Leadership, with Steve Whiteside

Know Your Organizations Style of Communication

When I work with an organization, one of the first topics that comes up is Communication. How well does communication work in their organization? What style of communication works, and is it effective? Often, I find that organizations have not given very much thought to the style of their organizations¾much less the style of their organizational communication. To me, this is a mistake that can easily be fixed if worked on with honesty and openness.

When you think about it, do we really spend enough time on being better communicators? Managers spend up to 80% of their work day communicating. So why do we spend so little time becoming better communicators? Probably because it means we have to look inward and make change, and that is always a scary thing to do. However, after we do it, we also find out how simple and productive it was for us. Simply put: Change is always something managers try to avoid, but to their own peril.

When I ask managers if they have a good idea of their employees' needs and problems, they almost always say, "Sure, of course we talk everyday. We work together, of course I understand what they need and what issues they have." I also found a study that said 95% of high-ranking managers believe they have a good understanding of their employees' issues and problems, but in the same study, only 30% of the subordinates agreed that their managers understand their issues and problems (White & Chapman, 1996). How can this be? Most of these people spend more time with each other than they do with their own families. How can there be such a disconnect? I believe it is because no one is listening to each other; most do not even understand how to communicate with each other.

My first suggestion is to always understand different theories in communication, then start to implement what will work for your organization in a practical way. I have found theory is always a great place to start, but it is only step one in many steps of the process. So let's look at step one. I will try to simplify this step by only talking about a few of the larger theories that can be immediately translated into practical use within your organization.

The three theories I will mention are Bureaucratic Theory of Organizational Communication, Human Relations Theory of Organizational Communication, and Systems Theory of Organizational Communication. You may find that you use a bit of all three, and that is ok. I believe it is more important that you use what works best for your organization, but you must know which theory you use and be conscious of the style so that you can be consistent and effective and allow your team to play by the same rules.

Bureaucratic Theory of Organizational Communication

Bureaucratic communication is about control based on rules and regulations that have been laid down by the organization in the past. The organization will rely heavily on guidelines, manuals, organizational charts, hierarchy, and job descriptions. Flexibility and change are not a big part of this theory. Most communication is vertical, and there is very little expectation of horizontal communication to solve problems. Over the years, less companies are relying on bureaucratic communication theory, but it is still strong in large organizations and, believe it or not, in small entrepreneurial organizations where the owner has total control over all aspects of the business. This is often found in franchisee operations and can hurt the way the business operates.

Human Relations Theory of Organizational Communication

Human relations takes into account much of the research that has been developed over the last 50 years. The idea is that not only does a company have a product or service to produce, but the organization also needs to fulfill the needs of its employees, such as fair wages and job satisfaction. This theory respects the fact that the individual team members are more concerned with each individual in the organization than they are to the rules and controls of the organization. Although these organizations may still have manuals and systems, it is understood that these rules can not possibly account for every situation that will happen and that individual decision making is important and expected, even when it falls outside of the normal solutions.

Oral communication is the preferred form of communication, and written and communications like memos and letters are not relied on as much. Human interaction is what fuels the communication in Human Relations Theory. There is much more reliance on horizontal communication, and team members will work on issues together, often without feeling like they must take it to their managers. We have seen a large amount of tech companies move to this kind of organizational structure so that innovation will proceed quickly guided by the team members who have the answers.

Systems Theory of Organizational Communication

This theory is perhaps the newest and most controversial theory in current Organizational Communication studies. Systems Theory believes that organizations are made up of subsystems and that all subsystems operate in different ways due to the number of variations in any given subsystem. Rules and manuals do not work well in this setting, because it is believed that all subsystems have different needs, even if they have the same goals the participants are different, and therefore, the rules and policies must be different.

In Systems Theory, communication usually moves up or down, but in an equally important flow. In some cases, the managers will need to share issues with the subordinates, and in other cases the subordinates will need to let managements know what needs to change. Because everyone is different, you can have one manager ask for a major report on a subject and another manager ask you to come to their office and give an oral report.

Systems Theory can be confusing because it is ambiguous, as everyone works in different styles and different ways. I often say it really is the ultimate open system. Things will change with the wind, and this can be confusing for all.

So Now What?

