Challenge   

The CEO knew they were not operating their business optimally, but they were unsure of where the opportunities were to improve. They engaged CTC to help identify the root cause of their issues and propose changes to streamline the way they work.  

Solution  

The CTC team started the discussion by understanding what the main business challenges were in the organization. They then proceeded to walk us through the Microsoft 365 suite of tools and explained how this technology (that we were already paying for by the way!) could help eliminate the issues. Also by sharing the capabilities of the entire suite of tools it allowed them to spot other business issues that could be solved that they would never have known were possible with the software.    

While their IT resources had kept them up to date with the latest software versions, they were lacking in expertise regarding both WHAT they had access to and HOW to leverage the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity apps to make the business more efficient and productive. 

Additionally, while coaching the COO to be a more effective leader and learn delegation strategies Jan realized he didn’t just need soft skill training. Microsoft 365 had some apps and features that would help him manage this area of his work more effectively. They helped him understand how to leverage the Task Management apps within 365 to make delegation and accountability easier for both him and his team members. Tools that helped everyone keep their tasks organized and visible so they could easily prioritize and track their work. 

 As Jan always says, you want to start with the business issues and then decide what technology to rollout. Don’t get distracted by bright shiny objects that don’t add a lot of value to the organization.  

Results  

As one would expect, the results from these items were immense.   

This resulted in at least 60% fewer emails as they gravitated toward more effective and efficient  applications that were available in native Office 365.  

They now use email mostly to exchange information with outside customers and vendors without cluttering their inboxes with basic internal questions and status updates.   

Like many leaders, the CEO used to have a tough time making it home for dinner in the evening and even spent part of his weekends catching up. Since meeting with Jan, the only reason he misses dinner is that he is at a happy hour or another work event. (Which is a different problem 😊 ). He also carved his work week down to where he is hardly ever working on Friday afternoons, which has been a HUGE upgrade for him and his family.  

The COO is now in control of his area and able to spend more time on customer relationships and personnel development versus task management.   

Ryan Lamb, Chief Executive Officer, GCATS Telecom & Critical Power Services