All business people receive incorrect information from time to time. The mistaken ideas may range from simple errors in reading or calculations, to outright deception on the part of employees. The key for business owners and managers is preventing the weak business intelligence from crippling the business.
Bad information can hurt a business in more than one way. While the obvious results may include lower sales, lost or dissatisfied customers, or production and distribution problems. All of these are crucial issues that can damage a company seriously. They are also difficulties that can be corrected over time. Unless there is wilful damage inflicted, most problems are challenges faced by all organizations at one time or another. A more insidious and hidden problem may be a tightening of decision making and control by the owner or top management people.
In a misguided attempt to prevent any future problems, many entrepreneurs have a default position that appears in times of crisis. That standard response is to micromanage the organization and to take more decision making responsibility upon themselves. Instead of recognizing the mistakes happen, and that no one is infallible, the business owner centralizes decision making. Instead of gaining more control over the situation, the result is often the polar opposite.
In centralized decision making companies, no one makes any decisions, and relies on the official management approved response. While the control freak might believe the so-called by the book answer may be the only right one, spectacular disasters are the more likely outcome. Individual circumstances require judgement calls on the spot by staff people. In more cases than many people would like to admit, the prescribed official response may be the wrong one. Instead of solving a problem, a new one is created. Rather than risk their continued employment status, staff members rely on the book to cover their backs.
Delegation of decision making responsibility is a better option. Make certain everyone knows who is responsible for what decisions and choices. Allow a reasonable degree of flexibility for the many individual issues that don't fit the form. Employees who are empowered to make on the spot executive decisions will more often than not choose the right course of action. If they have to get approval for even the tiniest concession, they risk losing a customer. They also become robots, rather than thinking and productive workers. Empowered staffers are productive employees.
The ownership must accept that mistakes will happen. In fact, if no mistakes are being made, then nothing new or innovative is being attempted by the organization. Treading water for too long a time usually ends up in drowning. Let your employees take chances and discover new ideas. The information they provide may be flawed, but if the person understands that errors are part of life, they are much less likely to provide deliberately false data. Bogus information is a symptom of a centralized decision making organization. The employee is responding in a self protective manner, and that is not good for any company.
Instead of worrying about mistakes in information, encourage employees to provide the best and most honest data available. Be prepared to accept bad news, and encourage the staff members responsible to find solutions to the problem. Fear driven companies will only get told what the staff members think they want to hear. That staff fear can lead to tragedy and even bankruptcy.
Be open to potential problems, and you are more likely to hear innovative and profitable solutions.
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