The Business and Personal Nature of Change Management

Time and task management are two critical skillsets small business owners need to have.

A highly developed focus helps ensure all operational functions of your business run smoothly and gets projects delivered on time.

Many  skills that you use in business management also serve important purposes in your personal life, helping you create an overall healthy work-life balance.

Business Planning

Many small business owners think they only need to develop a business plan once as a way to outline objectives and potentially apply for funding.

However, a business plan should be a living document that helps guide the way your company operates and evolves over time.

Critical components include marketing, crisis planning, employee management, and financial and accounting functions.

The same principles apply to your personal life with regard to creating a household budget.

Tracking income and expenditures in an organized way can ensure you’re on sound financial footing.

Establishing Objectives

Part of overall business planning should include both short- and long-term objectives, particularly around growth and expansion.

These critical areas in mind prepare you when it comes to hiring, developing your product lines, identifying your target demographic, and making calculated choices when expanding into new markets.

The same skill also applies to your personal life, particularly with regard to home and family.

For example, when you’re buying a home, you’ll want to consider the size of your family and the neighborhoods you find safe and appealing.

In addition, you’ll consider issues like proximity to schools, amenities, and healthcare.

Task Delegation

Small business owners are most effective when they delegate tasks and workloads.

Being able to hand off projects and functions is essential to focus on big picture operational matters like customer cultivation, handling high-end clients, financial planning, and long-range goals.

According to the Center for Management and Organizational Effectiveness, delegation has a domino effect.

You save considerable time by handing off functions, whether it’s running a meeting, managing customer service, or proofreading documents.

Delegation also works at home, with individual household members having responsibility for various tasks.

This might include vehicle upkeep and maintenance, meal preparation, pet care, and the like.

Farming It Out

One step beyond task delegation is “farming out” business operations so you can spend more time on crucial functions, or simply to recharge.

For example, hire an accountant to handle your bookkeeping and taxes rather than doing it yourself.

Or work with formation services company to do the legwork necessary for forming an LLC.

You could do these things yourself.

But dollar-for-dollar, your time is better spent on generating revenue for your business.

The same concept applies to home life.

Why spend your weekend cleaning your home, skimming the pool, or grocery shopping when you could hire someone to do those things for you?

The rest and downtime prepare you for the week ahead.

Crisis Management

No one plans for a crisis, either in their business or personal lives.

That said, the unexpected does arise without warning and you need a calculated response to survive the situation.

For example, crisis planning prepares a company for addressing the unexpected.

Internal scandal, natural disaster, or an unforeseeable downturn in the industry catch companies off guard.

Planning for the unplanned might include developing

• a succession plan,
• a communications and public relations campaign strategy, and
• outreach approaches to both internal and external stakeholders.

On the home front, crisis preparedness might include an emergency savings account.

Homeowner, auto, healthcare, and life insurance policies protect you.

Guardianship plans for minor children keep them safe.

Change Management

Businesses evolve and change over time.

According to the Happy Manager, change management is an important function of business ownership.

Internal stakeholders — your employees — need to understand what’s going on and how it impacts them.

External stakeholders — your clients and customers — need to be kept apprised of changes and what they mean to their relationship with you.

Change also happens in families, whether it’s a relocation, an illness, a change in marital status.

Any time the dynamics of a family shift, the same principles of change management apply.

It’s critical that the head(s) of the family address the issues with honesty and tact.

Fundamental Communication

When there’s a breakdown in communication, it leads to mistakes, misunderstanding, and sometimes, anger and frustration.

Communication in both the workplace and the home needs to be cultivated.

At work, written directives and guidelines and regular project updates and check-ins can alleviate most types of miscommunication.

At home, being forthright with one another can be a starting point for identifying and working out differences in a reasonable and loving fashion.

There’s a substantial amount of crossover between the skills you learn running a business and the life skills necessary to manage your family and your home life.

Developing a sense of compassion and empathy, as well as addressing challenging subjects head-on, can help both business and family thrive.