My clients face many different challenges, but let me share the top three with you and how I may recommend you resolve them.

The first challenge is that they don’t implement their strategies effectively. This seems to be a constant problem as great strategies are developed but never implemented successfully. In order to implement these strategies successfully you need to involve employees in the strategy development process. Create internal champions who will help everyone see how they fit into the bigger picture. You need to provide clear accountabilities and measurements so people know what success will look like and how they can help get there.

The second challenge my clients face is that they don’t collaborate enough with their customers and suppliers on improving performance. You must engage employees, customers, and suppliers more often in identifying new performance improvements. Look at your best customer relationships and determine why that is. Look at how your suppliers are working with their best customers. What can you learn and build into your own organization?

The third challenge my clients face is that they move too slowly. Organizations often spend a lot of time on activities that are not adding any value to the organization. You need to assess your operations and stop performing activities that don’t increase profit, improve attraction and retention of top people, improve customer service or improve the sustainability of the organization. I help my clients focus on value added activities and if you ask yourself those four questions and you can’t answer yes to any of them you need to stop doing the activity.

Research In Motion (RIM) is a classic example of a company that moved too slowly and now they are struggling for survival in the cut-throat cell phone and tablet markets. They developed some very good products but became complacent and they are now losing market share rapidly to companies like Apple and Samsung.

Speed is a key component to the success of any company. What are your biggest challenges and how are you tackling them?

Speed could be the single biggest competitive advantage that a company has. If you don't believe me, see below for the benefits of speed in running a successful organization:

• You develop ideas before your competition, giving yourself first-mover advantage
• You are responsive to customer issues and resolve them quickly
• You have a culture focused on speed so decisions can be made (and reversed) easily
• You can take advantage of sudden shifts in the marketplace and in the needs of your customers
• You get products and services out to market quickly
• You rapidly move forward with new strategies and organizational changes
• You maintain flexibility and responsiveness in everything you do
• You empower your employees to address opportunities and challenges quickly

Is there any other single element of your business that can create that many opportunities for success? Take advantage of being fast and responsive and don't hit your head on the way up!

70% of change management initiatives fail...not because the effort is not there, but because the effort is being put in the wrong place. Companies take the approach that change is necessary to fix existing problems, but this is not the case. Change is meant to improve something and create innovation. The reason that so many change initiatives fail is because change is not seen as a way to improve the performance of a company. It is merely seen as the 'soft' side of getting people to do things.
 
We need to change our mindsets when we embark on a change initiative. Successful change can lead to employee empowerment, which leads to a collaborative culture, which leads to improved performance for the company. When employees are empowered to make decisions, they come to work each day asking "How can I make this a better place?" They look for ways to improve the way the business operates and treats its customers. Imagine a workplace like that, where everyone is engaged and making the company better.
 
It is not so difficult to achieve. McDonald's has been great  at this, even with its size and huge number of employees. Every time you enter a McDonald's restaurant the service is friendly, the food is made quickly and the restaurant is clean, including the washrooms. Employees are joking around behind the counter and seem to be generally having fun. If you have an issue with your order, the cashier does not need to ask three managers to resolve it. The cashier is empowered to make a decision on the spot to best serve the customer.
 
You want to know how change can be accelerated? Look at what McDonald's does:  it empowers employees to make decisions that make the customer experience better; it creates a workplace and an organization that employees can be proud of; and it provides personal and professional development opportunities so that employees can improve their skills. The employees want to keep the restaurant clean and the customers happy because it makes them feel proud, not because someone told them to do it. That is how you accelerate successful change.

I went on a tour of a hospital research facility and got to see the inner workings of one of the labs. We walked into a large room that was dominated by a piece of machinery, the centrepiece of which was a robotic arm about four feet long. As we arrived, the robotic arm was taking samples out of a container and putting them through a series or tests. I was mesmorized by the actions of this robotic arm.

When I snapped out of my trance, I asked the researcher how the machine was helping her do her job. She answered “it helps us with speed, efficiency and productivity. The robot can do things faster, better and with higher quality than any human, and it would take 8-10 people to produce the equivalent amount of results. Now, I start the machine in the morning, check in a couple of times to see the results, and spend my day doing actual research work.”

This got me thinking…this is exactly what every business needs, although it does not need to be robotic or expensive. Small changes can have a huge impact on your business. The goal is to find your “robotic arm.” What changes can you make that will have an impact on the speed, efficiency and productivity in your business?