How we’re staying nimble and focused despite external turbulence

I have always been someone who loves the start of a new year – brimming with new plans and ambitions both personal and professional. It’s a time to learn from the past and think what you would change for the future.

However, having battled through price wars, supply and staff shortages, shipping delays and then, to top it all off, our shared office going into administration last year – it’s hard to know what the learnings are. These external turbulences that are affecting every business are hard to forecast or know how to navigate – and they aren’t showing signs of leaving us in 2023. There feels little to learn from the unpredictability of the market and drawing up annual budgets has been testing. But we can perhaps learn to get better at riding through these problems.

So, as we start the year, still office-less and currently camping out in the window of Virgin Money (very kind of them – we always wanted a shop window!) and packing up samples from our windowless storage unit (not a life goal) I ask: how do we keep the team strong and fully aligned to enable us all to hit our goals this year?

As a small company, we have a fantastic culture with a strong ethos. But the clarity and purpose of the team’s roles and the short-term targets for the business often become blurred. In a small business, especially when the external landscape is forever changing, it is easy for the business to pivot and roles to evolve, merge or blur. There is nothing wrong with this – indeed, it can be really useful – but it needs to be communicated and defined.

For job satisfaction, as important as it is to understand what the company’s strategy, vision and mission is, it is equally key to know exactly what and how your role fits into that vision – and importantly, what good and bad looks like in that role. Therefore, having set our plans and budget, we start the year with a reminder of our mission and vision, a deep dive into the year’s targets and a review of everyone’s roles, responsibilities and how they contribute to our vision for the year.

With a clear path and strong visibility on how we all play our part, a Rubies new year’s resolution will be to keep reviewing and communicating our position so we are nimble enough to change when needed, but do so as a fully aligned, robust team, turning together.