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Understanding Organisation Development (Part 2)

Last week we looked at the meaning of Organization Development (OD) noting that it is a process oriented approach that focuses on increasing an organization’s efficiency, effectiveness and health. We noted that OD is important because, like human beings, organization have a life and do get ill. While it is easy for managers of organizations to take particular care of their human resources, they pay very little or no attention to the health and wellbeing of the organization. Many are not even aware that the organization’s health is a major contributor to the success of their businesses.

We also mentioned some of the distinguishing characteristics of OD from other types of interventions. We noted particularly the fact that OD is planned, it is an organization wide intervention, and it is participatory involving all segments of the organization in the diagnosis of the organization’s problems as well as the solutions.

Today we will focus attention on the typical process of OD. We already mentioned that OD is a process oriented approach to solving organization’s problems. It does not matter what the problems are, OD adopts a process approach.

The first step in the process is the contact and contract. In a normal situation, an organization that has a problem, a need, an issue or a challenge seeks help of the consultant by contacting him/her. The organization might be referred to the consultant by another organization or individual who has had experience with the services of the consultant. The contact might be by phone, by face to face meeting or through an email or snail mail to the consultant. The organization might also be contacted by the consultant through a proposal for an intervention on the basis of the consultant’s perceived understanding of the organization’s problem.

Once the organization and consultant are in contact, the organization (represented by someone who understands the issues and challenges and has the authority to contract the consultant) presents it issues, problems or challenges to the consultant. On the basis of their mutual understanding and agreement, the organization prepares terms of reference (ToR) for the assignment and a contract defining the financial arrangements for the assignment. Technically speaking, the ToR should be separate from the contract. The ToR defines the job to be done while the contract defines the consultancy fees and other financial agreements.

After signing the contract, the consultant begins the process of data collection as part of the process of organizational assessment (OA). The OA process ensures that all segments of the organization are included in the design for data collection. The assessment might involve reading the literature on the organization, interviewing key informants, organizing focused group discussions, developing and using questionnaire, observing people at work, reviewing the policies and procedures, etc. All these are done to get a sense of the situation with the organization in respect of its systems, structures, strategy and culture as it affects efficiency, effectiveness and health.

While the consultant might conduct the OA alone, the third stage of the process, the diagnosis, requires that the consultant works with members of the organization to develop a picture of emerging issues hindering the organization. Since the consultant is not part of the organization and might not know the organization as much as its members, the diagnosis of the data collected is done by the consultant with the active participation of the members of the organization. They provide the reality check for the consultant’s assumptions arising from the diagnosis.

The major difference between OD and expert or traditional consulting begins to show from this stage onwards. While the expert or traditional consultant undertakes the diagnosis alone in a surreptitious manner, the OD consultant works with the members of the organization in arriving at a diagnosis. The OD consultant facilitates the process of diagnosis leading to discovery by the members of the organization of the actual or potential solution(s) to their problems. Once they are able to identify the problem(s) they are more likely to be able to find the solution which will work for them rather than the external consultant.

While the expert or traditional consultant undertakes the diagnosis alone in a surreptitious manner, the OD consultant works with the members of the organization in arriving at a diagnosis.

From the diagnosis stage, the OD consultant proceeds to organizing a feedback session with all relevant stakeholders to present the preliminary findings on the issues affecting the efficiency, effectiveness and health of the organization. This is where the process expertise of the OD consultant shows up. At the feedback session, the OD consultant is merely holding out a mirror to the organization to behold itself. The issues are presented to them in a disaggregated manner to ensure that the information cannot be attributed to any one member of staff or stakeholder as their confidentiality has been guaranteed.

During the presentation of feedback, which might be done through role play, story telling, poetry, or any other creative method that captures the attention of the audience, the stakeholders of the organization might identify with the issues raised, might deny them or might simply say “we have always known that”. This is a demonstration that the OD consultant has reached an appropriate diagnosis of the situation. Once this stage is reached, the next obvious question is often so what or what should we do about the situation? Again, the OD expertise lies in turning the question around to the client to say what do you want to do about the situation? While the expert or traditional consultant will provide the solution for the client on the basis of his/her own diagnosis, the OD consultant will facilitate a process of the organization coming up with its own solutions to the issues or problems. Consequently, these solutions are often more likely to be implemented because members of the organization own them and can identify with them. The reason why many consultant’s reports and recommendations are not implemented is because they are not developed in a participatory manner or with the involvement of the stakeholders of the organization. Hence they are seen as “the consultants report or recommendations”. By facilitating the process of the organization identifying its own problems and solutions, the OD consultant creates an enabling environment for the implementation of the outcomes of the consultancy.

