It is often that I try and bring analogies from either food/culinary skills or from Cricket. My madness for both has more or less been imbibed into my blood . However, some of those examples and parallels that I have drawn to motivate myself and simplify complex tasks have been absolutely effective.
One of the key complex tasks of any organisation is the achievement of sales targets. Every time a sales target is set either top down or bottom up , discussed, consultative or handed down it eventually lands up with one question ," How is it possible to achieve this? We do not have the time to do this. " etc.
The primary pressure point in achieving sales targets or for that matter any target is TIME. It just flies off as we discuss target and puts pressure on us.
One way to beat this pressure is to look at an one day international match a little more closely. While every one in the world from viewers to critics to commentators to scorecards keeps talking about run rate per over and analysing it, the only one who does not really bother about these metrics and focusses on the next ball and sees what he can score off that is the batsmen.
The ODI has 300 legal balls and give and take a few wides and no balls and a few extras , it may be about 310 balls. Any financial year has about 365 days and give and take the sundays (non earning and holidays) and this boils to about 300 revenue earning days .
See it is that simple.
Look at the sales targets from the point of view of the salesman on the street. What is his overall target? Break it down to his daily target. Score of every ball and wait for the next. Score of each day that days target and wait for the next day.
One of the key complex tasks of any organisation is the achievement of sales targets. Every time a sales target is set either top down or bottom up , discussed, consultative or handed down it eventually lands up with one question ," How is it possible to achieve this? We do not have the time to do this. " etc.
The primary pressure point in achieving sales targets or for that matter any target is TIME. It just flies off as we discuss target and puts pressure on us.
One way to beat this pressure is to look at an one day international match a little more closely. While every one in the world from viewers to critics to commentators to scorecards keeps talking about run rate per over and analysing it, the only one who does not really bother about these metrics and focusses on the next ball and sees what he can score off that is the batsmen.
The ODI has 300 legal balls and give and take a few wides and no balls and a few extras , it may be about 310 balls. Any financial year has about 365 days and give and take the sundays (non earning and holidays) and this boils to about 300 revenue earning days .
See it is that simple.
Look at the sales targets from the point of view of the salesman on the street. What is his overall target? Break it down to his daily target. Score of every ball and wait for the next. Score of each day that days target and wait for the next day.
No batsmen ever overloads his mind with what he will do in the next ball. He focusses on the current. and waits for the weak bowler or the power plays.
Similarly focus on each day's target, wait for the big festival season, holiday offers, new pdts, big ad campaigns etc to score a flurry and push ur target up.
There is no way you can fall way behind target if you try something like this.
( Those who have been or known the way yellow pages slaesmen function would vouch for this approach)
While in cricket there is a win loss situation, in real life it is only a win as you did all that you could, focussed on the current, didn't build castles or fool yourself on the big landslide you will achieve on a new product, you worked on a realistic timeline which you are in control of (today) and still had a lot of time for yourself.
Any big target looks manageable in this approach. Well, it may not need cricket to teach this for many. But for me thats what taught this rule.
Did I land up achieving my targets. Well, every time I followed this method I did. Each time I played a pre determined stroke ( meaning not assessing the situation and trying to do what had already thought was right strategy or an extravagant move), I failed.
However, when you have a good solid team strength, the chances of most of your team succeeding is very high. One or two falling short is recoverable with a little bit from those over achievers.
And the Managers' job?
Just sit back, relax and manage those daily metrics.
This is indeed an interesting analogy. And while I am no cricket aficionado or culinary expert, I do see the benefit of adopting this approach. However, on the flip side, when you have had a quiet over, then the tendency to go for a big hit is greater. This falling behind happens one ball at a time, quite gradually, until all of a sudden it assumes significance and then panic sets in. I can see this phenomenon happening in project management too.
ReplyDeleteBusiness is not as unpredictable as cricket or whats in store for us.
ReplyDeleteWe can plan the targets against the regular bread and better services, then the promos and discounts etc and then the new pdts.
Typically ur P/l should be breaking even /profiting form the BnB and the stretch targte should be from the promos.
So you know the singles and the boundaries.
Unlike 2 batsmen, we may have several field staff and may all be needed to score each ball.
Yes. applicable in pjt management and anything thats target driven. Even in exercising, weight loss programmes and so on.