The truth about how OBM actually works.

Open Book Management has been around for a long time.

(It’s been a key methodology of the Great Game of Business for over 30 years!)

But, there are still lots of misconceptions floating around the internet about how it works, and what it actually is.

So today, I’m going to set the record straight on some of the most common points.

Let’s dive right in:

1)

It IS: Sharing only relevant information with employees.

It IS NOT: Complete disclosure.

The term “open book” is a huge misnomer.

In reality, it’s totally up to you to decide what and how much information is relevant to share with your people.

2)

It IS: A management and leadership system.

It IS NOT: A glorified bonus plan, or motivational scheme

No gimmicks here — OBM is a fully-fledged system to build a company where employees feel a sense of ownership, and want to contribute to a shared goal.

3)

It IS: A business and financial education system.

It IS NOT: Turning everyone into accountants

Your employees don’t have to know your financials inside and out.

Instead, you’ll create scoreboards for them to judge their performance, with simple numbers and metrics they can understand at first glance.

4)

It IS: Fun and engaging.

It IS NOT: Boring and uninteresting.

OBM helps employees to see your business as a game, where they can see the score, understand the rules, and know if they’re winning or losing.

5)

It IS: Sharing rewards and recognition.

It IS NOT: A must-share equity program.

We’re aiming for profit sharing, not gainsharing.

In the Great Game of Business and our bonus programs, we only share rewards above and beyond a certain financial threshold, once we know the company’s cash flow is stable.

6)

It IS: A discipline that develops over time.

It IS NOT: A silver bullet.

OBM takes ongoing effort to implement!

It’s not something you can just install once and forget about.

7)

It IS: Sharing real-time, forward-looking information

It IS NOT: Sharing historical, past-looking information

We implement Forward Forecasting to spot potential issues ahead of time.

This allows you to protect your profit and other critical numbers proactively, instead of fixing up the damage after the fact.

If you feel like you’re “flying blind” in your agency right now…

With tight and unpredictable cash flow, despite good revenue…

And, that your employees are punching the clock instead of taking a proactive role…

Consider implementing Open Book Management!

At Open Book CFO, we can guide you by the hand through every step of the process, to:

• Gain total clarity and control over your finances
• Build a team of trusting, loyal employees invested in the long-term success of your business
• Simplify your critical financial metrics and improve decision-making at all levels

Think OBM might be the right fit for your business?

Book a free 30-minute strategy call with me here, and let’s chat.

See you Tuesday in the next issue of The Winning Agency!

— Nick Kringas

Founder of Open Book CFO