By facilitating the process of the organization identifying its own problems and solutions, the OD consultant creates an enabling environment for the implementation of the outcomes of the consultancy.

Once a consensus has been reached on the problems and the solutions, the OD consultant facilitate the development of an intervention plan to guide the process of what is to be done. This is a critical stage in the process as it makes or mares the entire process. This is why Akada Konsults have designed and developed a TransformAction Tool™ that captures all the interventions agreed with the client for the transformation of the organization.

Like in other stages of the process, the TransformAction Plan is developed with the active participation of the stakeholders of the organization with the OD consultant as facilitator. At this stage, a small group of people from across all layers of the organizational structure will be selected to form the process team to oversee the implementation of the plan and the management of the change processes arising from the plan. This team is supported by the OD consultant through capacity building in change management and accompanied mentoring support. From this stage on, the OD consultant’s role becomes that of providing support to this in-house team to enable them manage the changes and proposed interventions in the Plan. The empowering nature of OD is further demonstrated through the handing over of the baton to the team to lead the process of the implementation of change interventions.

Once the process of implementation is on, the role of the OD consultant is limited to periodic visitation as consultant to the team. However, there might be other areas emerging that might require direct intervention of the OD consultant such as working on improving the communication between departments or within a department, defining work processes for standardization, developing policies and procedures manuals, mentoring of management staff to sharpen their problem solving and strategic thinking capabilities, coaching the chief executive to be more effective and efficient or in adopting a more inclusive and participatory leadership style.

Along with the implementation phase is periodic monitoring of the processes to ensure that the change objectives and milestones are being met. If for any reason the objectives are not being met, the OD consultant will work with the process team to find out why the objectives are not being met. If they are met, then the final stage of the process is the evaluation of the entire interventions to assess their impact on the organization. Once the impact and outcomes are desirable and achieved according to the TransformAction Plan, the OD consultant will facilitate a process of closure to celebrate the end of the exercise by recognizing through various rewards and awards those who have contributed to the success of the process.

Closure means the end of one process and the possible beginning of another depending on if new issues or problems are identified during the implementation process.

In summary, the OD consultant working with the organization goes through this process facilitating rather than directing the process. In doing that, the OD consultant is guided by certain ethical principles such as always trying to be helpful, doing no harm to the organization, not intervening beyond the level the client is ready for and avoiding colluding with the client to deal with symptoms rather than the real issues. The OD consultant also recognizes that everything done in this engagement is an intervention and thereby takes every interaction as an opportunity for diagnosis. The OD consultant as a process expert recognizes the limitations placed on the assignment by the environment and attempts to work within this recognition by being sensitive and self – aware of every aspect of the process.

In a rapidly changing business environment such as Nigeria, the OD consultant is expected to be multi-skilled in various business and professional areas. This does not however mean being a jack of all trade but being aware of all areas in which a client might need support and facilitating the process of providing the skill to the client either directly or through outsourcing.

Next week we will look at how to know if your organization is ill or healthy and how to promote efficiency, effectiveness and health in your organization.

Understanding Organisation Development (Part 1)

Sometime in 1997, I went to see my father after completing two-year training in organization development (OD). We were discussing my welfare and work and I mentioned the training in OD. He quickly asked what that was. I had not anticipated the question so I really did not have a ready answer for him. After a couple of minutes of thinking, I informed him that I am a kind of physician to organizations - what physicians (doctors) do to individuals, I do to organizations.

This stimulated his interest and we went on to discuss various aspects of what organization development (OD) can do for organizations. As we start this series today, I find myself recalling most of our discussions and therefore using it as a starting point for those who do not know about OD. In addition to that discussion, I have practiced OD for ten years and I recall with fun how most people I meet when I tell them I am an OD Consultant or Practitioner, ask “what’s that?” My response to them will also form part of this introductory series on understanding organization development (OD).

For the avoidance of doubt, whenever I use the abbreviation OD, I am refereeing to Organization Development. In order to understand OD, we need to understand first and foremost that every organization, like an individual, has a life. It gets born when it comes into existence; it grows, gets ill (sometimes terminally) and, if not treated, dies. If treated it gets well and grows to maturity and faces the challenges of growth and maturity.

