Doing business in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) environment requires business owners to always be one step ahead of the curve and continuously think of ways to successfully adapt their business to the complex, changing environment brought about by emerging trends.
Now, there are a lot of emerging trends that are currently impacting businesses, however, I have chosen 5 key trends that I believe have a big impact and will create opportunities for businesses.
Trend 1 – Rise of the Robots
As businesses seek to improve productivity and quality while reducing labour costs, industrial and service robots will make an increasing contribution to Australian businesses. The cost of robotics is falling rapidly and capabilities are increasing with every new generation.
The robots of the near future will not be like Star Wars’ C3PO or the large industrial robots that are standard in manufacturing and heavy industry (pallet stacking, welding, etc.) but smaller single purpose robots for repetitive tasks and activities like: cleaning, painting, trench digging, roofing, mobile work platforms, spraying, testing, etc., and will also include “exo-skeleton” robots that users “wear” to enable heavy lifting and improve safety.
Driver-less trains and vehicles are already used extensively in mining and we will see a proliferation of smaller, purpose built, self driven machines with functional designs not dictated by the need to “house” a human operator and provide them with sightlines, access, comfort and control. This will enable smaller units as size will not be required to maximise returns on operator labour.
And though many commentators speculate that robotics will eliminate the need for human labour, I see that businesses will use robots to do some repetitive, intensive and/or dangerous tasks so they can delegate and direct their “human” employees to value adding areas where they are most needed. There are many jobs that cannot be replaced in short term by robots and many new jobs that will be created as a result of them – think of the huge numbers of people employed in the IT industry.
Trend 2 – Globalisation is here
Rapidly rising “middle class” incomes in developing nations have driven this trend as demand for consumer items and food creates real opportunities for Australian businesses. This is especially true of emerging Asian markets, where Australia and New Zealand businesses have a proximity advantage over other competitors.
New Free Trade Agreements with China and India will provide options for exporters but will also place our local businesses under pressure from imported products. Your strategies in these arenas will need to be clear.
It also places our skilled workers in the global market and as there is a global skills shortage predicted for 2030 (starting to bite in 2020), our workers will be poached by competing nations. On the flip side, improved communication technology also provides Australian businesses with access to lower cost, high quality workforces and we have already seen the impact of this through off-shore, call centres, data processing and the rise of “Virtual Assistants”
To access global markets and to build a brand that resonates with global consumers is outside of the skills and resources of many businesses. This means that we are going to need strategies that involve collaboration with others or alignment with brands that can make the jump. In some cases, this will mean alignment with brands and supply chains that in turn are locked with specific market channels.
The business of the future will often require different strategies from the business model that has brought you to this point!
Trend 3 – Data, data everywhere
The vast number of powerful, interconnected, low cost sensors, computers and data loggers mean that most businesses are producing huge amounts of data on their finances, operations, markets and people. However, few businesses “mine” this data for the information and insights that can assist them in making better business decisions.
Estimates, analytics, and data-driven predictions — they can all be confusing and overwhelming. But with mobile devices and interconnectivity, data is everywhere and owners should accept that it is now an inevitable part of business.
What information would revolutionise your business? How will you use this?
Trend 4 – Connection at all levels
Customer engagement isn’t a new trend but social media has changed the game by adding a new dimension to communication. Consumers now seek a stronger connection with the businesses that they deal with and whom provide their consumables. Think about the rise of: celebrity chefs, organic food, designer labels and customisation options. There will be a range of businesses that are able to build a brand and connect directly with consumers avoiding traditional market channels. E-commerce will be a critical component of brand building and order fulfilment.
At all levels and across all industries consumers are looking for deeper connections with suppliers and in may cases they have an expectation that this will lead to a more customised offering or product. For example: many high end premium car manufacturers (eg. Rolls Royce, Bentley, Maserati, Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc) have stumbled onto a significant market in allowing buyers to fully customise nearly every aspect of their new car – for a lofty premium.
However, its not only consumers that seek this connection. In a recent global workforce survey, Rainer Strack of BCG, identified the top factors that employees look for in their job and it emulates the results from previous surveys. Surprising for many business owners are that employees are looking for: strong connections with colleagues and their bosses, recognition and feedback on their performance and good work/life balance. “High pay” rated 8th and the focus is definitely on connection and the cultural elements of the business. Remuneration is simply a business “hygiene issue” not a “health problem”. Culture is the real currency…
How will you build better connections with your customers and team?
