High Growth Problems SOLVED

High growth companies walk a fine line as they push to vigorously infiltrate the marketplace and still keep their houses in order. These high growth companies also see their own share of high growth problems. When companies are moving really fast, people break and systems break. Hiroshi Mikitani, founder of Rakuten, the largest online marketplace in Japan, first observed that teams tend to break in 3s and 10s. More observations have confirmed the validity of Mikitani’s framework, so if your company is close to tripling its size, be prepared to put on your corporate tool belt and start making repairs.

Inevitably as a company reaches marked growth milestones, communication across channels begins to break down. It becomes harder to reach consensus on decisions. Some team members start to slack off. And the team that once sailed along smoothly, now finds itself struggling to hit productivity goals. There has to be an answer to this scalability problem. How can the world’s most rapidly scaling companies maintain their growth momentum without breaking?

TaskHuman’s solutions help CEOs, HR heads, and team leaders address common scaling pitfalls by giving them a way to stay ahead of growth related problems, all with little disruption to everyday workload. Below are four key areas that tend to break with growth, and how you can avoid potential problems using TaskHuman’s coaching platform.

Onboarding

One high growth problem that companies often encounter is onboarding. Rapidly scaling companies are eager to put employees in the field, but they can often fumble the onboarding process. To save time, managers rush through a few introductions and complete  the legal paperwork for a new hire. And they call this their “onboarding process” when it actually fails to cover important subject matter an employee needs to be immediately effective.

TaskHuman coaches can help fill gaps in the onboarding process with coaching that specifically helps incoming employees navigate their new role. During private, on demand coaching sessions, the new hire can work with an experienced coach to fully understand their job and what it will take to be successful.

Growth opportunity is still a leading factor for worker entering a new job. Busy managers can make sure they’re laying a foundation for the new employee’s career development right away by making performance and leadership skills part of the coaching discussions that new hires have. Hiring managers can make internal staff available to interface with new hires through the TaskHuman platform. They can also leverage the bank of expert coaches who provide their own thorough content to support the employee onboarding journey. TaskHuman can help expanding companies keep demonstrating their commitment to supporting their growing workforce from the moment someone else joins the team, thus gaining organizational buy-in and employee loyalty.

Assimilation

A similar growth problem is Assimilation. Companies in growth mode aren’t always intentional about immersing their workforce into the company culture. They leave assimilation to chance, hoping that the company ‘swag’ and a catchy value statement will do the trick. But effective (and profitable) assimilation involves taking employees through a discovery process to find out 1) why the company’s mission and vision matter to them personally, and 2) how they can use their unique qualities to bolster the group’s progress toward that vision. Doing this exploration on the front end will create superior teams that make quicker progress because there’s a level of cohesiveness baked into how they work. Well assimilated teams will more likely be able to withstand growth related challenges because they are connected and committed to one another.

The TaskHuman platform makes assimilation easier to deploy because managers don’t have to create their own material or coordinate scheduled activities that pull employees off the job. Employees can speak 1:1 with a coach that can guide the individual discovery process. Managers can enable group sessions for their department members to join remotely during non-traditional hours. These can help individuals draw closer to their colleagues and better understand the different personal strengths each one offers the team.

High Growth Management Tactics

Fast paced teams encounter a lot of chaos if their manager isn’t prepared to deal with the challenges that rapid growth brings to a department. Specific high growth management tactics can be implemented to keep teams productive and intact. Lots of ideas and information are coming in as well as a growing amount of expectation to fulfill needs from the consumer base and the C Suite. Managers must know how to beat back impending chaos for their teams to be able to focus and work efficiently.

High growth management coaches are available on demand through the TaskHuman platform. They can support managers of growing teams to implement a functional system for effectively managing their fast growing teams which will also prevent managerial burn-out. Coaches can help your department leaders get good at identifying and communicating priorities and making timely, non-reactive decisions even when everything coming at them seems like an emergency. Coaches can also prepare managers to navigate the inevitable friction that happens when teams hit various growth milestones. And they can help managers deploy repetitive systems that reduce overwhelm and ensure employees get the support they need from their leader while the company continues its rapid expansion.

New Manager Development

New managers require intentional skill development to operate at full capacity. Fast growing companies don’t always take the time they should to prepare the new manager for their role. This can gravely impact teams. A 2018 Udemy study found that nearly half of employees surveyed had quit due to a bad manager, and almost two-thirds believed their manager lacked managerial training. Data across multiple studies point to the same indications; the manager’s skill level determines the health or toxicity of the team.

TaskHuman coaches can work with new managers, helping them master key skills that include discernment and prioritizing, effective communication, and team dynamics to name just a few. Growing companies that support their new managers with highly experienced, personalized coaching will help them become leaders that inspire teams and bolster unity. In time, the new manager will experience less of the immobilizing stress that can stall their decision making. A leadership coach will encourage the new manager to embrace their role as a coach and encourage themselves. The new manager will be able to model the behaviors they’ve observed first hand in their 1:1 sessions with their leadership coach and pass those skills on to their direct reports.

Sales

Sales teams are often the hardest pressed in rapidly expanding companies. At the same time, sales teams in new, entrepreneurial companies often lack a unified strategy or support mechanisms to fuel production goals. TaskDrive reports that an average account executive takes 4.7 months to ramp up and they usually spend around 2.7 years at the position. New and rapidly scaling companies can make up competitive ground if they prioritize sales training to reduce ramp up time and increase their sales reps’ longevity at their company. Research by Aberdeen found companies that provide real-time, deal-specific, sales coaching increased revenue by 8.4% year-over-year – a 95% improvement over companies that don’t provide that level of coaching. Moreover, personnel are likely to stay working for companies that have solid training and development processes.

The sales enablement and sales leadership coaches that are available through the TaskHuman coaching platform can provide on demand support to leaders of sales teams and frontline sales associates. They can help tighten up tracking processes, sharpen sales and sales leadership skills, and relieve pressure by providing prospective and insights backed by years of experience.

Make Change Now

High growth companies encounter unique challenges that can spell disaster if they’re mishandled. TaskHuman’s high growth business coaches can help leaders and fast moving teams to address weaknesses immediately. Our 1:1 coaching platform includes a roster of coaches with thousands of years combined experience to shore up areas where growth can pose a threat to progress. The idea is to put a cycle of effectiveness to work before your growth is spinning your teams out of control. TaskHuman is here to help.

Other Resources

Check Out Our Reading Room

Encouraging Employees To Use PTO & Take Time To Recharge
Get guidance on how to encourage employees to take time off and realize that mental rest days are just as important as their workload.

Ready to Create Good Habits? Embrace the Power of Change and Start Today!
Ready to up-level your daily life and take on positive habits? Great! Today is the perfect day to start. You don’t have to wait for a special day. Starting where you are to…

As seen in Real Ways to Earn, Can I Work From Home Without a Computer?
The most realistic options for people who want or need to work from home, but find themselves in a situation with no computer.