Shared Prosperity Fund Management Support Session Announcement

Save the Date - 8th February 2023.

If you’re a Greater Manchester SME, you may be able to access this funded support session run by Know and Do. Connected to the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund this support is aimed at small businesses.

Know and Do are proud to support the work of the Business Growth Hub in Greater Manchester. We have worked with the BGH as a provider across a range of services to SMEs from coaching, consultancy, training around sales and marketing, and mentoring. We’ve delivered practical support to hundreds of SMEs that has helped them to understand and apply new knowledge to make a positive impact for them and their businesses.

As European Funds come to an end, the BGH with GMCA is trialling a new shared prosperity fund that is offering additional support for managers and leaders in what are undoubtedly turbulent times for many. The first pilot phase will offer 120 places of 3 hours of fully funded support for business owners and leaders to explore how they are managing their response to the current cost of living crisis, rising business costs on many levels, and planning for growth.

Know and Do are offering a new group session, working with 8-12 businesses to understand, support, learn, and connect the businesses to help them confidently navigate this turbulent business landscape in 2023. The session will run on the 8th of February from 9.30am-12.30pm.

Places are going fast as businesses sign up to discuss, reflect, network, and plan new approaches to their work. We’d love to have you join us for this new event. Applying is simple and Know and Do can do the 1-page application for you. To secure your spot now, get in touch with us as soon as possible.

To apply, get in touch with Andrew via andrew@knowanddo.com or call the office on 0161 2804567.

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What Do You Stand For?

I have had the privilege throughout this year of working with many people starting up a new business. Even in the midst of a pandemic and all the fearful headlines, opportunities for business exist; especially new ones.

Anyone starting a company today fully understands that almost no scenario is now impossible to imagine. Very, very few would have ever predicted national lock downs happening so fast and being so extensive back in 2019. Now they have happened leaders are wiser to the risk, impact and how to cope.

One thing I stress to all new business owners is the importance of clarifying what your company stands for, and that clarity comes in the form of answering two questions:

1. What is the purpose of your business? Describe what you want it to achieve and why.

2. What are the principles of your business? List the key principles (or values / standards) your business will work to and why.

One owner shared that it was simple to answer these questions. Number 1’s answer was to make money, number 2’s answer was to make money effectively and efficiently. It was helpful that he was so clear, however if that is the core to your culture I explained they should not be surprised that if there are times when the money does not appear so easily, their people will quickly desert the business. Money is used a motivator for work but not to create the culture a staff team need to face challenges such as infusing loyalty, encouraging sharing, going the extra mile or enabling co-operation.

Another new owner recently offered the phrase ‘we want to make beautiful things’ as her answer and this quickly led, after a few coaching questions from me, to understanding what was behind this aspiration. They mapped the purpose and the values of the new business and now they use their answers as a guide for the big and the mundane decisions: to assess the quality of their products; to choose suppliers; to create the look and feel of their brand; to form a marketing plan; to style their website; and so on. A lot of thought lay behind the short statement and they now have a culture they are demonstrating that as others join will be followed. This person wants their business to make a profit too but their purpose and values will help hold a team together in good times and tough.

The start up business owner has energy and time to consider these questions. What they state at the conceptual stage becomes the reality as the busy demands of the new company appear and opportunities or challenges must be assessed.

If you are a leader of an existing business you will undoubtedly be, right now, very busy but you will still do well to pause and ponder these two key questions. If you have no space in your day you might have to think about the questions on a walk or when you exercise, maybe as you lay in bed or while you are eating your food; but you can ponder these questions*.

When you’ve started the answers you can then find out who in your business agrees with you, or maybe is even aware of the existence of such statements. It is then that we find the most value appears, as behaviours, attitudes and plans can be shaped by a group working towards a common goal and with agreed standards.

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*We recommend a way to take notes for such times, perhaps keeping a small notebook to hand or app on your smart phone, ready to record the clear thoughts you have in these quieter moments.

Managing Remotely

Over the past few months organisations across the world have had to adjust to working remotely. It does not matter about the size of company, industry or sector; everyone has been impacted. However, one particular role will feel this pressure more acutely - managers.

If you lead a team that until mid-March worked together, maybe sat together in the same room, your team dynamic and culture has radically changed. Not only do you now all know more about each other’s taste in home decor but all ‘normal’ modes of communication have been altered.

From our interactions with business during the coronavirus crisis we’ve compiled 5 pieces of advice for managers to help with the adjustment:

1.Understand the different Pressures

Pressure still exists, such as the demands to get things done faster or take on more work. After the initial shock, usual service in organisational needs have begun to resume. This time you are feeling pressure whilst working remotely which means your colleagues are feeling work pressure inside their home space. Home is now not the sanctuary from work it once was for your team. So, ask your team individually how they are managing the pressures of work and what is working well or not for them. Concern is a powerful communication tool, and even when you cannot change the forces pressuring your team they will understand more about the respect you have for them.

