BizTekPinoy

By JAIME GARCHITORENA

For you the entrepreneur, if successful, then there will be one less slash in your job description (un-cluttering your calling card) and one less voice in your psychic board room. If unsuccessful then…well…there’s always New Age mood music, home service massages, and good psychotherapists to spend your vacation money on.

A small entrepreneurial organization usually starts up as a one man show. In my world, the budding entrepreneur is called the slash-man; CEO-slash-CFO-slash-Sales and Marketing Manager-Slash-Purchasing-Slash-Occasional Delivery guy.

The advantage of this is that the lines of communication to the top are always free and clear (unless distracted by a glossy skin mag or one too many vodka sevens) and approval time for projects and activities takes on the speed of thought (unless the above mentioned is still happening).

But as all successful ventures go, there comes a time in a slasher’s life that he’d like to do a bit more than be a slave to his work. And as the executive board in his mind thinks of hiring a second in command it is just as soon done.

So now, with the beginnings of a corporate structure in place, the business owner encounters a problematic question; will his number 2 cut the mustard when he’s off on some tropical island living the life he thought deserved when he started his own business?

A quick survey of his empire reveals a dozen or so employees that for the last three years have been hanging on his every word and decision. For the most part, his staff has been there to execute any decisions he makes but no one has been privy to the process. He may also realize that more than just salary and the privilege of working for him, his staff may have been retained by a work environment derived from the owner’s personality like a very casual atmosphere, easy management style, and a super quick approval process (speed of thought remember) for critical decisions.

The entrep quickly realizes that out of the necessity of managing all roles himself, his company has become more like a symbiotic leach, that may be unable to survive if detached from him in any way.

He quickly convenes to the board room in his mind for a microsecond pow-wow. Unfortunately the lights may be on but there’s nobody home.

What to do! What to do!

Is our hero doomed to a fate of spending the best years of his life tied down to a life with no one to talk to but his staff and the voices in his head?

Well not really.

While the small biz owners sometimes feel like they work alone, they should always remember that they do not (no matter how insulated their position makes them).

Through a form of management osmosis, activities within the young company can be learned by the employees that are tasked to implement day to day activities.

The really smart biz owner should make it a point to notice a few things that might lead him to find his "Mini-me."

First, by now he would have seen in his employees any number of people that have at one point or another taken a leadership role in dealing with certain issues within the company.

Then, he may have also noticed that he may be approaching certain individuals when it comes to communicating programs or seeking suggestions or inputs from the rest of the staff. Normally, these unconscious consultations with staff members are clear indications of levels of trust and confidence the business owner may have in a particular staff member.

Also, he should have noticed the small detail called sales performance. Regardless of homogeneity in personality there will be certainly someone who will perform a sales role better than others.

Finally, there must be someone in the office who people like to talk to or ask for advice from when problems at work or home happen.

Up front, these personality types are should be the first in line for possible promotion to a supervisory or managerial. At the very least, their ability to interface with you, other members of the staff, or clients represent a positive connection with the company and how it is being run. At best, an individual with multiple skill sets might be the person who has chosen to emulate you from a distance.

Of course it goes without saying that there should be a willingness to take a lead role as well as a willingness to learn.

Now, much like dating a best friend, choosing a well-performing staff member for a proto-managerial role has its risks. The staff member may not perform well under managerial conditions. He may not be able to handle your demands of extracting performance from others who were formerly his peers. Or he may just rather be a cog in the machinery of your organization rather than a co-driver.

To overcome a situation of big false starts and disappointing situations, the process of creating internally sourced managers has to proceed with care.

Because seniority can be an issue, an open communication to the entire staff that a search for internal managers has to be sent out. To support choices, thorough evaluations to determine real skill sets of candidates have to be implemented. To boost confidence for the chosen ones, small chats with suggestions of taking on more responsibility will help.

Aside from these, additional training in other skill sets to fill the gaps, and the entrep’s willingness to allow the chosen ones to make mistakes without monetary penalties are just some suggestions on how to break in your proto-manager.

While this whole process may put a damper on your planned trip to Hawaii next month, the exercise should benefit your company, at least on the employee’s side, by encouraging homegrown talent to see their job as a career with a path for advancement.

For you the entrepreneur, if successful, then there will be one less slash in your job description (un-cluttering your calling card) and one less voice in your psychic board room. If unsuccessful then…well…there’s always New Age mood music, home service massages, and good psychotherapists to spend your vacation money on.