'Turkaegean', the importance of Branding, Benchmarking and Team balance.

The purpose of this article that many would not dare write is to project Progress Through approach to what is right, objective and value adding. The ‘Turkagean’ brand name that has caused turbulence in Greece should be perceived as an opportunity to abolish backwards thinking that has impacted the competitive capability, direction and speed for the majority of the Greek SMEs.

Promoting an open mindset in words and advertising campaigns is easy; however, the essence, a true open mindset is reflected only in the way responses to issues are given, relationships are built, consultants and trainers are selected and how strategies are planned, deployed and communicated.

Change requires a careful mélange of operational and behavioural dimensions. The speed, depth and quality of any change initiative, requires a fundamental understanding of what to keep and what to let go.

In a world that changes rapidly, minding what to keep and who to work with is key to the degree and speed of change achieved.

We can all speak about changes brought in because of new technology but to which extent has individual and collective behaviour changed?

Years ago, I was travelling to Turkey on business. I do not remember the exact year, but it should be more than seven years ago, I took the Turkish Airlines flight from Athens to Istanbul - Constantinople as the departure and arrival times were convenient, let alone my curiosity about how different companies (and countries) perceive customer service, operational excellence and marketing.

I work in business and organizational development and learning about how different individuals, teams, companies and communities innovate, is a ‘hobby’ I treasure.

I opened the Turkish Airlines’ magazine and in one of the pages, I saw the advertisement of Turkish Aegean Fish. I found it an exceptional move from a marketing perspective and felt sad that the Greek companies in fish production (and the corresponding state department) had not done anything similar.

Returning to Greece, I spoke with many people about the necessity to brand Greek fish only to get the reply that such branding is not necessary because fish is mainly sold to supermarkets or restaurants and despite my efforts to speak about it to different commercial departments, I only found closed doors.

Some people even criticized my travels to Turkey in a negative way, for sponsoring the Turkish economy. I have very good friends and business partners in Turkey and I enjoy supporting Greek and Turkish companies develop their business in Turkey as I do so in every country of our world.

To all those that nowadays fume against the brand ‘Turkaegean’ I can only say that it is the result of careful planning from the Turkish side and ignorance or incompetence from the Greek side.

·?The majority of the Greek businesses in the sector are responsible for the absence of benchmarking and innovation in time to protect and advance their business amid competition

·??All governments and the sector-related offices in Greece are responsible for not having rang a bell that competition intensifies, and new instruments and approaches are needed on company/organizational and national level

Is Turkey wrong or aggressive securing such a brand name?

Thinking through a marketing perspective, No, they are not. Neither our US or EU allies have betrayed us.

In Greece, authorities could have branded many names and adjectives, asking for a small yearly fee from all those brands and companies worldwide, let alone city branding, games branding, etc.

Benchmarking is a serious activity that should not only look at operational results but at strategic and operational intent. After all, operational results are the corollary of the way workflows are designed, the way people perceive their work tasks, and the way people and systems are managed. Above all, however, is the way the ‘Purpose’ is perceived and served.

My commitment to serve clients offering the best advice possible, made me study and practice marketing, lean operations and the Belbin methodology. Every time that I look at why and how problems arise, it is about three factors: Purpose & Leadership, Transparent and Lean operations and Purpose & Teams.

The way teams are synthesized and structured, impacts the way the Purpose is perceived and served, and this stands true for Leadership teams as well.

If teams and organizations want to have better results, they need to ask a few questions:

·?Is the Purpose served at every level and how?

·?How does Leadership motivate the teams, and which is the quality of the direction Leadership provides?

·?If consistency as a metric exists, what do we use it for?

·??Are the teams balanced in terms of skills and behaviours to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, innovation or objectivity?

·?Who do we benchmark our Purpose against?

·?Who do we benchmark our operational results and process structure against?

At Progress Through we can analyze and discuss with you about your organization’s and departments’ culture, team balance as well as your operational architecture, offering you suggestions on how risks might be avoided, and reputation strengthened.

As a last note, strategy requires short term, medium term and long-term planning and sustainable success derives only if all three are achieved.

Developing the right leadership and teams’ skills is a perpetual responsibility and engagement as markets, technology and customer needs change.

Blaming others, obstructing others not to advance or designing anti-reputational initiatives, might bring some temporary results but will not consolidate the right intent and behaviours to excel.

At Progress Through, we can help you decide what to keep and what to let go and how.