93: Org Assessment to Help You Focus On the Right Things In Your Business

You're listening to the Time to Level Up Podcast. I'm your host, business life coach, Andrea Liebross. I help women in business commit to their own growth personally and professionally. Each week, I'll bring you strategies to help you think clearly, gain confidence, make your time productive, turn every obstacle into an opportunity, and finally overcome the overwhelm so that you can make money and manage life. Let's create a plan so you have a profitable business, successful career, and best of all, live with unapologetic ambition. Are you ready to drop the drama and figure out the how in order to reach your goals? You're in the right place. It's Time to Level Up. Let's do this.

Hello, my friends and welcome back to the podcast. I do call you my friends because you are my friends, my podcast listeners, I consider you my friends. I probably am with you either in your car, on your walk, or while you're emptying the dishwasher. Where do you listen to podcasts? I really would love to know. Send me a direct message on Instagram and let me know where you're listening to this podcast from. It helps me visualize.

I was preparing the outline for this podcast last night and ironically, I had a consult call this morning. The woman I was talking to, I think I made the outline for her. I think I created this podcast just for her and she didn't even know it yet. But here's the scoop; as we move into the fall and get closer and closer to Q4 of 2022, I think it's an amazing time for us to pause, take what I call a strategic pause—there is a podcast on that. I'm going to have to figure out which one. I'll put the link in the show notes—and really assess where we are within our business, within our lives, kind of recalibrate, refocus, and diagnose where the issues might lie.

I don't say problems. I just want to say issues. I think that's an important distinction. Nothing's really a problem unless we make it a problem. But we can have issues and challenges and we can address them. What I'm going to do today is I’m going to help you figure out where the issues lie in your life, in your business, or in your organization, whatever it might be, and then help you see how you might address them.

Today, earlier today, when I had this consult call, my prospective client said to me, “I just want to be able to figure out how to CEO and love life, how to be able to watch Top Gun I on the couch with my kids on a Saturday night and not have my head spinning about 20 other million things. How do I actually read a book for pleasure and not think that I should be reading something nonfiction or The Wall Street Journal? How do I constantly not think about things?” She said to me, “My mind never rests.”

If this sounds like you, this episode is for you. As business owners or busy women, we are CEOs of both our household and work. We wear 1000 million hats and a lot of the stress from work or business comes from not feeling like we have a grip on what's going on at business or at work. The stress that comes from our family, we feel like then we don't have the time, the brainpower, or the energy to address the stress that's coming from our family properly. We're not giving enough time or energy to it.

But if you flip that over, ironically, we sometimes feel the same way about business although we think that the business stress is impacting our house, that's we don't have enough time to devote to our family or our personal lives, we also could be guilty of saying the opposite. There are so many things going on at home that we don't feel like we have enough time or energy to devote what we need to our business. It just kind of depends on what your framework is that particular day, which one do you think is more stressful? Which one do you feel like you have more or less control over?

But here's the irony of this. I do feel like we have a better chance, our odds are higher of getting control or getting a grip on business or work than we do on family so to speak. If we can get control or get a grip on what's happening at work or in our business, we then can give our family the attention we want to give it.

Now we know for good or for bad that our family “will always be there” which sometimes puts them second because we don't know or don't believe that our business will always be there unless we feed it, unless we feed our business, and treat it like our baby.

I am all about treating our business like our baby. There is another podcast episode about feeding your business and I will put the link to that one in the show notes. Head to the show notes, you guys, because there are lots of goodies in there. You should be doing that after every episode.

Today, I want to give you a tool to assess whether or not you do need to get a grip on your business or something does need to change. I'm doing this podcast leading up to a masterclass I'm going to be teaching in mid-September. Mid-September is the perfect time to get a sense of where you are at as you head into Q4. I am going to call this masterclass, I believe, Get a Grip.

