As an owner looking for ways to improve your business processes and your business performance, you are no doubt on the look out for new ideas and strategies to implement.
How lucky you are that in this modern world there are so many ideas and strategies to choose from!
Of course as you mature as a business owner you come to understand that it is not access to new ideas that will make a difference in your business, it is your ability to implement those ideas and drive change that will determine how successful you will be.
In my professional experience as a business coach I have observed time and again that the most successful business owners are those that can embrace the need for change and find a way to motivate and empower their staff to drive the business improvement process.
But change does not come easy to any human-- we all seem to have a fear of moving away from what we know, even if we understand that we could always be doing better!
One of the business coaching ideas I use with my clients is that your ability to make changes in your business life (and indeed your personal life) depends on the strength of your personal DVP formula.
What is the DVP formula?
It is a concept that says that successful change requires a high level of
1. Dissatisfaction;
2. Vision; and,
3. Planning.
What does that mean?
If you and your team are not really dissatisfied with your current position, why would you commit to a change strategy? Why change something if it isn't broken? If you can live with the current position, or have lived with it for a number of years and the sky has not yet fallen in, there is no perceived need to adopt a different way of doing things-- even if you understand that a change may lead to better results.
The trick then is to understand just how dissatisfied you and your team are in relation to a specific business process or financial outcome. If the drive to get to a better place is not strong enough, you either need to find a way to increase the level of dissatisfaction or accept that change will not occur and move on to another business issue.
The second element of your DVP formula is to make sure you have a very clear vision of what you want to achieve. Any change process you start without having a strong vision of where you want to get to is destined to fail.
Finally, once you have a strong desire to make changes to your current position, and you have a strong vision of where you would like to get to, the success or otherwise of your change strategy will depend on the strength of your plan to achieve the change.
So the DVP formula says that changing a business process is more likely to be successful if you and your team can develop a high level of dissatisfaction with what you are currently doing and currently achieving, and then develop a strong desire to get to a better place, and then develop an effective planning strategy to move you and your business to the desired result.
If any of these three elements are not strong enough, you are not likely to achieve the results you want.
How To Apply DVP In Your Business.
Experience has shown me that the best approach to driving change in a business is to engage the team early in the process.
Within a workshop environment, get your team to focus on the business process you want to change and fully discuss the negative impact it is having on the business as a whole and most importantly, on the individual team members themselves. List down everything that the group discusses-- the more negatives they find the better!
From there your team should talk about the types of improvements they would like to see in the business and in the lives of the individuals and what the business would look like if these improvements could be made. The more you focus on the improved business results and the improved work life opportunities, the more you and your team will become dissatisfied with the current position, and the more likely you are to commit to a change strategy.
Again, use a whiteboard to list the benefits that can be achieved by making the changes. That list of benefits will ultimately define the vision of what you want to achieve. Using an open forum discussion process you should be able to develop a very clear understanding of what vision you and your team are willing to commit to.
Having developed a full understanding of your current position and a strong vision of where you would like to get to, it is then time to discuss ways that you can move your business towards the agreed goals. Brainstorming ideas will ensure everything is considered and ultimately this list of ideas can be distilled down to what is the most appropriate strategy for your business and your team at this time.
Follow this process and your ability to drive a successful change strategy in your business will be greatly improved.
Applying DVP To Your Personal Life.
Interestingly, this DVP formula is also amazingly effective in making changes to your personal life. Do you want to stop smoking, lose weight, or make a career change?
None of these things are easy to achieve, but how much easier is it when you become so dissatisfied with your life that you are desperate to make a change, when you have a strong vision of yourself as a non-smoker, a fitter person or working in a job you love, and with the assistance of a friend, mentor or professional you are able to develop and commit to a step by step plan to achieve success?
DVP Will Work In Your Business.
When I first discovered this DVP formula I thought it was theoretical rubbish!
Having applied it as a professional business coach over many years, and having applied it to some of my own personal issues over the years, I can assure you the DVP formula is very real and very effective.