Forbes 500 companies - we’ve all wondered what it gets to be one of them. Researches show that the answer is simple, but the implementation is the tricky part. The way we see it, it goes beyond numerical attributes such as brand value, market share, or power of an investment.
It’s in the way you think.
Let’s start with the beginning. At their core, any self-sustained business, regardless of the industry, has a competent management team, a well-structured organizational chart, and a product or solution meeting the needs of an audience. Easy so far, right? Well, that was the answer. Understanding how these common attributes differ when comparing an average company to a successful one lays in the way they are approached in the organization. Now’s the tricky part.
So, you ask yourself, what it takes for a company to break the chain of average events and truly be a disruptive force on the market?
Here, at XWiki, we have studied how these things happen and we have concluded that all successful companies have in common the following characteristics:
- They all communicate efficiently both internally and with their clients
- The management team focuses on being leaders and not simply bosses
- They share knowledge within the company both ways
They all communicate efficiently both internally and with their clients
Have you ever wondered how sometimes you are simply not informed in due time about a last-minute meeting or a report has been lost in the long thread of emails?
This is where successful companies get an advantage. They use internal collaborative platforms enabling anyone in the organization to easily get access to any information.
Think about the way global offices work. The difference between time meridians can sometimes pass the 8-hour workday so, basically, when some get to meet their friends for a few drinks, on the other side of the world, the others share stories about last night’s dinner over a cup of coffee.
Getting back to a local environment, you still need to have a global approach to ensuring transparent, up-to-date, and easy to access information as your employees will be empowered to do their jobs efficiently. Eventually, your customers will get better customer service, which leads us to the way successful companies approach their audiences.
The management team focuses on being leaders and not simply bosses
An authoritarian approach over managing your employees and especially the millennials is a sure way to reach a high employee turnover. You can change that by recruiting the right talent from the beginning.
It all starts at the interview stage. Here, at XWiki, we are looking for people who take accountability for their actions, are passionate about their area of expertise and actively take part in collaborative projects.
Source: wittyfeed.com / arving.lakhani2
Now you must be thinking “how do these guys know what to do when there is nobody there to give orders?”. Well, we only hire people who don’t need orders to make great things happen. XWiki has a culture of empowerment that focuses on fairness, leadership, and collaboration. This is why we have only leaders and not a single boss.
They share knowledge within the company both ways
Who knows better what the company is up against on a daily basis if not your employees. They know what resources, processes, and steps are needed for a smooth task completions. Use their expertise as it might impress you, but remember to share knowledge top-down too. Your employees need to be on the same page with the management to act as an entity and not as separate departments always chasing the latest updates.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we can say that there is no magic formula for becoming a successful company overnight. Changing your mindset and allowing time for things to develop naturally is the first step to a Forbes 500 listing.
George Nikolic
Marketing Team Leader @XWiki
