Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/414972
18 FEDA News & Views continued on page 20 them will always be—intentions. If any organization has more than seven key business priorities that they are working on at any one time, then they have too many! In fact, seven may be too many, as this number is totally dependent upon the human capital and financial resourc- es found in an organization. If you have more than seven, put them in the "sand- box" and get to them only after some of the original seven are completed. Functional boundaries. Is the accounting department effec- tively communicating with the sales and marketing department? Is the shipping and order fulfillment department effec- tively communicating with customer service? Is the purchasing department effectively communicating with the sales department? I think you get the picture. If you answered "no" to any of these questions, or similar scenarios that come to your mind, then your organization has a problem with functional bound- Preparing for 2015 continued aries. Eliminating functional boundar- ies is required in order to effectively implement your plan. To do so well may necessitate changing how your compa- ny is organized. Lack of skills. Often companies find themselves in a position of "wanting" to do or accom- plish something but the prerequisite skill sets required by individuals to "get done what you want to get done" are non-existent. So, there are several options open to companies. The first one, which is the path that the vast majority follow, is to compromise their "dreams" by lowering the expecta- tions and goals of the orga- nization. A perfect formula for perpetuating medioc- rity! Another option is to help those individuals and departments within the organization acquire the nec- essary skill sets. And thirdly, hire the "right" people who do have the skills and talents that are required to help your organization accomplish its goals. Insufficient communication. I am sure that all of you at one time or another have complained about the lack of communication within your cur- rent organization, or other organizations that you have worked at in the past. Well, if you have, you are certain- ly not alone. In an effort to fix their communications problem, most companies primarily concentrate on the frequency of their com- munications, as well as the methods used to commu- nicate (newsletters, staff meetings, etc.). However, the most important com- ponent of a communica- tions formula is the "what." A company should be working on no more than seven business priorities at one time.