Do you have a go to person in your business or organisation? Is it you? Or is it someone else?  

I want to talk to you today about the problem with the go to person.  

In my business, Trish, my amazing Virtual Assistant is the go to person. She is brilliant at everything she does- whether it be designing a new process, looking after new leads or sorting out the little glitches we experience with tech on a day-to-day basis.  

I honestly found her one of the most important factors for success in my business in the last year.  

But there is a problem with the go to person- actually ... there is more than one problem.  

 

This is what I think-  

Problem 1 - Everyone asks everything of the go-to person. When this is the case, the role must be one where the only priority is internal customer service. This is a concern for the wellbeing of the person. If they feel that they can’t get anything done, it may impact on job satisfaction and stress levels. This is not something that any business owner wants for their team. 

Problem 2 - Others don’t find answers for themselves. This means some team members may not think for themselves or be resourceful. In other words, instead of using policies, procedures, handbooks, the intranet, Google, YouTube or other online resources, people just ask the go-to person to help. This builds a reliance on the go-to person and means that other team members don’t build their knowledge or skills in their work, systems or just problem solving in general. 
 

Problem 3 - There is a single point of failure for information flow and ownership. This means that the go-to person holds too much of the knowledge on how to do things in the business in their head. Others therefore do not develop in the areas of knowledge that the go-to person has and it may mean that the person doesn’t share the knowledge via writing it down or recording it somewhere.  
 

Problem 4 - The go-to person has very little spare time. This means that even if they want to share their knowledge or record it somewhere, they don’t have time to do these things.  

 

I think the go-to person can be a major risk for business continuity for small businesses. This can also be called key person risk.   

 

Key person risk is a thing I see happen all the time. And unfortunately, I’ve seen it go badly.  

 

Here’s what I have seen: 

• a key person feeling like they can’t take time off as it’s not worth the stress of the business owner being cranky, difficult or frustrated that they must do things themself or they will get calls, texts and emails when they are supposed to be taking a break.

• A key person burning out from the pressure of being everything to everyone.

• A key person leaving a business and the owner or others not knowing where information is or how to get crucial admin or operations tasks done.  

• A key person having the only access to systems, documents and information. When they are not available for even a short time, havoc and disorder occur for the other people in the team trying to get things done.  

 

Mature organisations know not to have all of their metaphorical eggs in one basket and have clear roles and responsibilities for the people in the business. They also record information in a way that means that a key person risk is mitigated.  

 

How?  

 

Well there is multiple ways.  

1. Having an understudy for your key person - someone they are developing to know what they know.  

1. Written or recorded policies and procedures that explain what the business does, who does it, how it’s done and where (or what system) it’s done in. This must also include how documents are managed. 

1. Regular check ins between the business owner or executive and another key person so that information is shared verbally. 

1. Responsibility matrices that outline who is the main person to do things and who is the back up or understudy when the primary is not available.  

 

I have been a go to person in previous businesses and organisations and I can tell you it is hard work.  

 

I can also see with the growth over the last year of my business that I must learn to write things down and delegate to others. This means there can be continuous operation of my business even while I work in it.  

 

But all of this is hard and it takes time.  

 

If you need help or just fresh eyes looking at key person or other risk in your business and determining the best way to mitigate these risks, let’s talk over a coffee, a cool drink or online.  

 

Ciao,

Conni