A friend of mine recently called to tell me how very excited and equally exhausted he was after revamping his company with some major changes that took the majority of the summer to implement. While I shared his enthusiasm, it occurred to me that there’s probably a better approach than undertaking a major company overall once every year or two. Change is so much a part of this technological age that planning for it on a daily/weekly basis makes more sense. Incremental change will be more effective, provide continuity and create a lot less stress.

What it comes down to is seeking to be the best you can be every day, and leading your company similarly. To paraphrase Stephen Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” “the habit of self renewal” or “sharpening the saw” requires continuous focus and rededication. Applying this at a company level suggests we dedicate a large amount of our daily/weekly time to future planning on what Covey refers to as “Quadrant II” in order to achieve our highest potential.

Over the years, I have been particularly gratified to experience some mega changes within our own organization, mainly attributable to mandatory weekly departmental meetings. It’s here that we focus attention not on project specifics but rather on management systems and processes. We are in a continuous mode of analysis, re-analysis and reinventing of our company.

Providing services that encompass architecture, construction, interior design and brokerage requires certain expertise across a broad spectrum and a monumental effort to stay abreast with ever-changing methods, materials and marketplace. Through our meetings, the team has derived a solution to collect and manage this wealth of information. Each staffer is assigned a general area of research for which they become the go-to expert. Each person is responsible for conveying the latest developments in their area of knowledge to the group at a specified meeting.

Not only does the team become informed, but everyone knows to whom future questions on a particular subject should be directed.

This has led to a very extensive information library and a system of checks and balances on a company-wide server. Communication among departments is facilitated, allowing managers to derive solutions independently and with more consistency.