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Get Organized
If you were asked to draw an organizational chart of your company, what would your reaction be? Would you grumble "what's the point?" Would you draw a creative chart showing the client in the center, or the front line worker on the top level? Or would your organizational chart look like a John Madden sketch of a complex football play?
I've learned through my work with hundreds of remodeling companies,that getting the owner to draw their organizational chart is one of the best, the quickest and the simplest diagnostic tools I can use. An organizational chart is a visual device that shows who plays what position and who they report to. If there is a muddling of roles or a lack of accountability or a lack of hierarchy it will show instantly when drawn.
I try to get my remodeler clients to stop playing neighborhood pickup ball and start playing pro ball in building their organizations. What do I mean? Remember when the kids in your neighborhood would gather after school to play ball? You'd decide who the captains were and then they would alternately pick one kid after another to join their team. As the choices got to be fewer and fewer, the captains made do with the kids who were left. Then the positions (i.e. pitcher or quarterback, etc.) were handed out. If you were the captain, you just had to do the best you could with what you had available.
So too, small starter companies often make do with whomever they can get. Maybe Mom is pitching in or a spouse (who might rather be elsewhere but is willing to help) or less-than-perfect hires. But in professional sports each position to be played is carefully defined and then specialists go out to hunt for the very best pick that the team's money can buy. It's a totally different system and you need a totally different system for picking your professional remodeling team.
The biggest change is that we first define the overall structure, then define the position and only then go out into the hiring market and find the very best candidate to fill that position. Here are 6 tips to help you develop a well-conceived organizational chart that defines positions that make sense, that covers all the bases, yet doesn't overlap. You'll also define how those positions relate to you the owner and which staff are clearly part of your key management team.
1. Draw from the wisdom of the industry. You may ultimately decide to do it differently but first learn how remodeling companies are typically organized. They are usually hierarchical and have key roles owner/leader, administration (under which bookkeeping typically falls), sales (under which design and estimating and marketing may fall), and production (under which carpenters, helpers and laborers fall). When a company is relatively large and each of these departments has a head, those department heads form the key management team.
Even if you as owner perform more than one role (for instance, owner/leader and only salesperson), it is useful to set up the chart for future growth. Most remodeling companies add specialists in sales and production as they grow but some add a person they might call "project manager," who both sells and produces their own jobs. In that case, sales and production would be collapsed into one department.
2. Then think about the key roles that you want in your company. Don't focus on any particular people -- just the roles or jobs you will need filled. What makes sense for you at your current size? What fits your philosophy of how you want to deliver to the client? Just be sure that what you design will be expandable over the next few years as you grow.
3. Except in production, try to have no more than three or four roles that report directly to you the owner. You want to keep an open door policy for every staff person but that is different from key reporting duties. By limiting the number of people who look to you for coaching, mentoring, motivation, and direction, you cut down on the work that you directly supervise and create the next level of supervision that will enable you to grow.
4. Now review the structure you have created. Is someone in charge of every major function? Are the job descriptions assigned to each position logical? Is there too much overlap? Do the various tasks assigned to one job require similar talents? What are the overhead and job cost impacts of the structure you have drawn? Can you afford the people you have planned? Make your changes as needed.
5. Here's the toughest step. Now see how the people you currently have on staff fit the positions you have designed. Be as objective as you can. If there is a poor fit, could you train for the skills you need? Remember training has its limits and certain talents need to be present for certain jobs. Thus the salesperson needs to be social and self-motivated, the bookkeeper needs to be a detail-chaser, the production manager needs to be comfortable with paperwork and monitoring dollars.
Where you are less-than-satisfied and want different skills in a position, you will have to hire new players to replace current staff. You are making that critical move from neighborhood ball to pro ball.
6. Lastly, don't forget to energize your key players . They need to understand that they have day-to-day jobs and a bigger role as well -- to develop the systems that create predictable delivery in your company. Use the organizational chart you've developed, well-planned meetings, individual coaching and, most importantly, communication (over and over) of the vision you have for the company.
Now go out and win that championship.
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Official Charity of 2008
Remodelers Advantage Inc.
535 Main Street, Suite 211
Laurel, MD 20707
ofc: 301-490-5620
fax: 301-498-6869
Info@RemodelersAdvantage.com