Diary of a DMS Guy

Culture is critical!

I was virtually at the BIZX-22 conference for a couple of days this week.

Over the years, I've attended many seminars/webinars and read extensively on various ways to run a business.

What I find interesting over the past few years are the ways that "running a business" has changed.

Many of the speakers at the conference were talking about the importance of Culture. About how owning a company today was about building a culture, employing people who share that culture and inspiring them to do their job.

This is very different perhaps to the ways of old, where it was simply about paying wages, and telling people what to do!

I  have been moving more and more that way over the years - to the point now where when employing people our first 30 minute session with potential employees is not about the role, but about our company, it's culture and how we work.

I've also found that people don't just work for money. Money is important, but it alone won't keep staff.

The adage is true that people will stay with companies they like to work with. This is where culture comes in.

Culture makes our company what it is and differentiates us from others.

Never be afraid to make a mistake

‍
This is where ideas such as "Don't be afraid to make mistakes" and "come to meetings with solutions not problems" come in.

I've never fired or had a go at anyone for making a mistake - no matter how bad it is. Providing people learn from these and don't repeat then all is good. You end up with a business that runs itself better, people find solutions not come up with problems.

I have however, had "words" with people who came across a problem and solved it by doing nothing. I encourage people to make decisions. It doesn't matter whether they are right or wrong, but if a decision is required people are expected to make one. I will 100% back up any decision, right or wrong whilst helping people to analyse and learn from bad decisions.

Involving people in your business - everyone. Getting them to understand your business aims, how they are distilled into KPIS (we all keep KPIS) and why, along with most importantly an understanding on how every single person can make a difference.

The result is better performance from your team, problems that just sort themselves and a lower staff turnover (we have many members of our team who have been with us for more than 5 years).
‍

You can see it makes a difference

Our business is about effecting business change. We implement computer software which requires people to change the way they work to reap in the benefits.

In doing so, we see the effect of good and poor business culture.

‍

What does good look like ? 

When we install our software in companies with a good culture, staff are engaged, they know what benefit they are looking for. They understand that there will be challenges along the way, and problems become opportunities to solve.

These installs are normally really straightforward and simple.

How about bad ?

Poor Business Culture is equally obvious to see. Staff perceive that the change is being "enforced" on them, they don't understand why the new system is being installed. People don't have time to attend training sessions. Every problem is one to be raised and someone else to solve.

These installs are often very difficult and complex.

Interestingly, the good and bad of the install has no bearing on the size or complexity of the business at all.

To Do: I need to work even more on Culture

So my thoughts after a couple of reflective days at conference is to keep working on culture. Whilst once upon a time "Culture" was simply a page for the web site, these days it's one of the most important things in the business.