichweite ist gut, die Performance sensationell und die Ladezeit passt zu den Angaben. Aber im Winter auf der Kurzstrecke sind die Elektroautos ein echter Stromfresser, was auch Bekannte mit anderen Autos mitteilen.

Im Herbst 2021 sah dies so aus:

Tolle Ladeerfahrungen mit 250 kW an einer EnBW Säule in Ratingen. Die Ladung von 60 kW dauerte 19 Minuten bei 256 kW Spitze in Bad Camberg über Ionity. Nach 2645 km mit ca. 45% Autobahnfahrten liegt der Verbrauch bei 28,96 kW auf 100 km . Die Stromkosten bei ausschliesslichem Laden an Schnellladesäulen belaufen sich auf 315 €, damit im Schnitt bei 41,1 ct pro kW oder 11,9 ct pro km . Der Sport SUV lag bei 22 ct bis 23 ct pro km an Benzinkosten.

Dezember 2021: Im Winter kostet es mehr. Nach 9.300 km in 4 Monaten liegt der Durchschnittsverbrauch bei 28,3 kWh pro 100 km, aber im Winter braucht der Audi etron deutlich mehr. Die Standklimatisierung kostet je nach Außentemperatur schon 20 km Reichweite pro Vorgang. Aufgrund einer höheren Ladung an der Wallbox liegen die Stromkosten pro km nun bei 11,4 ct pro km, wobei hier der Versorgerpreis der Wallbox zum Ansatz kam. Der Verbrauch der letzten 4 Wochen stieg auf 31,6 kWh pro 100 km.

Der Januar 2022 war von vielen Stadtfahrten und kurzen Strecken (zwischen 10 - 25 km) gekennzeichnet und hier schlagen zwei Effekte zu:

das Aufheizen des Kfz per Standheizung oder Sitzheizung und Lüftung bei jedem Start
der höhere Verbrauch bei kalten Temperaturen

So kam das Elektroauto NEFZ 19,3 bis 20,2 kW pro 100 km im Januar 2022 auf stolze 44,2 kW pro 100 km. Dies ist zwar noch günstiger als vergleichbarer Benziner, aber die die Kosten stiegen nun auf 13,4 ct pro km, da auf der Kurzstrecke nur an der Wallbox getankt wird. Mit dem hohen Verbrauch sinkt natürlich die Reichweite deutlich auf knapp über 200 km pro Ladung. Heute läge der Sport SUV bei den Benzinpreisen bei 26,7 ct pro km.

Als Fazit kann man festhalten: Elektrofahren macht weiterhin Spaß, es ist aber deutlich teuerer im Stadtverkehr und bei niedrigen Temperaturen. Die Idealwerte erreichen wir bei längeren Strecken und warmen Temperaturen. Das häufigere Laden nachts an der Wallbox stört nicht, wenn es bei der Kurzstrecke im Winter bleibt.

Kleine Seitennotiz zu den Softwarethemen der E-Mobilität :

Audi hat keinen Schritt nach vorne gemacht, der Service ist immer noch mässig. Seit Wochen fordert mich die App auf Plug & Charge zu installieren, obwohl es für den GT nicht Verfügung steht. Ab und zu fällt die Connect Platform aus und man soll den Support anrufen, da kann man sich dranhalten. Beim nächsten Starten geht es wieder.

Die installierte Go-E lädt. Die Software ist aber buggy und instabil, trotz zahlreicher Updates und Supportcalls. Erst stimmen die Summen der Ladevorgänge nicht, dann werden Sie von Go-E manuell korrigiert und nun sind ganze Records der Ladevorgänge verschwunden. Dies schafft kein Vertrauen.

Hiring for potential

Sat, 20 Nov 2021 21:44:04 GMT

Photo by Evangeline Shaw on Unsplash

Is hiring for potential the answer to great teams?

Companies have different hiring strategies. Some believe that hiring for potential solves all problems and gets the brightest people on the team to make the company great. Is this really true? Do the people with the greatest potential achieve extraordinary results and make companies great?

Being in the IT industry for 30 years in different setups like large Blue Chips, start ups and investor backed companies, I have experienced environments with great performance, turn around situations, growth cases and saturated organizations. People who have made a difference to the organization, the culture and the performance have very different backgrounds, potential and experience. They are not always the ones with best assessment for potential.

Hiring for potential from my point of view is not making a company great. It potentially gets people who have passed assessments best in decision making positions but they may lack four things to be successful: v alues, empathy, experience and the ability to communicate . Rarely the assessments on hiring for potential get these leadership competencies all right.

A company that needs better processes and implement software platforms to run its processes smarter, more digital and efficient, hires a Change Manager or CIO. The best potential will not help to drive this change if the experience is lacking on how to implement end to end processes best in class and avoid major software implementation mistakes. It requires a good education and practical long term experience to transform processes and implement those otherwise the company spends a fortune on failed projects and will loose competitiveness. For sure you need people who can think as well strategically on those positions as well but without experience and deep knowledge it will be a no starter.

If you have a team of people who are not performing well in a market that is growing, it requires quite some market skills, people and operational skills to turn this team into a high performing team. Just potential in leadership would not be good enough. Some parts require a deep understanding of market dynamics, some require empathy and communication skills to give the team purpose and a setup that actually gets to operational efficiency and best in class performance.

I have seen people with great skills, empathy and awesome results who would not been hired based on an assessment where perceived potential would be measured only. What a shortfall for the company to let this talents go.

Don't get me wrong you need potential on your team, people will learn a lot on the job and gain experience. that is why we have young talents and mentorships. But a great team is not hired on the drawing board . A great team has diversity in skills, experience and capabilities. Focussing on just one part will make you fall short.

When I started my career at IBM, we were trained after our university degree for one year. 26 weeks of training to have a toolset from technical, conceptual, customer facing skills before we were allowed to see a customer. Even after this one year, we all needed to gain experience to provide real value to customers. It is not different when you hire managers for potential not having the toolset and experience to succeed.

Hiring for the following competencies and capabilities and create a diverse team:

Values
Potential
Empathy
Experience
Communication skills

to achieve the best results for your company. A team of high potentials which is incapable to work together or not able to communicate purpose won't help and it gets worse if you have no industry skills on the team.

The mix of skills makes the success happen including diversity in gender, culture, age and orientation. Potential is only a part of what you need to succeed. If people with great potential have gained the experience and demonstrated empathy, values and reach the team through good communication, they may become leaders at a later stage .

The advise: Hire for a great diverse team with all required skills to succeed.

Haltung zeigen

Sun, 26 Sep 2021 19:42:40 GMT

Photo by Isaiah Rustad on Unsplash

Haltung zeigen ist schwieriger geworden

Haltung zeigen hat viele Fassetten. Es geht um politische Haltung, für Themen einzutreten und nicht sein Fähnchen nach dem Wind zu drehen. Es geht um Nein sagen, wenn Dritte falsche Behauptungen aufstellen oder diffamieren. Es geht um die klare Zurückweisung von Diskrimierung. Aber warum ist dies so schwierig? Warum werden neue Ideen in der politischen Diskussion meist mit umgehender Empörung quittiert. Warum werden in den Zeiten von Social Media falsche Behauptungen oder Diskrimierungen bereits zum Reputationsschaden und warum lassen wir dies eigentlich zu?

In der Politik sind die kommunikativen Reflexe der Gegenseite zum Standard geworden. Ohne tiefere Prüfung der Sachargumente werden neue Ideen und Inhalte oft in Schubladen geschoben und damit vielfach diskreditiert. Teilweise werden ungeprüfte Tweets aus dem Zusammenhang gegriffen und die Empörung nimmt ihren Lauf ohne die Kenntnis des Gesamtzusammenhangs. Was tut die politische Klasse immer häufiger? Man positioniert sich nicht, sondern wartet bis Trends erkennbar sind und springt nur noch auf den fahrenden Zug auf. Dies schadet der Generierung neuer Ideen und Lösungsansätze, man folgt dem Mainstream und reduziert das Risiko sich zu exponieren. Wer Haltung zeigen will, muss sich exponieren.

Gleiches gilt auch im Corporate Life , so versuchen aggressive Führungskräfte, Investoren und Ihre Vertreter mit reputationsschädigenden Kampagnen Ihre Ziele zu verfolgen und andere Führungskräfte zu diskreditieren oder in die Defensive zu drängen. Meist kann die Führungskraft oder das Unternehmen sich kaum verteidigen, wenn man keine Betriebsgeheimnisse offenlegen oder negative Effekte für das Unternehmen und die Person in Kauf nehmen will. Oft haben diese Kampagnen Erfolg, da sich Entscheidungsträger frühzeitig aus einer solchen Situation zurückziehen um einen persönlichen Reputationsschaden abzuwenden. Selten sehen wir Fälle, wo der Adressat solcher Kampagnen über eine aktive Kommunikation, Pressearbeit oder den gerichtlichen Weg Klarstellung erzeugt. Interessanterweise rechnen die Kampagnenverursacher nicht mit einer sehr aktiven Gegenreaktion und sind überrascht, wenn die Blase platzt und die unrichtigen Behauptungen widerlegt sind. Der Schaden ist dann aber bereit entstanden und die Verursacher ziehen Ihres Weges.

Im kleineren Format sehen wir dies auch in Unternehmen, wo schnell Argumente im Hintergrund zu Führungskräften gestreut werden, 'der hat ein Problem mit Frauen in Führungspositionen' oder 'sie ist nicht kompromissfähig' um die Ziele Einzelner zu erreichen. Natürlich vernichtet eine solche Kultur Vertrauen und erzeugt schlechte Performance.

Warum lassen wir dies zu?

Haltung zeigen hat viel mit einem klaren Wertesystem zu tun und auch mit der Erkenntnis, dass man unterschiedlicher Auffassung sein darf und die besten Sachargumente gewinnen sollten. Haltung hat aber auch mit roten Linien zu tun, die man nicht überschreiten darf und diese Leitplanken, die das Wertesystem vorgibt, sind eben nicht kompromissfähig. Eine klare Haltung gegen Diskriminierung, Hetze, aber auch falsche Informationen und Diskreditierung sind wichtig. Wichtig ist aber auch die klare Ansprache solcher Vorgänge und ein entschiedenes Vorgehen, sonst leidet unsere Kultur und Vertrauen geht verloren. Dies gilt im Unternehmen, wie in der Politik. Wir sollten wieder zu dem Wettstreit der besten Sachargumente zurückkehren und nicht die Wahrheit auf 155 Zeichen oder den Flurfunk reduzieren.

Wir sollten Menschen unterstützen und die Inhalte prüfen, wenn offensichtliche Kampagnen Platz greifen. Erst dann wird Haltung auch wieder gezeigt, öffentlich und wertgeschätzt, damit ziehen auch wieder Vertrauen und neue Ideen ein.

Fahrspass trotz Elektrofahrzeug

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 19:50:43 GMT

Photo by Jake Blucker on Unsplash

Freude am Autofahren - der Umstieg auf das Elektroauto - ein Risiko?

Updates siehe unten im Artikel

Als unser Sport-SUV nach drei Jahren aus der Garantie lief, stellte sich die Frage, was nun? Der Sport-SUV braucht bei höheren Geschwindigkeiten gerne mehr als 15 Liter pro 100km. Also warum nicht den Versuch wagen, teilelektrisch zu fahren. Es ging ergebnisoffen zu vielen Autohäusern und die Suche zeigte in Richtung Hybridfahrzeug, aber hier war die Enttäuschung groß. Die Hybridfahrzeuge am Markt waren meist mit 50 km elektrischer Reichweite angegeben und leisteten nur 35 km. Nach dem Verbrauch der Batteriereichweite waren die Hybridfahrzeuge schwere Verbrenner mit meist mässigen Effizienzwerten von ebenfalls 15 Liter auf 100 km. Selbst die besseren Fahrzeuge mit 100 km Reichweite waren am Ende wenig effizient. Der entscheidende Punkt war jedoch, dass alle seriösen Verkäufer von einem Kauf eines Hybrid abrieten. Man sollte diese Fahrzeuge nur leasen, da in drei Jahren die Restwerte der alten kleinen Batterietechnologie gegen null gehen würden. Die aktuellen Rückläufer hätten in Deutschland keinen Markt mehr.

Also ging es in Richtung eines vollelektrischen Fahrzeuges. Hier waren zwei Themen für die Wahl ausschlaggebend, Reichweite und Leistung. Als beruflicher Vielfahrer wären sowohl eine geringe Reichweite als auch eine geringe Performance wenig motivierend. Nach zahlreichen Testfahrten haben wir uns für einen Audi etron GT entschieden, da es ein wunderschönes Auto mit sehr guter Performance und ausreichend Reichweite ist. Es war eher eine spontane Entscheidung, da ein Wagen kurzfristig verfügbar war. Nach der Auslieferung kamen die Erfahrungen im täglichen Betrieb. Ehrlich gesagt, waren wir nicht gut vorbereitet auf das Elektrofahren.

Zuerst war da natürlich das Thema, dass noch keine Wallbox vorhanden war und die Erkenntnis reifte, dass das Laden an einer Steckdose ziemlich wertfrei ist, da eine Ladung um die 38 Stunden dauert. Kein Problem, in unserer Nachbarschaft ist eine Telekom Comfortcharge Säule mit 100 KW Leistung. Die ADAC Mobility+ App war geladen und die App aktiviert. Trotz Ausweis der Säule als Mobility+ ready ging nichts, die Autorisierung schlug fehl. Der Kundenservice war nur Montags - Freitags von 8-18 Uhr erreichbar, wir bekamen das Fahrzeug am Freitag nachmittag, um am Freitagabend zu laden. Zumindestens hat der ADAC EnBW Support rasch reagiert und uns eine physische Ladekarte zugesandt, die tut sofort. Bei Audi die etron Karte beantragen und schon hat es eine gute Abdeckung. Hier werden auf die ersten 12 Monaten die Grundgebühren erlassen. Das Thema Ladekarten ist eine Wissenschaft für sich.

Zweifel an den Versprechen zur Reichweite und Ladegeschwindigkeit waren natürlich angebracht, da der Normverbrauch von Verbrenner-Fahrzeugen kaum zu erreichen ist. Aber siehe da, der Audi lud an der HPC Säule mit 800V DC in 22 Minuten von 8% auf 80% auf und die Zuladung geht wirklich schnell. Kaffee geholt, eMails gecheckt und weiter geht's. Eine wirklich beeindruckende Erfahrung, die die ersten Zweifel an dem Spontankauf fast verschwinden lies.

Die Reichweite war nach Abholung mit knapp über 300 km und nicht bei 488 km, wie angegeben, angezeigt worden. Als sportlicher Fahrer kommt man bei dynamischer Fahrweise auf der Autobahn schnell auf über 30 KW pro 100 km, aber selbst dann lag die Reichweite über 300 km, was beeindruckend war. Wenn man hingegen im Verkehr bei niedrigeren Geschwindigkeiten mitschwimmt, liegt der Verbrauch um die 20 KW pro 100km und die Reichweite steigt über 370 km an, mehr als 400 km sind sicher möglich. Beeindruckend ist die Rekuperation des Fahrzeuges. Auf längeren Gefällestrecken fällt der Durchschnittsverbrauch kontinuierlich KW um KW.

Zugegeben der Kofferraum des Audi etron GT ist nicht gerade ein Raumwunder, aber die Reise kann schon mit zwei bis drei Koffern angetreten werden. Der Audi schlägt natürlich zuerst mal die etron Charging Säulen zur Ladung vor und die anderen müssen manuell hinzugefügt werden; das geht besser. Die Bilanz bis heute bei 1000 gefahrenen Kilometern sind rund 130 Euro Stromkosten, dies ist halb so viel wie der Sport-SUV. Das sparsame Tanken kann noch optimiert werden und natürlich verdienen die Anbieter bei 0,79 Euro pro KW ordentlich, aber für eine gute schnelle Ladeerfahrung sind die HPC Säulen unverzichtbar und dies kostet mehr.

Die Serviceerfahrung über das Netz kann bei Audi sicher optimiert werden und auch die myAudi App ist eher durchschnittlich statt Best in Class.

In Summe war der Kauf bis hierhin ein voller Erfolg. Die Performance, der Fahrspaß und das ruhige Fahren ist eine Freude. Die Betriebskosten sind relativ niedrig und der regelmässige Stop zur Tasse Kaffee ist eine kleine Umstellung, aber sinnvoll. Schön ist auch, dass das Elektrofahrzeug morgens ohne großen Sound seinen Weg antritt.

Update 1 - September 2021: Mehr Erfahrungen - Rückrufaktion in die Werkstatt eine Woche nach der Auslieferung zu zwei Softwareupdates (u.a. Elektroantrieb). Leider meldet sowohl die myAudi App, als auch das Fahrzeug nach Abholung die Rückrufaktionen immer noch. Die Meldungen sollen in den nächsten Tagen verschwinden, dies wird über die Audi Zentrale gesteuert. Nach 5-10 Tagen war das Update eingespielt. Dies ist keine gute Benutzererfahrung.

Tolle Ladeerfahrungen auf der anderen Seite mit 250 kW an einer EnBW Säule in Ratingen. Die Ladung von 60 kW dauerte 19 Minuten bei 256 kW Spitze in Bad Camberg über Ionity.

Nach 2645 km mit ca. 45% Autobahnfahrten liegt der Verbrauch bei 28,96 kW/h. Die Stromkosten bei ausschliesslichem Laden an Schnellladesäulen belaufen sich auf 315 €, damit im Schnitt bei 41,1 ct pro kW oder 11,9 ct pro km . Der Sport SUV lag bei 22 ct bis 23 ct pro km an Benzinkosten.

D.h., dass trotz umfangreicher schneller Autobahnfahrten und dem teueren Laden an den Schnellladesäulen eine Kostenersparnis im direkten Verbrauch von rund 48% zu verzeichnen ist. In den nächsten Tagen wird die Wallbox installiert und dann werden sich die Kosten nochmals reduzieren, da die Kosten pro kW sicher unter den bisherigen 41 ct liegen werden. Text

Update 2 - Oktober 2021: Nicht zu viel versprochen. Mittlerweile sind es mehr als 4.500 km an Fahrkilometer und beeindruckend war eine Autobahnfahrt von Amsterdam in Richtung Düsseldorf. Tagsüber gilt in den Niederlanden vielfach Tempo 100 km/h, dies war natürlich nicht der übliche Fahrspaß, aber eine sehr entspannte Fahrt mit Tempomat. Das Ergebnis waren 126 km in 1:28 h bei einem Verbrauch von 18,7 kWh pro 100 km. Dies ist ein wenig besser als die 19,2 kWh pro 100 km nach NEFZ gemäß den Audi Angaben. Wenn man bedenkt, wie schwierig es ist, die Durchschnittsverbräuche beim Benziner zu erreichen, war dies eine wirklich positive Überraschung. Technisch lässt sich dies in 2,2 l pro 100 km umrechnen - chapeau.

