Business Acumen: The Guide to Adaptability
There’s no question that change happens. In home life, the economy, in relationships, and certainly in business too. Though we have no control over the changes that come our way, we surely have control over how we prepare for and handle them. When Covid-19 hit, it gave people very little time to react and make decisions. Those that were prepared to make decisions and changes quickly had better outcomes than those who weren’t. So how do you prepare? How do you help your companies be more agile? How do you adjust to the changes that come your way?
Test your Business Acumen skills to find out how you can adapt to your market:
There are two major things to consider: external and internal factors
Let’s start with external. Of course, all companies are a part of a larger market. Your company is connected to customers, competition, regulations, and more that your employees need to understand. Because decisions can't be made in a vacuum. Employees can be great at knowing your product and fantastic at innovating, but without context, they're steering your collective ship into unknown waters. They have to understand the larger market your company participates in if they want to know how to better respond more quickly and continue to add value to your customers.
Now for the internal. It doesn’t matter how great your product is, how well you strategize, how completely you understand your market, or how highly rated your company is — if you have poor internal operations, you'll always be running at a disadvantage. When you want to be more agile, your company has to be focused on more than the now or the day-to-day tasks of your employees. You must foster a culture of innovation, continue to improve your products, increase efficiencies, and keep employees longer. Agile companies build a structure that allows the business to pivot when it needs by trusting its employees decisions to take the company where it needs to be next.
Business Acumen tools to ease the hurdles of business:
Here’s the secret: business acumen teaches you the delicate balance between internal and external business concerns. Business acumen tools help you align your external strategies with your internal efficiencies and motivations. It helps you to keep your customers in mind, while also keeping your employees happy. Keeping your products up-to-date and working well, while having an efficient system to create the product. Being one step ahead of your competitors, while also creating a culture of agility, and willingness to adapt to change.
It’s amazing the hurdles can get in the way when change comes to your organization. Obviously, a pandemic can put a damper on things, having a supply chain delay or shortage, the wrong employees who don’t care about the vision, inflation, etc. There are so many things you can’t necessarily change and you can’t predict them all! But business acumen will give your company strategies for agility, so your team can be confident making quick, efficient decisions that will help your company make it out alive!
Get a demo of our business acumen training to see how it can enhance your company!
How to be prepared with Business Acumen:
Being an agile company means being prepared. You're ready for anything the world will throw at you, and confident your company can survive through them. What happens if your employees don't want to change a system that already works? They won’t, so it takes a leader, someone they respect, to start the movement. Once they see it working smoothly for you, it’s far more likely that they’ll follow in your footsteps.
Use your business acumen tools, to clearly communicate your thinking to your employees, and be adaptable in the way you shift the business. If you lead an organization that respects you, they will trust you and follow your example.
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