Consider a man in his 30s, the CEO of a company that was doing well. He sees profits are not rising as fast as they were. His concerns are likely to be

• how to stop further decline;
• how to regain lost profits
• how to get enough additional profit to protect against future drop.

We at Business Team Solutions (BTS) have found the most likely cause of the sluggishness is an internal conflict.

• If so, resolving the conflict will likely stop any future decline.
• It is likely to help regain lost profits.
• It may help increase profits even further.

What do we do?

• Often, a company’s C-Suite and Board are too close to the problem to see the conflict.
• BTS comes for a day or two.
• We first find out the CEO’s or Board Chair’s to view of what is happening
• We ask them about additional possibilities.
• We spend the day talking to managers and staff to explore what may be going on.
• That evening, we meet again with the CEO or Board Chair
  • to discuss our findings
  • to decide together with them how best to
    • improve matters
    • and resolve the issue.

While each internal conflict is unique, in our experience they usually fall into one or more of 9 categories.

• Non-productive Board meetings:
  • Circumventing egos makes meetings productive
• Emotional situations:
  • an excellent technician
  • who is promoted to manage the team
  • needs to learn to recognize emotions
    • when the team comes with problems at home
    • when the team comes with problems at work
  • Polarized disagreements in Executive Committees:
    • The more the two sides argue
    • The more each side digs in its heels.
  • Unproductive teams:
    • New teams can’t decide what to do
    • Established teams have lost their way
  • Mergers:
    • Everyone worries.
    • Some disagree with their new peers
  • Splits:
    • Who will be fired?
    • What will the new companies be like?
    • How will customers react?
  • People who stop contributing:
    • Some causes and reasons are easy to resolve
    • But hidden agendas
      • are dangerous to the organization
      • are more difficult to resolve
    • The beatings will continue until morale improves:
      • The neurological basis for staff shutting down
      • When managers disdain them
        • Accidentally
        • Deliberately
      • Gaps in culture:
        • Why these must be addressed
        • How to recognize them
        • How a specialist team
          • Analyzes them
          • Collaborates with you to improve them

BTS only stays

• Until you tell us the issue is resolved.
• We are not going to be a permanent burden on your budget.

Other issues are likely to arise at your company in the future – at any company.

• We offer to teach your leaders how to resolve this themselves.
• Our fees for teaching are a fraction of the cost
• Of BTS returning to resolve a new issue.

Illustrations in my blogs are either my own drawings or courtesy of pixabay.com

 Contact me at 650-762-6755 or pieterk@post.harvard.edu for more information or to start a conversation.

Pieter Kark, MD, Central Florida (near Orlando)