“I have almost 70 years and I'm already tired” Hector said, founder and leader of the food company that, definitely, stomp on the market. “I feel that it is time to start delegating more”, added.

Con 40 years on the market, The firm had gone through many changes, fluctuations and crises. But it had always moved forward thanks to the drive and intuition of the person who created it., around the decade of 1970. Enjoyment was also part of the demand: “I want to travel more, share more time with my grandchildren... but day to day consumes me and, when I get away a little, “Things don’t work.”

The final goal was clear: achieve an effective delegation that would allow breaking with the “sun structure” that had been generated around Héctor throughout the life of the company. It was time to carry out an in-depth diagnosis of the situation to detect key areas for improvement.

Diagnosis and plan

We start working at the diagnosis stage. Héctor seemed very determined to change the way the organization worked and the relationship between his collaborators.. We conducted a comprehensive review of the company to identify areas that required modifications and improvements. A) Yes, We interview the most representative collaborators, We analyze the available economic-financial information, and we observed how the organization and its processes worked.

We could see that the founder directed every movement, made all kinds of decisions and definitions, and was involved in daily operational tasks. These decisions, basically, They stood on their intuition. Although Héctor said that the management numbers were available and that this was not the root of the problem, For us it was clear that it was the tip of the iceberg. Because although there were accounting numbers for the company, there were no indicators that reflected their “health”: growth, real profitability, and so on. Even Héctor was not aware of the real profitability that the business was generating.. A) Yes, Lack of management information and measurement parameters made decision making arbitrary, that effective delegation was not viable, and that a strategy without clear objectives would generate doubts about the direction of the company.

On the other side, We found that many work processes were not clear to employees, In addition to being rudimentary and inefficient. In response to our question of why things were done in such a way, the answer par excellence was: “We always did it like this”. Many tasks had to be modernized with adequate technology and computerization. AND, the staff, trained in the use of new tools.

We detected that there was no budget forecast for investments, nor a salary assigned to the owner of the company (factor that is key; You can go into more detail about it in: https://www.dinka.com.ar/retribucion-del-empresario-sueldo-o-dividendos.php)

After this comprehensive review, the focus of the work was defined:

1- Identify where the business is leveraged, with the corresponding numbers (non-existent until now).

2- These key areas have already been identified, assemble work teams so that they function professionally.

3- Implement an effective task delegation system, so that the parties could develop their functions with control and autonomy.


The management

We begin to work on the parameterization of management information, developing control panels that allow analyzing information for decision making. The idea was to begin to visualize the company “into the future”, planning based on measurable objective parameters. By the way, It was a very different look than the one Héctor had been using., and we were not surprised by his resistance at first. “I hired them for another purpose. What I need is more free time, help me organize, but what they are doing so far is generating a waste of time, and more work for me and my collaborators”, I repeated in every meeting.

In this type of projects, It usually happens that the client has a pre-conceived idea of ​​the problem. It is instinctive to believe that, to simplify everyday life, it is necessary to start acting directly on work processes. But you have to understand that, if one is wrongly focused, act on processes to be more efficient, may be exactly the opposite of the objective.

From our consultancy, We seek not only to help clarify the objectives and the way of analyzing the business, but we accompany in the implementation of the same, in the search and definition of tools to do it. Therefore, we asked the businessman to trust us. We understood his feeling of “suffocation”, but for process reengineering to be efficient, It should have as a starting point good planning and a clear horizon. Every process of change takes time., and the stages are necessary to achieve real change. Héctor understood it and gave us the opportunity. That's how, during the first months of work, we focus on control panels, to generate the indicators that would show the profitability of the business and where it is leveraged.

In parallel, We suggest hiring a General Manager. The proposal was to start working with him from our consulting firm already during the change process.. A) Yes, aligned to the company, I could accompany Héctor in the general management of it.

The processes

Once the real situation of the company has been captured and where the focus of the business should be identified, We detect which processes generated value, as well as which ones could be delegated to a greater extent, and this allowed us to prioritize them.

By case, one of the most conflictive was the coordination between Sales and Warehouse-Logistics. Sales planned deliveries that could never be met, either because Depósito put together the orders incorrectly, or because deliveries were delayed. This resulted in complaints and complaints from customers., returns, and re-work of the entire chain. A) Yes, Héctor ended up getting involved in the entire chain, asking what had happened to such an order and why it had not been delivered correctly. I tried to solve each case in particular, looking for responsible and supported: "If I'm not here, no one does anything and the ship sinks!”.

For the search for the solution, we go to the management boards. We noticed that there were many very small orders, that generated a lot of work, mixed among the important high-volume. You were being too flexible with the minimum amount, even though the company's clients were wholesalers. Under the motto “We want to leave the customer happy”, All types of orders were accepted and, definitely, all customers ended up being neglected. Conclusion, This was not a process problem., but of commercial strategy, which was detected thanks to the first stage of work. One more time, resistance to change was present in the leader of the firm, when we propose modifying this condition of sale (order minimums), but finally he understood that the company was no longer the enterprise of the beginning, and that this change did not imply giving less service to customers, If not the opposite.

On the other side, Deliveries were always scheduled for 48 hours after order, regardless of the client's location. This generated very long routes each day and additional expenses., disorganization, failure to comply with scheduled delivery times, and so on. In this case, although Héctor's custom indicated that this was the way to make deliveries, agreed to plan them by zones, according to the days.

The challenge

At the moment, We are working on the other processes pending to be redefined, and in the incorporation of new technologies, and then concentrate specifically on commercial management. Héctor is already much more relieved, seeing that the changes have very positive results. AND, Step by Step, is disengaging from some tasks. By the way, This does not mean that you stop supervising the general activity of what will always be “your company.”.

Sandra Felsenstein

Founder and director of DINKA, a comprehensive consultancy for SMEs, dedicated to the development of custom projects.

She is an industrial engineer from the UBA, with a postgraduate degree in Strategic Marketing. Advised more than 40 entrepreneurs and businessmen, both in the startup stage and in the resolution of structural and management problems.