Background
D R Communications (DRC) was set up back in 1989 when mobile phones were not very mobile and required professional installation in vehicles. Back then, the company was a 1-man operation, with Dene fitting the hands-free car kits. Now, joined by wife, Karen, it employs 15 staff and supplies a comprehensive range of telecommunications packages to suit all business needs.
Meeting an ActionCOACH
“Is there anything else I can help you with?” This was the first question which Rob posed to Karen after she had booked on one of his ‘Effective Delegation’ seminars.
Karen explains: “I had initially responded to Rob’s newsletter, because having grown our business from scratch, I knew we needed help with delegation, so a workshop on that topic seemed like a good idea. However, I was also conscious that we needed help in a wider context… but wasn’t exactly sure ‘where’? Then Rob came to see me, and pretty soon I had a clear idea of what we needed. It was more than just delegation, it was about how to create a solid structure that will enable us to grow significantly.”
Working better together
The first thing Rob did was to talk to the whole team to get their feedback on how DRC was operating. “This was a real eye-opener for us”, admits Karen. “Long-standing members of staff revealed issues that they hadn’t previously approached us with.”
Having grown DRC from nothing, Dene and Karen knew their business intimately. However, this meant that it was often difficult for them to explain to staff how they operated, or why they took certain decisions. Back to Karen: “We couldn’t explain what enabled us to work the way we did – for us it was just business common sense”.
With Rob’s help, conversations with staff became far more collaborative, as Karen explains: “Rather than simply telling our staff the answer to how to do something, we started asking them to tell us…and sometimes their answers surprised us and provided a new angle or solution which we hadn’t previously considered. It was great to see the untapped potential – by empowering our staff to do what they do, we now work much better as a team.”
No more long hours
Another area that Karen wanted to work on was their excessive working hours. “We were often in the office late evenings and most weekends. Holidays were a distant memory and something to be squeezed in between the work priorities”. By looking at prioritisation and with the help of the delegation workshop, Karen gradually removed many of the tasks that had been so time-consuming.
Looking back Karen now reflects “We no longer work weekends and we’ve been able to take several two-week holidays abroad and long weekend breaks in between. It’s been one of the biggest benefits of putting in the right working practices.”
Letting go and starting to outsource
Like most start-ups, Dene and Karen were used to having to do everything themselves, but as DRC expanded, this put a strain on their ability to run DRC effectively. Karen had already realized the need to delegate more and now together with Rob, all aspects of DRC were examined.
“Like many small businesses, we had historically undertaken everything ourselves in-house!”, recounts Karen. “However, this was becoming progressively harder. For example, when somebody new joined, we had no standard policies or processes, so Rob suggested outsourcing the basic HR work. Enter Amanda from AJHR Solutions who Karen had met at one of Rob’s regular workshops. With Amanda’s help, the workload for standard HR processes was greatly reduced.”
Dene and Karen sat down with Rob and analyzed the time they were spending on marketing functions, and then with his help, started to organize themselves more effectively. “Letting go and starting to outsource was a really big deal for us. After outsourcing HR processes, marketing seemed the next obvious step. Rob introduced Lisa from Pickle Marketing and that’s also working fantastically well – all of our social media is now outsourced, with no additional staff required.”
Having clarified their processes and understood their USP, DRC were now in a much better position to embrace the changes in the mobile phone industry market. Karen picks up again: “Rob has helped us to make more sense of running and growing the business. I constantly have pieces of his advice going round in my head, such as ‘You Get What You Tolerate’. is gives me the resolve to take action as I feel accountable. It sometimes reminds me of that image, having an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other… you might be tempted by the easy option, but you know what you should really do!”
This accountability and empowerment has been spread throughout DRC. Dene and Karen have made ActionCOACH’s training programmes available for their staff, in order for them to explore and learn new skills. As a result, ‘Work harder on yourself than you do on your job’ has become a new mantra at DRC, for both management and staff.
“We are now consumed with reading books. We’ve just bought two iPods for the company and are in the process of loading it up with relevant audiobooks. It’s been a revelation – Rob always shares his learnings and suggests we read certain books. For example, Dene recently finished ‘The Psychology of Selling’ which he said ‘Put onto paper everything which he was already doing, but hadn’t quite realised”.
Planning in 90-day sections
By attending ActionCOACH’s “GrowthCLUB” workshops we’ve found it easy to plan the business and implement the work. Because the workshops focus on just the next 90-days, it’s long enough to work on significant goals, but short enough that we stay on track.
It works both ways…
While working with DRC, Rob has heard many discussions about the latest technology involving unified communications. Coincidentally, Rob’s team was moving into new offices and was looking at the options for phone systems. It was an obvious choice to have a One Net system installed by DRC, allowing mobile phones and landlines to be integrated seamlessly and at the same time reducing costs.
The future
The 90-day Planning workshops have provided a solid framework for DRC to manage its growth around specific goals. With management and staff both pushing in the same direction, and with everyone committed to the success of the business, the future is set for rapid growth.
“Looking back it’s amazing how much we’ve changed in our business. And as Rob continually points out, it’s us who have done all the work while he just asks us the difficult questions. We continue to be profitable, offer great customer service, our staff are fully engaged and everything is moving in the right direction…”