The time of me recording these details is fuzzy but my intention for that Get a Grip masterclass is that it's going to be just a quick 15 or 20-minute lesson five days in a row for an entire week. Really, all you're going to need to do for that masterclass is tune in or watch the 15 or 20-minute replay each day. I'm going to help you examine one aspect of your business each day, teach you how to assess how you're doing with that aspect, and then help you determine what needs to change, if anything.

This Get a Grip masterclass is going to be an opportunity for you to take stock in where you're at, to recalibrate, to recharge, to redirect. This is so hard to do on your own. I have a hard time doing it in my own business by myself. So I'm going to hold your hand and walk you through the process of assessing the different facets of your business and how they're fitting together or not.

All you're going to have to do is just tune in live or watch the recording and spend about 15 minutes a day that week. Really, by the end of the week, my goal is that you're going to walk away with a really clear picture on what needs to be addressed to eliminate some of the stress that work is causing you so that you can have more space, more time, more energy for your personal life, for your family.

This week-long escapade is going to have a couple of downloadable worksheets which will give you even further hand holding. So you need to be there for that and you can check out the details and register for that masterclass in September at andrealiebross.com/getagrip2022, and I'll put the link to that in the show notes. Here we go. I'm going to read off a series of questions. If you want to follow along with these questions, you can download them at andrealiebross.com/bizquiz. Again, link in show notes if you want to download this organizational checklist, so to speak. I encourage you to do so.

But if you're walking or you're driving and you're not downloading it right now, you can kind of assess in your head as I go through these questions where you're at. This is giving you some idea of what is working and what's not working. These questions are super valuable. I've adapted them from Gino Wickman's Traction: Get A Grip On Your Business book, which I’m a big proponent of, but I've kind of given them the slant, knowing that you are a woman who is wearing millions of hats, so I give it that perspective, which he doesn't necessarily give.

Again, if you want to follow along, it's at andrealiebross.com/bizquiz. If you don't, just think about these in your head. These questions, again, are going to help you assess where you need to get a grip on your business so that you can then create some space for some of the things you love. If you feel like you're not doing so well on this quiz, then you definitely, definitely need to be in the masterclass that is going to start the second full week of September 2022, which is Monday, September 12th. It's quick, every day 15 minutes or do it on your own, but it's out there.

All right, here we go. For each of these questions, I want you to rank where your business is on a scale of one to five. One is weak. We're really weak at this. We're not great at it. Five is oh my god, we're amazing. Super strong.

Number one. We have a clear vision in writing that has been properly communicated and is shared by everyone in my organization. Now, if you've got contractors, or 1099 people, they too, I'm including them in the everyone statement, they are part of your team. So here's the question or statement, we have a clear vision and writing that has been properly communicated and shared by everyone.

Rank your business on a scale of one to five. Are you weak on that? Are you strong? Is that definitely five hell yes, we've got that, or one, not so much? Where are you? One to five. I'm going to tell you, if you're a one on that, I am going to help you create that clear vision in the masterclass. So stay tuned.

Here's the second question or statement. These aren't really questions but they're questions to you as you give them a score. Our core values are clear, and we are hiring, reviewing, rewarding, and firing around them. Are you weak on that? Do you have core values? Do you use them as guideposts for hiring, reviewing, rewarding, and firing? Or are you strong on that? Of course, we have our core values. You might have core values but you might not be using them. Maybe you're going to give yourself kind of a three on that. Assess.

Third question. Our core business focus is clear, and we keep our people, systems, and processes aligned and focused on it. Our core business focus is clear. This is something that I've struggled with. It has been an issue and I think I've gotten better and better at it. My core business focus are women, working women who own businesses, CEOs, or they're in charge of their own income streams. Those are my people.

Then my focus is to help them get their lives together, and then get their businesses together, get their sh*t together in both categories. Sometimes it's a continuum. They have to do do their life before they can do their business. But here's the question again, our core business focus is clear, and we keep our people, systems, and processes aligned and focused on it. Do you feel like you have a focus? Is it clear or do you have 20 different aspects of your business and you're going in 20 different directions?