First, I would suggest you find out what kind of style you use in your organization. This by its self will help you become more aware of the communication flow in your organization. If you do nothing else, you will still be ahead of where many managers are. Second, after you find out what style of communication you use, and it may be a combination of many different theories of which I have only listed three in this post, make sure that this style is best for your organization. If you find it is not, make changes to improve the style you are using.

Allow the team members in your organization to be a part of rating the comunication style your organization is using, and allow them to make recomendations for change. I assure you that they will support your organization in a very positive way, even if they have changes they would like to see implemented. It is often amazing to me how team members will protect their organizations, even if they want to see massive change. I have never worked with an organization where the team can not find the right answers.

That does not mean there won't be some mistakes made or that some ideas may not work as well as planned. Through the collaboration discussed here, everyone will take ownership of the change and work hard to make the change work or find the answers if it is not working. Most importantly, be open to new ideas and new ways of communication. If you start this exercise with an open mind and an open heart, you will find many of the answers you need to move your organization to a better place.

If you would like to discuss any of these concepts or you would like some help to facilitate them in your organization, please call me at the phone number below.

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

George Bernard Shaw

White, K. W., & Chapman, E. N. (1996). Organizational communication: An introduction to communication and human relations strategies. Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schuster Custom Pub.

 

Steve Whiteside is a consultant specializing in organizational development within franchise organizations and educational organizations as well as your organization. Steve also is an Executive Coach; you can contact him at 604-786-5677.

Copyright © 2011 Steve Whiteside

Why Franchisors Should Visit their Franchisees’ Operations

As I have mentioned in many of my posts and articles in the past, communication is one of the key elements to building great Franchisor/Franchisee relationships. I have also written about the importance of building trust in the Franchisor/Franchisee relationship. When Franchisors visit Franchisees’ operations, they have an opportunity to build trust and strengthen communication, and this should happen often.

When the Franchisor makes visits to their Franchisees, there should be a very deliberate agenda set out so that the most can be made of their time together. As most Franchisors do not get the opportunity to visit their Franchisees as much as they would like, Franchisors should make sure to get the most out of the time they do get with their Franchisees. Also, Franchisees will want to make the most of the time they get to spend with the representative from the Franchisor.

One of the first questions I am often asked by Franchisors is: “Who should do the onsite visits?” Well this depends; I always suggest it be a person who has some decision-making power at the Head Office of the Franchisor. If the Franchisee is going to take 4 or 8 hours of their time to meet with someone from the Franchisor, they want to make sure that their time will be a good investment. No, this does not mean it has to be the President. What I am saying here is: It must be a person who can make change or effectively help to steer change at the Franchisor level. So if the person who will be making the onsite visits does this as part of their job, then the Franchisor will need to build this person and the position in a way that creates confidence with the Franchisees that the visit will be worth their time.

The second question is: “What should we accomplish during our onsite visits?” Now there is no fast way to answer this, but there are many items I would like to share to start the process. There are five functions I suggest you try to accomplish during your onsite visits.

         1. Align Yourselves – Spend some time aligning the Franchisor’s goals and vision, while trying to understand what the Franchisee’s goals and vision are also. Then work to make sure the goals and visions can align with each other. Without doing this, the Franchisor and the Franchisee can never work together as a team. I don’t think I have to explain the importance of team work in the Franchisor/Franchisee relationship.

The important thing is that the Franchisee feels like they are a part of the system and that what they are working towards is important to the Franchisor. It is true that the Franchisee must follow the systems of the Franchisor, but if the Franchisee does not have goals or their own personal vision, they will be lost on a day-to-day basis. However, if the Franchisor can support the Franchisee’s goals and vision while still working within the Franchisor’s systems, the Franchisees will be much stronger.

 

         2. Measure Standards and Performance – It is important for Franchisees to know how they are doing. It is often helpful to let them know how they are doing within a perspective they will understand, like compared to other Franchisees. This can be a helpful tool if you are measuring apples to apples and keep all information confidential.

One example is that you would not necessarily measure the gross sales of a location in Chicago, Illinois, with a location in Boulder Flats, Utah. You may be able to measure the conversation rates of leads for the two locations and come up with a percentage that represents a fair comparison with these two locations. As the markets are so different in these two locations, it still may not be a measurement that is fair or helpful. It is important to make comparisons that will relate well to each other.