In order to understand OD, we need to understand first and foremost that every organization, like an individual, has a life. It gets born when it gets into existence; it grows, gets sick and, if not treated, dies. If treated it gets well and grows to maturity and faces the challenges of growth and maturity.

Organization Development (OD) is a process-oriented approach that helps an organization become and remains vital, flexible, efficient, effective, future oriented, innovative and healthy. While individuals are very good at having a periodic health check, not many organizations in Nigeria think about a periodic health check. In some organizations, annual health checks are mandatory for certain categories of staff but not for the organization itself. Consequently, we find healthy people working for very ill organizations and as a result productivity, organizational effectiveness and efficiency are reduced despite the huge sums of money spent on healthcare of the human resources.

In some organizations, annual health checks are mandatory for certain categories of staff but not for the organization itself. Consequently, we find healthy people working for very ill organizations and as a result productivity, organizational effectiveness and efficiency are reduced despite the huge sums of money spent on healthcare of the human resources.

Organization Development is therefore concerned with processes that promote efficiency effectiveness and health of the organization in order to maximize productivity, profitability and sustainability.

OD is appropriate for all types of organizations – micro, small, medium scale enterprises, non-profit organizations, public sector organizations and private sector organizations, multinational, bilateral and multilateral development agencies. Any organization that has concern for efficiency, effectiveness, health, productivity, profitability and sustainability should seek support or assistance from OD consultants to bring this about in a professional way.

There are certain characteristics that differentiate OD from any other organizational intervention. These are:

1. OD processes are planned, it does not just happen, it is planned, and it requires a conscious decision for long-range change, not a “quick fix”. Any organization interested in embarking on OD must plan for it. OD is not a happenstance. Just as you plan for your annual health check, so you plan for OD processes in your organization. Your organizational health check, termed organizational assessment, might reveal certain issues which are affecting efficiency and effectiveness and need to be taken care of urgently.

2. OD processes are organization-wide, and require involvement and participation by the entire members of the organization. In order to have a reliable diagnosis, everyone in the organization must be included or at least all strata of the organization must be represented in the process. By so doing, you are able to see the problem from different perspectives and most probably the solution.

3. OD processes are managed from the top. They require management commitment and full support because top managers control resources and reward systems. Although OD efforts can be undertaken at any level of the organization without direct top-management participation, OD is less likely to succeed if it does not have the tacit approval from top management.

4. OD processes increases organization effectiveness and health. Though it is oriented toward change and a desire for a better organization, it expands people’s ideas, beliefs and behaviours so that people can apply new ideas and approaches to solving old problems thereby increasing efficiency, effectiveness and health.

5. OD processes are participatory. OD emphasizes stakeholder participation in diagnosing problems, considering solutions, selecting a solution, identifying change objectives and implementing planned change. Everyone in the organization affected by change should have an opportunity to contribute to and accept responsibility for continuous improvement process.

6. OD processes draw largely from behavioural science knowledge. It draws largely from sociology, psychology, anthropology, political science, economics, management and business administration. In more recent times OD also draws from the arts, especially theatre, drama, drumming, singing, painting, etc. It adopts a multidisciplinary approach in designing interventions.

In summary, OD can be seen as a long-range programme of planned change that is designed to build organizational effectiveness and health. The OD Consultant helps the organization to achieve these goals by designing an intervention process which is contracted with the top of the organization. The process looks at the whole functioning of the organization and involves people from the entire organization. By using behavioural science, action research and other interventions deriving from different backgrounds, the OD consultant supports the organizations’ capacity to reflect, revise and organize its vision and strategy building process, to improve human and other resources, the information flow, and to reflect upon communicational patterns and the existing and desired culture of the organization.

OD has become recognized as the only organizational effort that takes into consideration the health of the whole organization. Its main emphasis and interventions are based on systemic approach in which all parts of the organization are examined in an effort to resolve crises and conflicts or promote efficiency and effectiveness. OD is thus concerned with the health, wellbeing and improving systems and process to ensure organizational sustainability.

OD, thus, focuses on assuring healthy inter- and intra-unit relationship and helping groups initiate and manage change. OD’s primary emphasis is on relationships and processes between and among individuals and groups.

OD consultants believe in “empowering employees” by giving them a say, if not the chief say, in decision-making, “creating open communication” “facilitating ownership of change processes and outcomes”, promoting a culture of collaboration, and promoting inquiry and continuous learning.