Here’s the fourth statement. Our big long-range business goal 10 years out is clear, communicated regularly, and is shared by all. Do you have a big long-range business goal 10 years out or does that just seem way too far away? Sometimes people say to me, “Oh my god, I can only think a year in advance.” No, my friends, you need to think 10 years out. Is that clear, that big, long-range business goal? Do you communicate it? Do people know it? Give yourself a score. Are you weak on this or strong? One to five.

Here’s the fifth statement. Our ideal customer or client is clear, and all of our marketing and sales efforts are focused on it. Do you know who your ideal client or customer is? Are you focusing all of your marketing and sales efforts on that person? I recently did this with a client. She realized that she had lots of customers and clients but they weren't all ideal. Sometimes she was bending and talking to the ones that weren't ideal. I don't think that was really helping her. So we've been working on that. What about you? One of the five.

Here's the sixth statement. Our three differentiators from our competition are clear and all of our marketing and sales efforts communicate it. Another way to say this is there are three things that make us unique from our competition. We're super clear on them and our marketing and sales efforts to communicate that. Is that you? Are you weak on that or strong?

All of these statements, my friends, are helping you get a grip on your business and assess whether or not you do need to reevaluate, recalibrate, recharge, refocus. If you notice you're not giving yourself fives on these, you probably want to join us in the Get a Grip masterclass.

Here's number seven. We have a proven process for doing business with our customers and clients. It has been named and visually illustrated, and everyone uses it. I have a process that I use with all of my clients and customers. I call it the four pillars of coaching. I honestly could work on visually illustrating it. I am the sole user of it, communicating it to my clients, the four pillars of my coaching or my process are clarity, confidence, time, and turning obstacles into opportunities. I hopefully have communicated that to you from working with you. Do you have a proven process? Where are you on that?

Here's number eight. All of the people in our organization are the right people. They're not just nice or great people, and they fit our culture and share our core values. Too many times, my friends, you tell me they're such a great person, but are they the right person for your organization? Are you holding on to them for too long? Are you holding on to just nice and great people or are they the right people? This is something that we really have to get a grip on.

This is something that we work a lot on in the Runway to Freedom mastermind. This is hard, but it's something that really helps your business grow. People create a lot of stress. I think more than anything else, they're the ones that are creating the stress. How can we get a grip on that?

Here's number nine. Our organizational chart clearly illustrates what role, not person, but what role is accountable and responsible for each and every aspect of our business. It's clear, complete, and consistently updated. Are you looking at your org chart in terms of the people and what they're good at? Or are you looking at it in terms of the roles that need to be filled or the responsibilities that need to be accounted for?

This is hard again, we like to look at the person and think about what they're going to be good at, versus what we need in finding the right person. Where are you in that? Are you defining what responsibilities need to happen and accountability or are you just looking at people? One to five, give yourself a score.

Halfway through, number 10. Everyone is in the right seat, so they're the right people in the right seats. They get it, they want it, and they have the capacity to do their jobs well. Do you have the right people in the right seats? Do people get it? They get what the seat entails. They want that seat and they have the capacity to fill that seat and do their job well. Again, this is a place that causes a lot of stress and we tend to drag our feet. Let's address that. We're going to address that a little bit in Get a Grip and then we're really going to address it if you want to join us in the Runway to Freedom mastermind.

Here's number 11. Our leadership team is open and honest and demonstrates a high level of trust. Is everybody open and honest? Or are there things that you think you just can't say? Give yourself a score on that. Our leadership team is open and honest and demonstrates a high level of trust. You may think you're open and honest, but what would everybody else say?