Another way to measure is to have targets on which the majority of your Franchisees can agree; we will call this Franchisee Base Lines or FBL™. Then make a matrix of how well the Franchisee ranks against the FBL™ to see if a Franchisee needs improvement or to see if the Franchisor can find out why the Franchisee is excelling in a certain FBL™.

It is also very important to be able to measure a Franchisee’s past performance to show the trending of growth or shrinkage. A key goal for a Franchisor is to always promote growth, and having the Franchisees’ historical data available is an important part of your matrix.

Another important measurement is the success and measurement of the Franchisor. This should be shared with the Franchisee during your onsite visit. The Franchisor can share the strengths and weaknesses of the goals that have been measured. The Franchisor can also ask for input in ways to improve on these items. In my research with Franchisees, I found that most franchisees felt their Franchisors really did not care about their input on the shortcomings of the Franchisor. When information is collected about the Franchisor, it should be put together in a way that the outcome can be shared with the Franchisees. For example, using a survey tool will allow the Franchisor to share the accumulated outcomes of how the Franchisees rate the Franchisor.

 

          3. Know the Market – It is important to know the market of each of your Franchisees. Of course, you will know the basic demographics of the market that is served, but there can be large differences from location to location. For instance, if you are a Private Business College franchise, the difference from a location in Santa Monica, California, and East Los Angeles California, will be great. The demographic of the customer, the demographic of the employee, and the products purchased will in all likelihood be much different. Take a close look at the differences, look to see where a Franchisee may be missing an opportunity or where a Franchisee may be exploiting an opportunity that the Franchisor can learn from.

When the Franchisor representative visits, they should take some time to visit with customers of the Franchisee. Take special note of the customer’s perspective of the Franchisee. Take notes and share this with the Franchisee; usually such feedback will be a very positive part of the day. Also, find out what Franchisees’ perspectives are of the Franchisor. If you ask questions such as, Do you feel the TV advertising is consistent with our product or Do you feel the look such as colors and feel of the location is professional, then you will get a good idea of how the customer views the systems that the Franchisor puts in place. See what can be done to strengthen the relationship between the Franchisee and its customers. Whatever the Franchisor can do to help this relationship will be a huge benefit to the Franchisee.

The real benefit of knowing the market is not only being able to make changes that matter, but also being better able to understand the Franchisee and see what makes them tick. You cannot understand your Franchisee’s needs without first understanding the Franchisee’s customers!

 

           4. Open Mike – This is a great time to let Franchisees air their concerns and ideas. I always recommend this be in the later part of the day, so the Franchisor representative can set a positive feeling throughout the day. If the Franchisor is positive, helpful, and understanding, I have almost always found the Franchisee will be also. However, Franchisors should note that Franchisees have many issues, problems, and concerns: many of which they feel ill-equipped or powerless to fix because the Franchisor holds so much of the power through rules, standards, systems, and perceived and real control.

When the Franchisor truly listens and deals with the Franchisee’s issues, good things will happen. This process can be very liberating for the Franchisees and also for the Franchisor. Not only is it important for the Franchisor to listen, but also to show that you understand and that you will take the information back with you to the Head Office and share it with the appropriate people.

 

           5. Agree on Moving Forward – Often, I find that Franchisors see problems in the Franchisees’ organization, but the Franchisor will not say anything until down the road by letter or email. The Franchisor feels it is safer this way. Well, it might be safer, but not nearly as effective. I suggest you start tackling issues when you see them. Talk about the problem and work on solutions together. Of course, you will have to follow up officially and document serious issues, but don’t leave without some agreement on the issue and even the beginning of an action plan to fix the issue.

At the end of the visit, if both the Franchisor representative and the Franchisee can agree on some of the issues, they will be much simpler to take care of in the future. You will also earn the trust of your Franchisees.

There is another important step to do now: Share with the Franchisee what they are doing right and how you can share that information with other Franchisees. My experience has been that the best form of flattery is asking if you can share the Franchisee’s successes with the entire organization.

If a Franchisor can work on these five key areas when doing site visits, they can maximize their efforts and work towards building the organization at the same time. In future articles, I will talk about attitude of the Franchisor vs. the Franchisee and some pit falls of strong arming Franchisees, even when you do not realize it is happening.