Überhaupt ist die Zufriedenheit mit dem Audi etron GT hoch.

Man merkt aber nun, dass der Preis für Energie beim Strom deutlich teurer ist als bei Benzin pro kWh. So kosten die 100 km an der privaten Wallbox rund 5,80 €, während 2,2 l selbst bei einem Benzinpreis von 1,70 € nur 3,74 € pro 100 km ergäben. Natürlich wird kein 2,3 Tonnen Kfz mit Benzinmotor bei normaler Autobahnfahrt 2,2 l erreichen. Mein Sport SUV kam nie unter 10 l pro 100 km und benötigt somit mindestens 17 € für 100 km. Der teuere Strom macht also das Elektrofahren unattraktiver als es sein könnte.

Auch ich habe nach der Installation meiner Wallbox mit 11 kW pro Stunde meinen Durchschnittspreis für das Laden nochmals senken können - je nach dem, ob der Strom aus dem Netz kommt (31 ct pro kWh) oder aus der Photovoltaikanlage (18 ct pro kWh - Einspeisevergütung als Opportunitätskosten). Sobald erste Erfahrungen vorliegen, fasse ich die Kostenkalkulation nochmals zusammen. Meine Go-e leistet, was sie versprochen hat: sehr konstant einen Ladestrom von 11 kW pro Stunde. Die App von Go-e erlaubt das Herunterladen der Ladevorgänge per csv File von der Wallbox, dies ist gut und reicht aus.

Leider war Audi bei der Ladehistorie wenig hilfreich. Die Anregung neben den Fahrdaten auch die Ladehistorie in der myAudi App vom Fahrzeug zu laden, wurde mit dem Hinweis kommentiert, dass dies nicht möglich ist, was man kaum glauben mag. Audi sollte davon ausgehen, dass nicht alle Kunden nur Audi Produkte incl. Wallbox einsetzen werden und daher sollte man sich rasch öffnen, hier auch Drittsysteme zu unterstützen um den Nutzer mit dem Audi etron GT eine bessere Erfahrung zu bescheren. Wer das Thema der Wohnunsgseigentümergemeinschaft kennt, weiß, dass der Nutzer nicht immer seine eigene Wallboxentscheidung fällen kann. Zur Erhebung der Fahrtkosten für das Finanzamt, ist aber der Nachweis der Ladekosten für ein Fahrtenbuch notwendig.

Update 3 - Dezember 2021: Im Winter kostet es deutlich mehr. Nach 9.300 km in 4 Monaten liegt der Durchschnittsverbrauch bei 28,3 kWh pro 100 km , aber im Winter braucht der Audi etron deutlich mehr. Die Standklimatisierung kostet je nach Außentemperatur schon 10-20 km Reichweite pro Vorgang. Aufgrund einer höheren Ladung an der Wallbox liegen die Stromkosten pro km nun bei 11,4 ct pro km , wobei hier der Versorgerpreis der Wallbox zum Ansatz kam, da doch wenig durch Überschuss der Photovoltaikanlage geladen wird. Der Verbrauch der letzten 4 Wochen stieg auf 31,6 kWh pro 100 km . Bei Stadtfahrten und niedrigen Temperaturen kommt man schnell auf Werte um die 39 kWh pro 100 km. Im Schnitt entsteht der Eindruck, dass der Winter den Verbrauch um 15-20% steigert. Der Audi etron GT hat nach wie vor eine eher durchschnittliche Software, die einiges vermissen lässt und auch die Geschwindigkeit der Funktionalitäten lässt zu wünschen übrig.

Aber der Audi etron GT macht Spaß und ist ein wirklich gutes Auto im oberen Preissegment. Das Fahrerlebnis ist extrem beeindruckend und erstaunlicherweise wird man regelmässig auf das Auto angesprochen. Die Kommentare sind durchweg begeistert und voller Neugierde. Das Design gefällt und ist ein wirklicher großer Wurf von Audi.

Do you love your job

Sun, 18 Jul 2021 19:43:30 GMT

Photo by Mayur Gala on Unsplash

Are you looking forward to Monday Mornings

A great work environment and the team around you can create so much positive energy. The sky is the limit. Does your job feel like this? If not, why don't you change. Most of us are spending more time on the job than with family and friends. Negative energy at work can limit our wellbeing and even our health.

This observation isn't only true if you are an employee, it is true in management positions as well. Everyone feels different about the environment. Positive or negative factors can be influenced by very different topics. Resilience is the new skill, but at a certain point you need to check if you are great in getting on in an environment which does not value the assets you bring to the table or you move on. This is not about job hopping but to explore if you can create a perfect fit for you and your company.

You as a person may want to work in environments that give you the ability to create value hence factors like empowerment, trust and recognition are making you feel good. Other people like a secure workplace hence factors such as stable rules and responsibilities, job security and equal treatment, constant cashflow may be more important.

People, who want to lead change and create value , are normally feel comfortable in volatile, uncertain and dynamic work situations (VUCA). They can cope far better with change or even want to lead change. These people are the driving force on a change process or transformation. If you have such team members on your leadership team they can lead a transformation of your business or the industry. You want to create a high performance culture - you need exactly those skills with an entrepreneurial spirit.

Large corporations are looking in their job postings for leaders with an entrepreneurial approach - being ready to lead, take risks and create extraordinary results.

The laggards (corporations) are hiring these people and give them little empowerment, they let them know that they won't be able to change the complex organization and need to serve the existing system. Small incremental changes will be put forward only when they delivered a longer documentation, business cases and served all stakeholders. If you have ever worked for a high performance company that is able to take bold decisions quickly, learn, adopt and change, you will see that your positive energy is draining in such a legacy setup. You know, Agility feels different . So you have three options:

you can either change the system,
you can think about staying within the system and serve it or
you leave.

To change the existing system you need C-level support or being the C-level, that is a really good option if you have full support and empowerment to start the transformation. If you won't get the backing, empowerment and the trust, you loose energy, empathy and speed. This company may be successful in the way it works, but it may not be the perfect fit to the assets you can bring to the table hence you have a constant fight on the things you would prioritize and the speed of execution. It isn't about right or wrong, it is just not your perfect fit to make an impact and create positive energy and motivation for yourself.

If you are not looking forward to the next working day, reaching the next step on your plan and it feels like another painful day to come in long meetings without measurable results, it is time for a change. A great work environment can create so much positive energy, spirit and results that it is important to find the place that serves your values and values your assets. Leading with empathy is important, it creates trust and drives better results. Have fun on what you do, if you haven't find it yet, you are not at the right place.

Steve Jobs: “You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle…

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Source: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/903982-you-ve-got-to-find-what-you-love-and-that-is

The art of networking

Wed, 12 May 2021 22:08:24 GMT

Photo by Evangeline Shaw on Unsplash

The art of networking

Networking is something which is important in leadership. It creates an ecosystem of people who can provide advise or give a second opinion. Positive networking does not mean to create a closed circle of people who support each other on the cost of fair competition. Good and valuable networking is diverse across gender, age, nationality and orientation etc..

The interesting part about your personal network is about the values perceived by the people in your network in talking to you and members of the network. If people say that you are easy to approach, helpful, giving good advice or taking a different perspective, being open minded, a good listener that is what you should strive for. Positive networking is not about taking influence on others because you know someone in the right position. If your network perceives positive values by talking to you and people in your network, the network creates value for its members. If you are approached to have a conversation about business or personal topics, an investment, a technology or a difficult situation, people are looking for advice or an opinion but they implicitly expect trust, openness and confidentiality .

How do you build such a network ? Networks grow over time, so it is not surprising that people who are quite some time in business can generate a larger network over time because they meet more people to trust and establish a relationship. But why do some people have large networks and some don't. First of all you need to be interested to build a network. There are people who are simply not interested to make such an investment. Networking is investment and commitment and if you are only on the receiving end of a network, people will acknowledge that this is a one way street and may drop you from the their network. Networking is not about an even balance of giving and receiving but about the willingness and ability to provide valuable time.

Every event, company you work for creates contacts which may join your network over time. Use the opportunities to talk to people and take the conversation to the person behind the role or the motivation of the person you talk to. First it is a conversation you may enjoy and second you learn a lot about the person the values and their driving force. Don't try to collect connections because you think you need to, your network will grow over time with the right people and drop the ones who do not fit to your network. Explicitly people which do not support core values such as trust and honesty should not be part of such a network. You will create disappointments for you and your network with such members.

There are as well people who measured their network on the number of social media contacts but that has nothing to do with your personal network as a leader. Your network consists of people where you have the mobile number or private eMail and you can reach out to them to have a good conversation, a lunch or a coffee. You need to stay in touch regularly with people in your network and you need to be empathic and dedicated to the conversation you have. Social Media may be good to stay in touch and being updated on changes in people life but it is not about real networking.

Obviously open minded people having good small talk skills can create a large network but they need to maintain their network, invest and create value. Many people are not really good in maintaining a good and valuable network. You need to follow up on topics you agreed upon and reach out to your network to stay in touch. By staying in touch you learn a lot about their challenges, successes and way forward.

A great network is diverse across age, nationality, culture, gender, industry and experience. It includes all levels of people in different jobs. If you create such a diverse network you gain value out of very different perspectives on topics. Generation X,Y,Z and digital natives will take a different view than the retired board member or a marketing person or an artist. These conversations can create great value for both parties.

You may even create events for people to come together and exchange opinions or talk about interesting topics such as leadership challenges, innovations or trends like an afterwork talk. Being the facilitator of such events makes your network grow and you are moving into a role of the trusted facilitator who makes you the first person to contact. You can even drive good initiatives to contribute to the society or charity.

Having such a great value driven network is long term engagement and people may be part of your trusted network for many years. It creates value for yourself because you get invaluable advice of people you trust and a broad spectrum of perspectives. Being in contact with people who share these values is motivating and enjoyable . Give it a try.

Digitalisierung erfolgreich umsetzen

Sun, 07 Mar 2021 14:06:32 GMT

Photo by Joshua Sortino on Unsplash

Digitalisierung erfolgt nur Schritt für Schritt

Digitalisierung ist der neue Imperativ. Wer nicht digitalisiert, ist langfristig aus dem Geschäft, dies bestimmt die Agenda in den Boardrooms. Aber wie kann Digitalisierung gelingen und was sind die elementaren Fehler? Lassen Sie uns die wesentlichen Themen aus Executive Sicht beleuchten.

Digitalisierung in Zeiten der Corona Krise hat eine neue Dynamik erhalten. Waren gerade die deutschen Unternehmen in der Vergangenheit Nachzügler in diesem Thema, ist der neue Imperativ von außen durch die Pandemie diktiert. Auf einmal müssen die Mitarbeiter mobil oder von zu Hause arbeiten, wo es noch vor Monaten für Mitarbeiter, Mitbestimmung und Führungskräfte undenkbar war.

Die einfache, erste Digitalisierung umfasst zum einen die technische Ausstattung zum mobilen Arbeiten. Technische Ausstattung bedeutet, dass der Arbeitsplatz oder Digital Workplace aus Laptop, Mobiltelefon und ausreichender Anbindung ans Internet besteht. Aber dies reicht nicht. Sie wollen von außen auf Ihr Firmennetzwerk oder Cloud-Dienste zugreifen, dazu benötigen Sie eine Sicherheitsarchitektur, die sie vor Cyber Angriffen schützt und die Kapazität hat, allen Ihren Mitarbeiter gleichzeitig performanten Zugang zu Ihren Unternehmens-Applikationen zu verschaffen.

Benutzerfreundlicher, sicherer und performanter Zugang von überall ist also der erste kleine Schritt Ihrer Digitalisierungsstrategie. Der nächste Schritt ist die Erreichbarkeit Ihrer Mitarbeiter in dem neuen Setup. Der Zugang zu Ihrem Unternehmens-Applikationen ermöglicht Ihren Mitarbeitern, die internen Abläufe, wie bisher abzubilden, aber wie erreichen Kunden, Lieferanten oder Bewerber Ihre Teams? Mobiltelefone sind hier nur eine bedingte Lösung, da die Rufweiterleitung im Abwesenheitsfall möglicherweise nicht Ihrem öffentlichen Erscheinungsbild entsprechen. Besser wäre es Ihre Telefonanlage mit einer Kommunikation- und Kollaborationsplattform zu verbinden (z.B. Microsoft Teams), sodass Ihre Mitarbeiter für Dritte unbemerkt von überall arbeiten können, Rufweiterleitungen und Vertretungen funktionieren und Ihre Unternehmens-Rufnummern nicht durch Handynummern Ihrer Mitarbeiter ersetzt werden. Eine umfassende Kommunikations- und Kollaborationsplattform ist notwendig, damit Ihre Mitarbeiter auch in diesen Zeiten miteinander arbeiten und in Kontakt bleiben. Videokonferenzen sind ein gutes Mittel die Lücke der mangelnden Präsenz zur Identifikation mit Ihrem Team oder dem Unternehmen zu schliessen.

Nun sind Ihre Mitarbeiter in der Lage digital zu arbeiten und können kommunizieren und kollaborieren. Aber sind Ihre Geschäftsprozesse von heute digital? In der Regel gibt es bei vielen Geschäftsprozessen Medienbrüche, d.h. Sie haben einen Geschäftsvorgang und wechseln zum Beispiel von der Einkaufsapplikation zum Genehmigungs- oder Bestellprozess und heute wird die Bestellanforderung ausgedruckt, unterschrieben, abgelegt oder bestenfalls eingescannt. Dies ist kein digitaler Geschäftsprozess und behindert Ihre Digitalisierung. Analysieren Sie Ihre wichtigsten Geschäftsprozesse und stellen diese so um, dass ein digitaler Workflow (z.B. Genehmigungen) in der Unternehmens-Applikation funktionieren. Die Veränderung umfasst IT-Veränderungen, aber auch Veränderungen in Ihren Unternehmensrichtlinien und -prozessen. Die Einführung von elektronischen Unterschriften intern und extern sind ein weiterer Schritt zur Digitalisierung Ihrer Geschäftsprozesse. Ganz wenige Dokumente haben heute noch eine Schriftformerfordernis. Der Bewerbungsprozess kann bis auf den Arbeitsvertrag heute komplett über Bewerberportale zwischen Kandidat, Personalabteilung und aufnehmender Führungskraft umgesetzt werden.

Ziel ist am Ende der ersten Phase der Digitalisierung sind durchgängige Geschäftsprozesse, die man bei der Umstellung auch überarbeiten und verschlanken kann. Schlechte Prozesse werden nicht besser, wenn sie nur digital sind. Die einfache Prüfung ist möglich: Hat der Mitarbeiter noch ein Stück Papier im Digitalen Workspace oder läuft alles digital? Die wesentlichen Vorteile des papierlosen Büros sind natürlich Geschwindigkeit, Produktivität und auch eine bessere User Experience Ihrer Mitarbeiter. Digitale Daten können auch in ganz anderer Form in die Zusammenarbeit einbezogen werden, hier werden neue Potentiale und Synergieeffekte freigesetzt. Aber das papierlose Büro ist auch ein Sicherheitsfaktor für Ihre Geschäftsgeheimnisse , Papier kann verloren gehen oder dupliziert werden, bei digitalen Prozessen, können Sie dies steuern.

Erste Schritte der einfachen Digitalisierung :

Technische Infrastruktur schaffen
Sicherheitskonzept erstellen
Erreichbarkeit auch über virtuelle Telefonie ermöglichen
Kommunikations- und Kollaborationsdienste nutzen
Geschäftsprozesse optimieren und digitalisieren
Von überall auf alle relevanten Daten, Applikationen und Vorgänge zugreifen und diese bearbeiten zu können

Externe Dienstleister können bei den ersten Schritten hilfreich sein, da IT Abteilungen meist nicht in allen Bereichen auf dem besten technologischen und regulatorischen Stand sein können.

Die nächsten Schritte Ihrer Digitalisierungstrategie umfasst die Einführung von Innovationen, z.B. Mobile Plattformen und Applikationen, die Ihre Produktivität, den Kundenservice auf ein neues Niveau heben können. Diese Innovationen sind in der Regel branchenspezifisch und benötigen digitale und Industrie-Expertise. Prüfen Sie, ob Sie alle Skills für den zweiten Schritt Ihrer Digitalisierung im Hause haben.

Die Krönung Ihrer Digitalisierungsstrategie sind neue digitale Geschäftsmodelle , die Ihnen weitere Wettbewerbsvorteile verschaffen.

Die Umstellung Ihrer Vertriebsstrategie in ein digitales Content Marketing zur Lead Generierung basierend auf modernsten Plattformen ist ein Beispiel, Ihre Kosten pro Lead zu reduzieren und Ihre teuren Vertriebsmitarbeiter effizienter einzusetzen und damit höhere Erfolgsraten zu erreichen. Video-Plattformen als Kundenbindungsinstrument oder zur Reduzierung Ihrer Servicekosten wäre eine Möglichkeit, genauso wie Künstliche Intelligenz im Kundenservice. Virtual Reality unterstützt heute den technischen Außendienst, senkt Kosten und verbessert die Qualität.

Am Ende müssen Sie aber eines beachten: Digitalisierung von Geschäftsprozessen ist kein IT Thema, es ist ein umfassendes Change Projekt , welches Ihre Mitarbeiter einbindet und eine umfassende Kommunikationskomponete beinhaltet. Ebenso sollten Sie eine Übersicht Ihrer digitalen, agilen und technologischen Skills im Unternehmen erstellen, damit Sie Ihre Fähigkeiten richtig einschätzen und in Ihre Talentplanung integrieren.

Starten Sie klein und nehmen Ihre Digitalisierung Schritt für Schritt vor. Nichts ist risikoreicher als ein überdimensioniertes Digitalisierungsprojekt, das alles versucht zu erschlagen. Sie werden sich in der Komplexität verlieren und Ihre Ziele nicht erreichen.

Step by Step ist das Erfolgsgeheimnis - dies macht es für Ihre Mitarbeiter und Projektteams möglich, erste Erfolge zu vermelden und damit den nächsten Schritt anzugehen. Arbeiten Sie sich entlang der o.g. Punkte voran: Erstellen der technischen Voraussetzungen, Umstellung einzelner Geschäftsprozesse usw.. Priorisieren Sie Ihre Projekte nach dem Nutzen, den Sie schnell realisieren können. Die ersten Projekte werden Ihnen bereits deutliche Ergebnisse und Erfolgsgeschichten für die Kommunikation bescheren.

How to build an effective sales incentive plan

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 19:29:17 GMT

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

Why is a sales incentive plan important

Money does not drive performance - that is only partially right. Motivation has several components. Intrinsic motivation works perfectly if the surrounding conditions are well set. If the basics are dissatisfying for your sales team, you will not receive great results. One basic need is a fair and attractive sales compensations model. It should be rewarding and motivating. The sales incentive plan is a part of the compensation package.