Here's number 12. All team members have 1 to 7 90-day priorities and are focused on them. Everybody's got a list. On the list, there's either between 1 and 7 priorities for the next 90 days, and they're focused on them. Is that true? Does everybody know what their priorities are? Are they just kind of putting out fires all day, tending to emergencies? I see a lot of that. Let's change it. Get the support, you need to change that. I love helping with 90-day priorities. It's super fun.

Here's the next one. Number 13. Lucky 13. Everyone is engaged in regular weekly meetings. You've got regular weekly meetings. Everybody is engaged. It's not once a month. It's not every two weeks. It's every week. Yes or no? One to five, where are you on that? What would you give yourself? Are we weak on this or strong?

Then number 14 is all meetings are on the same day and at the same time each week. They have the same agenda. They start on time and end on time. Here's what I see with this one where you might be weak on this. You might tell me, “Oh my gosh, every week is different. I mean, that's why I'm an entrepreneur, Andrea, every week is different. I can do whatever I want to do.” Yeah, but that's not good for your team. That’s actually not even good for you. There's so much psychology on that. So I call BS on that one.

“Then an agenda, what do you mean an agenda? We just kind of talked about whatever the issues are of that week.” Well, that's not an agenda. So I call that BS too. So what would you give yourself on that? Are you weak on that or strong? Number 14.

Here's number 15. We're almost getting there. All teams clearly identify, discuss, and solve issues for the long term greater good of the company. Here's the thing, when issues arise, are you just putting them out for the now or are you solving them for the long term? It's really easy to put them out for the now sometimes, but are they long-term solutions?

Example, yesterday, a client created a policy where all of the emails to a certain client have to come from a group email address so at any time, someone else could respond to it. That was really a great long-term solution for the long-term greater good of the company, because people are taking vacations and we want them to take vacations. So anyone at any moment should be able to jump into that inbox and understand what's going on with those clients.

Well, guess what, someone's not cooperating with that. They're continuing to send emails from their personal email. That's not a solution for that. That individual isn't helping, isn't contributing to the greater good of the company. They need to address that. I don't think they would give themselves as five on that one because someone is not always solving things for the greater good.

Here's number 16. Our core processes are documented, simplified, and followed by all to consistently produce the results we want. A lot of times, they're not documented. They're not simple. They seem complicated. There are lots of caveats. Is this you? What score would you give yourself?

Here's number 17. We have systems for receiving regular feedback from customers and employees so we always know their level of satisfaction. Do you always know or is this like a once-a-year check in kind of thing? Wouldn't it be great if you consistently get feedback so that you can make changes in real time? How often are you putting out surveys? Super important. What score would you give yourself?

Here's number 18. We have weekly tracking. We are tracking metrics weekly. We have things that we measure each week. This is all in place. Do you track things weekly? Or do you think you just do it once a month or once a quarter? My vote is for weekly, it becomes so much more powerful. It helps you grow. It actually helps you create less stress, because if you're only doing it every quarter, then it's like the stress is building up. Let's eliminate that. Let's get a grip on that.

Here's number 19. Everyone in the organization has at least one number they are accountable for keeping track of each week. Does everybody have something they're measuring so that the burden isn't on you, the CEO? Again, just went through this with a client. She's always gathering all the data. I said, “Let's delegate this. Get everybody responsible for at least one data point. Wouldn’t that be great?” So good.

Here's number 20. We have a budget and we are monitoring it regularly. Monthly is the best. We have a budget and we are monitoring it on a monthly basis. Are you doing that? Do you cringe doing it? How do you feel doing it? Do you need help doing it?

Those are 20 questions and you should have given yourself a score of one to five on each of them. I want you to add up all of the numbers. Whatever that total of the numbers are is the percentage score that reflects kind of the state of the union or the state of your organization. If you have a score of less than 35, we totally need to talk. We need some help. If your score is less than 50, you're kind of normal, but would you prefer normal or great? I would always love great. If you're between 50 and 64, you're above average, but there is so much room for improvement. If you're 65 to 79, you're above average, but again, wouldn't you like to be great?

