How long would your business survive without you?
Discussion
I currently have a great team that can manage most aspects of the business without me.
My main role is customer meet and great, estimates and designs, then the others take over.
My number 2 could probably price and design the easier pieces but nothing of any great size.
If i were to suddenly disappear then i imagine the business would survive for maybe 8-9months completing the agreed work before things got tricky.
My main role is customer meet and great, estimates and designs, then the others take over.
My number 2 could probably price and design the easier pieces but nothing of any great size.
If i were to suddenly disappear then i imagine the business would survive for maybe 8-9months completing the agreed work before things got tricky.
Ours would survive forever.
My deputy is excellent, I deliberately delegate as much as I can just in case I decide to leave (and i wouldnt want to leave my boss in the lurch) . We have documented procedures for all the processes including Month End and Year End. We also have a pretty solid competent team below him as well.
So watch it all go tits up tomorrow
My deputy is excellent, I deliberately delegate as much as I can just in case I decide to leave (and i wouldnt want to leave my boss in the lurch) . We have documented procedures for all the processes including Month End and Year End. We also have a pretty solid competent team below him as well.
So watch it all go tits up tomorrow
If you are doing your job properly you should have clear succession training and should always be looking for somebody to be able to do your job, albeit maybe on a temporary basis. If you leave for whatever reason the business should then be able to carry on without you with very little or no detrimental affect.
If you have nobody trained or of sufficient ability to do your job you are hindering your own promotion possibilities if you have the ability to go further, and it is a failure in your management responsibilities.
The issue is that often people get very protective of their positions and like to think of themselves as indispensable so see anyone directly below them as a threat to their own position, a rather short sighted viewpoint.
I knew a few managers in my last employed position who loved to come back from holiday with a big list of problems to solve that had arisen while they were away, thinking that more senior management would think they couldn't manage without them.
Nobody is indispensable, and those that think they are, are likely to be veiling themselves in a false sense of security.
If you have nobody trained or of sufficient ability to do your job you are hindering your own promotion possibilities if you have the ability to go further, and it is a failure in your management responsibilities.
The issue is that often people get very protective of their positions and like to think of themselves as indispensable so see anyone directly below them as a threat to their own position, a rather short sighted viewpoint.
I knew a few managers in my last employed position who loved to come back from holiday with a big list of problems to solve that had arisen while they were away, thinking that more senior management would think they couldn't manage without them.
Nobody is indispensable, and those that think they are, are likely to be veiling themselves in a false sense of security.
Edited by Monkeylegend on Monday 10th February 20:38
sunbeam alpine said:
A long time.
I've taken a back seat for about 18 months now, and it's coincided with our best period of growth.
Had I known how much I was holding things back I'd have stopped earlier!
It's surprising how often I see this. Reminds me of my first consulting company too, great guy started it and ran it. Grew from 6 people to 85. Then he finally, after 13 years, took some time off and delegated it to his 5 directors (same ones who were part of the 6) and over the 3 months he was away the business thrived. He learnt the lesson, and delegated more operations of the company to them, with more trust. They're now 250 people and more profitable than ever.I've taken a back seat for about 18 months now, and it's coincided with our best period of growth.
Had I known how much I was holding things back I'd have stopped earlier!
Tragically though he had to sell his AMG GT. To make space for his California.
Mine would last a few weeks without I or my business partner.
But we took on a failing operation and have essentially just finished a turnaround. As we move through the investment and growth phases we're putting in place measures to allow it to function without our constant, direct involvement.
If I'm not here in three years saying it would run for a year without us, something hasn't gone to plan!
But we took on a failing operation and have essentially just finished a turnaround. As we move through the investment and growth phases we're putting in place measures to allow it to function without our constant, direct involvement.
If I'm not here in three years saying it would run for a year without us, something hasn't gone to plan!
Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff