Real examples of coaching
Here are some real examples of coaching provided by VISCONTI
Management
We coached a business leader who was having to deal with the sustained growth of his B2B software publishing company (over 30% additional turnover every year). This growth was financially virtuous with half of the turnover resulting in cash in the bank.
Despite this, the business leader was experiencing severe management problems related to the runaway growth in staff numbers.
The VISCONTI coach got the leader working on the following areas:
- Reflection on time management
- Definition of the scope of functions and organisational structure
- Supervision and set-up of a management committee
- Recruitment of a Sales Manager and a Finance Manager
- Definition of objectives, grades and assessment systems for R&D engineers, customer services and sales staff
The results obtained in just three months speak for themselves:
- Reallocation of 10% of the director's time and significant reduction in his stress
- Functional organisation plan, supervision and launch of steering bodies
- Supervision and launch of the strategic HR plan
- Additional motivation for the sales force and monthly spot turnover boosted
We coached a business leader who was having to deal with the sustained growth of his B2B software publishing company (over 30% additional turnover every year). This growth was financially virtuous with half of the turnover resulting in cash in the bank.
Despite this, the business leader was experiencing severe management problems related to the runaway growth in staff numbers.
The VISCONTI coach got the leader working on the following areas:
• Reflection on time management
• Definition of the scope of functions and organisational structure
• Supervision and set-up of a management committee
• Recruitment of a Sales Manager and a Finance Manager
• Definition of objectives, grades and assessment systems for R&D engineers, customer services and sales staff
The results obtained in just three months speak for themselves:
• Reallocation of 10% of the director's time and significant reduction in his stress
• Functional organisation plan, supervision and launch of steering bodies
• Supervision and launch of the strategic HR plan
• Additional motivation for the sales force and monthly spot turnover boosted
Sale
We coached a business owner who wanted to sell off his company altogether.
His first instinct was to name his main competitor as a likely buyer.
We suggested that he produce a kind of "composite drawing" of the various possible buyers. After analysis, the director concluded that it was better to reach out to potential foreign buyers, in sectors adjacent to his own business area. This kind of buyer would buy something to complete his range and to acquire a French sales platform.
Moreover, the director wanted to head the sell-off process alone. We told him about the financial intermediaries available and about their business models.
He understood that it would be better to pay a commission of 3% of the sales price to obtain the additional value created by an intermediary, value which would significantly exceed this percentage.
For a really successful sale, we advised him to apply as many levers for improvement as possible. Among these, some might seem obvious, such as increasing turnover, maximising cashflow or reducing operational costs, while others were more difficult to identify, such as reducing risks or clarifying management and organisation.
In the present case, the reduction of risks was nonetheless a fundamental factor. Three risks were weighing on the company's valuation:
- The fact that the company was not independent of its director
- No loyalty among the key employees
- Due to an oral culture in the company, knowledge was not recorded and saved for future use.
During coaching workshops, work was undertaken to reduce these three risks.
The company is to be sold soon, and we are proud to have helped the director implement all the measures possible to maximise the sale price.
We coached a business owner who wanted to sell off his company altogether.
His first instinct was to name his main competitor as a likely buyer.
We suggested that he produce a kind of "composite drawing" of the various possible buyers. After analysis, the director concluded that it was better to reach out to potential foreign buyers, in sectors adjacent to his own business area. This kind of buyer would buy something to complete his range and to acquire a French sales platform.
Moreover, the director wanted to head the sell-off process alone. We told him about the financial intermediaries available and about their business models.
He understood that it would be better to pay a commission of 3% of the sales price to obtain the additional value created by an intermediary, value which would significantly exceed this percentage.
For a really successful sale, we advised him to apply as many levers for improvement as possible. Among these, some might seem obvious, such as increasing turnover, maximising cashflow or reducing operational costs, while others were more difficult to identify, such as reducing risks or clarifying management and organisation.
In the present case, the reduction of risks was nonetheless a fundamental factor. Three risks were weighing on the company's valuation:
• The fact that the company was not independent of its director
• No loyalty among the key employees
• Due to an oral culture in the company, knowledge was not recorded and saved for future use.
During coaching workshops, work was undertaken to reduce these three risks.
The company is to be sold soon, and we are proud to have helped the director implement all the measures possible to maximise the sale price
The business leader's diary
We coached a business leader whose initial goal was to find a way out of the hell that was the management of his diary.
Before our first time management workshop, we provided him with useful documents to help him think things through, namely:
- VISCONTI's 11 time management principles
- A VISCONTI questionnaire on time management, to complete
The business leader self-assessed himself with regard to each of the 11 time management principles and filled in the questionnaire.
During the first time management workshop, we worked with him to analyse two typical weeks, hour by hour.