If you're 80 to 100, this is the goal, my friends, this is where my clients who go through the Runway to Freedom process, who have gotten the grip on their business and have gone through the Runway to Freedom organizational process, they have learned how to CEO so that they have less stress at work and more space for home, they have created some freedom, this is where they end up. I invite you to be in that spot. It's possible.

But here are the steps you need to take. Number one, go register for the Get a Grip masterclass starting September 12th. There is going to be an investment in it of $197. You've got to have some skin in the game. For $197, you're going to get an awful lot, you're going to get a whole assessment of your business, you're going to get an idea of where you're at. Super important. That's step one.

Step two, start thinking about whether or not you want to be part of the Runway to Freedom mastermind. Doors for that are going to open in the middle of September. There are going to be some early-bird bonuses, like really great early-bird bonuses. Go over to andrealiebross.com/runway-to-freedom. Get on the notification list for the early-bird specials. You can also access that from the Work With Me tab. You want to know about these early-bird discounts. The Get a Grip masterclass participants are going to even have a better early-bird bonus. So start thinking about that if you want to join us in that, there are details about that on the webpage, the Runway to Freedom webpage.

Then the last thing is start listening to my private podcast feed. In that feed, I only talk business and I highlight some of the best advice, best guidance I give my clients on business. I put one new episode a month in there. It's just a private podcast feed, it is not public. Although when you subscribe, it will then appear on your podcast feed. That's what a private podcast is. It's like a hidden behind-the-curtain podcast that will appear on your podcast feed once you subscribe, but you do need to subscribe via a special web address.

You can't go subscribe on Apple Podcasts. You have to go to this link. Get a special link to then have it flow into your podcast feed, and you can get that special link at andrealiebross.com/rtfpodcast. That link is going to be in the show notes too. There are so many links in the show notes that you need this week.

As you went through these questions, I'm going to hope that you got a sense of where you're at, where is your organization at? Is it strong? Is it weak? Is it somewhere in the middle? What would it be like if it was strong? What would that allow you to do? What space in your brain would it open up? The possibilities are endless.

Stay tuned over the next few podcasts. I'm going to talk a little bit more about this. I'm actually even going to share with you some of the huge wins that some of my clients have experienced with the hope that you might be able to identify yourself or see yourself in one of these clients and experience the same thing. That is what I have for you.

Check out these questions at andrealiebross.com/bizquiz. Check out the Get a Grip masterclass, andrealiebross.com/getagrip2022. Check out Runway to Freedom mastermind at andrealiebross.com/runway-to-freedom, and check out the private feed podcast. Get it into your podcast feed by going to andrealiebross.com/rtfpodcast.

As always, check out those show notes. There's such good stuff in there. You can even read the transcript which sometimes I like to do for podcasts. But if you are walking, driving, or emptying dishes, pop those air pods in and listen away, check out the episodes and falling in love with your business. Check out the episodes on feeding your business, all of that because there's so much in here that will help you level up, and if we level up our business, we can level up our life.

First, we have to work on leveling up our life before we can even get to our business, but they are so intertwined our life is like a ball of yarn. Everything is mixed up. It’s hard to separate one from the other. But if we do look at them as separate entities, it frees up a lot of brain space in our life as a whole. I will see you next week. Remember, now is the time for you to level up. Never a better time. Have a great day.

Thanks for listening to the Time to Level Up Podcast with me, your host, Andrea Liebross. If you know someone who could benefit from listening to this episode, I encourage you to take a screenshot and share it with them. Now, what about you? You've listened to the podcast, and if you now know that you're ready to upgrade your life, upgrade your business, upgrade you, then stop being only a listener and start being a liver living that upgraded life. Head over to my website and schedule a call. Right there on that call, we'll start changing the way you think and act so that you can have the freedom to achieve the impossible in life and business, and have the resources to do it. You deserve an upgrade. Let's do it.