For now, remember the Franchisor/Franchisee relationship is the heart beat of all Franchise organizations, and we should keep those relationships as healthy as possible—just like we would our own hearts.

Steve Whiteside is a consultant specializing in organizational development within franchise organizations and educational organizations. You can contact him at The Franchise Leadership Center, 604-786-5677.

What Affects the Quality of a Franchise Relationship?

I have spent hundreds of hours working on what affects a quality franchise relationship. Over and over the same answers were revealed. Although all franchisors and franchisees feel they have problems that are unique to them, I found that their problems are not so unique. Yes, they may look different from the surface, but they are all grounded in some major themes.

From my research, four major themes emerged that directly affect the quality of relationship between the franchisor and the franchisees:

• expectations versus perceptions of the franchisor and franchisee,
• collaborative communication and how communication can be effective,
• communication barriers reduce the ability of the franchisor and franchisee to work together effectively, and
• trust and its effect on franchisor/franchisee relationships.

Expectations versus perceptions of the franchisor and franchisee:
When franchisor and franchisee expectations are not aligned, they will be working towards different goals. In many cases, you can see this when a franchise organization does not appear consistent or unified. If the franchisor's goal is to sell the highest quality food, but the franchisee's goal is to sell the largest quantity of food regardless of quality, many issues will arise from accusations of poor product quality to differences in advertising methods.

I found that the forming of expectations and perceptions starts during the first contacts between the franchisor and the potential franchisee. In most cases, perceptions are already set from the experiences the potential franchisee has had as a customer with the franchise organization, but the real expectations start to be made at the first meeting between the potential franchisee and the franchisor.

The more qualifications a franchisee must go through, the more in-line expectations seem to be. An example would be Tim Horton's, which is a popular franchise in Canada and it is moving across the United States. They interview and look into any potential franchisee in depth. They look for very specific qualifications. When they find the right franchisee, the relationship has already been set in many ways through the exhaustive interview process.

Ultimately, finding the right franchisee for the right franchisor is the key. This will only be done by complete honesty, openness from both franchisor and franchisee, and making sure that both parties understand their full commitment to each other.

The best franchisors know this, live by it, and grow like crazy. Other franchisors look for the fast sell and seem to be more busy putting out fires than actually growing the organization. Some organizations will never learn, but the good news is: Most will.

Collaborative communication and how communication can be effective:
I have found that there are many communication problems between franchisors and franchisees. Some of the issues are a lack of effective communication and the need for collaborative communication, in the form of open and honest flow between the franchisor and franchisee and their respective staff.

My research showed that franchisors and franchisees wanted better communication and were willing to create better communication. So why is effective communication so elusive? Mostly because we do things that hinder our communication. We assume others know what we are saying, we expect others to read what we write, we even expect that others understand how we feel. All of this leads to poor communication, then eventually to a break down in communication.

I have also found that, when communication is done in collaboration with all stakeholders, it is much more effective. When all parties feel they are a part of the change or policy that is being developed the buy in is much more complete.

Communication barriers reduce the ability of the franchisor and franchisee to work together effectively:
One of the largest communication barriers I have come across in my consulting occurs when the parties communicating feel they are not on an equal footing. In many cases, franchisees feel they can talk until they are blue in the face, but they feel their franchisor will do whatever it wants in the long run.

On the other hand, I have come across franchisors who will not make choices if there is no backing from a majority of franchisees. In these cases, the franchisees know this and want to give input as they feel their input makes a difference.

Things are always unequal if one party feels that its input has no sway or power to influence. This is why I have always tried to have franchise organizations develop ground rules that make it plain what is up for discussion and what is not. For instance, in a franchise organization where public safety is paramount there are things that just can not be changed and must be followed, but on the other hand, items like marketing should always be up for frank, open, and honest discussion.

Breaking down barriers will allow collaborative communication to take place, and from there, many good things will follow. Many times it helps to bring in a third party, like a consultant, to find out if and where the barriers exist, as it is often hard to see the barriers that we have helped to create.

Trust and its effect on franchisor/franchisee relationships:
Much has been written about trust, so I will not go into the definition of trust in an already long blog posting. What I will say is: I have found that trust is one of the most important elements of a franchisor/franchisee relationship. Without trust, you have no way to ground your relationship. You can not have effective communication, and you most certainly can not effectively collaborate on anything.

