the dysfunctional partner team and three ways to get them back on track.
you’ve tried management by committee. and by now, you know it doesn’t work. in a new analysis of cpa firm management practices, marc rosenberg finds, “management by committee rarely works.”
there must be a better way. and, yes, there are a few. here is a five-point spectrum of approaches that firms use to make decisions. one of them may work for your firm.
when to re-organize your firm’s management structure.
by marc rosenberg
cpa firm management & governance
firms may operate for years without much structure, enjoying happiness and profitability. then, seemingly overnight, the firm “hits the wall.” growth slows or stops. staff turn over. systems become inefficient. profits stagnate. for many firms, the “wall” is at the $6 million to $8 million annual revenue mark, while others don’t experience the slowdown until revenues approach $10 million.
roberto goizueta, ceo of coca cola in the ‘80s and ‘90s, described this perfectly: “challenging the status quo when you have been successful is difficult. if you think you will be successful running your business in the next 10 years the way you did the last 10 years, you’re out of your mind. to succeed, we have to disturb the present.”
the cure for this malady is to get organized.
in this report:
before you work on improving firm performance, you need to work on partner commitment.
by august j. aquila and robert j. lees
how to engage partners in the firm’s future
no one would ever question that a firm’s success is ultimately tied to its partners’ performance. and yet, increasing partner performance, getting the partners to work across practices, is one of the key issues facing the majority of firm leaders today. read more →
and four other hurdles today’s accounting firms must overcome.
by patrick j. mckenna
professional services firm consultant and author
many firms are in denial, and the few that aren’t move very slowly.
if your firm gets caught behind the curve, it wasn’t because critical trends weren’t visible; it was because they were ignored. the huge challenge remains that for too many firms, unless there is acute “pain,” there is little incentive to change. history proves that laggards only grab for the new once they are totally convinced the old doesn’t work anymore.
adapted from the introduction to “how to engage partners in the firm’s future: the secrets every leader needs to know,”
by august j. aquila and robert j. lees
and the old doesn’t work anymore!
when does a firm’s strategy change? usually only in response to a crisis or because of the initiative of a new managing partner. in many firms we have a generation of stewards rather than entrepreneurs.
by august aquila
author of “leadership at its strongest”
and “how to engage partners in the firm’s future“
research shows that managing partners and marketing directors are still facing some major challenges when it comes to getting their firms to implement change. why?
here are four key issues firm leaders today face.
1. getting partners to buy in.
2. creating a firm vision that gets all partners on the same page.
3. helping develop a culture of accountability.
4. being asked to accomplish too many goals.
when the managing partner and the chief marketing officer work together they have a better chance of being successful in these areas. you may ask what do these four factors have to do with the marketing director? and i would answer – everything.
overcoming these four issues will make the firm more competitive, efficient and profitable. here’s how the best managing partners work with their marketing directors: read more →