The performance of your sales representatives may not be driven by the fact that one is earning 50% more than the other. But it may well be driven if one of them is highly unsatisfied with the compensation compared to expectation, market or the rest of the team. It is not only money that drives performance but it is part of the mandatory step that is required to enable performance. Sales Incentives are basics before the next level of motivation kicks in. Other levels of motivation are factors such as company culture, fair and respectful treatment, a good boss, a great team etc. This is like of the Maslow Hierarchy, the basics must be fine to drive performance beside many other factors.

Beside offering an attractive compensation package, a good sales incentive plan will support and increase the performance of your sales team. To create a good incentive plan you need ask yourself a few questions:

What would you like to strive for to support your strategy, strategic goals and objectives?

revenue growth to gain market share
higher gross profits to have a better financial performance
win new customers to mitigate risk from existing customer base
shift to new products to be prepared for a product end of life
order entry for future fiscal periods and the long term success

What is the benchmark for a good compensation in your industry to attract talent?
How attractive means aggressive would you like to model your sales incentive plan?
Does your plan need to accelerate teamwork or do the sales reps perform on their own?
What effects does a sales incentive plan have on your company culture ?

Set the right targets

It is quite important to understand what kind of targets will support your business plan and company strategy and even more important is the point to what degree can you sales rep influence the target. E.g. you want to drive higher margins but the sales rep can not influence the margins in the sales process the target will not be motivational.

On the other hand not every objective need or should to be steered by a sales incentive plan. You can drive higher margins through an approval process and limited delegation levels while incentivizing the sales rep on revenue or order entry.

The same applies for team targets , if the team is small enough and performing as a group you have a high identification with your incentive targets if not, people may say, I can't influence it at all hence I don't care. This happens quite frequently with company targets . They are too far away to be recognized as individual targets.

It is not an excuse that you have a hard time to break down and measure individual targets and therefore you apply company targets. The effect of such an approach can even drop performance. If you set targets you need to have the reporting and numbers in place to measure performance on a regular basis. Employees want to see how they perform. Sales people are normally more competitive and they may even like to see who are the stars of the team and work hard to be on top of a ranking. Creating circles like top performer clubs can be inspirational.

Compensation package

The benchmark on a great, average or poor compensation can be bought for almost every industry and job role. Get your data in place and understand what you would like to pay as a fix and variable compensation by job role. The split between fix and variable should be relevant and depends obviously as well on the On Target Earnings ( OTE ). Normally a sales incentive plan is used for sales, sales supporting functions and management. In the IT industry a sales role has a split on fix/variable can be 50%/50%, 60/40 or 70/30. A variable component below 30% is highly unusual.

If your business is transactional, that means you have short sales cycles and transactions every week, you may be able to issue monthly incentive statements and pay on a monthly base. If the business has long sales cycles and a small number of large deals , you might only be able to issue quarterly or yearly incentive statements. In case you have a high variable component such as 40-50% and a long sales cycle large deal business, you might to need to have a monthly downpayment top your sales people of e.g. 50% of their variable to ensure a certain cash flow. The downpayment needs to be earned at the end or paid back.

Modeling the plan

When you model the plan, make it relevant and meaningful:

a variable salary of 20.000$ should not be split up in more than there to five targets otherwise the single target is getting too small, payment amount after tax becomes irrelevant and you loose focus. Three targets are ideal.
if you have an account manager who runs an account which is good for 20 M$ revenue and 17 M$ are already under contract, do not incentivize from the first dollar onwards as the last million may only be 5% of the target. It becomes a rounding difference if you do 17 or 20 M$. Introduce thresholds.
Think about your business and if you are on larger multi-year deals and long sales cycles, you may not be able to incentivize on revenue or gross margin as your sales rep is working on a deal for eleven months and is closing the contract in December with no chance to create revenue. You still want the deal and reward the sales person. Hence you move to Order Entry. Order Entry can be measured in Annual Contract Value (ACV, first year only) or Total Contract Value (TCV). To accelerate early closing, you can set a smaller revenue target from the new deal within the fiscal year. The incentives you pay this fiscal will generate most profits in future fiscal periods. Be aware that cost may not follow revenues.

Thresholds are needed if you have large targets such as an account is generating 20M$ and the variance is 18-22M$. Set a threshold at 16M$ and pay from 16M$ upwards with a goal of 20M$.

Do not cap performance rather be thoughtful with your target setting. Capping performance is normally not needed and not motivational. The incentive payment as a percentage of revenue is marginal if it is modeled right. You may need to live with exceptional high salaries on a great year for an individual but that would make your company overachieving targets.

Moving to quarterly or monthly targets may drive the performance for shorter periods in a better way and you can adopt targets more frequently. You may need to pay an upside factor such revenue times e.g. times 1.1 for revenues in Q2. Just splitting targets by four quarters and the incentive proportion the same way, will not drive performance for certain periods, as the sum of the quarters and the sum of paid incentives will be similar if you don't factor a favorite factor for a period in. Any focus setting can be accelerated by factors or a stronger weight on a target for a product set, time period or new customer revenues.

Area of responsibility - not first come first serve

Targets are depending on a territory and do not assume that a territory as a geographical area only. It could be a customer set, an industry, a product set, a region, the size of the bids or a combination of those. If the territory is changing within the target period, the target will change as well. I f you add customers to sales rep, they need to take the additional potential as a target. Distributing leads by accident without clear territories will not allow a proper performance management and good sales team culture.

If you have two sales reps or two teams working on the same deal for a good reason, do not double incentivize rather do a teaming agreement before the deal closes and define how achievements will be counted for each team in case of success. Overlay quotas / targets can make sense if you want to support an indirect sales channel and do not let the direct sales reps compete with your business partners hence you count the business partner achievements to the achievements and the partner sales rep may have an overlay quota that enable teamwork. But it would mean as well that your team has more resources working on the territory and target will be higher.

Create target letters to document commitment for both sides

Target Letter for Jennifer Sales for 2021 :

A target letter is accompanied by the sales incentive plan as the framework which defines how performance is measured, what counts into the numbers, all the definitions, the calculation method, conflict resolution etc.

Final remarks

Depending on your country legislation you need to have your targets in place at the beginning of the target period. In some countries you even need to pass workers council approval on the sales incentive plan. Keep this in mind.

Finally your mindset should not be driven by fear and financial impact: 'what happens if they make 300%' - your company does well and you pay only a percentage of revenues and profits for great performers. Take the opposite approach make targets challenging and assume that everyone will make 100%, celebrate the ones who do more and let them earn the extra as they contributed to your success and overachievement . If your non incentive people ask what do I get and they g et jealous, simply ask how much someone would take off his fix payment to bet on a target achievement in the next period. Not everyone wants to live on the risk of achieving targets for making the salary. Get the right people on the sales job. Enjoy the challenging targets, celebrate successes, that is inspirational and motivating.

Be aware of showboarders

Sat, 23 Jan 2021 09:40:05 GMT

Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

Be aware of showboarders

In corporate life you meet different kind of people. The ones who deliver on promises and the ones who don't. The critical ones are the ones who actually claim to deliver and surf on the wave of someone who had delivered and they claim the results for themselves. Second, the ones who take an easy project and deliver this bit but causing damage to the overall performance of the organization by missing the bigger picture. You do not need either of them.

Corporate life is more about perception than the job in a small entity. Being part of small and medium businesses the action you take have far more effect than in large organizations. The results are more visible and can impact the business faster. In large corporates the project outcome could be influenced by much more side effects and may not be as transparent compared to SME's. That is why we have far more people in large organizations that surf on the perception wave rather than creating a real value to the organization. The difficulty is to d istinguish between the ones who claim success and the ones who actually deliver results. But this is your job an an executive.

As an executive you get these messages that a project is successfully completed and the sender will get a positive response. Have a deeper look on two things: 1. what is real impact of the project and does it support the bigger picture means your strategy and 2. who really contributed to the project and should be blessed.

Why should you have a deeper look as an executive?

Let's take an example: someone introduced a new software to improve the productivity of his or her team, that is great and the team may be really happy: mission accomplished? No, because the introduction of a new software piece may not fit the larger strategy and add complexity to your IT landscape, it may even cause a disruption on the end to end business process to be effective and efficient if you only create an island in the middle but the interface to the rest of the company is manual or pushing workload to other departments. Talk to experts and experienced stakeholders on how the contribution fits to the bigger picture and in case it was more a self optimization, ask yourself the question, how can I orchestrate my investments the way that they contribute to the bigger picture. The OKR methodology may be a good way to define the strategy first, strategic goals second and then the objective on the short run. But do not reward such a project.

The point is that your employees will know if someone partied on an achievement which wasn't good for the company but rather for themselves and people will understand this as the way to do business: optimize yourself rather than the company benefit.

The second showboarder is one who claims success for something someone else delivered. How often do you get the eMail that someone wants to get you informed that a project that really makes an impact has reached its goals. Fantastic, but has the messenger been the contributor? Has the messenger outlined the team who delivered and really made the contribution? Nothing is wrong if someone is the messenger but it is important that you distinguish between the messenger and the contributor . A good manager and messenger always does this and puts the right people in front.

Why should you bother as an executive? Because your employees know who is surfing on someone else's work and contribution. Nothing is more frustrating for an employee or a team to see that someone else is messaging their contribution under the perception that the messenger is contributor. You as an executive need to spot this. If you don't, people will drop the commitment to work and going the extra mile as they will not get rewarded and won't perceive this as fair treatment. You will loose talent on the long run.

Spot the showboarders in your team and get rid of them. They harm a great company culture and a high performing team. Reward the ones for really great contribution and supporting your company strategy.

Your priority list for restructuring a business

Sat, 17 Oct 2020 11:12:56 GMT

Photo by Álvaro Serrano on Unsplash

Do you have a game plan on restructuring a business?

You have been tasked to restructure a business. That is one of the most exciting jobs you can get. It is hard work, a tough time and great fun if you succeed.

"A restructuring of an organisation is always a difficult time and delicate." Toto Wolff, F1 Team Manager Source , "You need the right balance between data and gut feeling."

In business you should work by priority. Start with what is key to continue business: cash, if you haven't got cash or you need to file chapter 11 it may get far harder to continue to do business. The second component is time, if you have a cash burning business, your time might be limited.

I come from the Tech industry but it is similar to other industries. Your business is determined by a few parameters on your P&L:

+ revenue

- direct cost (cost of goods sold)

= gross profit

- sales, general mangement and administration cost

= contribution margin

I know it is simplified and assets, investments, amortization, depreciation, tax and interest rates are important, but restructuring a business starts with the big picture. Get your P&L clean, build a forecast and get to your real cashflow prediction:

How much cash is available?
What is the cash burn rate (including tax payments and one offs)?
Do I have the ability to optimize the cash burn rate or change the cash position short term (bank debt, capital increase, reduce overdue, stretch payables)?

The outcome is your runway or how much time do I have to either take off or crash ( Gate one ). The result will determine your course of action in timing and impact. If you have enough cash or backing to make it a smooth transformation - great but in most scenarios your stakeholder may be not be as patient.

After you have understood timing and related limitations, have a look at revenue which by far is one of things people forget about and start with costs. You need to get an understanding of the forecasted revenue stream and if this is contracted recurring revenues or transactional revenue which is on risk due to the ability of the organization to create order entry. Obviously the larger the share of contracted or recurring revenue is, the better and more solid is your starting point. If revenues are on risk or going down, get to a judgement on the reasoning: lead generation, sales execution, pricing, product, market demand and mark down action items to address. Eliminate wishful thinking from the forecast and ask for real commitment of every sales person.

Starting with revenue gives you a better perspective on your cost measures. Can you actually produce the products or services in a profitable way? You can compare your gross profits to the industry and see if your are performing fine. Otherwise you need to review your direct costs. This is either manufacturing cost, purchasing of material or services, your personnel cost or other costs.

Producing products will be driven by purchasing and the right sourcing strategy. The optimization of your production cost is highly dependent on your industry hence we can only have a high level view. Personnel cost will discussed further and the utilization of assets is something you can consider shift models.

In services you may have three line items: personnel cost, other costs and third party costs. Your own personnel cost come along with organizational structure, how much of your people are billable or direct related to create revenue. Review the ratio of billable and non billable headcount. Reduce unnecessary non billable cost such as management by defining a span of control to be adopted or any staff which is non productive. Understanding your ratio of billable and non billable headcount, have a look if inefficient processes reduce the optimization of more outcome per headcount and note further actions to improve.

Have a look into utilization in general and understand if you can improve utilization of assets or people. Many times on the people side there are internal tasks recorded to show utilization but this isn't billable by definition hence you need to reduce and fence internal tasks, optimize and best eliminate them. In complacent organizational cultures you find quite good utilization but if you break it up to the ones which can really generate revenue, you find a lot of waste in processes and tasks. Eliminating waste will determine the need of assets and and number of people going forward to generate the top line you have forecasted.

That has a direct impact why you actually source personnel externally , if you can fully utilize an external resource, it should be cheaper to hire such a headcount. Hence revisit all external suppliers if this can't be done internally by your optimized utilization.

You see that processes determine the need of HC, the optimization of utilization, the elimination of waste. Obviously the cost per headcount is the a second review topic after the quantity. Don't miss the skills and qualification of your team, just looking at cost and quantity is not good enough. Great skills are normally sellable at higher rates, being more productive and pay out.

The other cost are normally not the biggest part of the issue but there are buckets of saving potentials such as facilities, communication cost and finally required travel and entertainment cost.

If you have gone through your revenue forecast and direct cost projections, you figure out if the business is capable of producing decent gross profits benchmarked with the industry. that is a second gate to succeed after your cash projection.

Your SG&A need to be paid by your gross profits. Have a good understanding of the industry benchmark of SG&A spendings. See if you can match those and have a look into your processes how do you generate leads, manage opportunities and close deals. In many cases the cost per deal is too high because you still use outdated sales approaches such as cold calling, wining and dining. Today digital marketing can be used in all B2C and B2B businesses to generate leads effectively and improve sales costs per deals significantly as you are far more precise in addressing relevant customer segments hence reducing costs. Do not save too much marketing and sales, as this is always easy, but you need to generate and commit to your revenue forecast.

Same applies for your administration processes, have a look at industry benchmarks and understand if you have digitized your processes such as procure to pay or lead to order or automated billing. Did you have your HR processes turned into end to end digitized processes to eliminate manual work such as an applicant portal with workflows or employee and manager self service for HR tasks. That does not only save money but is easy and convenient to use and increases motivation. The user experience will improve.

Don't forget general management , have a look that you have great talents and skilled people on the team and pay them well as you have a tough hill to climb if you restructure a business but have a look in span of control, roles and responsibilities. You may be able to reduce whole levels of management and concentrate execution at the right level by an optimized organizational setup. Eliminating a level of management brings quite significant savings and speeds up execution by reducing complexity.

Gate three is if your gross profit after all optimizations will carry your SG&A costs. If this is a positive tick in the box. You have a great chance to succeed technically.

Now the tricky bit comes to play, you need a couple of things to execute successfully on a good plan:

1. Have a good communication plan and team to explain your restructuring plans and get as many people on board as you can. Give regular updates on the progress, outcomes and projects. Motivation of the teams is key to have a positive momentum.

2. Have a program office that governs the change projects with the responsible project managers and reviews the progress, outcome and road blockers. Create a cadence of regular reviews such as every two weeks to keep the momentum and execute swiftly. Change if it is required. Make managers or executives sponsors for projects to link accountability to people.

3. Focus on priorities , don't start too many projects in parallel. Focus on the most important ones with the biggest impact first. Have a look at dependencies and manage those. Start finishing and stop starting may be a good advice at a certain stage.

4. Keep your stakeholders in the loop and check if you have their full support otherwise you are in a lost position.

5. Finally have a regular review if all parameters of your plan come together: cash, time, revenue, cost, profits and spirit of the teams.

Restructuring of businesses is an exciting, tough and stressfull job but really wonderful if you delivered something exceptional with your team. It only works with a great, talented and skilled team.

Hire talented people and empower them otherwise you suffer

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 20:40:31 GMT

Photo by Drew Graham on Unsplash

Hire the best people and empower them to drive results

There is this famous quote from Steve Jobs : 'It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.' Source: Inc.com . That is obviously to the point. You are searching for great talented people with potential to drive your business on all levels. If you found a great leader or expert, who can transform and lead your business, you shouldn't tell her or him what to do because you actually fall to old habits in doing the things the way you have did them before. So why hiring great talent and not just continue as is ?

The first issue is with the decision makers who decided to get great talent on board. They either are not ready to empower people , or they are love control too much or they are afraid of people leading and motivating the team. No matter why, it is obvious that great talented people will not be able to leverage their potential in such an environment and will earlier or later face demotivation.

Larry Ellison was talking to founders on developing businesses: '...all of a sudden, you have to hire managers and you have to let go of certain parts of the business... I think the most important thing about scaling ... I think the people who scale successfully have one critical skill. They can identify and attract really good people.' Source

The second inhibitor for change - that should be the reason why you have hired great talents is about driving change - are organizational and cultural boundaries. If you have a cultural or organizational setup which blocks required change, you need to think about changing both. Hiring a great talent isn't good enough, you need to establish the framework and enviroment for success.

Hire the right skill to run your business rather than engaging consultants to do so

There is a rumor at Oracle that consultants are not engaged to advise how to run the business because that shows that you haven't got the right people on board to run it on your own hence you should better get talent hired to run your business successfully. A lot of companies hire consultants to analyze the broken business and pass the ugly message to the workforce on what has to change instead of the management. They fear burning themselves on bad news in certain cases.

This is not about great leadership and the employees spot easily that the management is hiding behind the external consultancy. People know if something is broken and expect good leadership to take action and communicate the plan to get well. You generate much more motivation in doing so and people will buy in and deliver on the mission.

Revisit why you hired talent to your business:

you were not satisfied with the performance
you lost market share
your team isn't motivated
you won't deliver on your strategic goals

Understand what are the road blockers to success:

Lack of skills or leadership
Organizational setup or business processes
Cultural issues
Product strategy
Market challenges

Listen to what the talents tell you what to do and if you agree to the plan, support and empower them to drive the required change. Do not tell them what to do or let the old organizational and cultural setup which causes the problems, make them fail. Talented people have multiple opportunities and will leave companies which are not ready to support the mission they have been put on.

'..all of a sudden, you have to hire...' talented leaders ' ...and you have to let go of certain parts of the business... I think the most important thing about scaling. I think the people who scale successfully have one critical skill. They can identify and attract really good people . ..' Larry Ellison

Steve Jobs: 'It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do. '

The conclusion: Let your skilled and talented people build their teams, organize their businesses and processes along required boundaries but don't block the business or leave it as is and don't get surprised what you get in return. This is your call and not the talents decision.

