When the business grows:
5 decisions you should make early

For many companies, growth is a declared goal – more clients, more revenue, more people. At the same time, growth is one of the most demanding phases: structures that have worked well so far reach their limits. Decisions take longer, alignment becomes more complex, conflicts increase.

Whether in owner-managed mid-sized companies or in group units: the course you set in a growth phase often has an effect for many years. This article is about five key areas in which early clarity helps not only to make growth possible but to shape it in a healthy way.

1. Clarify roles and responsibilities

As long as a company is small, much can be handled informally. People talk to each other, make decisions ‘in passing’ and help each other out. As the company grows, this model reaches its limits. Lack of clarity about who is responsible for what leads to friction losses and duplicated work.

Questions for orientation:

• Are the key roles in the company clearly described – not just by job title, but by tasks and decision-making authority?
• Does every manager know what they are really responsible for – and what not?
• Are there areas where ‘everyone is somehow in charge’ – and in the end nobody really feels responsible?

Properly clarifying roles and responsibilities is not a bureaucratic act but the foundation for the ability to act and for speed during growth.

2. Design decision-making channels deliberately

With more people, sites or units, the demands on decision-making processes automatically rise. What used to be decided quickly in a small circle suddenly needs alignment with several areas or levels.

It helps to take an open look at:

• Where do decisions take unnecessarily long – and why?
• Who really needs to be involved in which decision – and who is only included ‘out of habit’?
• Where can we pass responsibility forward in order to gain speed?

In growing companies especially, it pays to decide deliberately which topics are decided centrally and where local or functional responsibility makes sense. That applies to mid-sized companies just as much as to group structures. What decisions left lying around cost in day-to-day work shows in the most expensive pile of paper in the company.

3. Structure communication without overloading it

With growth, the number of meetings, emails and chat messages increases almost automatically. Many managers and employees spend a large part of their time searching for information or putting it into context.

Instead of opening ever more channels, it can make sense to structure communication deliberately:

• Clear formats for operational alignment, strategic topics and decision meetings.
• Transparent information channels: who informs whom, how often and through which channels?
• A deliberate decision on which meetings are really necessary – and which can be dropped or slimmed down.

Well-designed communication structures relieve day-to-day work and create room for focused work – an important precondition for healthy growth.

4. Develop leadership in a targeted way

When a company grows, the role of managers changes. ‘Employees with additional responsibility’ become genuine leaders who are expected to build teams, develop them and guide them through change.

The question is rarely whether people want to lead – but whether they are prepared for it and supported in it. Sensible steps can include:

• Clarifying expectations of leadership in your company: what does leadership mean for us in concrete terms?
• Targeted development of new and existing managers – through training, sparring, coaching.
• Spaces for exchange among managers – especially when the company is growing and roles are changing.

Well-prepared and well-supported managers are one of the most important success factors in growth phases – in mid-sized companies as in large groups. What leadership can be measured by in day-to-day work are seven concrete behaviours that build trust.

5. Do not leave culture and values to chance

With every new employee, every new site and every change, a company’s culture changes. If this process is not shaped deliberately, chance decides – or the loudest part of the organisation.

That is why it pays to talk early about:

• What defines us as a company – beyond the figures?
• Which behaviours do we want to strengthen, and which no longer fit us (or never did)?
• How do we want to work together, communicate and make decisions?

A deliberately shaped culture is not a ‘soft’ topic; it has a very concrete effect on staff turnover, attractiveness as an employer and the ability to shape change. How strongly it depends on what leadership models, tolerates and sanctions is often underestimated in day-to-day work.

Shaping growth deliberately – instead of just reacting

Growth is an opportunity – and at the same time a phase in which fundamental decisions are made. The earlier you address roles, decision-making channels, communication, leadership and culture, the better you can steer how your company develops. What matters then is that these topics turn swiftly into concrete next steps.

If you have the impression that your company is currently at a point where structures, collaboration or leadership no longer match its size and momentum, an outside view can help. Someone who sorts things out together with you, asks questions and works out concrete steps – and, if you wish, also supports them through execution.

I am available as a sparring partner, consultant or in an interim role – both in mid-sized companies and in group environments in the German-speaking region.