My CEO Life

My CEO Life is the blog of Simon Baker, the ex-CEO and Managing Director of the REA Group. He is now building a new business called Classified Ad Ventures. This blog looks at real business problems and provides real solutions - ones that any manager around the world can follow and implement.

A topic that is often talked about in management magazines and books is communication.  It seems that an enormous amount is written on the topic yet management time and time again get it wrong.  I was chatting with a friend today about his work place and he commented that people are anxious and communications are not flowing.

This got me thinking – what are the do’s and dont’s of great communication from management to the employees.
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Have you ever had the situation where someone who reports to you resigns and you try to talk them out of it?  I certainly have and i have also tried to talk them out of it … often successfully.  However, is this the right strategy or should you just accept the resignation and move on?
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In today’s tough economic environment, everyone is hurting – busineses, employees, their suppliers and of course the customers.  In these tough times, it is important the all parts of the business tighten their belts and the business is seen externally to tighten its belt.

If the company does not do this, it runs the risk of disenfranchising their employees and their customers.
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The team at Classified Ad Ventures is working with companies around the world to help them refine their business models and to accelerate their growth.   One observation we have is that management and owners are often overly enthusiastic about of their revenue growth, expense requirements and ultimately market cap.  Why is this happening and what should these operators think about it?
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For most businesses times are very tough and many of their management are entering an unknown and uncertain world.  When this happens, management often call in the consultants.  This can be for many reason – management need options, they don’t really know what to do and need help, or in some circumstances are looking for a “fall guy” if things dont improve. While consultants do have a place in helping management, they are not there to replace them.  So what is the role of consultants during an economic downturn?
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In today’s tough business environment, access to future capital is not as easy as it used to be. Therefore all businesses need to focus on cash flow management as cash flow is the live blood of a business. Therefore i thought i would share with you some tips that i read about in an article by Melissa Wilkinson in April’s Management Today magazine. These tips are not only timely, but pertinent to all companies – espcially those that are doing it a little tough.
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I recently heard about a manager who called all his staff in for a meeting about the future of his part of the business.  As he went through the presentation, he talked about a new, more efficient structure.  The problem was, the new structure left off a bunch of existing people.  These existing people immediately asked “where am i”.  To their surprise, they  were told that their roles where no longer needed and the manager wasnt sure if they would have a job after 30 June.  Now this doesnt appear to  be the smartest approach to the problem of how to tell someone they dont have a job any more.  What is the impact of this approach and how could that manager have handled it better?
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I have just stumbled upon an interesting blog posting from Dublin, Ireland.   In the posting by Jason Roe, he claims that he found a bug in the Ryan Air site that displayed a zero price for an airfare after the user completed a couple of less than obvious actions.  While bugs on websites are nothing new, it was the response by people within Ryan Air (including someone within the PR team) that makes his a fascinating case study on how not to deal with blogger.
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You just have to turn on the TV for one minute in any country to hear just how bad the economic situation is.  The reports flood in from around the world about how business is contracting, unemployment is rising, consumers are no longer spending and companies are focusing on cost containment rather than revenue growth.  However, it is in times like this, that companies should be looking to acquire new businesses – they are now trading at reasonable levels and many of them are looking to be acquired.  So why don’t managers take this contrarian approach?
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Imagine my surprise when i received a google alert today that i had been mentioned in the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH).  As i had not been interviewed by the SMH recently, it was then with enthusiasm and a little curiosity that i opened the online article.  Had someone decided to write about our new business venture, Classified Ad Ventures or perhaps one our investments – ArtsHub, Sports Passion, or Homethinking in the US. Or perhaps they had picked up on some of the articles about the REA Group / realestate.com.au that we had been writing over on Property Portal Watch. Thefore imagine my surprise when it was none of these.

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