Trend 5 – Convenience the new currency
In addition to the trends above there is an overwhelming drive for improved convenience. Consumers will often pay a premium for products and services that help them to manage and deal with the trials and tribulations of their busy, time poor worlds. Buyers will often use businesses local to them rather than travel to a preferred supplier – for the convenience.
Similarly, “one stop shop” formats with multiple offers provide the convenience of not having to travel, negotiate and build relationships with multiple suppliers. This trend is particularly evident in the financial services industry with firms now offering a full range of tax, accounting, business, financial planning and broking services under one banner.
In other cases, consumers will forego other attributes of the buying experience for increased convenience. For example: with online retailing buyers forego elements of the usual retail shopping experience for the convenience of “point and click” selections and the delayed gratification of delivery by courier.
This trend doesn’t just extend to consumers, in B2B transactions participants are looking for convenience (and connections) in offers, orders, payment and delivery.
So how can you create a business that picks up on this trend? Think of issues like: packaging, portions, location, access to services, e-commerce, response time, delivery options and information sharing.
How to access some of these trends?
At recent speaking engagements, when questioned about “how to access these trends?”, I am increasingly asked the following question “My business is… too small/under capitalised/narrowly focused/skill poor…to access these trends in a meaningful way. How do we get involved?”
First…for many businesses they will be unable to deal with these trends because of the reason they have stated but that doesn’t mean that they cannot participate. Collaboration and alignment with brands and supply chains will provide access to: strong brands, capital, technology, skills and knowledge, markets and/or information. Seek them out…
These are only five of numerous trends emerging in today’s environment where I see opportunities for Australian businesses to become innovative. Developing clear strategies for these and other emerging business trends will help create competitive advantages for your business.
At SBD, we specialize in helping dynamic small businesses take advantage of their size, scale and agility to grow and prosper. If you’d like to find out more, take our free 30 minute challenge, address some of your key issues and gain insights into what is required to make it happen. Go to www.takethe30minutechallenge.com for more information on how you can start the process now.
In today’s rapidly changing business environment, learning new skills are necessary to stay relevant. Regardless of what your role is in a business, you will very quickly go backwards if you are not continuously growing and evolving.
The list of new skills required to succeed globally is long but the most in-demand are:
• Turning salespeople from order takers to business people who sell • Turning leaders from the star player to head coach • Turning managers from task-focused to team-focused • Turning administrators into business analysts
It may seem easy to learn any new skill, but we fall short most of the time because of challenges that appear amid the learning process. With that said, here is a list of the 10 key issues we see when learning new skills and how to address them.
1. Too much theory, not enough practice – While it is important to understand the theory/background to a new model or approach you are learning, it is more important to apply it to a real life situation so you can quickly learn what works and what doesn’t in the field.
2. Get the context right – Before starting any sort of training experience, spend the time to outline ‘why’ it is required in the context of your personal or business vision (and strategies). This will assist greatly in ensuring it’s completed properly and applied quickly in the business.
3. Fear of failure – This is very often one of the biggest hurdles to adopting new skills. The saying often comes to mind that fear stands for “False Evidence Appearing Real,” so realize that very often all these thoughts are just irrational beliefs raising in your head.
4. Fear of success – It sounds strange but very often business leaders/owners hold themselves back due to the extra pressures and lifestyle changes that may come with increased success.
5. Just-in-time learning – Take an online course or an ‘e-learning’ solution when you find yourself in a situation where you need a new skill to solve a problem right now. Often, these courses will feature videos from leading experts from around the world to help you get up to speed and apply instantly to your learning need. A great, just-in-time solution.
6. Ensure the learning is customized to your needs – Most courses in the market are very prescriptive by nature but also take on board the experience of the person or their desired objectives to build a learning experience tailored to the specific needs of the individual.
7. Before and after the learning – Before you learn a new skill, ensure you define at the start a clear definition on ‘why’ you are going through the training and upon completion, allocate time to de-brief what you are going to do to start applying the new skills. ‘Doing’ the actual course is only a small part of the learning journey.