This initial analysis, together with the work done on the VISCONTI documents highlighted the following points:
- The business leader was heavily involved in sales and production tasks
- The business leader had no time set aside to work on his own governing issues
- The Management Committee met once a month
- The business leader spent on average four hours per week with each of his operational managers.
We suggested that he delegate, that he reserved himself one half-day per week for his own work (closed door policy) and that he reviewed the set-up and frequency of his management committee meetings.
Following this workshop, the business leader managed to reallocate himself one half-day per week. Even better, he admitted that he "did nothing for two hours in the office, for the first time in fifteen years."
At a later workshop, we worked on another aspect of the leader's time management, namely his annual diary. We showed him the typical diary including the key dates for a company director. Our client realised that he never blocked highly important dates such as the strategy review every July or the drafting of the next year's budget every September.
We made him realise that this annual rhythm needed to be noted down in his own diary and that it had a major influence on his staff's rhythm and on that of the company.
Even better, he came to understand that, by doing this, he was no longer a slave to his diary. Of course, the business leader did everything required to define the key issues to be dealt with each year and set up the necessary steering committees, meetings, preparatory work, and so on, to deal with these key issues.
We coached a business leader whose initial goal was to find a way out of the hell that was the management of his diary.
Before our first time management workshop, we provided him with useful documents to help him think things through, namely:
• VISCONTI's 11 time management principles
• A VISCONTI questionnaire on time management, to complete
The business leader self-assessed himself with regard to each of the 11 time management principles and filled in the questionnaire.
During the first time management workshop, we worked with him to analyse two typical weeks, hour by hour.
This initial analysis, together with the work done on the VISCONTI documents highlighted the following points:
• The business leader was heavily involved in sales and production tasks
• The business leader had no time set aside to work on his own governing issues
• The Management Committee met once a month
• The business leader spent on average four hours per week with each of his operational managers.
We suggested that he delegate, that he reserved himself one half-day per week for his own work (closed door policy) and that he reviewed the set-up and frequency of his management committee meetings.
Following this workshop, the business leader managed to reallocate himself one half-day per week. Even better, he admitted that he "did nothing for two hours in the office, for the first time in fifteen years."
At a later workshop, we worked on another aspect of the leader's time management, namely his annual diary. We showed him the typical diary including the key dates for a company director. Our client realised that he never blocked highly important dates such as the strategy review every July or the drafting of the next year's budget every September.
We made him realise that this annual rhythm needed to be noted down in his own diary and that it had a major influence on his staff's rhythm and on that of the company.
Even better, he came to understand that, by doing this, he was no longer a slave to his diary. Of course, the business leader did everything required to define the key issues to be dealt with each year and set up the necessary steering committees, meetings, preparatory work, and so on, to deal with these key issues.
Unser Coaching erfolgte für einen Manager, der ursprünglich vor allem von den Belastungen der Verwaltung seines Terminkalender befreit werden wollte.
Vor unserem ersten Workshop über Zeitmanagement stellten wir dem Manager dazu die entsprechenden Unterlagen zur Verfügung, nämlich:
• Die 11 VISCONTI-Prinzipien des Zeitmanagements
• Einen VISCONTI-Fragebogen zum Thema Zeitmanagement zum Ausfüllen
Der Manager nahm eine Selbstbewertung in Bezug auf alle 11 Prinzipien des Zeitmanagements vor und füllte den Fragebogen aus.
Während des ersten Zeitmanagement-Workshops konnten wir gemeinsam mit dem Manager zwei typische Arbeitswochen Stunde für Stunde analysieren.
Aufgrund dieser ersten Analyse und infolge zusätzlicher Arbeiten mit den VISCONTI-Unterlagen konnten folgende Fakten besonders herausgearbeitet werden:
• Der Manager war besonders intensiv mit den Aufgaben der Verkaufsabwicklung und der Produktion beschäftigt
• Der Manager hatte keinerlei Zeitfenster zur Verfügung, um sich seinen ganz persönlichen Agenden zu widmen
• Sitzungen des Vorstands fanden einmal monatlich statt
• Der Manager verbrachte durchschnittlich 4 Stunden pro Woche mit jedem einzelnen Bereichsleiter
Wir schlugen ihm vor, zu delegieren und einen halben Tag pro Woche für persönliche Agenden (Angelegenheiten „hinter verschlossenen Türen“) zu reservieren und außerdem die Rolle des Vorstands und die Häufigkeit der Vorstandssitzungen zu überdenken.
Nach diesem Workshop gelang es dem Manager, einen halben Tag pro Woche für persönliche Agenden freizuhalten. Er hatte uns sogar gestanden, dass er zum ersten Mal seit 15 Jahren einmal zwei Stunden in seinem Büro „nichts getan hat“.