Digital Transformation: Procure to Pay P2P

Sat, 08 Aug 2020 10:31:07 GMT

Photo by Josh Appel on Unsplash

'Doing twice of the work in half of the time'

'The art of doing twice of the work in half of the time' is a book title from Jeff Sutherland the co-writer of the agile manifesto. Digital and automated procure to pay processes may have some small elements of agile but the key message is that the efficiency gain on a digitized procure to pay process ( P2P ) should be in this range.

Why is procure to pay a relatively easy first step into digital transformation ?

First, almost every company has a procurement process. It is not overly complex.
Second, a lot of companies have not digitized the process yet or only parts of it but the benefit comes from an end to end solution.

What is an automated and digitized end to end ( E2E ) procure to pay process about?

Everyday a company receives invoices for something, someone has ordered. Already midsized businesses have five digit numbers of invoices. How is the traditional process run? Someone orders a service or a good at a vendor, best case your ERP system has already all vendors in place and the purchase order (PO) has been sent by letter or eMail. After a while you receive an invoice in regards to this PO. The invoice need to checked and booked into your accounting system. The process is highly manual , has repeatedly manual entries, a good chance for failure and little governance and control.

If you run a fully digitized P2P process, your business user is initiating the procure to pay process and it should proceed as follows:

1. Creation of a purchase order

The business user has a demand and creates a purchase request. The purchase request (PR) is assigned to a cost center or a project. It will be checked against the available budget. A supplier recommendation may be entered. Now the PR will be sent for approval through a fully digitized workflow based on rules to the relevant stakeholders (e.g. Purchasing). After approval, the purchase order (PO) is created and send automatically to the supplier. With this approval your purchasing and finance department has a real time view of cost which will occur in the coming periods.

2. Delivery of goods or service along with an invoice

At some point in time your company receives a delivery note, invoice and / or other documents. The documents will be either scanned on electronic receive (e.g. eMail) or physically.

These electronic documents will now path the capturing and extraction process to capture and extract all relevant data in an automated fashion, such as the supplier, the bank account, the items, prices, taxes etc. Modern systems use artificial intelligence to get a high recognition rate to process the documents without manual intervention. Important at this point is that the systems can access the available information in e.g. your ERP systems such as vendor information, purchase order number to match the invoice to right the PO. If a deviation is recognized or a threshold is exceeded a workflow starts automatically to get this reviewed by the accountant, purchaser or management.

3. Booking of invoices

You have received your invoice and the business user may need to confirm the receipt of goods and services, this will be all done by a digital workflow or you don't need a confirmation, based on rules you can automatically approve the invoice. The approved invoice will be booked into your accounting system straight away, no need for manual work. All invoices are archived and available for review at any time. Governance and Compliance requirements can be easy implemented.

4. Governance, compliance and control

By having all data in a digital format, you can run all kinds of reports and create a dashboard to manage, forecast and control your process. Some areas you may look into is: spend by vendor, price per unit, approval cycle times, searching a PO in the process, invoices without PO etc. You will be able to spot potential overspent and fraud.

Side Remark:

If you use Artificial Intelligence (AI) beyond the data extraction task, you can benefit from even more automated and self learning workflows and exception handling. In addition you analytics and fraud recognition can be highly sophisticated.

Benefits for the company

You may think that the benefits is saving headcount in finance, accounting, purchasing that may be a business case but from experience, you gain even more by getting full transparency on your spend, the prediction, the compliance, the quality, the vendor selection etc.. User normally like the process as it is fast, transparent and easy to use. Ready for a digital workplace age.

How do I get there?

Good question, you should already have an ERP system in place and those are normally limited on handling documents and flexible workflows as required above. Hence you choose one of the procure to pay process platforms available in the market, there are many.

Ariba (c) from SAP (c) is potentially the largest one but most companies suffer by its complexity and cost. It has a certain target group. You may not even been in the position that you can dictate your suppliers how the PO process will be defined or how invoice need to look like hence you need a flexible system with a manageable complexity and cost that allows a good ROI.

A few checkpoints:

Does the software vendor cover the required processes you need as mentioned above?
Run a workshop on the requirements and match it with the recommended process by the software supplier. Do not overcomplicate the process and take advice to stay as close to standards as you can.
Does the platform run as an application within your ERP system and is integrated or is it a separate application which connects to your ERP system? How good and deep is this integration to receive information and automate the process?
Do you intend to run the whole process in the cloud and e.g. integrate vendors for biding as well on the long run or do you run this on premise in your own datacenter? Recap new versions of ERP systems will be more likely cloud based.
How flexible is the workflow engine as workflows will change regualry? Can your business users (subject matter experts (SME)) change workflows by drag and drop on a user friendly interface or is that hard scripting from an IT Consultant?
What is the capturing process about? Is it a static rule engine that is hard coded and every new document layout on a new vendor will create IT Consulting efforts or is it self learning and training by e.g. artificial intelligence (machine learning)?
Do you have international invoices and documents in different languages, that adds complexity and need to be evaluated?
Do you have different legal entities with different ERP systems? If yes, that should not cause a problem to run a centralized P2P platform, if your software vendor does support this setup. It has actually even bigger gains on transparency and compliance. You can manage the P2P process including cost and cash flow forecasts across your corporation despite local entities.

The next opportunities:

Think about integrating contract management on day one because your vendor may have a frame contract, a master supplier agreement and other legal documents. This is a highly paper driven process and should be included as soon as possible.
Do you need your suppliers bidding for a Request for proposal ( RFP ), that can be done online, is this possible with the platform chosen?
You capture, extract documents and archive them during the process. Can this technology being used by e.g. HR to capture work contracts to get to a digital employee file?
You can implement to rank your vendors on quality, experience etc.

Implementing an automated and digitized end to end procure to pay process creates great and fast benefits for most companies. It is a must in a digital transformation and low risk if it's done right. The ROI should be less than one year otherwise the implementation is too complex or the selected platform too complicated.

Your business user will love you for an easy and user friendly process. Just get started.

Strategy execution: Timing matters

Sat, 01 Aug 2020 12:07:50 GMT

Photo by Erik Witsoe on Unsplash

Timing is more important than you thought

You have been given a challenge, a special project or starting a new leadership role. Timing matters more than you may have thought. Let's assume you have been taken a new leadership role on restructuring a loss making business . Stop the bleeding may be determined by the amount of cash, bank debts or shareholder commitments you have before you run out of cash . Or you have got a new assignment to turn a business into a growth mode . Depending on your industry and sector hiring and sell cycles are long, hence if you do not start now, there is no impact this quarter, year etc.. You can do the right things but when timing is wrong you will not succeed in the timeframe expected and suffer.

Different scenarios where timing is crucial :

Loss making businesses need funding to turn them around. Determine the time is needed to stop the bleeding on a monthly base and have a good understanding on the funding you may get from existing cash, bank debts or other stakeholders. You measures in e.g. top-line growth, cost cutting or bank negotiations or capital increases may set your priorities . Everything else is less important as this can become a tipping point like zero or one.

Growth cases require products or services ready to sell, a marketing execution which hits the ground and a sales team that is ready to close deals. You are in January and your boss has approved investments into marketing and sales which need to pay out before year end. You need four campaigns to generate leads and five more sales reps to qualify the leads and close opportunities. If your hiring time is three to six month, you need to put your job posting out there before you even start developing your marketing campaigns or sales playbook because you have a team ready to execute in July at best and your ROI within one year is now solely depending on the sales cycles of your business and the readiness of your portfolio. If the portfolio isn't ready yet, get this done second and prepare trainings for the existing and new teams, right after you look into the marketing execution and how to accelerate the lead generation e.g. by an agency to have a pipeline when your sales team is ready for execution. Automate your proposal and order taking processes as a next step that your sales execution is not suffering from administrative overload.

External events determine your timeline, e.g. the key fair or a legislation topic such as GDPR compliance. In this case you need to consider what you need by when to be ready to address the challenge and in case you can't make it, think about a plan how you can avoid a negative impact for the business.

There may be more scenarios which will impact your planning, strategy and execution. But timing may significantly change your priorities on doing things. It can jeopardize the best practice cookbook doing things in sequence. That makes the significant difference between strategy creation and strategy execution. The second is the more difficult one and there are far less people in the industry who can do the execution part properly.

From my business experience you need to evaluate the following topics to do a quick check if your timing is right or crucial to succeed:

Ressources that determine timing:

Do I have cash, investment funds & headcount, authority to develop the business or is there a limitation which determines the timeline and priorities?
Is the limitation on ressources a hard stop (go / no go) or something which is manageable?

Time to execution (readiness):

Do I have the product and services to sell to generate top-line if not what is the mitigation strategy or the timeline to get it fixed?
Do I have opportunities to change e.g. cost structures if needed as long term contracts on spending run out or a loss making customer contract is up for renegotiation? What does it take to implement other measures?
Do I have the processes and skills within the business to execute the plan? If not, what does it take to get ready for execution. Hiring cycles, process changes and IT implementation take time. Do not underestimate ramp up time for your teams in training and communication.

Time to impact:

How long is the time that the measures will make an impact such as marketing lead generation, sales cycles, cost cuttings? E.g. software license sales has an immediate impact on top-line while cloud subscriptions have a larger impact on the next fiscal year. Lease agreements may only have an impact when the contract period is over while other spendings have immediate impact.

KPIs to measure:

Do I have a financial modeling on the impact on a monthly base which is realistic to predict and measure the impact?

When you take all of this into account and you have a good plan which can change on its way as the world has become more agile but the good plan needs a few more things to get you to succeed:

Experience and skills on your team are crucial. Diverse teams can master challenges better. Always have a look if the team has the ability to execute
Communication and empathy is a key success factor. Great plans suffer if the team does not understand the why and how.
Expectation management is most important. You always have stakeholders in your business and they need to have realistic expectations on your plan. Do not overpromise and underdeliver that will reduce trust and harm your reputation. Be realistic, clear and communicate frequently even on deviations to your plan which can happen if you are in a changing environment.

At the end it all comes to the leadership skills you need to get a job done that includes courage and expertise. The fun on achieving a challenge with a great team and celebrate the success is what leads to happiness.

Transformation: Do we miss courage?

Sun, 05 Jul 2020 19:04:53 GMT

Photo by Sammie Vasquez on Unsplash

What a leader needs to transform a business

Transformation requires courage as change is never easy and it will face resistance. Human beings like their comfort zone and it needs a good change management strategy and execution to transform businesses.

We look at great entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs who transformed a whole industry, but it is a myth that only founders can transform companies. The capability of being a leader does not require to be a founder. Even paid managers can turn into great leaders . When John Legere started as the CEO of T-Mobile US and announced his ‘uncarrier strategy’, some people at the HQ in Bonn may have thought this is crazy – the rest is history - John and the team changed one of the largest mobile markets globally. No worries, not everybody needs a slow cooking channel on social media.

Transformation strategy

A transformation strategy can be driven by different fact e.g. digitization or turning from loss making to profitable growth.

Just saving cost may be an option if you restructure a company and you run out of money but it is not a strategy, it’s a measure. Saving cost or financial cosmetics may generate short term wins and profits but if you miss the development of the business, the restructuring case will be even bigger on the long run. In contrast efficiency and effectiveness might be strategic goals , achieving the same result with less resources but it does not replace the overall strategy on developing the company it can be just one component.

Transformation means that the business model, the people, the processes or the products change to develop the business to the next stage and striving for a bright future aligned with the market and serving customer needs – and yes – there is always a customer.

Impact

Changing the business model impacts the organization and customers, changing people will have an impact on your whole team and some may like it and some will not. The same applies for product and process developments.

You will go through the typical phases of change: forming, storming, norming and performing (proposed by Bruce Tuckman already in 1965). Depending on the stage of your organization the change can take longer and the resistance may be bigger, the amount of measures is larger.

Skills

Hence a leader of a transformation requires the right skills to do a transformation. It requires courage as the resistance may be tough and people who do not want to or cannot change could be hard to deal with. Politics can kick in to avoid change and form opinions to slow down the transformation. The leaders of such a transformation require support for their journey towards the desired stage. If your stakeholders have never been exposed to a transformation or miss the right understanding of the business, they may fear the noise around such a transformational journey in absence of a better approach.

You need courage to move a whole company from the comfort zone to the high-performance ambitions required to be a leader in the industry. People will struggle with speed as e.g. IT product life cycles in the good old days have been two years and today, they are three to six months. Sales needs to move from wining and dining towards digital marketing strategies to generate business. The world around most business has become faster, more uncertain, less predictable and not having only one road to success. Read about VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) in leadership theory (see leadership theories of Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus in 1985). The world changes hence companies and businesses need to too.

The adoption of newest technology, different customer expectations and the new way of working is a given to succeed in most businesses hence you need to transform your business. Special leadership skills are required to do so. Communication skills, industry expertise , strategic thinking and the ability to execute are few of those to transform a business. But courage is a capability transformational leader defiantly need as it is not ‘a walk in the park’ at the beginning – you push to leave comfort zones and the team which goes along with you, needs to change as well in the way they work.

Transformation strategies normally fail if

you try to make everyone happy and compromise on the execution of the strategy too much as transformation is not a small incremental change,
you as the leader are not empowered to take the measures needed and have complex decision-making processes which slows down the execution. People may loose motivation if they feel like fighting against windmills,
you do not communicate the purpose of the transformation to understand the why.

Transformation will succeed if

you have a sound strategy, the right team, skills, confidence and get your stakeholders on board ,
you lead by example and be a role model,
you break down your strategy to strategic goals, objectives and key results (see OKR),
you communicate lighthouse projects which are easy to understand on their positive impact and purpose.

Summary

At the end you need a team which loves challenges and takes as many people along as they can. People like the successful transformation stories but they have little confidence on the journey – transformational leaders must have the right skill set , being emphatic , sensitive to change and the impact but have the courage to execute the strategy for the better despite resistance.

Talent management: How to set the path for success for your company

Sun, 07 Jun 2020 18:16:28 GMT

Photo by Guille Álvarez on Unsplash

How to discover and develop your talents

Today, it is harder to attract talented people and to convince them to join your team. There are a lot of opportunities out there. Hence, discovering and developing talents within your organization becomes even more important. But how can this be conducted?

Diversity is key for a great team

Diversity has many aspects. It starts with gender, culture and nationalit y, but experience, age, skills and other aspects do matter as well.

First, it is important to understand if you have the right skills in your company to run a well-oiled machine. That means you need excellence in process, industry and people skills. If you miss one of those, you either need to hire or train your people. Hiring from outside the organization gives you fast access to excellent skills but it may be perceived as limiting career opportunities for the existing team. Still, compromising on people decisions should never be an option.

In the end, it is important to find a good mix between your team being put on the right job, the excellence you may get from hiring and the talents you develop for a great future. This can lead to a good diversity in all aspects. Diversity will lead to better decisions and a great performance if you can form this team of excellence.

As a leader take your decision on the skills you need and understand the skills you have.

Discover your talents for your company’s future

If you join a management team which consists of white males in the 50ties that have this close network which is hard to join, the young talents in your company may not receive a signal that there is a development opportunity.

Announce a talent program and let the top talents of the company be nominated by all managers to a talent pool . Depending of the size of the company you may have various talent pools by business unit and by talent level, such as leaders, managers or experts. The talent pool should be less than 10% of your employees.

Talent pools should be split by expert and leadership path as the future development varies a lot. The experts should be able to follow on a non-management career path which equals at least the job level and payment of the first management position.

You will have two major learnings of this nomination process. The old saying will turn true: A-Player hires A-Player and B-Player hires C-Player . That means you will see nomination from managers which will not reflect your expectation of a top talent. B-Players play save that the nomination will not cause an issue for their own position but limit the ability to spot your talents. You can judge on your team of leaders or managers as well by the nominations given.

Second, there will be jealousy . Some employees will not be happy and may oppose. A good, honest and transparent communication around the program is mandatory and it should focus on the advantages for the organization, the individuals and the investment.

Get the process structured.

First of all, communicate purpose and meaning – this will attract especially young talents.

Discover the best talents in your organization by structuring the process to get optimal results.

1. Support the nomination by a set of criteria : team management-, social-, communication-skills, performance, engagement, positive attitude etc.. Let everybody rank the capabilities from 10 to 1 to get a comparable picture.

2. Establish a talent review board with your direct reports where all nominated potential talents will be discussed and reevaluated. That means that your team needs to agree on the talent pool.

3. Rank the talents in two dimensions: Performance and Potential. Both dimensions have three levels: poor, average, high. That leads to nine clusters from no talent to top talent. You get your talent grid.

Picture: talent grid

Invest in your talents

As soon as you have your first talent pool, you need to make an evaluation on the gaps to close by education . You make a clear statement when your greatest talents of the company will get the best education possible. This needs to be perceived as an investment into each individual and make people stay.

Normally, you have development areas such as value creation, change management or business models as well as leadership skills to get your talent pool ready for future leadership roles. Choose a good business school to run this training as a corporate program . That forms your talent team by spending time together while they come from all business units of your company.

Second, provide an assignment for your top talents in your talent pool to identify strengths and spot gaps and provide the talent an external opinion on themselves by one of the well known models e.g. Meyer Briggs or others. It gives the talent the opportunity to reflect on its own capabilities.

Today, millennials in general have different priorities than the baby boomer generation. Work-live-balance is much more important. For your talent pool it is quite interesting to spot the development potential but as well the ability to execute in challenging environments. Hence, put your top talents on special projects with C-Level exposure to figure out who has the ability to get projects done and being eager to learn even from failures. You will see who is willing to match your investment in going the extra mile.

Get every talent a sponsor assignment as a mentor . Ideally, the mentor is obviously superior to the talent and from a different business line. Content of mentoring sessions should stay confidential and mentorship is not lip service, the leader needs to free up time to get a talent coached.

The talent program needs to be supported from the CEO all the way down through the organization. It is probably the most important investment a company can take.

Limit the program – it should be dynamic

Once you have a talent pool, your nominees may be disappointed if they need to leave the pool. To avoid this problem, make it clear that a talent pool nomination is valid for a period of time e.g. one year and afterwards everyone is dropped out. By nomination on the next talent review, board people may be renominated but there is no automatism. This gives others the opportunity to benefit from the education program.

Talent programs come with succession planning and vice versa

Every manager in your organization should have at least one potential successor which should be discussed as part of your talent review board. The potential successors can come from the team or other business unit. They are ranked by the status of readiness: Ready now (to take the role), ready within 1 year, ready within 2-3 years or no successor. The no successor positions should be flagged as risks to manage. Your managers can not proceed their career if they haven’t developed a successor.

As the CEO you need to be the role model

It is important that everyone understands that the CEO is choosing the top leaders of the company from the existing team or external hires. But there is talent team being prepared to fill the next available leader role to achieve the diversity and change you need over time.

Give your talents your full support even if jealously or doubt come up. You chose your team for the things they are able to deliver in the future and not what they achieved in the past. There will be discussions and may be rumors that you will need to deal with by pushing your talents in key roles. So get them prepared as well as you can and do not limit their career path for political reasons. On the long run it will always pay out.

