ORGANIZATIONAL LIFICYCLES:  GROWTH STAGES & STRATEGIES

Darcie Harris, Founder and CEO, EWF International

PRESENTATION SUMMARY
Every business has problems.  The nature of those problems shifts and changes as the business grows or declines, and as the market changes.  Knowing what stage of growth your business is in give you the knowledge to solve the current problems, gives you insight into what lies ahead, and helps prevent problems from getting entrenched.

Companies have life cycles, just as humans do.  Businesses experience predictable transitions, behavior patterns, and problems as they grow and develop.  Just as with humans the growth stages can be healthy or unhealthy.

Linked to the various life cycle stages are four distinctly different management functions.  As business move through the life cycle, the focus and priorities of management on these functions needs to change.

If a business owner could only do one workshop, this would be the one.  Organizational Lifecycles provides the most practical, useful understanding of how a company functions and the tools to know what to do about it. 

FOUR LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1.    Identify where your business is on the lifecycle
2.    Learn how to solve current problems
3.    Anticipate problems that lie ahead
4.    Prevent getting stuck in an unhealthy stage

SPECIFIC BENEFITS
1.    Business owners can learn how to change their management style to keep their companies in the “prime of life” as their companies grow and change
2.    Problems are put in context and you know what you need to do to move forward to the next stage
3.    Learning the four primary management roles, functions, and styles will help you achieve both short term and long term effectiveness and efficiency
4.    Learn how to encourage mutual trust and respect among different management roles and styles, leading to greater productivity.

HOW THE AUDIENCE CAN INTERACT WITH ONE ANOTHER

•    Offered as a keynote (50 minutes):  The audience is periodically asked questions that invite a response; Q & A time can be offered at the end of the presentation.
•    Offered as a workshop (120 minutes):  Includes reflective & groups exercises, plus de-briefing.

WHY THE TOPIC IS ESSENTIAL

•     Few business owners have formal training in understanding the nature of company growth and what to do about it.  As the economy shifts, companies can be quickly and unexpectedly thrown into previous growth stages, confusing management, who may not realize their management style needs to shift.

WHAT QUALIFIES MS. HARRIS AS AN EXPERT ON THE TOPIC

•    Since 1997 Darcie Harris has been a professional business consultant, group facilitator and business coach.  She studied Organizational Lifecycles at the Adizes Institute for Organizational Development.  For over eleven years she has worked almost exclusively with women business owners, facilitating peer advisory groups, coaching, consulting, and training.  She is experienced at facilitating strategic planning and team building.  In addition, she developed and taught several leadership training curriculums, designed specifically for professional women.  She built EWF International from an idea to a successful and respected company with international reach.