Während eines weiteren Workshops haben wir eine andere Facette seines Zeitmanagements, nämlich seinen jährlichen Terminplan, bearbeitet. Wir zeigten ihm den Standard-Terminplan eines Unternehmensleiters mit den obligatorischen Aufgaben. Unser Manager stellte fest, dass er seinen Terminplan in Bezug auf so wichtige Themen wie die Überprüfung der Unternehmensstrategie im Juli oder die Erstellung des Budgets für das Folgejahr im September nicht konsequent genug eingehalten hatte.
Er wurde sich dessen bewusst, dass sein Arbeitsrhythmus in seinen Terminkalender einfließen muss und dass dieser Rhythmus wiederum großen Einfluss auf den Arbeitsrhythmus seiner Mitarbeiter und des Unternehmens im Allgemeinen hat.
Außerdem erkannte er im Zuge dieser Arbeit, dass er nun nicht mehr der Sklave seines Terminkalenders war. Der Manager unternahm aufgrund dieses Coachings die nötigen Schritte, um die Kernthemen zu definieren, die jedes Jahr behandelt werden müssen, und organisierte die für die Bearbeitung dieser Themen erforderlichen Steuerungsgremien, Meetings, Vorbereitungsarbeiten etc.
Hyper-growth
We coached a business leader whose company was experiencing hyper-growth (50% rise in turnover and staff over three years).
This situation was marked by the following factors:
- Massive investment in a network of agencies, creating tension on cashflow and generating negative equity capital.
- Price war
- Permanent reorganisation, given the level of growth
We therefore got the business leader working on three areas:
- Seeking out funds (reducing WCR, debt, capital investors) to manage the cashflow and negative equity capital problems
- Work on market positioning, segmentation, customer targeting and product pricing
- Recruitment of experienced executives to seniorise the organisation and create a managerial leverage effect (delegation)
In real terms, the business leader was able to deliver a sales plan, with clearly identified targets and a motivated sales force.
Moreover, the work on WCR helped the company out of the red zone.
To finish with, the recruitment and staffing of key people helped to stabilise the organisation and free up some time for the business leader.
We coached a business leader whose company was experiencing hyper-growth (50% rise in turnover and staff over three years).
This situation was marked by the following factors:
• Massive investment in a network of agencies, creating tension on cashflow and generating negative equity capital.
• Price war
• Permanent reorganisation, given the level of growth
We therefore got the business leader working on three areas:
• Seeking out funds (reducing WCR, debt, capital investors) to manage the cashflow and negative equity capital problems
• Work on market positioning, segmentation, customer targeting and product pricing
• Recruitment of experienced executives to seniorise the organisation and create a managerial leverage effect (delegation)
In real terms, the business leader was able to deliver a sales plan, with clearly identified targets and a motivated sales force.
Moreover, the work on WCR helped the company out of the red zone.
To finish with, the recruitment and staffing of key people helped to stabilise the organisation and free up some time for the business leader.
Restructuring
We coached a business leader whose accessories manufacturing company was on the decline.
In three years, staff numbers had fallen from 50 to 30, with no change, in percentage terms, to the negative figures.
What is more, the accessories sold by the company were top-of-the-range goods. The 2008-2009 recession saw demand fall by 50%.
With the business leader, we worked on several aspects:
- Overhaul of the supply chain, manufacturing, storage and delivery processes
- Redefinition of the product ranges and the corresponding prices
- Additional cost-cutting (headquarter costs, payroll) to free up further room for manoeuvre.
The business leader was able to reduce stock (material and surface) by 30% and increase productivity by around 15%, by working on production ranges.
Moreover, the manager made the decision to launch a range of low-cost products, which while they had lower margins, helped to absorb the structure costs more easily. Range of products sold with no label and also sold directly under a different brand.
To finish off, costs were reduced by 20%.
The combination of these three factors helped the company to turn itself around within 6 months.
We coached a business leader whose accessories manufacturing company was on the decline.
In three years, staff numbers had fallen from 50 to 30, with no change, in percentage terms, to the negative figures.
What is more, the accessories sold by the company were top-of-the-range goods. The 2008-2009 recession saw demand fall by 50%.
With the business leader, we worked on several aspects:
• Overhaul of the supply chain, manufacturing, storage and delivery processes
• Redefinition of the product ranges and the corresponding prices
• Additional cost-cutting (headquarter costs, payroll) to free up further room for manoeuvre.
The business leader was able to reduce stock (material and surface) by 30% and increase productivity by around 15%, by working on production ranges.
Moreover, the manager made the decision to launch a range of low-cost products, which while they had lower margins, helped to absorb the structure costs more easily. Range of products sold with no label and also sold directly under a different brand.
To finish off, costs were reduced by 20%.
The combination of these three factors helped the company to turn itself around within 6 months.