Give your few absolute high potentials the ability to take a seat in the boardroom as soon as you can so that everyone sees the opportunity for his or her own career. Make that commitment to develop the best people will be visible. You will see a great team growing and you will get your company prepared for the future.

By coaching young talented people, you learn a lot for your own and stay connected to your future C-Levels. Create an atmosphere of trust and support but let them take their decisions. You will see that some values are the same as in the past but others, such as commitment to diversity or work-life-balance, are being much more important. On the other hand, the talents will learn that a trustful business network will have its value and needs to be built and maintained. The way people want work today, e.g. from home, has changed and I can tell you from experience that it is refreshing when those talents challenge your team at the boardroom. That is what a company needs to strive for the next level. Never compromise on people decisions, give them all your support and the return on invest will be great.

Marketing Automation: How to attract new customers?

Sat, 30 May 2020 11:11:46 GMT

Photo by JJ Ying on Unsplash

Building a sales pipeline has changed

The world of business to business marketing has changed. A cool website, telesales or a booth on a fair is not good enough any longer. Mail catalogues or print collateral is outdated for more than a decade. The word of mouth recommendation is valuable but no scaling enough. Today, marketing leads are generated through a different marketing mix. Has your marketing plan changed already?

The new thing is agile content marketing . Members of a buying center do not gather information on fairs to create a shortlist on suppliers to decide on an investment any more. Decision makers and influencers are getting younger, but more important, they collect information on the internet and social media to prepare a decision. To get on these shortlists, your company needs to be present, attractive and convincing.

Step 1: Get found

Search engine optimization

Prospects should find your offering, therefore it is important that your website is found by keywords which describe your offering best. Your teams need to define the keywords that would allow different target groups to search for your offering. Your website needs SEO (search engine optimization) that means the keywords need to part of your content and the headlines.

Search engine advertisement

By promoting a number of landing pages through search engine advertisement with content which is relevant for your target groups, you can get your website to the top ten of the search results . CxO landing pages have different content compared to the ones for the purchaser or technician.

The KPI for measuring your success is the number of top ten search results of your website depending on your defined keywords. Keep in mind that no one will search for your company name first.

Step 2: Content matters - Digital Content Marketing

Simple ads are not good enough any longer. The click through rates (CTRs) will be low hence the campaign will be expensive. The user will search for interesting and relevant content on his topic and the company who delivers best will get the click. Relevant content today is multilevel and depending on the target group (persona). Videos, white papers, customer reference stories or strategy papers are relevant content that will be found on a keyword search to initiate a click. Highly relevant content such as a market study may convince the user to leave his data for a download.

On the download page there needs to be a next step offered, a call to action to guide the user further. By offering a webinar, an event registration or other content you get the user closer to your offering. Obviously, the data left by the user needs to be collected in accordance with GDPR regulations . Using the user data you can stay connected with your prospect and provide regular updates.

Tip : forms need to be short to be successful - name, eMail, telephone number should be good enough

Step 3: Serve your contacts

By using great content in conjunction with Search Engine Optimization and Advertising you have collected contacts which need to be served. To maintain those contacts you need to have a regular drum beat of valuable insights and further relevant content to make them stay and engage . Two things are important:

1. Every interaction needs to be valuable for your user

2. Every interaction has a next step, a call to action

There are great analytic tools out there to measure what works and what did not work as well, e.g.

Number of visitors - where is traffic coming from
Bounce rate - was the content and user experience good enough
Session duration - has the content being read
Interactions - did user share or like your content

Agile Content Marketing means that the things you have tried ( campaigns ) are verified to adopt or change. Learning from things which have worked or haven't is important to improve over time.

Side remark: Brand and Reputation:

Your company is perceived by prospects and customers through your reputation. Obviously the offering, products and solutions are a big part of it, but there are more reputation drivers that matter:

Corporate Social Responsibility
Vision & Leadership
Work Environment
Financial Performance

Your company reputation needs to have a positive momentum. Employees, applicants, customers, prospects, business partners, investors are influenced by your reputation. Let customers and employees be your advocates for positive corporate citizenship. Nobody really wants to buy from a problem company.

News on the employee or social engagement will cause positive interactions on social media and support a great company culture and let your traffic grow.

Step 4: Scale and have fans - social media:

You need to have a presence on social media today. These channels will bring you more contacts and interactions than any other channel, plus, being active on social media will boost your ranking on search engines. Be present and share the great and relevant content here. Take advantage of your employees and business partner to distribute your posts to scale. Make it easy for your team to share the news by preparing tweets and posts for sharing.

Take social media as a distribution channel , to complement the web, newsletters, search engines to direct traffic to your website. Use it as well to build a community , that you can interact with quickly and cost efficient. The frequency on social media is higher, a post a day is normal.

Your social media team needs to be trained and enabled to react fast if a negative topic appears. Speed matters if you want to avoid that a negative post becomes a shitstorm.

Step 5: Marketing Leads turn into Sales Leads

At the end of your contact acquisition comes Lead Nurturing . The user has been guided through different interactions and consumed content on a topic, now it is time to reach out and qualify the lead . Figure out if the contact is a decision maker, influencer etc. and understand if there is a project, a budget and timeline. These are not the only criteria but it is important to rank the lead and turn the good ones to sales leads.

By qualifying the marketing to a sales lead you take the decision that you start the costy sales process. Hand it over from a marketing automation platform to the CRM system and get the sales process started.

A good marketing automation platform allows you to automate most of the steps, the analytics and the ranking. Follow up what the cost of a marketing or sales lead ( cost per lead ) have been. It can easily take 50 -250 Euro to have a marketing lead.

Step 6: Sales process

After the handover to sales the sales leads get further developed and turn into opportunities depending on your sales stage model. Cost per revenue and conversion rates are key figures to measure. The better your marketing process has worked the higher your closing rates in sales that saves sales costs. There are more factors you need to take into account such as sales skills, complexity of your offering, price points, value proposition, return on invest etc.. You can measure all of them, learn and adopt.

Summary:

Your Marketing Mix will become more digital and automated. A great marketing automation platform together with relevant content can achieve a lot. The traditional fairs, collaterals, events have their place but can be prepared and followed up much more efficiently.

Think of your target groups and buyer personas to create valuable content for all of them. Scale your contact base by using social media and search engines. The mechanics how many marketing leads will trigger how much sales leads, opportunities and deals will develop over time. Get it measured, adopt and learn to optimize. Never loose track on the cost per lead and revenue. That works with small and large budgets from SME to enterprises.

Wie gewinne ich neue Kunden?

Fri, 29 May 2020 17:28:13 GMT

Photo by JJ Ying on Unsplash

Sales Pipeline aufbauen hat sich verändert

Im Business to Business Bereich hat sich die Marketing-Welt verändert. Eine coole Website, Telemarketing oder ein Messestand alleine reicht nicht mehr. Mund zu Mund Propaganda ist wertvoll, skaliert aber nicht gut. Heute werden Marketing Leads in einem anderen Marketing Mix generiert.

Das Schlagwort heißt Agiles Content Marketing . Mitglieder eines Buying Centers (Einkaufsgremiums) informieren sich kaum mehr über einen Messebesuch um ihre Shortlist der potentiellen Anbieter für eine Kaufentscheidung im B2B Investitionsbereich auszuwählen. Die Entscheider und Entscheidungsvorbereiter sind zum einen jünger geworden, aber vor allem nutzen Sie das Internet und soziale Medien zur Informationsbeschaffung für eine Kaufentscheidung. Neben den bekannten Anbietern kommen also nur diese Unternehmen in die Auswahl, die präsent, attraktiv sind und überzeugen.

Schritt 1: Gefunden werden

Suchmaschinenoptimierung

Potentielle Kunden sollen das Angebot Ihres Unternehmens finden, dafür ist es wichtig, dass die gängigen Suchmaschinen zu bestimmten Schlagwörtern (Keywords) , die Ihr Angebot perfekt beschreiben, Sie auch finden. D.h. Sie müssen mit Ihren Teams die Schlagworte definieren, die bestimmte Personengruppen (Personas) mit Ihrem Angebot verbinden, Ihre Website SEO (Search Engine Optimization) optimieren, d.h. die richtigen Schlagworte auf der Website und den Headlines nutzen.

Suchmaschinenwerbung

Unterstützt wird dies durch das Bewerben der entsprechenden Landingpages mit Inhalt für die relevante Personengruppe auf Ihrer Website durch Werbung auf den Suchmaschinen . CxO Landingpages haben andere Inhalte zum gleichen Angebot als die Landingpage des Einkäufers oder Technikers.

Die Messgröße des Erfolges ist die Anzahl der Top Ten Suchergebnisse für Ihr Angebot entlang Ihrer definierten Keywords. Niemand, der Sie nicht kennt, sucht nach Ihrem Unternehmensnamen.

Schritt 2: Inhalt zählt - Digitales Content Marketing

Einfache Werbung funktioniert kaum noch, die click through rates (CTRs) sind niedrig und dann wird es wird teuer. Der Nutzer schaut nach interessantem und relevantem Inhalt zu seinem Thema oder seiner Fragestellung und wenn Ihr Unternehmen diesen Inhalt liefert, dann bekommen Sie auch Clicks auf Ihre Website. Relevanter Inhalt ist heute mehrstufig und abhängig von der Personengruppe. Videos, Whitepapers, Referenzstories von zufriedenen Kunden oder strategische Erläuterungen sind relevanter Inhalt, der bei der Suche gefunden werden will und den Nutzer zum Click auf Ihre Website motiviert. Ist der Content wirklich relevant, z.B. eine Marktstudie, dann ist der Nutzer bereit seine Daten für den Download zur Verfügung zu stellen.

Auf der Downloadseite bieten Sie immer den nächsten relevanten Inhalt an, z.B. eine Referenzkundenstory mit dem Nutzen des Kunden. Über die Daten, die Sie natürlich DSGVO konform mit Zustimmung erheben, können Sie den Nutzer zu einem Webinar, Veranstaltungen oder weiterem Inhalt einladen. Über die Daten können Sie regelmäßig mit relevantem Content z.B. über Newsletter in Kontakt bleiben.

Tipp: Kurze Formulare zur Eingabe der Daten sind viel erfolgreicher - Name, E-Mail und Telefonnummer reichen völlig

Schritt 3: Kontakte pflegen

Über die Suchmaschinenoptimierung und -werbung in Verbindung mit gutem Inhalt haben Sie nun Ihre Kontakte gesammelt. Es ist wichtig diese weiter zu 'bespielen'. Regelmäßige Kontaktpflege mit zielgruppengerechtem Inhalt hält Sie im Spiel und bei Interesse folgt der nächste Schritt. Wichtig ist auch, dass jede Interaktion mit dem Kontakt zwei Kriterien erfüllt:

1. Die Interaktion muss für den Nutzer relevant und wertvoll sein

2. Es gibt am Ende dem Nutzer im einen nächsten Schritt vor, den Call to Action

Über gute Analytics Tools können Sie genau messen, was funktioniert und was nicht, z.B.:

Besucherzahlen nachhalten - wo kommt Ihr Traffic eigentlich her
Absprungraten messen - ist das Thema nicht relevant oder die Seite schlecht gestaltet
Verweildauer auf der Seite messen - wird der Inhalt konsumiert
Interaktionen prüfen - wird die Seite geliked oder geshared, folgt der nächste Schritt

Agiles Contant Marketing heißt auch, die Dinge (Kampagnen) regelmäßig zu prüfen , anzupassen oder neu aufzusetzen. Damit lernen Sie, was funktioniert und was nicht.

Exkurs zur Marke und Reputation:

Ihr Unternehmen wird von Kunden und potentiellen Kunden über Ihre Reputation wahrgenommen. Natürlich steht Ihr Leistungsangebot vielfach im Vordergrund, aber folgende Faktoren gehen zunehmend in die Kaufentscheidungen ein:

Soziales Engagement
Vision & Führung
Arbeitsumfeld
Finanzkennzahlen

Ihre Unternehmensreputation muss positiv besetzt sein und hier spielt auch das Führungsteam eine wesentliche Rolle. Mitarbeiter, Kunden, Geschäftspartner äussern sich positiv zu Ihrem Unternehmen und Ihr gesellschaftliches Engagement wird idealerweise wahrgenommen. Niemand macht gerne Geschäfte mit oder arbeitet für problembehaftete Unternehmen.

Nachrichten zum Team oder Ihrem sozialen Engagement werden für gute Resonanz sorgen und auch Ihr Employer Branding verbessern.

Schritt 4: Skalieren und Communities aufbauen - Soziale Medien:

Die Präsenz in den sozialen Medien ist heute wichtiger den je. Sie werden über diese Kanäle mehr Kontakt und Interaktionen generieren, als über irgendeinen anderen Kanal. Sie müssen also präsent sein und Ihre guten Inhalte hier bewerben und teilen. Nutzen Sie Ihre Mitarbeiter und Partner um zu skalieren. D ie Follower Ihrer Mitarbeiter können Sie einbinden, indem Sie Ihrem Team vorgefertigte Tweets und Posts zur Verfügung stellen.

Sehen Sie es zum einen als Kommunikationskanal , der neben dem Web und den Suchmaschinen Ihre Inhalte transportiert und Traffic auf die Website leitet. Nutzen Sie es aber auch um eine Community aufzubauen , die Sie immer schnell und kostengünstig informieren können. Die Frequenz in den sozialen Medien ist deutlich höher, einige Meldungen und Interaktionen pro Woche sollten es schon sein.

Ihr Social Media Team sollten Sie ausbilden und mit der Entscheidungskompetenz zu Inhalten ausstatten, damit es schnell reagieren kann. Im Fall eines negativen Posts sind solche schnellen und guten Antwortmöglichkeiten zwingend, damit sich nichts hochschaukelt. So werden 'Shitstroms' verhindert.

Schritt 5 : Marketing Leads werden Sales Leads

Am Ende dieses Kontaktpflege- oder Lead-Nurturing-Prozesses steht die Kontaktaufnahme zum Nutzer und die Qualifizierung seines Bedarfes über bestimmte Kriterien. Wichtig ist zu verstehen, ob Sie einen Entscheider, Entscheidungsvorbereiter, - beeinflusser gefunden haben und ob ein konkretes Projekt mit Budget in einem bestimmten Zeitraum vorhanden ist. Dies ist nicht das ausschließliche Kriterium, trägt aber zur Einschätzung bei, ob es sich um eine interessante Geschäftschance handeln mag.

Die Marketing Lead wird qualifiziert und entschieden, dass sich der kostenintensive Einsatz des Vertriebes lohnt. Das Lead wird dann im CRM System an den Vertrieb übergeben und als Sales Lead in den Sales-Prozess überführt werden.

Bei einer guten Marketing Automation Plattform lassen sich Ihre einzelnen Aktionen in Themenspezifische Kampagnen zusammenfassen und messen. Prüfen Sie, was eine Marketing Lead und eine Sales Lead gekostet hat (Cost per Lead) . Dies variiert stark nach Branche und Angebot. Marketing Leads können leicht 50-250 Euro pro Lead kosten, wenn Sie alle Kosten berücksichtigen.

Schritt 6: Vertriebsprozess

Nach der Übergabe in den Vertrieb (Sales-Prozess) sollte die Sales Lead zur Geschäftschance ( Opportunity ) werden und die Erfolgsraten und Kosten pro Umsatz weiter gemessen werden. Je besser die Marketing Maschine funktioniert, umso höher Ihre Erfolgsraten im Abschluss und umso niedriger die Vertriebskosten. Hier spielen weitere Erfolgsfaktoren eine Rolle: Qualifikation des Vertriebes, Demo des Produktes / der Lösung, Return on Investment, Komplexität der Lösung, Preisgestaltung, Nutzenargumentation uvm.. Alle diese Punkte lassen sich messen und auch hier kann aus einem Loss Review gelernt und angepasst werden.

Zusammenfassung:

Ihr Marketing Mix wird digitaler und automatisierter. Vieles kann über gute Marketing Automation Plattformen geleistet werden. Die klassischen Instrumente des Marketingmixes, wie Prospekte, Präsenzveranstaltungen, Messen etc. haben weiterhin Ihre Bedeutung. Sie werden vor allem mit dem neuen digitalen Marketing Mix erfolgreicher aufgesetzt und nachverfolgt.

Denken Sie über relevante Inhalte für Ihre Zielgruppen nach und bespielen diese mit Aktionen, die für die jeweilige Zielgruppe einen Wert erzeugen. Skalieren Sie über die Suchmaschinen und soziale Medien. Die Mechanik wieviele Marketing Leads wieviele Sales Leads erzeugen, wieviele davon Opportunities und schlussendlich Aufträge werden, lässt sich messen und optimieren. Am Ende erhalten Sie ein gutes Verständnis über Ihre Erfolgsraten, die Verbesserungsmöglichkeiten und die Kosten auf den Umsatz. Dies funktioniert vom kleinen Mittelstand bis zum Großunternehmen und mit jedem Budget.

Wie starte ich erfolgreich in meine neue Führungsaufgabe und entwickle mein Team

Sun, 17 May 2020 17:35:53 GMT

Habe Spaß, an dem was du tust

Wenn eine Top Position in einem Unternehmen neu besetzt wird, kann es unterschiedliche Ausgangspunkte geben. Diese Ausgangspunkte hängen sehr von der Aufgabe ab, mit der die neue Führungskraft betraut wurde und der Analyse der Situatio n nach den ersten Monaten.

Meine Ausgangspunkte konnten unterschiedlicher nicht sein:

eine klassische Turnaround-Aufgabe um ein Verlustgeschäft schnell profitabel zu gestalten, damit das Kapital nicht ausgeht
ein Wachstumsszenario , welches operational gut aufgestellt war, aber die Chancen nicht wahrgenommen hat
eine Organisation, die zur nächsten Größenordnung wachsen sollte und Strukturen brauchte oder
einfach eine Nachfolgesituation , wo alle mit der Geschäftsentwicklung zufrieden waren.

Abhängig von dieser Ausgangssituation ist das Timing entscheidend. In einem Verlustgeschäft mit limitierten liquiden Mitteln muss schnell gehandelt werden, um den Cashflow positiv zu gestalten, bevor das Unternehmen an sich gefährdet ist. Das Wachstumsszenario, dass durch Investitionen in Vertrieb & Marketing getrieben wird, hat eine Vorlaufzeit von sechs bis zwölf Monaten, bevor Ergebnisse sichtbar werden. Eine Nachfolgesituation hat ganz andere Dynamiken und ist in der Regel weniger disruptiv. In allen Fällen ist es erforderlich, die Erwartungen der verschiedenen Interessengruppen ( Stakeholder ) zu managen.

Kommunikation ist ein zentraler Erfolgsfaktor.