8. Retaining your new skills – Those that attend a face-to-face course forget 90% of what they have learnt 24 hrs after the event, which is a lot of wasted time and energy to only retain 10% of what you learnt. So what are your options? E-learning provides the opportunity to continuously go back via an online platform and review the content you have learnt, the videos you have watched to ensure that you continuously re-learn the skills over a period of weeks and months. Retention of learning is dramatically increased.
9. Great Leadership support –Good leadership support will ensure the new skills can be applied quickly, hurdles overcome and time allocated for the development process.
10. No Time – Look for ways to break the training up into smaller, bite-sized chunks allows new skills to be learnt and implemented quickly. Experiment with more a blended learning approach (balance between face-to-face learning and e-learning) and different time-frames (potentially 3-4 hour blocks once a week) to overcome time hurdles and fit into the busy, business environment.
If you or your team are faced with hurdles to learning new skills for yourself or your team think through the issues above and determine those most applicable.
Ask the questions:
• What is stopping you from learning the new skills required for success? • What are your options? • What should you do first?
And from there, you can quickly develop 3-4 strategies to overcome each and dramatically improve your ability to change and adapt.
If you are looking for fully customised training programs for you and/or your team, then we can create a tailored program specifically for your business.
We can deliver the programs as 100% face-to-face or 100% online or a blended learning program that incorporates elements of both to meet your specific outcomes and/or budget.
Creating the ideal organisation is considered to be much like finding the Holy Grail – hard if not impossible. But this didn’t stop Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones, experts in Organisational Behaviour, to take up the challenge. Three years and many hundreds of hours of research, they found that an ideal organisation must be authentic and must nurture the development of authenticity in all those involved in the firm.
But the question still remained: what does an authentic organisation look like? And with more research, Goffee and Gareth came to the conclusion that an ideal organisation has 6 virtues which they kindly summarised in their simple questionnaire which is replicated below.
The simplicity of the questionnaire may produce a false confidence that these elements can be easily drafted into a firm – but that is not so.
Change – cultural change, takes time and resources. It is unsettling and creates fear. And to ease the fear, leaders must show the way and let all people in and around the firm know what the firm will look like when the mantle is changed. Careful planning and monitoring is required for the transition to become successful.
Have you created an ideal organisation? It would be fun (and informative) to consider your firm against what is considered to be the best. Complete the questionnaire to gain insight into where your firm differs to this perfection. It is reasonable to assume that few ticks will equate to less than optimal results. It is also reasonable to assume that your results will improve if you increase the number of ticks you get.
When you finish this task, ask yourself the question – what is it costing you and your firm to keep the status quo, and what would be gained if you had more ticks? Identify the strategy needed, then ask yourself the BIG question – what can you do now, this minute and in the next 3 months to make this change happen? The next step is up to you.
Examine the number of ticks in your questionnaire – the more ticks the better. Then, identify the strategies that you can apply to make a massive change in your business. What can you do now, this minute and in the next 3 months to make this change happen? The next step is up to you.
One of the many obligations for all enterprises – big, small, not for profit or private is making a profit. And everyone involved in these enterprises know that a policy of maintaining the status quo will not produce quality and sustainable profits, and may eventually result in the firm’s rapid demise. A responsive business is one that grows in direct response to the needs of the market.
Often, “speed to market” is a crucial part of successful business strategies but speed itself is not sufficient – it is responsiveness, or the ability to respond rather than react, that is the goal. So how does an enterprise be responsive and make profit in a rapidly changing VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) environment?
There are many things which support a strategy of responsiveness. Here are 4 key elements of culture and purpose.
Seek constant renewal.
A responsive business seeks constant renewal by creating the ability for its people to flex to meet needs as they arise. A business must seek to change and shape its environment especially with the Social Media revolution where products can become unfashionable mere days or weeks from successful launch.
Everyone in a responsive firm must understand that each individual should make a contribution to the overall success of the firm and accept their responsibility in the success. Small businesses are generally best at this, as their systems are less fixed, and decision making is concentrated. Large firms should adapt to a small business psyche if the safety of hierarchy and protection of systems is not too difficult to shift. As Francis Bacon said, “He who will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator.”
