Growing Pains

Every successful company has at some point experienced the challenges that come with rapid growth and expansion. These companies are filled with highly talented, and in many cases, very narrow and deep technical and functional experts. Many are making the transition to management by default. The workload grew, more people were hired, and suddenly life as an individual contributor is gone forever.

Being a new, inexperienced manager in a high growth company can be painful. In many cases the skills so vital to being a successful manager are not the skills the employee relied on as an individual contributor. There is no better time in a company’s history to hit the “pause button”, conduct a skills inventory and decide this is the right time for training. Granted, rapid growth means accelerated timelines and deliverables, and added pressures to hit deadlines. But success from this point forward will rely on people leading people, and this happens through effective communications skills.

Taking the time to train managers in effective communications skills is an investment that will pay off. So when the next growth hurdle that is cleared it won’t be as painful as the last one. Know where you are in your company’s evolution; keep a pulse on your management team, and make sure you give managers an opportunity to be successful. Effective communication skills will be vital to the company’s long term success, and a skill that can become a part of a growth company’s legacy.