Interestingly enough, my research showed that most franchisors did not even realize that there was a problem with their franchisee's trust. In some cases, when the franchisor found out there was a lack of trust, they were offended at first, but trust is usually a combination of expectations not being met and poor communication. When we fix our communication breakdowns, we can usually improve our trust factor.

Trust is not something that comes naturally for most; it must be earned. Just because a franchisor has a franchisee sign a contract will not mean they are building trust. Trust comes from events and conversations, where trust is built from outcomes. So, whether you are a franchisee or a franchisor, ask, "What have I done lately to build trust in those around me? What events or conversations have I been a part of that have built trust?"

If you keep some of these ideas at the forefront of your mind when working with your franchisees or franchisor, I believe you will build a better relationship as well as help your company be much more successful.

Steve Whiteside is a consultant specializing in organizational development within franchise organizations and educational organizations. You can contact him at The Franchise Leadership Center, 604-568-9686.

Copyright © 2009 Steve Whiteside

Great Franchising it's about Alignment

I was working with a franchisor last week and I had the opportunity to work on one of the most important subjects I deal with when consulting with franchise organizations - alignment. In my experience one of the most common problems in franchise organizations that are experiencing slow to no growth or just experiencing a complete lack of positive movement is the fact that they are not in alignment.

What I mean by this is that there are three major components to a franchise organization, the Franchisor, Franchisee and the customer. If all three are not in alignment then the franchise organization will not be able to take advantage of their total resources. Misalignment of these three components create negative repercussions such as: disgruntled clients who don’t receive  what they expected, angry franchisees who think they are being taken advantage of, and franchisors who believe that no one is listening to their message. .

The foundation steps in alignment are  aligning expectations, communication, perception and trust.  Once an organization has these four items aligned, they build capacity to align in other areas and continue to work together effectively and successfully.  

 

This diagram shows the items that should be in alignment and how they work together. The Franchisor takes a leadership role in helping to align all of the important elements, hence the franchisor is at the top of the pyramid. The largest and most important of all three levels is of course the customer and hence they are the largest part of the pyramid at the foundation level. Without customers the franchisor and the franchisee have no reason for existence. With that relationship as primary, change works best when directed from the leadership level.

If you are a franchisor or franchisee thinking about alignment, here are some simple questions to start with,

1. Are the expectations from your stakeholders in alignment when it comes to product, deliver responsibility and outcome?
2. Do you have open and honest and effective methods of communication between all customer, franchisee and franchisor levels and can all three groups speak to each other independently?
3. Are the perception of the Customer, Franchisee and Franchisor the same when it comes to what is your reason for being? Does your brand communicate the perception that the stakeholders have?
4. Is there 100% and complete trust between the stakeholders? If you ask them if they trust the company, product and system 100% what would be the answer. If it is less than 100%, you must work on this area. Trust indicates how well  your organization will survive and profit!

"Alignment creates momentum and momentum translates into success and profit."

Steve Whiteside is a consultant specializing in organizational development within franchise organizations and educational organizations. You can contact him at The Franchise Leadership Center, 604-568-9686.

Copyright © 2009 Steve Whiteside

Three inspiring lessons

A friend and working coulege of mine shared a Stanford commencement adress given by Steve Jobs in 2005. Steve shared three stories and many lessons. I thought for this posting I would just share with you the video. The three stories had a few lessons I will list, but please take the 15 minutes when you want to be inspired and watch the video.

Three stories and lessons from Steve Jobs...

1. So I decided to drop out (of University) and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.

2. After getting fired from Apple. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love.

3. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma--which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

And to top it all off he ends with...

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

What is your "Franchisor Value Proposition"?

In my experience with franchised organizations, there are many things a Franchisor can do to maintain and improve on their relationships with the Franchisees. Maybe the most important one is "Making sure you (the Franchisor) continue to give good value to your franchisees."

Many franchisors sell many franchises and become big and forget to constantly guarantee value. Let's face it: the reason franchisees bought from a franchisor is to get better value than they would on their own. This is a great reason to be a franchisee. Franchisors can ask themselves three questions to make sure they are giving good value to the franchisees.