Where a business is aging rather than renewing, its problems are systemic. No amount of creativity and eagerness can make a difference if the reality is systemic stagnation. Trying to force more business through an incapable system is a recipe for disaster.
Have vision that motivates.
Create a picture of the future to focus the efforts of the team. For Fred Hollows, an Australian specialist in eye disease, his vision was to stop Australian Aborigines losing their sight to trachoma – a preventable disease. His ability to visualise and communicate that picture has gained world-wide money and support.
Most businesses do not have a vision with lofty humanitarian goals but do have vision of how the business fits into the future. Responsive businesses are clear on what the business is, and will be, and communicates this well to their people, customers and others. For further insights into understanding the purpose of your business – watch Simon Sinek’s TED Talk on “Why?”
Start a community.
Seth Godin, in his book “Tribes” promotes the idea of building your business around a collective of like-minded individuals (The Tribe) to optimise business returns. The central theme for your Tribe is your business purpose and your core values. He defines a tribe as: “a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea”.
Develop a culture of dissent.
Developing a culture of dissent encourages people to try something new and to succeed or fail in doing so. Looking at something anew can change a system, product, process or relationship. Leaving it as it is does nothing. So often, our risk adverse society identifies failure as something which must be avoided. A responsive business says that failure is part of each person’s responsibility.
Where does innovation arise if not from people finding something lacking in the current product, procedure or service? Where people see the failure and look for ways to tap into the idea to produce success for the future, all failures will be seen as a stepping stone to success, not the end of a journey.
Thomas Edison, when asked by a young journalist if it felt like failure when he had to go through 10,000 bulbs to get one that worked, responded: “I didn’t fail. I just found 10,000 ways that did not work.”
New ideas come from changing the status quo, not keeping it as it is.
In conclusion, no longer is a competitive advantage just differentiation or cost. It must now include speed of response because in a changing market no business can afford to stand still. Strategies supporting agility, flexibility and responsiveness are essential regardless of the external forces on the firm.
Flexibility and responsiveness are driven from the top, and assumed by all in the firm. How leaders will guide and implement these strategies is key.
Is your business responsive enough that it can cope with the changing market and still make profit?
How does one steer a person to their potential and then guide them to see a problem as an opportunity?
It could be said that personal optimism and pessimism are the defining difference, or maybe it’s a result of employment versus ownership role, or maybe it’s the winning mindset or its absence which is crucial. Undoubtedly, each of these will play a part but most likely though it is leadership that is missing. Not leadership as in the “steering the firm in the right direction” leadership, but leadership as in steering the person to their potential.
The book, The Diamond Cutter by Roach and McNally, provides guidance on how to build oneself into a truly authentic leader – one who will seek to manage himself so that those around him feel his constancy, generosity and personal interest and so they grow to trust him and through his skills transfer will enable him to trust them.
One of the key tactics in the book is to figuratively take on another person’s persona and attempt to see every activity through their eyes and emotions.
Taking on the eyes, ears, goals, family commitments, interests, needs and so on of another takes effort but when this effort is made with intention and ongoing commitment then the relationship between the individuals changes. There is a reduction in space between each other and it becomes almost impossible to act in any way other than to encourage the individual to greater potential.
Achieving potential requires development of resilience which is the ability to bounce back from problems. Thus, problems are integral to personal success and the way the problems are handled influences the individuals approach for the future – the mind becomes open when it is directed to learn from a problem or seek a solution from a mistake, and the effect is not only higher productivity but also a more creative and energising experience for all involved.
When seeking solutions becomes the norm, finding opportunities in the wilderness is no longer difficult.
How does this help a firm to find opportunities where no opportunities exist? Well, it shows that there is never a situation when there is only a problem or an opportunity. There is always both – it just depends on which side you look. Granted the opportunities may be outside the resources of the individual or firm, but even here an opportunity arises.
For example, a small business in Perth had a rate of workers’ compensation insurance which was higher than acceptable to the CEO – it was 8% of total wages and so was a drain on cashflow and profits and not adding value to the client.
