Establishing Management Systems: the Pitfalls
All successful companies have in place the cornerstones of effective business and quality management systems.
With such diverse and experienced skill sets together with ready-to-go proven products and solutions required, with attendant high costs, how does an early stage company cross this huge technical and commercial gap to put effective management systems in place?
There are several avenues available and this article analyses the potential pitfalls and offers a tailored solution alternative.
Experienced full time business manager
A young, developing company does not have the customer base or systems in place to recruit an experienced full time business manager because more lucrative positions with larger firms offering job security, promotions, bonuses, pension scheme etc are readily available.
Furthermore, most business managers will lack the experience of a business owner and skills to manage all aspects.
Young staff
Young people command lower salaries, but lack of qualifications, knowledge, and experience together with an immature temperament is too high risk for a management position.
It is often tempting to employ young inexperienced people but this is a false economy leading to:
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costly mistakes and unnecessary risks
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long and frustrating timescales
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remedial costs
Consultants
There is an old saying, “a consultant is someone who borrows your watch to tell you the time, and then keeps the watch.”
Typically, consultants do not have sophisticated business experiences and their business models are contradictory to their client’s best interests.
Consultants often draw out a project as they need to fit several clients into their own schedule whilst prospecting for new clients. This leads to a lower standard of service, long timescales and frustration, damaging the relationship and ultimately the output.
Furthermore, it is in the consultant’s interest to keep control of the project and retain vital knowledge, instead of imparting it to their client.
A company should always aim to build its own knowledge base.
Interim Manager
An interim manager is a senior executive with the necessary skill set for solving specific problems in a very short period of time.
An experienced, well-rounded professional interim manager will implement solutions quickly and efficiently, working to an agreed agenda and timescale, as part of the extended management team.
They bring much more to the party than traditional consultants or a temporary manager because they are focussed on results. They consult, plan, advise, implement, and embed the skills and competences, then exit having accomplished their remit.
However, most interim managers will lack the experience of a business owner and skills to manage all aspects.
Reflect Quality Tailored Solution
To be successful requires a service provider capable of supplying interim management with business owner experience combined with ready-to-go products and solutions.
A successful interim manager with the qualifications, experience and proven track record, together with ready-to-go products and solutions is not commonplace.
Reflect Quality can provide this combination and is uniquely positioned to successfully deliver results.
Reflect Quality has developed a unique agile methodology, comprehensive business structures, Quality Management System (QMS) and Management Information System (MIS) products over many years. These validated, tried and tested tools are quickly tailored to the needs of the customer.
Reflect Quality will adopt proven best practice solutions at a much lower cost and timescale from day one, saving a considerable investment in time, money and personnel, resulting in a solid foundation being evolved in a very short space of time.