We owe it to our employee-owners to help them understand their business and the challenges it faces, especially as an ESOP company. We need their ideas, support, and effort. This is the essence of employee ownership. 

Visual models are an excellent tool to communicate complex ideas. When the model is right, it tells a story. As a management team at Software Engineering Professionals (SEP), we always looked for ways to “make the work visible.” We had whole walls dedicated to explaining how a business process was performing and soliciting ideas for it. Promoting understanding and learning was part of SEP's DNA.

For instance, many businesses are dealing with inventory issues these days. Employees need to know how bad the issue is and monitor progress on the solution. A report showing the top 10 limited parts that shows current inventory, an estimated date for zero stock, the probability of refilling inventory, and annual cost increases can help tell the story. A color-coded system such as a traffic light can indicate the probability of refilling inventory and general level of impact for each part. Posting a visual aid like this helps everyone understand the issue at hand and enables rapid responses. It can be a rallying point.

A visual aid can also be used to understand the true cost of the inventory issues. Inventory these days is often unavailable and is much more expensive once it becomes available. A product impact report might show units sold, blocked orders, the average current margin, and the average margin during the previous year for products sold. A color-coded system can grade margins and blocked orders.

Visual modeling is far from new, and yet it is often neglected. All business issues can be modeled; it just takes effort. Start by thinking about the story being told and the questions people have. Your job is to use the components and history of the issue to tell the story in a visual way. If you have a process for the business area, it can be a source of information as well. When modeling is done well, employees familiar with the reporting can quickly scan the information to understand the story it tells. This is what we aspire to.

Jeff Gilbert is the cofounder and CEO of Software Engineering Professionals (SEP), a software product design and development firm started in 1988. Jeff and his partner sold SEP to an ESOP in 2010, and he retired from there in 2019. He now serves on boards, including ESOP-owned Radian Research, and provides business consulting.