The opportunity here was to reduce the cost by increasing safety procedures and controls. The result was a reduction in expenditure to 2% of wages but the gain was not limited to direct cost reduction. The better safety resulted in lower lost time, improved staff morale and a better client experience – all of which had a positive impact on profits so the gain was considerably more than the reduction in the cost.
So if you want to develop a firm which can find opportunities where others find none, start by instilling a culture of trust and openness in your firm and then challenge each individual to view all things from the other side. You’ll be surprised what may result.
I am always keen to discover new ways that technology can help improve my time management and productivity as these are critical to my business success.
As we are all aware, mobility has changed our everyday lives and we are “permanently on”. Smartphones and other mobile devices have taken over and ultimately altered the way we communicate – personal and business-wise – making it essential to look to apps that achieve increased productivity and better time management.
And as I am an avid user of my iPhone and Pad for work, I can attest that apps can make a big difference. And through the years of using a variety of apps, there are things I look for in a powerful app:
• Versatility – being available on all my devices, especially mobile e.g. Evernote, Skype, Podcasts, mSecure
• Integration – apps that work with other apps e.g. I am using Trello, Evernote and Dropbox as my primary data storage and task management apps. I am looking for other apps that will work with them e.g. Penultimate, CloudMagic, Keynote, etc.
• Service – apps that provide a real service by accumulating and/or customisinginformation – TripIt, Oz Weather, mSecure
• Portability – apps that allow me to carry and wide range of resources with me in a convenient format reducing clutter and volume e.g. Kindle, Podcasts, Audible, Evernote, Newstand
Based on this criteria, my top productivity apps are:
• Evernote – most amazing tool for storing and organising all your information no matter what format you need – Office, PDF, audio, video, webpages, text, voice, etc.
I use it to store everything except my main Office files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) for which I still use conventional file storage mechanisms. All my resource materials and information is stored in Evernote. The best thing is that it is available on all my devices: desktop, iPad, iPhone and web – seriously good. I have the premium business version as it facilitates better communication with my Team.
• Trello – Provides Visual Task Management and Collaboration for me and the Team, a great tool that I use to manage all my tasks. Free for the basic version.
• CloudMagic – An email app for use on my iOS devices. A simple logic and flow, and it integrates seamlessly with Evernote and Trello. Free as well!
• Docs 2 Go & DropBox – apps for mobile data storage and file access. They enable me to easily transfer files between my desktop and my iPad. Invaluable.
• Pages, Keynote and Numbers – Apple’s in-house apps for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations on your iOS device. Makes it easier to access documents and presentations with you wherever you go.
• Penultimate – It allows me to write on my iPad with a stylus. Integrates with Evernote.
• TripIt – If you travel you must use this! TripIt automatically creates and coordinates all my travel details into online itineraries and then monitors then for changes! It links to Calendar apps seamlessly loading my travel plans into my calendar.
• Oz Weather – A great weather app. Very handy.
• Kindle (and IBook) – Apps for business books on the run.
• Podcasts – I use it to download great topics for learning on the go. I listen to them in the car. I have also just started using Audible for listening to books (jury is still out on this!).
• Newstand – I read “the Australian” newspaper and subscribe to my favourite magazines (like Top Gear) and can view them on my iPad. Very handy when I travel.
• Skype and VSee – For communication – free mobile video conference calls. App versions are great.
• mSecure – Password storage – a must have – a great app that is available and syncs across all your devices storing my Usernames and passwords.
• LinkedIn – Probably the only social media app that I like. I prefer the iPad version to the desktop version.
• Hootsuite – Social media posts made easy. iOS version is full-featured and easy to use.
• Calendar and CRM apps – Make sure your calendar and/or CRM have great app versions that enable you to seamlessly operate on a mobile business. I use the Apple Calendar app and Zoho.
There are a range of other quality apps that I use that are specific to my industry, occupation and interests. You should know the apps that are relevant to you and your business. And there are many versions of the apps above with similar functionality (or better) – what are your top productivity apps? Why?
• Evernote
• Trello
• CloudMagic
• Docs 2 Go & DropBox
• Pages, Keynote and Numbers
• Penultimate
• Oz Weather
• Kindle (and IBook)
• Podcasts
• Newstand
• Skype and VSee
• mSecure
• LinkedIn
• Hootsuite
• Calendar and CRM apps