Vikram Bakshi's Blog, page 44
November 22, 2019
Babys First Year Frame
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November 21, 2019
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Polartec Blanket
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November 20, 2019
Clear Shoe Boxes
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November 19, 2019
Fancy Toilet Seats
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November 18, 2019
Glass Storage Jars
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November 16, 2019
Corningware Casserole Dish
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November 28, 2017
October 27, 2017
Why your Business Sale deliverable to customer is not matching in Operations in a VUCA world?
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I started my civil career in a telecom company, and within first three months, I was making a lot of sales calling and business development during my stint with the telecom industry, exploring new circles and cities/ states for telecom EPC projects.
My sales manager was an enterprising fellow had the ability to promise the moon to the customer. I soon realized where we were going wrong in each stage of sales.
During first stage i.e. cold calling where he was exploring additional business orders with existing customers, I found he promising anything to the customer so long as he could get the order. The million dollar question that I needed to address was that were we ready with resources to deliver it. There was a big gap between what was promised and what Operation team could deliver. As a result, our credibility was at stake. That is what happens in every industry, the sales and marketing team have to get orders at any cost in a competitive price war market, but the operation team used to wasteful ways of working is unable to deliver it what was promised to the customer.
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Anyway, I asked the sales team to go easy and divide leads of old or new customer lead of new circles which we will explore in one year + 6 months+ 30 days and finally close. It will give us time to consider our own options of readiness of resources and put our house in order so that we deliver what we promise to our customer.
It was during the second stage of sales calling also which I observed that we could convert leads into prospects with great difficulties as our market reputation of old project haunted us. Anyway, I could push some leads to our first meetings with the client, i.e. Qualifying stage. ( Normally I had a yardstick that 15 leads will convert to four meetings with any four customers and one may agree to do business).
Anyway in our first meeting I also realized that most of the sales team go in a rush to sell own products or services. I held the team back and asked them to address the concerns of the customer first what he wanted in first interaction. I was not bothered about the brand the customer represented but I saw my customer more as a harassed individual who had to deliver a couple of projects in a fixed timelines to his boss and he was looking for a suitable vendor like me who could deliver him in time and less cost. Sio my aim in the first meeting was to convince the customer that I showed interest in his immediate concerns for a mutual faith and soon a comforting bond established that I was the guy who will bail him out in the project deliverable which his management expected him to do so. In that meeting, I normally held back all information how I would work. The focus was more on getting information about him and project and all aspects related to the projects.
The third stage when I got back to him with proposal and cost etc i.e. presentation stage it was how I would deliver my EPC project, I normally talked about my team capabilities. However here also I made a point that how the customer would benefit from me in getting deliverable in time and less cost. I ended the meeting with credible reference of the earlier customer who was now happy with our work.
The fourth stage i.e. closing the sales deal was always with price negotiation or other objections and I had to again begin and convince the customer that why I was the better guy than the other vendors in price wars. Anyway, I also had a critical role in balancing the price settlement with my operation cost.
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Now why I am sharing the sales part as above, it is because the Operation part has to match with sales part. Sales never anticipate VUCA issues or stages, their job is to sell the product and service in a price war and it is up to the execution team to come close to what sales team had promised.
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Now comes the Operation execution, when we got the orders in the telecom projects, winning the price wars, we realized we were not ready for our execution. Our processes were weak or not stable or too much bureaucracy had crept in, our teams were not working lean, our subcontractors were not in same professional mode, our material planning and delivery was not matching with Work break down structure, our work had lot of rework, we had no idea of problems that would come in supply chain and were only responding from one crisis to another crisis. In the old projects, I soon realized that we ended up spending lot of money in tackling all Volatile, complex, unknown and ambiguous situations.
All my promises as Business development manager were going to fail as I was also the execution head. In other words, I was letting down myself, my team and my company. It was that time I saw an opportunity for change, setting up processes, setting up winning team, setting up integration and coordination, bringing in accountability and transparency in monitoring, ensuring a complete ownership till site ic charges and supervisors. More so I got in a culture of foreseeing and anticipating issues and ensuing cost is reduced in tackling. A fire prevention is less costly than calling a fire brigade to douse the fire. So a change happened and we started delivering and developed the customer faith.
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After a couple of years, when I shifted industry and joined found the same situation I realized that across the corporate world barring a few lean company, there exists a total apathy to realistic planning what can go wrong. The trend was to make a beautiful plan to impress the top management and customer and later leave the plan for actual execution to junior teams. The junior teams were all on their own and did anything as they perceive. The same story was about to be repeated but I had some lesson learned already and in all projects that followed we ensure that such things don’t happen. There were a lot of tools and methods I adapted from Armed Forces and best of corporate culture and ensure that teams follow it where I was the in charge of projects. The results were there to be seen.
Finally, I wrote the book ‘The Forward-Looking Manager in a VUCA world’ to help out many such manager dilemmas like I had a face, how to match the expectations of the sales team to the customer what was committed. This book promises a work culture and business results against possible VUCA conditions in each stage of life cycle of projects. These are time-tested techniques and methods practiced in armed forces and tried out in corporate projects also.