2. Screen fatigue is rising

Screens are tiring to look at for hours on end. In our rush to embrace remote working people are starting to get video call fatigue. So ask yourself, does every contact need to be by video? Could some online calls be planned as audio only so you can still share screens or documents but give each other privacy? Maybe even plan ‘old fashioned’ phone calls; as the participants can move on the phone (pace about, make a drink) rather than sit still staring at a screen. So, ask your team what type of contact works for them and when; this gives them control and a stake in supporting good communication.

3. Work is invading homes

There is a home all around your colleagues webcam. What you see on the screen may look calm and nice but behind the camera childcare, schooling, pet feeding, family squabbling, washing up chaos and much more may be happening. A colleague working from home with 3 children will have a very different experience than a person living in a flat alone. Both have positives and negatives, both are managing lock down restrictions, but one of those colleagues may find it much easier to get a calm and quiet place to work than another. So, make sure you understand the home-life your business is entering; practical ways about timing contact or adjusting working hours could drastically increase your colleagues performance and improve their well-being.

4. Leading online meetings is a new skill

Online meetings are not the same as being in the same room. You may have been great at engaging people when they are sat 4 feet from you but now you are reduced to the size of a small toy on their computer screen your presence has changed! Online meetings should involve communication not just information sharing, otherwise you could send an email. Remember, your team can also now mute you if they want to, a magic power many an employee has dreamed about when actually in a meeting room! Therefore, what strategies are you planning to get feedback from your colleagues throughout a meeting, or to ensure they are participating and that they are comfortable? You need to re-learn the art of leading meetings for the online world, so read about other people’s approaches, watch the online ‘how to’ videos and ask your team what they need. This is a new skill you will need to learn it quickly.

5. Explain the impact of change

Uncertainty is now a constant. When your team is allowed to come back to the workplace (which may still be many months away) the working world will not be the same. How we get to work, where we work, when we work and who we have contact with will alter radically. However, one thing as managers we do know is how resistant to change colleagues can be, yet change will be thrust upon us all as we adjust. What do you know about how someone processes change (indeed how you deal with it) and what tools can you give them to understand how to embrace and move with change? We’ve written several articles on this (as have many others) and you could share this understanding with your colleagues so they are better skilled to manage their own response to change. When we notice how people respond to change we can then anticipate as managers practical actions that mitigate the disruption and ease the process.

This is a subject that deserves more than 5 tips but the list above is a start to helping you as a manager lead your team in a new way, in new patterns and with new skills.

and if you want to share feedback on this topic or ask more questions, the Know+Do team would welcome a call (online or by phone!) to share ideas.

Being Forced To Change

Sometimes we chose to change our environment, sometime our environment decides to change us. Right now, the impact of Covid-19 means we are all being forced to change. If you lead a business you are not only dealing with your own changed world but also how it changes the worlds of your colleagues, your company and your customers.

One thing I have had to wrestle with in this situation is feeling like work is being unfairly taken away from me. I know it is insignificant compared to the pain and fatalities the virus is causing but being honest it is still hard to take.

Just a few weeks ago we celebrated 10 years of our company, that’s 3,650 days of graft, of constant plans, thinking, strategising and all topped off with a lot of worry and plenty of success. It is emotional to run a business – however big or small – and I’ve invested my reputation and character in it too. So, to lose work, and good work at that, work I and others had strived to find, secure and then start is painful.

As I have often shared with clients, I decided to take my own recommendation. I went back to one of the models we’ve used over the years about change: the Kubler Ross Change Curve. Using a model like this to review the situation gives an objectivity to my thoughts, and starts to remove the emotive reaction bubbling within me.

I can see in the change curve how in my conversations and emails and I moved from shock “Can the government really order businesses to stop overnight?”) to denial (“This is just temporary, an overreaction”). Then onto frustration and anger (“How will any company survive this?”) to resignation (“What can we salvage from this?”).

I know my character and that journey would have taken a long time on my own. Fortunately, I have a business partner (Andrew Ramwell) who excels at re-framing discussions and positive thinking. My few days of responding negatively quickly shifted to talking about opportunities, making a plan and the re-making it again (so far about 7 times in two weeks!). Now I’m into a new rhythm of work, communication and strategies; now I am ready for ideas, fresh thinking and for learning more. My mind set is back to 'growth' again and not 'fixed' on wallowing in just one place.

From my experience thus far I'd say to any business owner grappling with this complex time to:

1. Stay safe, listen to and follow the government’s advice to protect you, your loved ones and your community.

2. Check out where you are on the change curve. Are you moving through it and out the other side or are you stuck somewhere repeating patterns?

3. Who helps you? I had an Andrew Ramwell, so who is yours? Family, friends, colleagues? This unprecedented situation is not one to face alone, no one person has all the answers. Seek out quality support.

I'd be interested to know other people's responses:

• What strategies are others deploying?

• How are you finding a way through this changing environment?

• When did you move from the negative to positive response?

• Who are you helping to find a way forward?

And finally, if you want a way of structuring support you give others inside or outside your business, then to be productive at Know+Do we have shared a free template and how to video to encourage people to form practical, focused Virtual Mastermind Groups of their own.