1. Can I continue to sell or support my franchisees at a better price and quality then my franchisees can obtain on their own?

2. What have I done lately that brings extra value to my franchisees?

3. What can I do in the future to grantee my franchisees continued value?

If a franchisor can work through these three questions and get positive answers or come up with new positive answers, they will solve the majority of franchisee complaints.

The "Value Proposition" is a very important part of the Franchisor / Franchisee relationship. After all why would a person pay extra money to receive less value for something? They would not; so if a person buys a franchise, they have seen the value in doing so. If that franchisee perceives diminished value from the franchisor, as often happens, then this is where the Franchisor and Franchisee relationship starts to break down. I have seen this happen from small franchised organizations to very large organizations. When the value disappears, so too will the positive relationship.

Whether you are the Franchisor or Franchisee, take responsibility to find the value, and you will continue to receive value that exceeds expectations, and you will always have a positive Franchisor / Franchisee relationship.

Steve Whiteside is a consultant specializing in organizational development within franchise organizations and educational organizations. You can contact him at 604-568-9686.

Copyright © 2009 Steve Whiteside

Saying "Welcome" may not be enough

While I was traveling back to Vancouver from Providence Road Island last week, I stopped off in Chicago to visit a very good friend. I had to wait an hour before he would pick me up at the airport, so I decided I would look around the airport and see if I could get some ideas of things to do while in Chicago. I knew David would keep me busy, but I wanted to see if maybe I could make a suggestion or two: like he would listen anyway.

Down the hallway, near the baggage claim booth area, I noticed what looked like it would have tourist information. As I got closer, I saw it would probably fit the bill. A big sign on the booth said, "We're Glad You're Here!" But I noticed right away that there was no one in the booth to help answer any questions. "No problem," I thought. I could wait for someone to return. After all, I had an hour to kill, or I could probably pick up some information from the counter.

As I was standing against the counter, I noticed not only was no one working the counter, but the brochure racks were all empty. There was a phone book on the counter, but no phone that would allow me to use the phone book. At this point, I was a bit disappointed. I had my hopes up high to get some help. After all, the booth said, "We're Glad You're Here!" Yet, there was nothing there to help me, not even a brochure.

So I sat down across the way to blow a part of my hour, and no one came to work the counter. By the way it was 1:30 in the afternoon on a Friday. You would think that someone would be working this area at that time of the day, but low and behold, one hour later, and no one showed. Many people came by for help, but none was to be given.

This had me thinking, so often we want to give a good impression. We want to make people feel welcomed and let them know we care, but if all we have is the desire and not the action, it will almost always backfire on us. Not only did I not get the help or information I was looking for, but I walked away thinking they really don't want to welcome me: "They really don't care." Such a responsive thought is much worse than if they never installed the booth.

After all, if all they wanted to do is say, "Welcome," a sign—without the booth, counter, and empty brochure racks—would have done the trick. A sign alone would not have built any expectations and would have made me feel good if I read the sign.

The lesson here for me was: if you want to make clients, customers, or the general public feel good or welcome in your organization, you need more then just words, and you need to do more than just show a perception. You need to take action and prove to the customer or clients that you really mean what you are saying. For me, an example would go something like this: If I go to my wife every day and say "I love you" or "I care about you", but then I never show up for dinner or never bring home a gift, I will not be strengthening my marriage. But if I say "I love you" or "I care about you" and come home early to help with dinner sometimes or bring home a dozen Costco roses, that goes a long way. As it should, action always speaks louder then words! The same goes with customers, clients, or the public.

There is not much more one can do for a person than make them feel important. Whether they are a client, franchisee, patient, or just a friend, making people feel special and important is a key element in strengthening that relationship.

Steve Whiteside is a consultant specializing in organizational development within franchise organizations and educational organizations. You can contact him at 604-568-9686

Copyright © 2009 Steve Whiteside

Implement Generational Change Cycles

As most of us will agree, change is key to keeping your organization fresh and moving forward. I do not mean to say we should create change for the sake of doing so, but in order to keep moving forward, change is inevitable. As Guy Kawasaki said at a speech I recently attended, "You can't move forward without change."