Abhängig vom Timing und der Ausgangssituation sind die Maßnahmen möglicherweise schnell umzusetzen und haben disruptive Auswirkungen , somit ist die externe und interne Kommunikation ein zentraler Punkt. Vertrauen zu schaffen und Menschen mitzunehmen, wenn die Maßnahmen umgesetzt werden, ist eine wichtige Aufgabe. Wenn man also gezwungen ist, einschneidende Entscheidungen schnell zu treffen, dann wird nicht jeder glücklich sein. Es ist entscheidend, die Veränderungen zu erklären, die Hintergründe zu erläutern und aufzuzeigen, wie der einzelne Mitarbeiter hierzu täglich beitragen kann. Über die Zeit, wird mit offener Kommunikation und den Ergebnissen des Handels, Vertrauen geschaffen.

Mein Ansatz ist es, mit möglichst vielen Menschen und Interessensgruppen in den ersten Wochen einer neuen Aufgabe zu sprechen. Nach einigen Wochen wird man ins Tagesgeschäft so eingebunden, dass dies deutlich schwieriger ist. Hilfreich ist es auch, mit Menschen zu sprechen, die nicht so präsent sind, wie z.B. Vertrieb & Marketing. Hier fallen mir besonders die Mitarbeiter/innen aus der Entwicklung, Technik oder Buchhaltung ein, die sehr wohl eine gute Idee zu Chancen und Herausforderungen des Unternehmens haben mögen.

Im Dialog mit den Führungskräften sollte man früh für absolute Offenheit werben, damit ein ehrlicher Austausch entstehen kann. Meine Beobachtung geht dahin, dass sich schnell die Menschen mit Ideen, Energie und Bereitschaft ( Leader ) zeigen und diese, die ein Thema nur aufgreifen, wenn bereits Konsens besteht ( Follower ). Sie springen auf den fahrenden Zug auf ohne ein Risiko zu nehmen. Es mag Teammitglieder geben, die die Entscheidung abwarten, aber komplett an Bord sind und sofort mit der Umsetzung starten wollen ( DOer ). Natürlich gibt es in fast jedem Unternehmen die Politiker , deren Wertbeitrag gilt es zu hinterfragen und einige Teammitglieder tun sich schwer Ihren Beitrag zu definieren.

Unterscheide zwischen einer guten Darstellung und den Fakten , um herauszufinden, wer zu den wirklichen Top Performern zählt. Führungskräfte, die mögliche Leistungsdefizite auf das alte Management schieben, ohne erklären zu können, was ihr Wertbeitrag war, sollte man mit Vorsicht betrachten.

Es gilt, die Analyse der Ausgangssituation abzuschließen und mit dem neuen Management Team eine gemeinsame Vorstellung zu vereinbaren - ein Commitment erreichen, wie die Strategie und Ihre Umsetzung aussehen wird. Man sollte frei sein, sein Management Team zu verändern.

Eine kleine Exkursion: Commitment lässt sich nicht wirklich gut ins Deutsche übersetzen, es hat Komponenten von Vereinbarung und Verpflichtung im positiven Sinne. Ein Commitment heißt, ein Ergebnis zu versprechen, zu liefern und sich dafür verantwortlich zu fühlen. Im seltenen Fall, dass ein Commitment nicht gehalten werden kann, frühzeitig die Kommunikation mit der Führungskraft zu suchen, damit gemeinsam an Lösungen gearbeitet werden kann. Ohne eine Commitment-Kultur gibt es keine gute Performance. Es ist motivierender, die Erfolge zu feiern als die Misserfolge zu erklären.

Das Team auswählen ist eine zentrale Aufgabe, sodass es die richtigen Fähigkeiten für die Aufgabe hat und gut zusammenarbeiten kann. Diversity (Vielfalt) in allen Facetten steigert das Potential und die Empathie für die Aufgabe ist Voraussetzung für gute Ergebnisse.

Vier Dinge sind essentiell, um als Team erfolgreich zu sein:

Entwicklung und Kommunikation einer gemeinsamen Strategie mit definierten Zielen. Die Objective-and-Key Results Methode ( OKR ) ist zur Umsetzung erfolgreich im Technologiebereich genutzt worden und zu empfehlen. Strategische und operative Ziele sollten herausfordernd, aber erreichbar sein. Die Strategie sollte von der Vision getragen werden, die für das Unternehmen entwickelt und vereinbart wurde.

Die Menschen sind wohl der wichtigste Faktor. Bei der Zusammenstellung des zukünftigen Führungsteams ist Diversity (Vielfalt) entscheidend. Die Vielfalt bei Erfahrung, Talent, Ausbildung, Geschlecht, Nationalität oder Kultur sorgt für bessere Ergebnisse. Das Team muss sich zu der vereinbarten Strategie und ihren Zielen commiten, hohe und gleiche Wertvorstellungen entwickeln, dies ist die Voraussetzung für eine gute Unternehmenskultur . Investitionen in die Ausbildung und Weiterentwicklung des (Führungs-) Teams sind von großer Bedeutung, genauso, wie Schaffung eines Talentprogramms zur Formulierung von Perspektiven. Diskriminierung und Politik sollte in einem guten Team keinen Platz haben, da es Energie nimmt und Vertrauen zerstört. Es gilt die Teammitglieder zu entwickeln, die das Potential haben und wertschätzend Veränderungen herbeizuführen, wenn das Potential nicht vorhanden ist. Zu guter Letzt ist Empathie wichtig. Die Aufgabe soll Spaß machen und mit Leidenschaft umgesetzt werden.

Prozesse und Tools sind Treiber von operationaler Effizienz und sollen Wachstum ermöglichen. Prozesse und die dazugehörigen Tools sollten einfach, benutzerfreundlich und wettbewerbsfähig sein, um exzellente Ergebnisse zu erreichen. ‚Das haben wir schon immer so gemacht‘ hilft nicht, wenn die Ergebnisse nicht passen.

Die Organisation oder Struktur des Unternehmens sollte das Geschäft unterstützen. Klare Definitionen und Verantwortlichkeiten unterstützen dies. Die Führungskräfte benötigen die Ressourcen und die Verantwortung, Ihre Ziele zu erreichen zu können. Elementar ist die Reduktion von Schnittstellen in der Organisation und die Integration von sogenannten Silos. Idealerweise werden gleiche Aufgaben in einer Verantwortung umgesetzt und die Prozesse über alle Organisationeinheiten einheitlich gestaltet. Dies führt zu besseren Ergebnissen durch die Reduktion von Komplexität, erhöhter Transparenz und einfacher Messbarkeit.

Als CEO oder Top Führungskraft gilt das gleiche Pareto Optimum: 80% des Wertes wird durch 20% der Aufgaben geschaffen, d.h. Priorisierung der Aufgaben ist Teil eines erfolgreichen Starts in die neue Position.

Zusammenfassung:

Der Start in die neue Rolle gelingt im Dialog mit möglichst vielen Stakeholdern um die Menschen und Hintergründe kennenzulernen. Aktives Zuhören und analysieren der Ausgangssituation sind die Basis. Hieraus entwickeln sich Strategie und Prioritäten , z. B. Cashflow positiv zu werden, das Team zu formen, die Strategie zu entwickeln, Prozesse oder Organisation zu verändern, eine Firma hinzuzukaufen, um strategisch besser aufgestellt zu sein. Als Führungskraft ist es elementar die Unterstützung derer zu haben, die einen auf die Mission verpflichtet haben, sonst kann man nicht erfolgreich sein.

Veränderung oder Change ist eine Herausforderung für alle Interessensgruppen; einige mögen es, andere haben darauf gewartet, wieder andere fürchten sich vor Veränderung. Mit neuer Führung kommt in den meisten Fällen auch Veränderung. Daher ist es von zentraler Bedeutung die Strategie und Maßnahmen zu kommunizieren . Häufige und transparente Kommunikation kann Unsicherheit nehmen und Informationslücken in der Organisation schließen. Gerade bei disruptiven Maßnahmen ist eine ehrliche und offene Kommunikation vertrauensbildend. Leuchtturmprojekte können Erfolge schnell und eingänglich visualisieren.

Für den Erfolg der neuen Aufgabe ist also Timing und Kommunikation essentiell. Die großen Entscheidungen sollten schnell getroffen werden, damit die Ergebnisse rasch sichtbar sind. Das Erwartungsmanagement aller Stakeholder ist eine Aufgabe der ersten Führungsebene und dabei steht ein gutes Wertesystem nicht zur Disposition.

Als Führungskraft in einer disruptiven Situation wird es Widerstände geben, aber nichts ist motivierter als ein Team, welches die Krise gemeistert hat. Dieses Team kann ein außerordentliches Momentum entfalten und die ambitionierten Ziele der Strategie übertreffen. Es ist erfüllend, Erfolge zu feiern und dadurch in die Lage versetzt zu werden, in seine Mitarbeiter/innen und das Unternehmen zu investieren.

Leidenschaft verbindet Teams.

How to start as a new leader and build your team

Sat, 16 May 2020 19:52:41 GMT

Photo by Perry Grone on Unsplash

Create purpose and commitment

When you join a new company as a leader you may have various starting points . They depend on the mission your stakeholders put you on and the analysis you gain from the first months.

I have been put in different starting points e.g. turnaround situations on a loss making business running out of cash, a growth case which was operationally in good shape but not leveraging the opportunity, an organizational growth case which required a different level of management to scale to the next level or simply a case where everyone was happy with the status quo and a successor was needed.

Depending on the situation you have been put in, the timing may differ. On a loss making case you need to stop the drain fast to ensure that the company has enough cash to stay in business. On a growth case which is driven by sales & marketing investments, timing is as important as new sales people and marketing campaigns will have a six to twelve months lead time . That means results may come in four quarters from the starting point. A steady successor case has much more freedom to do things over time and is normally less disruptive. In any case you need to manage the expectations of your stakeholders.

Communication is a key success factor.

Depending on the timing, you need to take action quickly and the impact of the measures may vary, so internal and external communication is key. Building up trust , getting people on board over time to your strategy, and executing this strategy are important. If you are forced to take tough measures fast, not everyone may be happy with changes but if you explain why you do the things you do and how everyone contributes to the corporate strategy with their daily tasks, and if you deliver on your promises, you will succeed over time.

My approach is talking to as many people and stakeholders as you can during your first weeks of a new job as you will never have as much time to do it later on. Listen to the ones which are not as extrovert as others. Normally engineers, technicians, finance staff do not get as much airtime as their sales and marketing colleagues due to their way of positioning themselves, but they may have great inside to the companies opportunities and challenges.

Observe the managers you have on your team and encourage them to speak out. You may find people who have great ideas, energy and willingness to contribute ( leaders ) and you will find people who observe the scene and start communicating when an opinion is already build. They jump on a train but will not initiate a discussion ( followers ). You may have team members who want a decision and get it executed and they may stay quiet for while ( doers ). Obviously there are politicians as well and you need to understand their value. You may as well have people on the team which cannot contribute.

Distinguish between the story told and the facts and you will spot performers and non-performers quickly. I am normally very cautious on managers blaming past management on short falls but leaving the question unanswered what they have contributed to improve the situation.

Most important is that you complete your analysis and seek agreement and commitment from the new management team on the way forward. You have the opportunity to change the team.

As a side remark: commitment means to promise, deliver and feel responsible. If in rare cases the circumstances do not allow someone to deliver the commitment, seek for help, communicate early and openly to mitigate the risk for the company. A culture where commitment isn’t important will never deliver great performance. It is much more fun and motivational to celebrate the successes.

Choose your team wisely that it fits, has the right skills and works together. Diversity in all aspects is a key success factor, commitment and empathy to the joined future.

You need four things to succeed as a team:

Create and communicate a strategy with defined outcomes . You may use the Objectives-and-Key-Results (OKR) Methodology. Goals and Objectives should be challenging but achievable. The strategy should follow the vision you have developed for the company.
People are highly important . Get a team together based on diversity : talents, education, experience, gender, nationality and culture. High diversity on teams create much better results. Most important that you seek for agreement and commitment on the goals and objectives. The team needs to have high standards as they are important to create a great corporate culture based on trust. Invest in the education of your (leadership) team and implement a talent program to give perspective. Do not tolerate discrimination and politics as the team will suffer by such energy absorbing topics which create no value. Develop the ones who can be developed or take respectful decisions to change. Last but not least a team needs empathy. Ensure that the team members love what they do and are passionate about it.
Processes and tools are leading to operational efficiency and enable growth . Processes in a company should be easy, user friendly and best of bread to lead to great results. Benchmark your processes from all angels and change them if needed. There is no ‘that’s how we have done it in the past’ if results aren’t at the right level. Seek for best practices even outside your industry.
Organizational setup should support your business that responsibilities are well defined and linked to your goals and objectives. Give your leaders the resources and responsibility to deliver their commitment. Reduce the interfaces or silos on a process which are driven by the organizational design. Ideally, do things in one place and have the same processes on a global level as this reduces complexity, makes results transparent and easy to measure.

As a leader you need to complete your most important tasks first and as usual 80% of the value is generated by the top 20% of the tasks on your list. So prioritization is crucial for you.

Conclusion:

Get into your new leadership position by gaining as much inside as you can and connect to the people . Listen and analyze the situation. Depending on the situation you are in, you need to set your priorities : stop the drain fast, develop your team, set your strategy, change processes or organizational setup to achieve better results or buy a company to close a strategic gap. But you as a leader need the support of the people who put you on the job, otherwise you won’t succeed.

Nevertheless, change will be a challenge for the employees and stakeholders, some like it, some waited for it, some may fear the change, hence communication is highly important to explain the strategy and measures. Update the team frequently so that there is no lack of information which can cause uncertainty. Be honest on the achievements because that builds trust.

If you want to succeed in a new leadership role, take bold decisions quickly and communicate openly to deliver results soon. Show some lighthouse projects to make progress visible. Manage the expectations of all stakeholders and keep your values high. You may face resilience but this is part of the job you have been asked to do. I can tell you from my experience, this is very motivational for a team which has overcome a crisis and delivered something great. This team can build an exceptional momentum to achieve the ambitious goals they set themselves at the beginning. It is great fun to celebrate successes as a team and invest in your employees to develop them further.

Purpose drives teams.

Wachstumsstrategie über Akquisitionen: Warum sich „Buy & Build“ lohnt

Tue, 05 May 2020 12:34:14 GMT

Buy and Build-Strategien

"Buy and Build“ ist im Technologiebereich Teil vieler Wachstumsstrategien. Dies ist dem Phänomen geschuldet, dass Geschwindigkeit und Skaleneffekte wichtig sind. Auf den Unternehmensergebnis kann die Buy and Build-Strategie erhebliche Auswirkungen haben.

Wenn die Geschäftsführung über die Strategie der nächsten Jahre entscheidet, ist dies im besten Interesse der Gesellschaft und ihrer Stakeholder. Die Stakeholder sollten die Auswirkungen einer Wachstumsstrategie über Akquisitionen im Technologiebereich verstehen. Am Beispiel der Softwareindustrie lässt sich der Einfluss von Buy and Build auf das Ergebnis gut aufzeigen. Schnell Zukunftsmärkte zu besetzen, wird durch hohe Marktanteile belohnt. Diese Geschwindigkeit ist über Akquisitionen vielfach einfacher erzeugen.

Unternehmensbewertungen bei Akquisitionen in der Softwareindustrie liegen nach einer aktuellen und englischsprachigen Veröffentlichung von Ernst & Young bei 12 bis 22 mal EBITDA oder 2 bis 7 mal Umsatz . Diese Bewertungen sind auf den nordamerikanischen Markt ausgerichtet. In Europa mögen die Werte eher bei 7 bis 12 mal EBITDA liegen.

EBITDA zu Umsatz als Kennzahl ( EBITDA Marge ) steigt tendenziell mit dem Umsatz, da Software ein skalierendes Geschäftsmodell hat. So variieren EBITDA Margen bei guten Unternehmen zwischen 10 Prozent und 35 Prozent. Unternehmensgröße, das Marktsegment und vieles mehr spielen hier eine entscheidende Rolle. Der Durchschnitt der Softwareindustrie liegt bei 25,9 Prozent EBITDA Marge auf dem rollierenden 12-Monats-Durchschnitt gemäß einer Veröffentlichung von CSI Market . Q1 2020 fällt leicht ab auf 22,6 Prozent EBITDA Marge .

Strategiediskussion in der Geschäftsführung

Unterstellen wir eine Wachstumsstrategie, die 50 Prozent Umsatzwachstum aus Akquisitionen (Buy and Build) einschließt. Die Konsequenz ist, dass du 2 bis 7 mal Umsatz für deine Akquisitionen bezahlst. Bei einer durchschnittlichen Unternehmensbewertung von 3 mal Umsatz wäre der Kaufpreis deiner Akquisitionen bei 150 Prozent deines aktuellen Umsatzes. In der Technologie- und Softwareindustrie erwirbt die Gesellschaft zum Großteil immaterielle Vermögenswerte (zum Beispiel selbsterstellte Software). Dies können schnell 50 bis 70 Prozent des Kaufpreises ergeben. Wenn die immateriellen Vermögensgegenstände über beispielsweise 5 Jahre abgeschrieben werden, dann entstehen hohe Abschreibungen aus der Buy and Build-Strategie, die das Unternehmensergebnis nachhaltig beeinflussen:

Fiktive Beispielrechnung:

Der Umsatz wächst um 50 Prozent durch Akquisitionen.
Die Kaufpreise liegen bei Umsatzfaktor 3.
Immaterielle Vermögensgegenstände sind 60 Prozent der Kaufpreise.
Abschreibungen erfolgen im Durchschnitt über 5 Jahre.
Ergebnis: 150 Prozent (3*50 Prozent) Investitionen in Akquisitionen des aktuellen Umsatzes – 60 Prozent Immaterielle Vermögensgegenstände und 5 Jahre Abschreibungsdauer ergeben 18 Prozent Abschreibungen auf den aktuellen Umsatz der Gesellschaft oder 12 Prozent auf den neuen Umsatz nach Akquisitionen.
Dein Unternehmensergebnis sinkt ohne weitere Effekte um 12 Prozent des Umsatzes .

Die fiktive Rechnung variiert natürlich deutlich, da die Rechnungslegungsvorschriften, die Unternehmensbewertung, die Purchase-Price-Allocation und viele andere Faktoren Einfluss haben. Die Diskussion hat deshalb konzeptionellen Charakter.

Natürlich hat der um 50 Prozent durch Akquisitionen gesteigerte Umsatz im Idealfall auch Synergieeffekte gehoben, die das Ergebnis verbessern. Da Unternehmen mit einer Wachstumsstrategie auch auf organisches Wachstum setzen, steigen im Gegenzug Vertriebs- und Marketingausgaben überproportional zur Umsetzung der Wachstumsstrategie.

Für die fiktive Rechnung nehmen wir an, dass ein Softwareunternehmen im mittelständigen Bereich vor und nach den Akquisitionen 20 Prozent EBITDA Marge hat. Das Unternehmensergebnis wird nun direkt bei gleicher EBITDA Marge um die 12 Prozent Abschreibungen aus der Wachstumsstrategie belastet .

