Make a Move. Find it Here.

By Dr. Stacy Feiner, CEO of Psynamics  |  www.psynamics.com/mw

On February 14, a Hallmark holiday for most of us, I sat down with Carl and Jeff, the owners of a $65-million precision metal company for our regularly scheduled meeting to advance their exit plans. At that point, we were two years into a six-year succession plan, and we were moving along as anticipated.

But the exit planning agenda that day never happened. In fact, all exit planning activities came to an abrupt halt. February 14, weeks before the COVID-19 quarantine was ordered, most people thought the coronavirus was still overseas. Manufacturers knew better. They saw the supply chain freeze up. They were the canary in the coal mine—an indicator of what was to come.

Fast-forward to today, and manufacturers are inundated with information. Barrels of information—twelve-foot waves of information—much of it the same. While information is important, it’s not an adequate stand-in for the personalized advice and guidance needed immediately to pivot business operations in whatever ways necessary to make it through this pandemic…and be in a position to thrive. 

Now, in retrospect, Carl and Jeff wished they had allowed me to assemble a board of advisors from them. I did, too. I wanted a board to work out many of the immediate and urgent issues we were experiencing. So rather than regret, that’s exactly what I did—assembled, scheduled and facilitated an impromptu virtual board meeting for them, and increasingly for other companies.

During our Virtual Board session, my role as the psychologist was to get us to the heart of the matter fast—draw everyone out, help them find the right words express their emotions and expectations, so nothing stayed bottled up. Also, to facilitate the conversation with two technical experts—one who dug into revenue and the other into supply chain. The goal was to put thing back into Jeff and Carl's control so they could make better decisions.

The Virtual Board session with Jeff and Carl was intense and impromptu, and we quickly found the fastest route to answers.

• We started with the urgent—The urgent people issues: their safety, employment, where they would work, how they’d be productive, and who'd manage them. The urgent message: how to communicate, what to share, how much to share, how often. They needed help genuinely connecting with people through writing.
• We speculated on staffing—Even though the idea of rehiring was far out, we used the speculation and chose to furlough rather than lay off.
• We dug into managing revenue during the waiting period—Cutting expenses: which ones, what justification, the risk of releasing a resource that might be needed later. We uncovered hidden revenue, discovered new revenue channels.
• We looked at operations—The owners expressed their regret (and embarrassment) at carrying so much uncollected A/R, being too dependent on one supplier, and worrying about money running out. We designed a plan to find materials elsewhere and a community of competitors willing to "survive by sharing."
• We discussed rebuilding—While we didn’t have a vision yet for rebuilding, we at least didn’t want to make decisions in a vacuum now that would harm us later for the rebuild.

The virtual board pulled through in a crux. Carl and Jeff were amazed. With the three experts listening to them at the same time, the situation only needed to be described once. What a relief to not tell the story over and over again. All the details that needed to be explored by each expert were heard by the group and incorporated quickly without new justification.

Listening to the board members wrestle their different perspectives in front of them was also very valuable. It gave them an opportunity to listen without concern for jumping in. They got through their immediate challenges fast because the team was able to validate their position or redirect. As technical advice came together with human resources plan, and with my close attention to the emotional undercurrent of the group, these owners were able to get close enough to their “frontline” team to direct effective execution.

Once Jeff and Carl got their feelings on the table—the things they were most embarrassed about which was the A/R and supply chain constraints—they realized they didn’t have to carry the load themselves. We decided to move forward and agreed to implement a plan. They were in good hands with their emotions and their judgment working together.

Call 866-779-7771 to schedule YOUR virtual board session. I will facilitate this high-impact session for you. You just show up open and ambitious!

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About the Author

Dr. Stacy Feiner is the CEO of Psynamics and Business Psychologist. Psynamics is the largest network of business psychologists being deployed to corporate, private, municipalities, non-profits & boards for the gig economy. Psychology is the most sophisticated science for channeling human drive, talent, and potential. We solve the invisible emotional dynamics that hold companies back, so they can achieve better results faster.