Leave These Behind In 2012

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

-Lord Alfred Tennyson (In Memoriam)

With every New Year comes a resolve to start anew and most people make a list of resolutions with the best of intentions. While most people are unable to follow through with some resolutions they make, there are others who stick to their promises and are all the better for it. This can be applied to businesses. After all, it is a new year and with it should come bigger and better things. Here are a few things that are better off left in the past.

Being over-controlling

While this is also a resolution a lot of individuals makes to improve their lives, it can be applied for business owners or leaders in an organization. There are some people in authority who feel like they have to breathe down the neck of each and every employee and to scrutinize everything – even things that they are not supposed to bother themselves with. Instead of being a worrywart, try to disregard the smaller things that have no direct bearing on the company and you will soon realize that life will be much better for you and the people are you. Your job is to delegate and that will be pointless if you wind up micromanaging.

Outdated processes and devices

There are some companies that believe tradition works best. Sorry to say but what worked in the last 10 years may not be effective for the next ten. If your systems are complicated and a pain to work through, you might want to consider going through a bit of change – if not a complete overhaul. Not only are rigid systems a bother, they also serve to demoralize your team. If you have a new system, a change in technology will be called for. If you can find it in yourself to ditch your fax machines and other outdated equipment, you will see that there are products and services out there that perform much better. For instance, if you avail of a service like RingCentral, you will be saving money while outperforming all your gadgets. It is basically a win-win situation.

Lackluster workers and irate managers

Managers are not hired to become their employees’ friend but it would not hurt if the manager was not universally hate. Managers are meant to guide their teams and that might be difficult to do when not a single employee respects them. Even if they have been with the company for quite some time, managers are not supposed to be kept on if their attitudes are not suitable for management. Business is business and no amount of sentiment should cloud your judgement. The same goes for employees who constantly underperform. They might try to let you keep their jobs by appealing to your emotions but you should realize that if they put as much effort into their jobs as they did with being dramatic, they would not be in that situation in the first place.