Eine aktive Buy and Build-Strategie im Technologie- und Softwarebereich kann das Unternehmensergebnis mehr als halbieren.

Dies ist solange kein Thema, wenn die Strategie auf Marktanteile und Unternehmensbewertung abzielt, da Unternehmen in der Softwareindustrie nach Umsatz- und EBITDA-Multiples und nicht nach Unternehmensergebnis bewertet werden, wo die starke Zunahme an Marktanteilen tendenziell zu einem Premium führt. Nur ein schneller Strategiewechsel zu einer Fokussierung auf das Ergebnis ist nicht möglich , da die Abschreibungen auf die Akquisitionen mittelfristig nachwirken. Die strategische Frage, die es zu beantworten gilt, soll die Wertgenerierung über die Unternehmensbewertung und Marktanteile oder die Optimierung des Unternehmensergebnisses erfolgen. Die Softwareindustrie belohnt in vielen Fällen die Hauptakteure mit Wachstumsfantasien in deinem Marktsegment deutlich besser.

Veröffentlicht auf Unternehmer.de

Warum erfolgreiche Softwareunternehmen gut für die Krise gerüstet sind

Wed, 29 Apr 2020 19:24:16 GMT

Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

Erfolgreich in der Krise

Diskussionen aus dem Vorstand: Welchen Vorteil haben Softwareunternehmen in der aktuellen Krise? Wir verraten dir, wie sich die Geschäftslogik auch auf andere Industrien übertragen lässt.

Erfolgreiche Softwareunternehmen mit einer längeren Geschichte haben über die Jahre einen guten Kundenstamm aufgebaut. Dies hat in Krisenzeiten seine Vorteile, während es in Wachstumszeiten die Dynamik erschwert.

Wenn ein Softwareunternehmen lange am Markt ist, dann gilt aus der Historie meistens das traditionelle Geschäftsmodell:

Verkauf von Lizenzen: Einmaleffekt und Investition des Kunden
Projektumsätze der Implementierung: Zum großen Teil Einmalumsätze, neben der Betreuung von bestehenden Implementierungen
Wartungsumsatz: Jährlich wiederkehrend

Unternehmen, die mehrere Jahre im Geschäft sind, tendieren üblicherweise in Richtung 25 Prozent Lizenzumsatz, 25 Prozent Consultinggeschäft und 50 Prozent Wartungserlöse in der Umsatzstruktur. Sollten bereits Cloud- und Subscriptiongeschäftsmodelle gestartet sein, dann wird sukzessive der Lizenzeinmalumsatz gegen wiederkehrende Subscriptions getauscht, sodass wiederkehrende Umsatzanteile von 60 -70 Prozent erreicht werden können. Diese basieren oft auf Verträgen, die nicht sofort kündbar sind und damit stabil bleiben, wenn das Unternehmen moderne Technologie, kritische Prozesskomponenten und guten Service liefert.

In der Krise bedeutet dies, dass Kunden möglicherweise ihre Investitionen zurückhalten oder überdenken, aber nur im geringen Umfang an den bestehenden Vertragsbeziehungen etwas verändern können oder wollen. Softwareunternehmen mit hohen wiederkehrenden Umsätzen sind also deutlich besser für die Krise aufgestellt, als solche, die hohe Anteile an Einmalgeschäften in der Umsatzstruktur haben. Ein Augenmerk muss auch der Kündigungsrate gelten, also der Churnrate von diesen wiederkehrenden Umsätzen auf den Jahresumsatz.

Die Kündigungsrate sollte im niedrigen einstelligen Prozentbereich liegen, sonst nimmt der Vertragsbestand und damit der Umsatz ab.

Die Cloudunternehmen haben früh auf Subscriptiongeschäftsmodelle statt auf Lizenzeinmalumsätze gesetzt und sind nun im Vorteil.

Niedrige Churnrates sind besser für die Krise.

In der Wachstumsphase mögen die großen Einmalumsätze aus Lizenz- und Consultingprojekten in der GuV beeindrucken – diese münden aber nur zu rund 20-25 Prozent pro Jahr in den wiederkehrenden Umsätzen über die Wartung- und Betreuungsverträge (durch die Wartungskonditionen). 20 Prozent auf 25 Prozent (Lizenzumsatz) sind eben nur 5 Prozent Wachstum auf dem Gesamtumsatz und hiervon ist die Churnrate noch abzuziehen.

Dies ist ein Grund, warum Softwareunternehmen mit hohen wiederkehrenden Umsätzen bei niedrigen Chrurnrates deutlich besser bewertet werden und für eine Krise gut gerüstet sind: Da nur kleinere Teile des Umsatzes in der Krise wegfallen können, wenn ihre Kunden die Vertragsbeziehungen halten und erfüllen.

Veröffentlicht auf unternehmer.de

How strategy decisions will influence your net profit

Fri, 24 Apr 2020 12:53:51 GMT

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

Boardroom discussions from the software industry - strategy determines your net profits more than you may think

When you set your strategy for the next years as a board member, it is always in the company's best interest and your stakeholders need to understand the consequences.

Company evaluations in the software industry may vary from 12-22 times EBITDA or even a r evenue multiple of 2 -7 times in case of software technology transaction (Source: EY - Software M&A Recap, Third quarter 2019, Canada and US Market Insights, December 2019 ) . I would consider this high site from a European perspective and see M&A transactions of SME Software companies at 7- 12 times EBITDA.

EBITDA to sales ratios ( EBITDA margins ) are trending up by revenue of a software company as EBITDA nicely scales in the software industry. Hence EBITDA margins may vary as well from 10 % to 35 % across the industry, highly depending on company size and sector. The average EBITDA margin is about 25,9 % in 2019 on a trailing-12-months, falling to 22,6 % in Q1 2020 according to CSI Market . That actually positions the evaluations in multiples of revenue and EBITDA into the same ballpark.

How does this now impact your strategy discussion in the boardroom? You want to grow 50% in revenue by M&A. The outcome is that you actually spend 2-7 times on acquired revenues (Europe on the lower end). 50% growth times 3 is a 150% investment of your current revenue. If most of the assets you acquire are software IP and intangible assets , you may need to amortize more than 50-70 % of the M&A transaction value over the course of 3-8 years in your P&L. That leads to an amortization of 150 % of current revenue equal M&A transaction value * 60 % amortization ratio / 5 years amortization period = 18% amortization of current revenue per year. This number may vary a lot by the M&A transaction and it is down to international accounting standards.

Let's make an assumption your revenue is growing by 50 % by M&A and your EBITDA will grow 50 % + as well as you are spending some money for organic growth on integration and further growth initiatives into SG&A. Your EBITDA margin was 20 % before and stay at this level on a higher revenue, you will be hit by your M&A amortization at 12 % of your higher revenue level.

Actually you can easily more than half your contribution from your EBITDA (from 20% to 8 % in this case) to net profits by the M&A amortization being on a buy and build strategy. If you have once acquired the companies, it will not change soon as you need to run out of your amortization periods for a couple of years to get back to higher net profits. There is no fast strategy change on the net profit side.

This is not an issue as your company valuation in the software industry is determined by revenue and EBITDA multiples and outgrowing the market may get you a premium . But you take a conscious decision for a few years on net profits. It really depends if you are looking for creating company value through a growth strategy and gaining market share (you may look at Salesforce (c)) or an optimization case on net earnings. On the long run from my point of view the software industry is rewarding the top players of its market segments most. This is a conceptual debate on strategy to have.

Published on linkedin

Convergence of Content Management

Thu, 04 Apr 2019 19:55:55 GMT

Convergence of Content Management and Digitization enabled by Artificial Intelligence

Being in the IT Industry for more than 25 years, I thought the digitization of business processes is something we did since the 1970ies. Which is true, in IT we digitized business processes along the technological capabilities and performance we had at the time. So, what is different today when we talk about digitization?

Our ability to mobilize applications, use modern interfaces with a better user experience (UX) which makes it intuitive to interact with a device, having Artificial Intelligence (AI) that allows speaking to the device and getting advice by a service is unparalleled today. Our technical capabilities changed so dramatically that we can create completely different experiences to make digitization happen.

Second technology is now available to almost everyone, anytime, anywhere. And you don´t even need a terminal to access information in an office. There are relatively cheap and affordable large scale services that can be accessed on the go. That’s the difference and offers tremendous opportunities. So digitization is a leap step ahead the past, it is fast, affordable and easy to use.

Digitization had two starting points

The ability to electronically compute results and have transactional systems was the first starting point and the ability to have analog contents available at a computer screen the second one. Content Management (CM) has evolved over time by transferring analogue content such as invoices, contracts and documents to an archive system and making them available for search and retrieval. That was the starting point of Enterprise Content Management (ECM). Adding the ability to collaborate made it Document Management. A company could digitize content and gave access during to the archive to retrieve and use information for business. This has mainly driven efficiency. Still, 40% of companies have not fully digitized the content to fuel business processes today.

Content management has evolved from this rather static approach in files and folders to Process Content Management (PCM) or Contextual Content Management (CCM), where the user gets the right content at the right time, such as an invoice with delivery note and the order for a particular transaction, comparable to Amazon© and others offering further products to buy while shopping a specific product.The most important value driver is productivity in enterprise environments and modern applications that are already in use today. The availability of more data points and even IoT (such as machinery data for installation documentations in field service) helps improve contextual content management every day. That’s the business we’re in and deploy solutions for customers.

I believe there is a convergence of trends for the content industry. The trend to mobilize applications and mobile services will connect with the enterprise world of content management. Why is that?

Mobilization and Consumerization of business services is mainly driven by the end customer to gain access to services such as ebanking, booking, shopping or any other service. This also reaches to the employees and business partners who want to access applications with an easy-to-use interface at any time. The digital workplace is an imperative in the war for talent, ask your Millennium workforce. Though the corporate world is different as the services are related to sensitive confidential data, the backend systems are not easy to change and regularly provide only a limited mobile and user experience. Most customers have to deal with multiple environments and cannot lock in everything on one system or platform. But the demand for such solutions and new business models is pressing.

In the past, companies have asked an agency to create an application, such as a portal for a single use case, and IT struggled to gain access to every back-end system to make it an integrated, robust business process. Meanwhile, another department of the same company contracted another agency to develop other processes. That was neither ready for business, nor scalable, nor maintainable.

Today, there are multi experience platforms t hat can connect to multiple back-end systems in a controlled and secure fashion for IT and corporate governance. The multi experience platform needs to be enterprise ready: that means secure, scalable and provide rock-solid API Management. For companies, the platform needs to be low code to configure a use case within couple of hours without any IT developer and prototype an application that simply extends digital services from a web or mobile app to chatbots, voice control or AR and VR headsets. Once the platform is ready, and the first use case is delivered to the customers, the next one can be built on the platform easily as everything is set and scalable to the business needs. Another major advantage is that great multi experience platforms can easily and quickly add new services to existing use cases. Whether you want electronic signature, a blockchain, an AI engine, a workflow configurator, an authentication service or anything else – this will be once and simply implemented and is immediately available for all applications.

Data analytics, AI, and multi experience services will enable us to create scalable use cases for the enterprise world in a fast mode without programming.

Convergence of Content Management and Digitization enabled by AI

Now the convergence of content management and multi experience platforms begins. Content that has been used to feed and serve business processes will be analyzed, extracted and interpreted by AI to make it available for the business processes and to direct a workflow automatically to the right decision point or employee. That is the basis for contextual content management. Obviously, the backend integration of such systems helps multi experience platforms to speed up their ability to integrate to corporate IT. The process knowhow in combination with analyzed content makes completely new use cases possible that serve the end customer of a digitized business process better – as the decisions will be based on more and detailed corporate data.

The next big thing will not only be the mobilization or consumerization of business processes for employees, customers and partners, but also data analysis and measurable user experience to predict, advise and improve better services.

In the traditional procure to pay process (P2P) for example, the content management industry scanned invoices, matched them to orders and automated accounting processes. With AI services, advanced UX and dashboards, we can move on to anomaly detection to detect fraud in the process or compare purchase transactions across multiple ERP systems, compare prices, predict better cash management, and more. The value which can be generated by the analytic use of existing data and the new multi experience platforms with additional services can lead to a significant competitive advantage. The solutions can be prototyped fast and easily without changing the corporate IT application landscape. Keep the ERP environments as they are and enable the digital journey for your company easy, fast and Corporate IT ready. Enhance the business value by the use of data analytics.

SAP (c) just bought Qualtrics (c) to get into Experience Management along processes that automatically deliver such a multi-experience platform in real-time across multiple backend systems to identify process bottlenecks or poor user experiences, improve business processes, and be one step ahead of the industry.

Data analytics, AI, and multi experience services on multi experience platforms will enable us to create scalable use cases for the enterprise world in a fast mode without programming, that are secure and have the ability to get an inherent feedback and improvement process to differentiate them from the competition. Feeding this with the content from the content management industry gives us the data to take well-founded decisions and generate value and results in short time.

As a side discussion, I believe that this customer specific data is owned by the customer and not shared amongst others without consensus. As the data and the modeling will become the real IP to train and leverage AI Tools to build up the platforms of the future, it is key to make consensus decision where you put your data to train your systems from.

Published on LinkedIn (amended)

The future of content management

Tue, 14 Aug 2018 20:03:31 GMT

Is Enterprise Content Management (ECM) dead?

In our today´s world, digital transformation is one of the major topics. In such a dynamic industry as information technology, the market is undergoing constant changes, so that ECM also needs to evolve - and so it does. According to Gartner (c), one of the leading research and advisory companies, ECM will merge with Content Services in the near future. Gartner's competitor Forrester sees ECM as the foundation for digital transformation. Both of them are right with their assumptions.

Digitalization is still a key challenge

Content Management is obviously transforming from capturing, storing, searching and retrieving content into a holistic, process based approach, which is calledprocess content management. Digitization of business processes is still one of the major challenges for many companies.

Existing core systems are yet unable to digitize or mobilize business processes the way they create a real business differentiator in terms of cost, time or customer experience.

This fact makes most companies hesitate. The project risks and switching costs of a big-bang, the replacement of existing core systems with new, modern solutions that enable a complete digitization and mobilization of the business process, seem to be too high for companies. They therefore remain in lock-in effects. In most cases, companies are tied to the process design offered by the core system vendor, and a change or replacement appears risky and uneconomical. This is even more difficult for mergers of companies, where it becomes necessary to connect different units with different backend systems.

Content Management Technologies: Areas of Application

This is where modern content management technologies find their application and their playground. Content Management Systems have a tradition in archiving and managing data in a trusted manner; they therefore have interfaces to most of the existing core backend systems with a deep integration to handle data.

Modern content services platforms are able to manage workflows and use a variety of services to design modern, digital and mobile processes. The ability to deal with data from all major backend systems and creating workflows based on modern customer frontends solves the customer’s dilemma. The modern content services enable customers to modernize and mobilize without a big bang approach. So they are no longer locked in with only one vendor’s process design.

Agile Processes

Connecting all of a company’s backend systems to a content services platform that allows to leverage all kinds of services and flexible process design with modern and mobile customer interfaces has the ability to digitalize business processes in an agile fashion. Companies can take a process at the time and deliver small increments to the market to evolve its digitization and mobilization. This is a low-risk, fast and agile approach that is based on standard technology platforms; it will be configured rather than customized or programmed.

Technology is additionally able to slowly migrate complete infrastructures by making content accessible to core systems across the whole enterprise while legacy systems can be retired.

Digital Authorization and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Digital signature processes are even more integrated into the content services platforms - with trusted certificates that reflect the current state of technology. The digital signature accelerates processes and reduces costs, replacing the complex signature and approval process. It improves usability and makes customization of processes and applications a reality. Consumerization is the buzzword.

The next wave of content service will rely on artificial intelligence to capture and interpret content along the business processes. With Artificial Intelligence (AI), a new level of content interpretation can be tapped to drive agile process execution, finding the right person for a transaction or further automating the process. AI content services have the potential to create a real competitive advantage in terms of cost, time and customer experience.

The next step: Trusted Content

Finally, trusted content exchanged between parties, will become more important in the future than it is today. Trusted content enables the authentication of content throughout the process - even beyond company boundaries. In many ways, this is going to be more relevant to businesses, e.g. when reviewing transactions, external certificates or health data and the like. These authentications can be integrated into the modern content services platforms by blockchain technology.

ECM creates opportunities

Modern content services platforms will be required to digitalize and mobilize business processes. In this field, the implementation of modern content services will play a major future role. In summing up it becomes clear, that ECM is not dead but it will actually become a core competency which will be moving into content services.

In it’s new appearance ECM will be driving the digitalization and mobilization of business processes in companies. For companies, this creates the opportunity to transform own digital worlds of processes in an individual and agile way.

Published on LinkedIn

Using agile principles to transform your projects

Fri, 09 Mar 2018 21:15:53 GMT

Photo by Nikita Kachanovsky on Unsplash

Agile for Business: How to “Scrumify” your business projects to generate strategic impact through self-organizing teams, real-time decision making and enhanced transparency.

Summary

As markets continually shift and change, the way companies execute their strategy and communicate it to their teams needs to evolve. With digital transformation dominating the world of business, the ability to quickly translate strategy into effective action is critical.

Why should you consider an agile approach?

Going agile is nicely described by the co-author of the agile manifesto Jeff Sutherland and author of the bestseller 'The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time'.

First of all you cut down delivery times of projects or products to market. That makes the company more competitive and saves cost at the same time. Second, you leverage all the skills and motivation of your teams and let them embrace their creativity.

Being fast, less costly, lean and innovative are the outcomes if you really and truely go agile. Please find more information in my article 'Why Agile on Linkedin? '

Introduction: Business is moving faster - your organization must too

Modern organizations operate in environments that are moving faster than ever before—and your company is no exception.

As markets continually shift and change, the way you execute your company strategy and communicate it to your teams needs to evolve. With digital transformation dominating the world of business, the ability to quickly translate strategy into effective action is critical. Regardless of your situation, your organization needs to be well prepared to deal with the four attributes of modern business, collectively known as “VUCA”(1): VUCA Volatility Uncertainty Complexity Ambiguity

The speed at which VUCA changes the conditions in your world requires a new approach to strategy implementation. In particular, it means your teams need to be able to collaborate in real time, easily share knowledge and work anywhere. When that happens, you benefit not just from a new and efficient way of working, but also from a clear advantage over competitors who are still working in ways that are slow and not fit for purpose.

Luckily, that new way of working has already been invented. It’s called the Agile approach, and it uses practices like Scrum and Kanban to get work done faster and with better results. Software developers have been using Agile for years, but forward-thinking organizations have started to realize that other lines of business can benefit from it too - as long as they are willing to embrace it.

A 9-step approach to “Scrumifying” your business projects

At swarmOS© the team have worked with midsize and large organizations to help them apply Agile principles to business projects. This article encapsulates what we’ve learned, presenting a nine-step approach to adopting Agile and Swarm organizational practices in your business strategy execution.