Moving forward is a constant goal for me, and I make sure it is happening everyday. So how can you do the same? One way is to Implement what I call "Generational Change Cycles". A Generational Change Cycle is change that is constantly being followed by more change. Take the iPod for example. Right now you can buy the G3 iPod Touch. What does the G3 stand for? Third Generation. So three iPod versions have been released. Why? Well, mostly because Apple knows the more it updates its products with small incremental improvements, the more units it will sell.

Do you think that, when Apple came out with Generation 2, it did not have the knowledge of any of the technology that later came out in Generation 3? Of course it did, but if Apple stays ahead of the technology curve, should it put all of its technological improvements in the iPod before it has too? No, do it slowly. Make sure you give the impression of always changing and creating new technology, and the consumer will keep on buying the new products as they are released.

I suggest we all implement Generational Change Cycles. Doing so will ensure we always have new change coming into the picture. Each new cycle starts off at the bottom of the circle.

1. New Idea for Change - This is the new idea that will create positive change within the organization.

2. Implement the Change - This is the step where you implement the change: be it new procedures, training, or a way of doing business.

3. Enjoying the Benefit of the Change - This is where we reap the benefits of the change. We may bring in more profits, enjoy our working conditions, develop better public relations, or have more effective employees. This is the step where we enjoy the fruits of our labour, which are related to the change we have implemented.

4. Effectiveness of Change Declines - As with anything new, the change grows old. As what you have implemented grows old, it starts to be less effective. You can not stop this cycle; all you can do is be ready for it and start to implement new change again as the old change wears out or becomes old.

Then you are back to Step 1 again with a new idea for change. The key here is to make sure you have new ideas, so that you can start to implement new change before you fully lose the effectiveness of the change effort in the present cycle. Although what I am showing here is a single snap shot of one cycle, what you should really do is start to work with Step 1 again as you are moving through Steps 3 and 4. So, ultimately, you are always working on a minimum of two cycles at a time. Each cycle can be called a new generation of change.

By always creating a new generation of change you will never be stagnant. You will always be moving forward, and as Seth Godin says, "You are creating 'Purple Cows'." By taking control of your change cycles and making sure you are always taking advantage of change, you will always be at the front of the pack. Generational Change Cycles allow you to do this.

Steve Whiteside is a consultant specializing in organizational development within franchise organizations and educational organizations. You can contact him at 604-568-9686

Copyright © 2009 Steve Whiteside

Comunication is at the core of any Franchisor/Franchisee relationship

It has always amazed me that so many organizational problems exist between franchisors and franchisees, when you consider that they cannot exist without one another, and franchisees rely on franchisors for so much. Franchisees make a substantial investment in their franchisor and need each other and must work together to be effective and profitable.

In isolated cases there may be franchisors looking to take advantage of franchisees, but in both my personal experience and in my research, I only found franchisors that really wanted their franchisees to be successful. Unfortunately in many cases the perception of the franchisees was that their franchisor did not care about their success at all.

This is where my interest lies. The goal in my research has been to investigate why these relationships break down. In cases were the relationships are strong I explore how they can be made even stronger. For example, if the revenue of a large franchise organization can be increased by even 2 or 3 percent it can have dramatic benefits to both franchisor and franchisee. Franchising represents over two trillion dollars in global revenue and accounts for approximately 50% of all retail business in the United States and Canada. If we could grow this business by improving the relationships within franchise organizations with little or no monetary investment, wouldn't that reap large rewards?

When I was doing research for my Masters thesis I found that there are some issues that seem to resonate within many franchise organizations. I broke them down into four areas:

1. Expectations versus perceptions of the franchisor and franchisee
2. Lack of collaborative communication
3. Communication barriers
4. Trust issues that prevent effective communication

One of the interesting outcomes of this research was that ‘communication’ kept cropping up. If you ask franchisors if they communicate with their franchisees most will say “of course, we send out information all the time, have webinars, newsletters, help desks, conventions and send out daily emails”. Their franchisees would say that they get all kinds of communication, but none of it all that useful, and that the information they specifically ask for never arrives.

So what is the problem? If the franchisors work so hard to communicate, and the franchisees have a hard time even keeping up with all the communication, why does communication keep showing up as a problem? I found two major reasons. First, the wrong information is being communicated, and in many cases to the wrong people. Secondly, too much of the communication is very impersonal.