Organization Development (OD) is being increasingly discussed and prioritized as a key capacity-building strategy for various sectors (ranging from public, private and civil society), as organizations adapt to their fast changing environments due to globalization and as they seek to increase their impact. As a result, there is an increasing demand for OD consultancy appropriate to the sectors. For this type of support to be effective, however, it needs competent local OD practitioners who are able to facilitate development processes in organizations and individuals that support learning and change.

In Nigeria, however, there is very limited availability of such quality consultants able to meet this demand. This is where we in Akada Konsults have positioned ourselves to train consultants in OD and to provide result oriented OD consultancy services to clients in the public and private sectors.

Conducting Assessments for Business Development

Assessment and feedback comprise an important step in an Organization Development (OD) intervention. This step includes many activities that significantly influence the success of the OD efforts.

The methods used by Business Development Consultants (BDC) to collect and evaluate information about organizational functioning are strikingly inadequate in many OD efforts. One result of this is that some consultants initiate OD interventions without properly understanding the problems that prompted the interventions. Such interventions are often ill conceived and wastes valuable resources, exacerbate existing problems, or create new ones.

Assessment is perhaps best understood as the collection and evaluation of information to identify strengths and weaknesses in a client organization. It is the basis for many OD activities. Especially critical to an assessment is a consultant’s ability to identify – as much as possible – the root causes of problems, not just their observable symptoms or presenting issues. When causes can be distinguished from symptoms, the consultant and the client can begin to correct problems at their sources. One way to identify the cause of problems is to trace them to their sources by asking other people. Another way is to observe work processes or interactivities and attempt to trace causes through analysis.

The quality of assessment depends on the appropriateness of the focus area and the methods used to gather and evaluate the information. Focus areas include an organization’s environment, its internal structure and processes, and a client’s desired results. Information-gathering methods include questionnaires or surveys, interviews, observations, and analyses of records.

There are many methods that a BDC can use in assessments and there are many areas that s/he can assess. However, every focus area cannot be addressed and every method cannot be used in every situation. The consultant will need to limit his or her options by considering the purpose of the assessment and the client’s needs. He or she also will have to contend with issues such as practical limitations, time, and money. The consultant’s choices and the client’s preferences will affect the usefulness of the assessment and the benefits it yields to business development activities.

Purpose of Assessments

Assessment serves four key purposes in business development interventions.

1. It provides a means by which to evaluate an organization’s current situation – either because there is a problem or a client desires a periodic review of its environment. In the first instances, the consultant’s efforts might lead to identification of the causes of the problem which may lead also to future problems if not addressed.

2. It is the basis for feedback about the results of the assessment. Feedback can occur at different levels – individual, workgroup and organizational levels. Feedback can create an impetus for change and prompt support for action by providing individuals with a better understanding of the problem they face.

3. It provides background information for action planning for change activities or corrective action.

4. It provides a basis for tracking change and evaluating the progress of a BD intervention. Assessment information can be used to monitor the effects of external environmental changes on an organization.

The Client

The client is a major concern for a consultant when he or she selects appropriate assessment methods. In some cases, client characteristics may complicate the use of otherwise valuable assessment methods. For example, if a client’s records are inaccurate, they should not be used.

In most cases, client characteristics provide the consultant with clues that help him or her to select appropriate assessment methods. There are many client characteristics that can affect the consultant’s decision, such as size, structure, culture, previous experiences with assessment, and problem severity.

Size: An organization’s size is perhaps the most obvious factor for a consultant to consider when selecting assessment methods. For instance, observational techniques are rarely efficient with large groups because these methods are time consuming, and large groups might contain significant variations. However, observational methods can be effective with small groups. Assessments of small groups frequently rely on information gathered from observation and interviews.

Structure: If an organization is functionally diverse or geographically dispersed, the consultant should consider how the organization’s structure might affect assessment methods. In such organization, there is the possibility that significant differences may exist across functions or locations. Those differences should be considered because the consultant may need to take representative samples from the population.

Culture: An organization’s culture also affects the selection of an assessment procedure. The consultant should assess the nature of the organization’s work force because the employees may have different abilities. For example, the employees may read at different levels, speak different languages, or have cultural differences in regard to work, gender, authority, and management. Culturally diverse organizations should be assessed using culturally diverse methods.

Previous experience: Most organizations have had to gather information for purposes ranging from attitude surveys to employee-benefits information. If such efforts were poorly managed in the past – perhaps because individual anonymity was violated – respondents naturally will be reluctant to share information and opinions.

