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Guest post by: Millard MacAdam Become an Author

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Proverbs 10:13 tells us, “Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks judgment.” You can gain wisdom regarding your home life and your business life by engaging trusted others in helping you to honestly discern how things are going in the important dimensions of your life and your business .

For your enterprise, I recommend taking stock of the status of the important operational things by conducting an Operational Integrity Inventory one or more times a year. It has been said that the unexamined life is not worth living. I believe the same is true for the unexamined operations of a company. I think this principle applies to family life and business life. Taking stock just before the start each year will help you develop a clear focus on a preferred future and the opportunity to begin planning the steps to get there.

A comprehensive annual Operational Integrity Inventory can be done for yourself, your family, your career and your enterprise. Engaging in the process will position you, your family members and your colleagues and staff at work to take stock and deter­mine what you can do together to strengthen character, competence and commitment to thinking, saying and doing the right things. Taking stock will give you insights that will help you and others be better stewards of your time, talent and treasure and make and save more money in your business environment.

The basic steps for facilitating a taking stock process follow. Realize this is a time-intensive process and careful planning as to where and when needs to take place so as to allow for full participation and reflection on what is shared. It is also best to have an objective facilitator record key inputs on each item on the survey on a chart for easy viewing and reflection.

1. Participants in the process individually score each item on the Taking Stock Feedback Sheet that has been developed.
2. Share the feedback in “roundtable” fashion, one item at a time, and have each participant edify what he or she has observed in general that supports the reasons for their scores.
3. Share what each participant sees that they can do to strengthen their given contribution to the operational element being discussed.
4. If it is a mature, open and high integrity group of participants, much can be learned if an opportunity is given for fellow participants to give input to one another on what they see that others can do to make an optimum contribution on each of the operational elements listed on the survey.

Now let’s address taking an Operational Integrity Inventory of what’s going on in your enter­prise.

Begin the process by gathering feedback from key stakeholders. Have them evaluate each area and rate their score: 1 for low, 10 for high. As a team, discuss how to plan steps that will strengthen one another’s abilities to make optimum contributions to each operational area evaluated.

Some questions I’ve used to help some of my clients with this process are:

To what degree are we collectively:

1. Communicating a clear vision of what can and should be our organization’s preferred future?

2. Conducting effective and efficient operational, tactical and strategic planning?

3. Aligning our organization’s goals with its statements of purpose, vision, values and mission?

4. Establishing and using agreed upon decision-making and problem-solving processes?

5. Maintaining proper, effective and efficient accounting and financial procedures?

6. Following proper legal procedures and maintaining policies that will serve to prevent costly legal actions, fines and jail terms?

7. Maintaining an integrity management and mutual accountability process that supports the continuous improvement of our organization’s people, processes, policies and products?

8. Establishing the Personal Accountability and Commitment Teams Integrity Check process to help people "walk" and "talk" our core governing operating values?

9. Helping all stakeholders remain open to feedback about their performance and impact on colleagues, customers and suppliers?

10. Routinely monitoring and helping to strengthen one another’s functioning and performance?

11. Attracting, selecting, deploying and retaining competent and motivated managers and employees of high character, competence and commitment to do the right things to achieve the right results?

12. Maintaining effective communication between managers, staff, customers and suppli­ers?

13. Maintaining an atmosphere of collaboration and cooperation among individuals and departments?

14. Helping one another communicate directly, openly and congruently, especially when emergencies and interpersonal conflicts occur?

15. Encouraging and developing world-class leadership and managerial behavior?

16. Providing skill assessment and development opportunities for all employees to regu­larly enhance their performance?

17. Carrying out our organization’s leadership and managerial functions effectively and ef­ficiently?

18. Carrying out our organization’s marketing functions effectively and efficiently?

19. Carrying out our organization’s sales functions effectively and efficiently?

20. Providing effective and efficient service to our organization’s internal and external customers?

21. Providing effective and efficient collaboration and support to our organization’s sup­pliers?

22. Maintaining and following policies and practices that are socially responsible?

23. Maintaining quality controls so as to produce services and/or products that are of top quality?

If you need help in mastering and implementing any of the skills and tactics mentioned above, I'm here for you! Please visit the Call-A-Coach section of my web site for more information, and contact me if you have any questions.

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