Finish Your Year-End With a Flourish

By Steven E. Sacks, CPA, CGMA, ABC

It is that time of year again as people and companies are rushing to get their operations, projects, budgets and other elements in some semblance of order before the holidays.

While constant monitoring throughout the year is more preferable, it is not always achievable because of schedule conflicts, travel, vacations, meetings, client engagement due dates, delivery deadlines and a whole host of other impediments.

Whether you are assessing the performance of a team, division, organization or a professional services firm, it is imperative to take time to review the completed projects and those that are still a work in progress.

For the completed projects or engagements, get the relevant people together in a comfortable environment (cell phones off or non-existent, out-of-office voice mail message clear) to focus on which assignments succeeded or failed, and why. Compare the similarities and differences between the assignments to see why some had positive results and the others were less than stellar. If you see a common thread between the good and a common thread between the bad, drill deeper to see how to improve.

Perhaps a certain process or an individual(s) had a negative impact. If you envision the troublesome projects recurring—assuming you still retain the client or the customer—carefully diagnose where the roadblocks or problems appeared and how they were addressed. This will help your organization from committing the same mistakes.

For current projects, conduct a status review to see if there are imminent problems; the responsible individuals have a handle on what needs to be done ;sufficient attention is still devoted to that project; and that the work has been carefully documented to enable a post-engagement to be efficiently reviewed.

Was the Effort Worth It?

There are times when recurring services or a long-standing relationship no longer holds the same cachet; specifically, the effort is not yielding the favorable returns it once did.

You should have a system in place that allows you to compare the results to what was projected, whether it was a cost-plus contract or a quoted engagement fee. Was taking on the assignment or customer worth the time and expense? Was it in keeping with your strategic objectives? Did the experience help your organization hone its skills?

Your organization’s vision may have changed — or needs to be changed. Will continuing along the same path reduce your profitability, demotivate your staff or cause clients to look elsewhere because of their sense you are no longer into them?

Use a Sounding Board…Your Employees

Part of the success of any leader is to get as much feedback from those who have a close consistent relationship with the clients and customers. Your people are the best real-time resource — a pipeline for the leadership team to leverage.

When you conduct a year-end retrospective, ideally before the meeting you should have more than an anecdotal sense of the potential problems. Gather, evaluate and clearly state the challenges, the limitations and the possible impact on the business. This is no time for sugarcoating. Your employees need to know the full picture.

Seek the input of your staff members and assure them that all of their suggestions will be reviewed for relevance and viability. Encourage openness; the best idea may come from an unexpected place.

Once all the ideas with potential have been identified, allow individuals to work independently to support and explain their selection(s) and then to discuss with their immediate supervisor, who in turn will run it up the line. I am not suggesting a whole bureaucratic process, but one that engages people and offers them a sense of an intellectual and emotional investment in the outcome.

Once the plan has been chosen, offer the employees the time, tool and resources they need to accomplish the plan.

And like with customer or client work, make sure you have an approach that can be easily implemented and effectively monitored.

Show Appreciation Before and After

Because it is the year end, this is a great time to express appreciation to your employees for their dedication and effort. Piling on more work is in the form of problem identification and solution is not a gift for “someone who has everything.” So how you position your thanks, and at the same time, convey your need for their help is going to take practice.

Expressing sincere appreciation, as with empathy, is a powerful characteristic to possess. This can be done by encouraging spirited (but respectful) debate, requesting hard facts to support a position, value questions as well as solutions and thank the dissenters for their input.

If throughout the year you have cultivated a positive culture of openness and honesty, then you should be willing to engage in a company “checkup” on a regular basis.

And remember to say “thank you.”

About Steve

Steven Sacks is the CEO of Solutions to Results, LLC, a consultancy that specializes in helping individuals, firms and organizations meet the challenges of communicating with clarity and purpose. Visit his website at www.solutions2results.com.