The consultant should consider the client’s previous experience when he or she designs assessment activities. To detect any problems, he or she should at least ask the client questions about its experience with information gathering. The consultant also may want to consider using more than one data-collection method so that results can be compared.

Problem Severity: When a severe problem must be tackled immediately, the consultant’s initial assessment activities may have to be focussed around it because of the pressure to take quick corrective action. The consultant must realize, however, that a severe problem can influence how people will respond.

The Focus of Assessment

An assessment may focus on many issues such as the following:

1. External factors potentially affecting an organization, such as it financial status, economic conditions, competitive pressures and legal constraint.

2. Results of organizational activities, such as the quality and quantity of products or services, organizational profitability, and the consequences of production methods on employee health.

3. How the structure of the organization affects its functioning; and

4. How the organization’s procedures and processes affect it’s functioning.

In addition to the large number of focus areas that a consultant must choose from, he or she must also consider from how many sources that data will be collected (levels of aggregation).

The focus areas of any OD assessment are influenced by such issues as project goals, consultant biases, resource limitations, and client’s expressed needs. In a worst-case scenario, assessment would be driven by a consultant’s biases, his or her lack of expertise and experience, misconceptions caused by limited understanding of organizational processes, or severe resource limitations. In this case, the consultant is likely to overlook significant problems, focus attention on issues of secondary importance, or miss the causes of problems. BD interventions based on partial information may expend valuable resources in the wrong areas and produce ineffective results.

Assessment should be based on a broader view for data collection and analytical procedures. A consultant’s goal should be to determine which areas are most critical to an organization’s successful performance, efficiency and effectiveness. To that end, the consultant must be familiar with the key factors that influence organization performance, efficiency and effectiveness and the relationship that exist among them. Assessment based on this broader view can identify general issues and then focus on specific ones.

How Healthy Is Your Organisation?

Healthy people make healthy organizations and healthy organizations are more likely, more often, and over a longer period of time to make healthy profits and to have healthy returns on their investments. It is important to stress from the onset that we are not taking a myopic view of health as the absence of ill health in the workplace. Far from it! Even the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized that health is not just the absence of diseases in a population but the existence of a state of overall wellbeing. This can be described more specifically as the state of social, psychological, mental, physical, economic and spiritual wellbeing of people in organizations.

A healthy organization therefore is one in which its people are experiencing a generally state of wellbeing as measured by their social , economic, psychological, mental, physical and spiritual conditions. A healthy organization is immediately noticeable. Employees “bounce” into work, they are interested in their jobs, they speak in the first person rather than the third person and they go home feeling good about themselves and their accomplishments for that day.

The work environment in a healthy organization is electric, vibrant, stimulating and respectful. Employees whether they are full of enthusiasm, commitment, eager to work hard, listen and share the vision of the organization, and graciously share ideas. Their attitudes show that they enjoy their work and they like and respect their colleagues. They display a great sense of urgency in the execution of their assignments. These diligent employees are continuously looking for ways to improve their product or service, to deliver faster and better, and to upgrade their skills.

By now you probably have a pretty good picture of what a healthy organization is. A healthy organization embodies people and practices that combine and coordinate to produce efficiency and effectiveness and ultimately an exceptional performance and increase in profitability and sustainability. The consequences of a healthy organization are presented as a guide below.

Job dissatisfaction Deliberate extended lunches

Poor morale Grievances

Decreased commitment Tense work relationships

Diminished work quality Poor judgment

Diminished work quantity Excessive medical costs

Work slowdowns Employee complaints

Accidents Fatigue

Disciplinary actions Mental blocks

Indecisiveness Career stagnation

Unnecessary turnover Poor communication

Tampering and sabotage Unscheduled downtime

Decreased motivation Absenteeism

Burnout Reduced productivity

Lateness Excessive health costs and disability

Take a critical look at your company or business, how many of these symptoms do you acknowledge? Whether you are an employee or business owner, you should be able to access the health of your organization using the consequences of a healthy and unhealthy organization. The more of the consequences of unhealthy organizations you find in your business, the more unhealthy it is.

It is not enough to know that your business or organization is unhealthy. It is more important to work out ways and means of keeping it healthy. Next week, we will deal with strategies for promoting good health in organizations and keeping them healthy. In the meantime, if you feel your organization is critically ill and will require an immediate health check, please feel free to contact me or visit our website http://www.akadakonsults.net for free consulting on the issue. Please remember to use the free e-consulting section of the website to submit your request.

