1. Or what I learned by screwing up and watch others
screw up

2.  Know what you want to accomplish
 Take your time and do it right
 Plan for what comes after
 Do it all at once
 Bring the right people into the process
 Be transparent
 Be fair
 Be done

3.  Restructuring efforts take a few forms (get cash now,
upgrade the staff, bust the culture)
 Don’t disguise the real motivation.
 This is a powerful way to get attention, don’t waste it.
 It’s best to have a single focus
 Having too many messages confuses the organization on what
you did and why you did it
 If there are multiple purposes, build your
communication plan around the primary driver
 But be careful that you aren’t seen as hypocritical
 Everyone watches for mis matches in the audio and video, be
careful what you say and more careful about what you do

4.  Make sure that your targets hit the target
 Be careful not to leave ‘sacred cows’, they might be the best part of
the meal
 Do the due diligence
 Be careful of ‘Sonny’ Corlionne (vendettas, personal agendas)
 Know your legal risks and prepare for the blow back
 Train the management staff in communication, presentation
 The basis for a suit can be established in the exit interview
 If you have the luxury, time it when you can afford the loss of
productivity
 It may take up to a month for the organization to process and get back
to work

5.  Think about what work you are going to kill
 This is a great time to knock off the BS…
 Too many folks fail by keeping all the busy work going,
absorbing it by the remaining folks – destroying morale
 If you are going to do position elimination, do the
capacity planning and future needs assessment
 If you are upgrading staff, it may be useful to have the new
stars on board before the action
 Some folks take the position that we should cut too
deep and then bring back what we need
 I’d resist this temptation, especially in skill areas, we need to
preserve what reputation we have in the market

6.  The rolling restructuring and corporate-first efforts
are like getting news that you have cancer…
 Productivity dives with the ‘what aren’t they telling me’
rumor mill
 Rolling layoffs put a gloom and doom over the
whole company, not knowing who is next
 Like plant closings at Ford or GM
 Morale is destroyed, productivity goes in the can and you
give the best and brightest time to start looking

7.  First and second level managers have the best
knowledge of the people in the organization
 I’d take the risk and be honest with the ones you have
targeted and bring them in as well – just be honest
 Bring HR and Legal in to do the risk assessment,
develop and communication plan and do the
training of managers
 It’s important to have ‘scripted’ discussions
 Bring in outsiders if needed to make sure it’s done
right

8.  The most damaging of any mistake is to be ‘sniffed out’
or caught in a ‘miss statement’.
 Law suits have happened but the biggest hit is credibility.
 In my experience, during M&A and chapter 11
downsizing, the more that folks are treated like adults
the better the action goes
 Chapter 11 companies expect it, that’s where to go too deep –
you get the opportunity with reorg to fix what you mess up
 Whatever the driver, be faithful to what you say before,
during and after the event
 This is a time to make a mark on the organization and
establish leadership. Those ‘moments of truth’ don’t come this
big all that often.

9.  What you do with the folks that leave sends a strong
message to the people who remain
 The culture you establish with the action speaks loudly to the
remaining staff
 Take care of the transition, put ‘golden handcuffs’ on
those you want to keep during a transition
 Also try to recognize those who survive, if they see a gulag
after the action, they will try to escape
 If you are couching the issue as ‘cost centric’ don’t do
visible expensive things afterwards
 Think of AIG after the bail out, taking a boon doggle in the
Carribean
 In tough times symbolism of shared sacrifice is key

10.  In my experience, if it is executed ‘once and done’, the
healing and transition can start immediately
 Lawson did cuts 5 quarters in a row. The rumor was that Harry
was paying his mortgage with blood donations.
 Individuals respond to an honest ‘we’ve done it, here’s
why and we’re done’ communication
 Management’s credibility can go up after an action (It’s about
damn time…)
 However, if you go back to the well (like my buddies at Lawson)
or you roll it across the organization you can’t say that (or if
you do, you kill your credibility)