If you’d like to discuss how to make the transition to Agile, Scrum and Swarm, please do contact us - you’ll find our details on the back page.

Benefits of Agile, Scrum and Swarm

Successful strategy execution relies on teams being able to work seamlessly and being empowered to make quick, autonomous decisions. In the world of software development, the Agile approach has been successfully used for more than a decade, enabling global innovators like Amazon®, Tesla® and Google® to develop and deploy new software and services, fast.

One particularly popular “flavor” of Agile is a framework called Scrum – which empowers teams to deliver results in an efficient manner, and which also promotes transparency and real-time collaboration through Agile toolset best practices. (For a great introduction to the benefits of Scrum, we recommend Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time, by Jeff Sutherland.)

Scrum practices revolve around the concept of “sprints”: development cycles that last two to four weeks, during which teams work on their deliverables and finally present results to customers. Following each sprint, Scrum teams can quickly evaluate measurable results, so they can make adjustments for further project execution.

Another important dimension of Agile for the purposes of this paper is the concept of “Swarm”. This is an organizational principle that enables self-organizing, small, cross functional teams working in different geographies to align, making better use of different skills and resources across the enterprise.

Being fast, less costly, lean and innovative are the outcomes if you really and truely go agile.

Key principles behind an Agile way of working

Crucially, business leaders looking to take advantage of Agile, Scrum and Swarm must be prepared to move away from a traditional, top-down management approach. In an Agile world, the key to success is the power of a self-managed team rooted in individual competence, trust and a shared vision on where to go. Once a Scrum team has started its sprint, the role of management is to enable the team to overcome road blocks in the project — not to micromanage.

Executing a successful Agile project relies on a number of key principles which are defined in the Agile Manifesto.

Agile mindset:

As an executive team looking to lead by example, moving to Agile and Swarm demands a mindset of cultural change, mutual trust, empowerment of the team and a flexible approach to Agile execution.

Effective collaboration and communication:

The whole organization must be able to collaborate and communicate in real-time across teams and time zones.

The right tools:

Effective communication and collaboration require an Agile toolset. Email and file-sharing tools are often unsuitable, as they do not support in context real-time knowledge-sharing and global collaboration.

Nine steps to an agile business strategy

If you can adopt the right mindset, values, principles, processes, and tools, your organization will quickly feel the strategic impact of Agile.

In this article, we outline nine steps that will help you convert your business strategy into projects that can be delivered fast using an Agile, Scrum and Swarm approach.

Step 1: Establish your strategic goals

The first step is to define your strategic goals. Creating impact relies on building a strategy that you can measure, execute, and communicate to your teams effectively.

You’ll likely have an existing strategy or want advice on a new one, but it’s important to understand why you have a particular strategy (and why you would want or need a new one).

Step 2: Translate strategy into strategic goals, objectives and key results (OKR)

Once you’ve defined your strategy, you need it to cascade down through your organization, so that everything your teams do is aligned to your strategic goals.

To do this, we use a principle called OKR(2), or Objectives and Key Results. OKR is a great way to transform strategy into something actionable. It starts with a well-formulated strategy underpinning the vision and mission of your organization, generally covering the next 5-10 years. From this, you then define your strategic goals over a 1-5-year period.

Next, you define your objectives and key results, so that every team can define the bi-weekly and monthly actions they must take. Usually, objectives will work to a quarterly timeline and be measured against pre-defined key results—maintaining transparency throughout the organization. This also ensures that every employee is working towards the same measurable objectives.

Keep in mind that to execute on your strategy, all actions and deliverables must contribute to at least one objective. If they don’t, you need to scrutinize whether they really add any value to your organization — or rearrange your OKRs to provide the linkages needed.

Step 3: Choose the right toolset

As an Agile or Swarm organization, your toolset is as important as any other key design principle. If you can’t create an environment that supports effective communication, collaboration and Agile practices, you won’t get the benefits of Agile - especially if you have distributed teams working on complex projects.

There are a range of tools available to support Agile project management (as opposed to traditional, “waterfall”-style project management), but according to Gartner®, Atlassian®, an Australian enterprise software company, has one of the most modern toolsets, and is growing by 45% per year in the Agile management software space.

The Atlassian toolset is the most complete and integrated software we have come across, with an open and modern architecture to support add-ons for additional functionality. We find it’s best suited for bringing new flexibility to software and business projects, as well as supporting operational service desk processes. While other tools are up to the job, none has the full spectrum and well integrated functionalities of agile project management features that Atlassian has.

The importance of a toolset that business users feel comfortable with

A critical point to bear in mind is that Agile toolsets are predominantly designed by and for software development teams. They lack the kind of business-friendly user interface (UI) that encourages adoption among business project users.

When you come to evaluate toolsets for business use, you will ideally look for one with the following key features:

Guides users and helps them create and lead new business projects easily
Has a simple, intuitive UI that ensures a satisfying business user experience
Can easily visualize key business project success factors such as:
Project Scope to be delivered in comparison to your teams capacity - which determines the timeline
Breakdown of project time spent and costs accrued to make budget
Critical issues or dependencies that require user intervention
Feedback from customer and business teams
Road blocks that require management intervention
Translates Agile into the business world by using deliverables, risks and milestones

Whether you choose Atlassian or another Agile toolset, it should be one that lets you create business projects with the right issue types and attributes (milestones, deliverables, escalations, risks), and different workflows for deliverables (e.g. approval workflows on legal contracts). It should also have easy to use screen designs and dashboards that prompt user action.

Understanding the difference between software development and business projects

While Agile principles can help you accelerate business projects, there are key differences between the way Agile applies to the worlds of development and business.

Software projects are defined by the code base of their modules or services, something that can be tested and evaluated directly. Software demands a certain standard of infrastructure, data models, and defined APIs to produce a complete product. In a Scrum software project, the norm is to have the Scrum team together in one room, talking and completing the Scrum board face-to-face.

By contrast, a business project has more dependencies, and the deliverables are much more diverse. You could be drawing up contracts, completing a warehouse project, hiring new staff or obtaining government approvals, for example. Usually, business projects involve teams from across different business functions, with project teams often distributed across countries and regions.

Like software projects, business projects are measured based on outcomes. The stories, tasks and sub-tasks which make it to new versions of code are known as deliverables in the business world. Business deliverables are outcomes that are measurable and can be shown to and evaluated by the customer. However, they cannot be tested in the same way that software can, and should already be proven to be ready for business use before they are deployed.

The chosen toolset should support the implementation of deliverables which are required for business projects.

Step 4: Link your projects to your objectives and set out the results you expect

Your organization is invested in a variety of projects at any one time: these may be transformational projects digitizing your business processes, digital projects or simply everyday operations. However, they should all have one thing in common: they should contribute to your company strategy. Otherwise, you should not waste precious resources on them.

Projects need to be measured on outcomes that produce deliverables, and create value for the organization. That means linking every project to one or more of your objectives. Your project managers (product owners) must be able to explain the links between their project and the objectives, and show that they are measured against key results – in Scrum the product owner is responsible for the return on investment.

Step 5: “Scrumify” your business projects

After you’ve converted your strategy into workable objectives and ensured key results are measurable and linked to your project, the next step is to “scrumify” your project execution.

All Agile approaches rely on real-time team collaboration to organize workloads and execution. Agile projects are organized in a way that displays all the key deliverables needed to achieve the project goals, resulting in a Minimal Viable Product (MVP). These deliverables (in the software world they’re called “user stories”) are prioritized in the backlog and split into sprints. Every team then runs a sprint to complete a certain number of deliverables, which are then delivered at the end of the sprint.

Transparency, collaboration, prioritization, and self-organization are all important components of a successful sprint, and team commitment levels are measured at the end of the sprint.

An important part of the Scrum approach is a regular feedback loop within the team. Typically, this takes the form of daily stand-up meetings, sprint reviews, recognition and reflection. This allows for a readjustment after every sprint on the direction of the project scope and desired outcome.

When teams are self-organized and have the capabilities to solve tasks internally, execution velocity improves and productivity increases — leaving management free to focus on resolving bottlenecks.

Step 6: Move your project deliverables into an Agile toolset

To make the move from strategy to achieving strategic goals, objectives and key results, you need to make your OKRs visible and measurable by moving them into your chosen toolset. Create your project and link it to the goals and objectives you have defined.

Create your project and start creating the user stories 'deliverables' using versions 'milestones' and EPICs zu structure your project.

Step 7: Monitor your risks, timeline and cost

Although not a standard procedure in Agile software development, risks are critical to manage throughout any business project, as your executives need to be aware of any major business impact. Creating a risk element allows every team member to document points of risk, which can then be evaluated by the product owner. This gives transparency to areas of risk and makes them more manageable.

Sprint planning can manage risks by reprioritizing backlogs or through resource planning. Areas of risk can easily be viewed on the dashboard and sorted by priority and/or completion date.

The ability to estimate a backlog based on the effort, entered as points at creation of a deliverable, allows product owners to see the total effort as a sum of points of the backlog.

By logging the number of teams and sprints working on a project — including their velocity in points (team capacity) — you can start estimating time to completion based on the sum of points of deliverables (scope to deliver the project goal) in the backlog, matched to the team’s capacity. That requires that your chosen toolset has team management included and being able to match team capacity and your project scope.

Your project is still in Agile execution while visualizing the estimated timeline by matching your backlog points to your team’s capacity. Significant changes of the scope immediately get recognized and will be evaluated against the timeline and cost estimations.

Using a project budget for the project, you can view and match the daily cost rates across teams and multiple sprints. Adding the budget to the project description can help you to create truly accurate cost estimates by matching your actual cost run rates, times the number of sprints plus the money spent so far. The capacity against your points in the backlog provides a precise view of your required sprints. Estimating time and cost of your business projects in agile mode creates great confidence with your stakeholders.

Step 8: Discover and address any blockages

Blockages can create significant issues on any project, and undermine the basic principles of Agile. By weighting deliverables using a points-based system when they are created, you will ensure important information gets added early on in the project – and gets refined during the sprint planning. We propose certain ways of discovering potential blockages such as impactful chains of blocking project issues and escalation of user stories by the team.

The ability to document links between deliverables as being “blocked” or “related” means that priorities can be displayed using a chain of open deliverables dependent on each other. By adding up all the points (work effort) within a chain, product owners can see how significant each chain of deliverables is and what order of priority they should take.

Being able to visualize the most impactful chains based on priority and effort ensures that project risks are flagged immediately and can be prioritized. This is useful for projects that can contain more than 5,000 issues running at once – where manual discovery processes would normally fail.

The escalation is available for every team member to trigger an automated monitoring process. Escalations will be raised by a team member when a blockage appears that can't be solved by the team. There are three levels of escalation severity based on which different audiences will be notified. Red escalations are immediately passed to the product owner and executive to be resolved – removing the blockage in the project and enable the team to execute.

Step 9: Qualify your return on investment (ROI)

The ability to visualize project costs, and budget estimates, along with timeline, team and customer status, can help you predict project results with an accuracy that only gets more precise as the project unfolds. Because all deliverables are linked to the objectives set by the strategy early on, project outcomes and ROI can be matched against key results.

This allows product owners to clearly communicate estimated project results, which can be linked to strategic company goals and vision. No polished executive presentations are needed as the executives have access to the project dashboard in real time - the single source of truth.

Using the full advantage of the Agile approach and deliver ‘twice as much in half of the time’ according to Jeff Sutherland creates the expected ROI. The ability to adjust your project deliverables for optimal outcome thoughout the project improves your success rate further.

Conclusion

We know what it is like to live through long nights on critical business projects with high dependencies, escalations, tough timelines and milestones. This article reflects the experience of managing business projects using Agile, Scrum and Swarm approaches - delivering faster results, better outcomes, and leaner business operations.

With the agile approach and toolset you are able to translate your strategy into executable work items organized in agile projects. You leverage the power of your whole organization by using swarm organizational principles. Teams work against well defined sprints and manage their work themselves. The outcome is closely aligned between all stakeholders. Your organization can move to agile and get agility, reduced time to market and fully leverage your motivated and highly skilled workforce. Your company becomes much more competitive in a VUCA world.

the author is founder of swarmOS GmbH.

(1) Horney, Nick, PhD; Pasmore, Bill, PhD, SVP; O'Shea, Tom, CMC. People and Strategy, suppl. Special Issue: Leading in a Time of Uncertainty; New York33.4 (2010): 32-38.

(2) “Objectives and Key Results: Driving Focus, Alignment, and Engagement with OKRs” Paul R. Niven and Ben Lamorte

Published on LinkedIn

Why agile - what is in for me

Sat, 10 Feb 2018 21:35:06 GMT

Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash

'I know that the most innovative companies are agile but what does this really mean and what's in it for us?'

When talking to business people who have not yet been introduced to an agile approach, there are usually two questions which people ask: 'I know that the most innovative companies are agile but what does this really mean and what's in it for us ?'

I want to share some thoughts from an operational perspective based on real experience.

Going agile is nicely described by the co-author of the agile manifesto Jeff Sutherland and author of the bestseller 'The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time' . I usually start my introduction by talking about this book and most people think 'what has this guy been taking!'

Let's have a look behind the scenes and understand what's involved and what's different when your organization goes agile.

First of all you cut down delivery times of projects or products to market. That saves cost and at the same time makes the company more competitive. Second, you leverage the skills and motivation of your teams and let them embrace their creativity. The tiresome middle management battles will disappear and your organization no longer works in silos.

Being fast, less costly, lean and innovative are the outcomes if you really and truely go agile. Let's have a look.

Myths about the agile approach

There are rumors out there that Agile is about teams that decide, on their own, what and when they deliver their work - hence the outcome is unpredictable. It's actually the opposite.

Planning and handover

The waterfall way of doing business is that you describe your requirements lengthly ahead of your project. Things may change when you start executing your project and your original requirements will not last for long. The problem in large organizations is that we have spent far too much time in defining detailed requirements which will most likely change - which is a waste of resource. In agile you have a high level plan of what you need to achieve, but you refine your requirements close to the execution of your work, because by then you have learned a lot and your requirements are much better understood and do not need to be reworked.

Large organizations work in silos. The business needs to describe what they want, purchasing then takes this to a supplier to negotiate a contract. The supplier builds the product, sticks to the contract and when testing the outcome, the business figures out that this is not what they meant to get. 50% of information is lost by handover between siloed departments. In agile you work every two weeks with your internal or external customer and the delivery team gets feedback if they are on track to deliver what is needed for the business.

Agile works in small teams across all the functions needed to deliver the result. These small teams are very similar to the special forces teams in the military, they are 7-9 people which allows optimal communication, they have all the skills to deliver the required mission. No cumbersome handover between silos, no fingerpointing, the team counts and delivers. You leverage the skills of your best experts on the ground who work cross functionally to leverage the creativity of diverse teams.

Time-boxing

Teams in agile get the freedom to decide how to implement the agreed business outcome and organize themselves to learn how to improve this teamwork. But this freedom comes with very strong commitments. The teams commit every two weeks to deliver a working result. They need to standup in front of their customer and show a business outcome that has a value. Agile calls this demo or die, if you have nothing to demo, you have nothing. Half ready is not delivered. This creates a lot of positive energy and motivates teams to show results every two weeks to your customer.

In Waterfall you task people to deliver a piece of five day work in three weeks and this means you build a huge buffer in a lot of project tasks. This buffer actually sums up across the project and is unmanaged but does not help to deliver on time as only 50% of waterfall projects deliver their project value at the end, 18% get never implemented and approx 40% are above time and budget (Source: Standish Group).

Collaboration is key

It may happen that the business sends an application requirement to the software service center and then receive feedback after 3 weeks that this is actually not what software development needs to build a good application - or worse, they build the product and the business gets something that isn't fit for purpose.

In Agile the business sits alongside the software development team and delivers the tasks together. They align daily and can raise any questions. The delivery is done in small incremental pieces which can be tested and demoed. The team designs, delivers and tests their results before they stand up in front of their customer to demo. The positive momentum of this collaboration in real time is enormous. The progress is transparent to the whole project team and organization. Transparency drives results and momentum.

Role of Management

The largest change is a cultural change and this hits management the hardest as we reported in this blog post. Hierarchical organizations will face a significant challenge. If you have led a large entity and you have control of your employees and the situation arose where another entity wanted something that you did not agree to, then you were able to block this initiative. Here comes the bad news, this power is gone.

Your teams get tasks with goals to deliver. These goals support the company strategy. The teams accept the goals , organize themselves across the company by cross functional teams. The role of management is to agree on the strategic goals and objectives and afterwards to remove blockages for the teams to enable them to execute. As teams are self-organizing, you can't interfere or micro-manage any longer. You should not pull resources out from a team when committed. The team may fail to deliver but they do fail fast as they need to demo their results every two weeks, they learn and do better. Trust them, support them and you get much more than traditional methods will deliver.

We have conducted agile trainings where teams improve in three iterations on delivering work by 30 to 100% - by learning and improving on how to do work; by organizing themselves and by asking management to remove impediments.

Multitasking

Last but not least, if you are able to let a team focus on one project at a time, rather than doing three things in parallel, then productivity gets a boost. Teams and people get 50% more productive by doing one thing at a time and finishing instead of trying to finish three things in parallel. The set up time to restart a half ready task after doing something else is a huge productivity blocker.

Prioritize and Estimate

Through two week delivery cycles called sprints, you get incremental business results and can adapt direction if market conditions change. 80% of business value is achieved with the first 20% of your efforts. This is what agile teams do, they prioritize together with their internal or external customer on what needs to come first and delivers the largest value. They are flexible to adapt directions every two weeks, if needed, to achieve the best result for the customer and the company. This makes trade off decisions very obvious and you will need to be ready to take them.

Why Agile and what is in for you?

Going agile gets the best out of your teams: creativity, motivation, excellent collaboration. You get self organizing teams supported by management to deliver results faster and being more innovative by leveraging all of your organizations' skills.

You shorten your time to market, you reduce cost and improve productivity. You focus on customer satisfaction and value delivery,

Companies like Amazon, Google, Tesla or the FBI are delivering great results through the agile approach. Innovative champions like Tesla, INGdiba and others are gaining competitive advantage to adapt faster to changing markets. There isn't hardly any organization that can afford to neglect the benefits of going agile.

You need to do three things to succeed:

1. an agile mindset is key and this comes from the top and requires a cultural change,

2. collaboration across the company needs to be the driving force and

3. enable your teams for real time collaboration with the right agile toolset . Email and file sharing are not enabling agility and they maintain silos.

Summary

The agile approach has been proven to be much more successful than the waterfall methodology. Change in Culture is key to succeed , Management needs to adopt its role when working in an agile mode and collaboration of teams is a key success factor. Management plays a major role to succeed.

Amazon, Google Tesla, INGdiba are trademarks of their companies

Published on LinkedIn