Accessing Business Development Support Services by SMEs

Since the last two years, the Federal Government of Nigeria has embarked upon extensive social and economic reforms aimed at fundamental reorganization of the economy and the polity. As part of its own home grown Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), the Government has formulated the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) and has encouraged or supported the States and Local Governments to develop State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (SEEDS) and Local Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (LEEDS).

The new economic reform programme of the Government is anchored on NEEDS. The goals of NEEDS are fourfold: (1)to create wealth (2) to generate employment, (3) to reduce poverty and (4) to re-orient values

As part of the process of generating employment, the NEEDS document articulates the importance of private sector to create wealth, generate employment and reduce poverty.

NEEDS envisions to create 7 million jobs by 2007 – by training people in skills relevant for the world of work. NEEDS also envisions to strengthen the skills base of the economy by ensuring that funds are spent on providing courses that build the vocational and entrepreneurial skills of the people.

Furthermore, NEEDS envisions a major role for the private sector in the economic transformation of Nigeria. Consequently, it recognizes the private sector as the engine of economic growth. Its role will be the executor, investor, and manager of businesses. The government will play the role of enabler, facilitator, and regulator, helping the private sector to grow, create jobs and generate wealth.

The purpose of the current emphasis is to increase the entrepreneurial skills of people to enable them establish viable business ventures. This purpose or objective cannot be achieved unless there is a concerted effort to ensure that business development support services are provided for the budding entrepreneurs.

Meaning of Business Development Support Services (BDSS)

Business Development Support Services (BDSS) can be defined as a range of support services provided by Business Development Consultants (BDCs) in support of the development of enterprise or businesses. These services are part of the range of services required for the proper growth and development of the business sector in the economy. In Nigeria, most business persons or entrepreneurs do not realize the importance of seeking help and support from professionals to grow or develop their businesses. Consequently, they suffer and die in silence. Knowledge is power; therefore what you do not know can kill you.

There are a range of BDSS which are provided by BDCs in an effort to provide technical, administrative, managerial and entrepreneurial knowledge and skills for business persons. Prominent among the services which might be required in the lifetime of the business are:

1. Feasibility Studies

2. Business Plan

3. Marketing Plan

4. Policies and Procedure Guidelines

5. Financial Management and Accounting Plan

6. Inventory and Stock Control

7. Sales Forecasting

8. Personnel and Human Resources Management Plan

9. Succession Plan

While a detailed coverage of these services in reserved for other sessions, this session will highlight, very briefly, what each of these services entails and the benefits of using them.

Feasibility Studies

Before starting any business, it is important to carry out a feasibility study. A feasibility study is carried out by the BDC to find out how feasible, possible or potentially profitable a business will be. It is done prior to the commencement of the business. It looks are the market forces, the operating and prevailing business climate in terms of government policies and regulations regarding a particular business, the financial projections of the business in terms of its income and expenditure and then gives an opinion about the viability and feasibility of the business.

The feasibility study is an essential requirement of any business because it informs others that we have thought through our proposed business before embarking upon it. This service can be obtained from BDCs depending on the amount of money that the business person wants to invest. The duration of the service could take from one to two weeks.

Business Plan

The Business Plan is often an essential requirement by financials institutions to prospective business persons who want to do business with them. Without a Business Plan, it is practically impossible to do business with any financial institution including banks.

The Business Plan is a mirror of the business from its origin to its future development plans. It shows the basis for the establishment of the business, the relationship between the entrepreneur or promoter and the business, the forecast for the future and the rationale for the direction of the business; the projections for profitability or how long it will take for the business to make profit.

If the business owner intends to open the business to other investors or obtain a loan from a financial institution, what the additional funds will be used for. The Business Plan also shows projections for the return on investments to the business owner or owners.

Since it is a technical document it requires experienced BDCs to undertake. It must however be undertaken in consultation with the business owner who has the vision of what the business intends to deliver to society. The business owner should fully disclose to the BDC all relevant information that might aid his/her understanding of the business as a way of putting together a good business plan.

The Marketing Plan

The Marketing Plan is another important Business Development Support Service. It is a Plan that describes the market environment in which the business operates its marketing strategy and policies as well as marketing activities. Sometimes it is part of the Business or Feasibility Plan but can also be drawn up separately especially for businesses that are already going concerns. For a startup business, it is important that the marketing plan be part of the business plan or feasibility study.