In future postings I will cover off the four areas above in more detail. For now I want to focus on these two primary reasons communication keeps showing up as a problem despite so much energy being put into it. I call this the basics of relationship problems.

On the issue of the wrong information being communicated, and in many cases to the wrong people, this is because most organizations are set up to prioritize the information going out. There are no checks and balances to ensure that the information was useful to the recipient. At one franchise I spoke with, information on government issues was being sent to front line workers who had no responsibility whatsoever for the company’s relationship with the government. The information was going to the wrong source, plain and simple.

In another case a franchisee asked the franchisor for some help with safety issues on the premises. The franchisor sent out some information that dealt with the wrong State, not even addressing the industry the franchisee was in. It would have been better if the franchisor just admitted it did not have the proper information, but that in most States it could be found on the web under State safety legislation. At least that would have been information that was accurate.

On the issue of too much of the communication being very impersonal, franchisors as well as franchisees seem to be rushed and busy, resulting in much communication being very impersonal. While this may be okay for the short term, I found that over longer periods of time franchisees want to have a more personal relationship with their franchisor, if for no other reason than they feel the franchisor really cares about their success.

There is no need to spend a lot of ‘touchy feely’ time to accomplish this. All a franchisor has to do is keep in regular contact and ask questions. Franchisors are always telling franchisees things. Sometime the franchisor should stop and ask some questions and let the franchisee give some information. It really is amazing how effective this can be. I have seen franchisors repair very negative relationships just using this method of communication. Ask "How are you?" "What’s new in your business?" "How can we support you?" and then listen carefully to the answers. Appreciative communication will go a long way!

There is a very small cost to maximizing communication between franchisor and franchisee, but there are many rewards for doing it. Try these simple steps.

• Focus on the information you send out and make sure it is relevant.
• Make sure the information is going to the right recipients.
• Try to have more personal communications with your franchisor/franchisee.
• Ask questions and show genuine interest in what is being said.
• Follow up on past conversations.
• If it feels good to you it will probably feel good to the person you are communicating with.

Give it a try. Effective communication is at the center of all relationships and can make or break them!

Steve Whiteside is a consultant developing effective tools for franchise organizations to become more effective, his focus is on leadership and organizational development. You can contact Steve at aolsteve@shawlink.ca 

Feedback is only good if you use it!

In the past we have all received surveys asking our opinion about a product, a stay in a hotel, or some such thing. The information collected in these types of surveys is useful as long as the information is actually used. In my experience there are two factors that are key to making surveys useful. 1. make them as ‘user friendly’ and easy to fill out as possible. 2. ensure that information is collected and collated in a way that will enable the outcomes to be used to make positive change(s) in your organization.

All too often surveys ask for a ‘narrative’ on how you feel. In most cases this is ineffectual. Most people prefer to answer multiple choice questions, wanting the choices to be simple, such as a number scale 1 to 10. Last year I purchased a boat and about six months later I received a survey in the mail. After taking a brief look at the survey, it went straight in the trash, as there were over 10 questions that required me to provide a ‘narrative’. I just did not feel like writing a book. It is hard enough to get me to make posts on my blog! On the other hand, if there would have been 20 multiple choice questions with perhaps an option to write an explanation if I chose to, I probably would have taken the time to fill out the survey.

Once your clients have filled out the surveys and you have taken the time to collect the information, make sure you use it. Too often I have seen businesses collect survey information, take a fast look at it, and never actually use it, or refer to it again. I was working with a one company and they collected surveys from all their clients. When I asked them what they do with the information they collected they said "we file it here in the cabinet". I then asked them what they do with it then, and they replied "nothing, but if the government asks for it, it is here".

What a waste of time and energy! Always use the information you collect. Ask yourself "what positive change have I made, or can I make, using this information?" If you can not think of anything then you are not nearly done with the survey information, or you did not ask the right questions. If we know and believe that our clients will almost always have better ideas than us, then we had better use them.

Lastly, thank your clients for taking the time to complete the survey, that is, if it is not confidential. Always send out a thank you and they will remember that you cared enough to do so. If you are using a confidential survey, try to use something like an online survey such as Survey Monkey at www.surveymonkey.com. Make sure you program the confidential survey in a way that will thank them for taking the survey and explain how much you appreciate it.

Remember, information (knowledge) is power, but only if you use it!