Read the book
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and see that what you promised your customer is met with same zeal and enthusiasm and more so within same delivery schedule and cost.
October 14, 2017
The Purpose of the Book :The Forward Looking Manager in a VUCA world.
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I had mentioned ‘Junoon’ or the ‘Passion’ to do a work a project or any operation. Even writing this book was a ‘Junnon’ for me. However Junnon is something related to the individual, it drives us. When it combines with doing something for others, it then becomes a purpose.
Our purpose is to help others. When I started writing this book ‘The Forward-Looking Manager in a VUCA world’s, one and half years back, I had in my mind the struggling Project engineer or the executive or the manager who despite all his sincerity and hard work was up against losses.
The Operational /Project manager was always in a firefighting mode, surviving one storm after another. It was an accepted norm that Project Management meant he will be only chasing supplier or contractor for failing commitments in manpower or material, while all other planning and execution control was with other stakeholders or his superiors.
There was no empowerment of taking decisions with Project or Operational managers, and it was with functional managers who also had massive egos to deal with. Project/Operations was a power-struggle of various stakeholders who were wanting to get more recognition for their own identity. Nobody was bothered about end results. In other words, the Operation or Project manager was always in a reactive mode to survive in problems instead of doing some smart planning work or controlling all stakeholder executions to prevent those problems.
It was also the Project Managers, and Operation managers to themselves blame for this predicaments. They did not train themselves to be leaders to have their own space under the Sun. They failed to apply themselves with learning, and also refused to first take charge of the Head Office responsibility and later further percolate down to ground team leaders. In other words, there were no leaders under the leader in Project except one odd boss who controlled everything and took all on himself and did not get time to do justice to each decision. Rest all are expected to play a Zombie Role.
I also saw in many companies the failed commitments and Minutes of Meeting washed down the drain. Nobody refused, but there was no honor in complying what one said or committed. It was again an accepted norm that the reviews will be washed up with real issues slipped under the carpet till one day the cost increases so much that it is difficult to hide from the management.
Then the real culprits who caused the losses also go unquestioned with zero accountability. It was again an accepted norm that no questions of accountability will be asked all under the grab of tagline ‘great working environment.’ A good working environment does not mean that a few job losses of inconsequent people will only happen, but real culprits who caused millions of dollars losses refused to change.
Mostly, the companies the world over that is struggling are due to such inefficient project or operation in charges be it a site in charge or a project manager or operation manager or the Head Boss who resist change management. For them, it is all about to survive somehow and complete the project and not preventing losses or waste.
I have seen companies where accountability of Operation and Project in charges or HOD is less for causing so many losses that they had to lose orders to competitors or shut down operations as they suffered losses after losses. When the companies get shut down, then employees were not paid in due. King Fisher is a classic example with zero accountability of bad leaders causing losses and operations gone for a toss.
I saw a couple of Public Sector Projects that never ends, with triple the original cost with no closure anywhere. We bill them for increased delays, but we didn’t realize that those Public Sector Projects are milking our own taxes. It was again an accepted norm to cover up our own and government officials inefficiency, losses, and waste that is caused. Fortunately, respected Prime Minister is himself now monitoring these PSU Projects.
On the other hand, the Private sector directly charged penalties and heavy fines and that also hit us in our profits ultimately affecting our pay structure and incentives. I have also seen small players winding up business because they could not get paid by big players customers as penalties of lousy work were so much in smartly made contracts that they could not meet the Key Performance Indices or deliverable quality.
The most significant losers, in the end, were junior and middle rung or senior managers with inflation cost of living. All blamed the company but not realizing that they were themselves only responsible for causing all losses in some way due to bad operations and project practices and low-quality projects results. When a cost overrun is happening we fail to realize that it will hit us in the end.
The Top Management and Sales team responsible for bringing in new orders are struggling against new players who are quoting fewer prices in competitive bidding because these small companies can work lean without a bureaucratic structure. The irony is even if one gets an order booking at a lesser cost in a competitive bidding, the question is are they capable of doing the project at less cost. International orders require so much advance coordination to keep the cost within control.
Then why not change?
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So the purpose of the book ” The Forward-Looking Manager in a VUCA world” is to spread the awareness that it is possible to control the chain of Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous events that cause a loss and delay in our projects and operations. Let’s realize that ultimately VUCA cost us additional amount to resolve it and it will affect our company profits and our own lives.
Do read the book to understand and develop the skill sets of Armed Forces and good companies that are thriving in a VUCA world. If they can do well in adversity so can others. Learn the disruptive planning, execution and control methods in the book that can be used for advance coordination that is needed to ensure there is no VUCA that will cause rework or delays and add to cost.
The next generation of managers and engineers have to be the change agents and bring in best of working methods to survive in an ever-evolving world with VUCA happening regularly. Be the disrupter than being the one who is disrupted. Grow from being a manager to a leader to take charge of VUCA.
Happy reading
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