Policies and Procedures Guide

This is another important BDSS but often neglected by business owners. Business is not a game of chance. It is an endeavour that requires careful planning and execution. For the business to grow or develop, it must have a set of policies and procedures that ensures that in the absence of the business owner does not jeopardize the smooth functioning of the business. Many business owners are unable to take vacations or be absent from their businesses for more than one day because of the absence of well defined policies and procedures for undertaking its various activities.

Among the areas in which policies and procedures are required are finance, accounting, personnel, inventory, etc. When there is a proper policy and procedure for spending money, for accounting for it, for hiring staff, for compensating them, the promoting them, for granting them vacation or leave, for regulating employment in times of illness, etc, the business does not require the daily presence of the owner to move on.

The business owner can hire the services of a BDC to develop these policies and procedures to guide the operation of the business especially at its formative stage. Once the policies have become institutionalized, they will then to self regulate the business without the frequent intervention of the business owner. He or she can then focus on dealing with eventualities and issues not covered by the policies and procedures.

Financial Management and Accounting Plan

The Financial Management and Accounting Plan set the guidelines for managing finances of the business and how to account for them. It describes the procedures and policies guiding the acquisition and utilization of funds in the business. It also defines the spending limits for all management staff of the business if any.

It will also include the Cash Flow Management Plan of the business. Managing cash flow is an important component of BDSS. While the may be enough money to start the business, if the cash flow projections are not properly done, the business will always suffer from lack of cash to run the day to day activities. This will put a lot of strain on the business owner and might lead to business failure despite its huge capital investment.

The Accounting Plan will also show the accounting policies and procedures, the financial year, the system of accounts to be adopted and how often they will be audited. It will include information about what internal financial controls should be in place to prevent fraud, misappropriation and misapplication of funds of the business.

Inventory and Stock Control Plan

Improper inventory management and stock control can ruin a business. The BDC can help develop a plan that guides the business owner on inventory management and stock control to avoid out of stock syndrome and loss of valuable customers. The single most annoying business phenomenon that drives customers away from businesses is finding that the business does not have the goods or services it promises to deliver to its customers. Dissatisfied customers will never return to the business. Therefore, proper inventory management and stock control are essential for keeping their clientele and for the success of a business.

Sales Forecasting

Sales are the lifeline of any business. Not knowing how much sales is required to breakeven or make a profit is a bad business practice. Therefore, it is absolutely essential that the business owner should engage the services of a BDC to help him/her develop a sales forecast to guiding their marketing effort.

Without a sales forecast, it is difficult to design a marketing plan. The level of sales required will help determine what resources to deploy in targeted markets or segments of the market.

Some businesses include the sales forecast as part of their marketing plan. Whatever approach is used, it is important that you develop a sales forecast for your business.

Personnel and Human Resources Management Plan

People are the most valuable assets of any business. If they are not appreciated they depreciate. In order to avoid the depreciation of the human resources of a business there should be a personnel and human resources plan.

This plan shows the number, the quality, the level of education and qualifications required of the personnel of the business. It shows where the business is at a given time and what plans it has for moving forward by acquiring more people.

The Plan will also show the policies that guide the staff of the business in respect of their terms and conditions of employment, their deployment, the benefits and allowances, their retirement plan, etc. Everything that has to do with the welfare of the staff is included in the Plan.

For many businesses, part of the Plan is used as the Personnel Handbook and shows the conditions of employment and the terms of staff engagement. The responsibilities of the employer to the staff and the duties of the staff to the employer are included.

The Succession Plan

The Succession Plan is a very important plan developed by the BDC to guide the development, institutionalization and sustainability of the business beyond the founder or owner. It focuses on how the business will grow at every stage of its lifecycle, what it needs to do to be there and how to sustain it.

It also points out what plan is in place to grow the management of the business beyond the founder/owner and what mentoring activities need to take place to realize the vision of succession and sustainability.

Conclusion

From the foregoing, it should be clear by now that one can start a business and grow it to maturity and even leave the business to develop after he/she has left it or died. The secret to this is through the utilization of business development support services which are available throughout the country. The time for starting and running business by rule of thumb methods is long gone and only the foolish will continue in this tradition which has been shown to be responsible for various business failures.

If you want your business to grow, develop and outlive you, then you had better seek help at every stage of its growth from Business Development Support Services organizations and consultants.

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