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About Eric Mathews

As an in-demand executive and business consultant for more than 15 years, I’ve helped hundreds of business leaders transform their companies in over a dozen industries with a detailed and human consultative approach. Today, I’m proud to lead a team of driven and innovative business consultants at A&A Business Consulting, with a guaranteed 4X ROI and an average productivity increase over 30%. Though I’ve worked with companies like United Airlines, Nexteer, and more, I’ve had a long track record of success with businesses of all sizes in manufacturing, finance, financial services, automotive, transportation, energy, supply chain, warehouse, logistics, and consulting. So, if you’re looking to improve your margins or tackle a specific organizational challenge, we’d love to put our experience to work for you, with guaranteed results.
16 10, 2020

Operating Differently, Operating Better

2020-10-16T17:16:02+00:00By |

How COVID-19 Has Helped Companies Increase Efficiency In March, nearly every industry was faced with a sudden shift in a new direction. Six months later, we’re seeing just how deeply that shift has affected business. Though many challenges have lept to the forefront, for three companies, necessity has been the mother of invention, and yielded surprisingly positive outcomes. Take, for example, a manufacturing plant in the Southeast.  Is Overspecialization a Problem in 2020? They were faced with a common problem (that was once considered a solution): a seemingly specialized workforce. In fact, every employee was needed to run specific machines [...]

27 08, 2020

Small Pivots with Big Results

2020-08-27T16:35:23+00:00By |

Things You Can Do Today for a Better Workplace Tomorrow Leading well has always been a challenge, but managing a team well during a pandemic adds a level of difficulty, to be sure. Some teams are working remotely, which can lead to feeling disjointed and distant. Many are navigating delayed timelines, financial uncertainties, and personal struggles. If you’re a leader who feels as though things have gotten “off track” in recent months, these six simple reminders will help you and your team move forward, boost company morale, and conquer challenges that arise.  Be a Visionary  A good leader can both [...]

10 08, 2020

The Invisible Killer of Middle Management

2020-08-10T18:26:08+00:00By |

HOW TO PROMOTE WELL AND AVOID MEDIOCRITY Have you ever promoted an employee, only to have their performance drop off once they settle into a management role? If so, you may have accidentally fallen prey to the “Peter principle.” This principle essentially states that most employees will continue to be promoted to a new role based on performance in their current one, until they reach positions in the company in which they can no longer thrive. They’ll then remain in those positions, uncomfortable and delivering mediocre-at-best results, because they can no longer demonstrate the competence it would take to receive [...]

19 06, 2020

Terminating Toxicity

2020-07-06T21:18:13+00:00By |

Firing an established leader in your organization is no small task. Not only do you have to deal with the discomfort of terminating someone, you’re often faced with a mountain of work as you have to hire and train their replacement as well as ensure the rest of their work gets done. However, as I’ve studied interpersonal dynamics in countless companies, it’s become clear to me that in the long run, keeping a toxic leader will cost you much more than replacing them. If you’re not sure how to identify toxicity within your company, I’d encourage you to read my [...]

5 06, 2020

Toxic Management in the Workplace

2020-07-06T21:24:22+00:00By |

When I mention the words “difficult manager” to my clients, many of them nod knowingly. Unhealthy work behaviors are fairly common, but many companies don’t know how to fix the problems once they’ve begun — or worse, decide to buckle down and deal with them long-term because that person contributes meaningfully to the company’s bottom line. It may seem as though your difficult manager is indispensable, but I’d argue that’s almost never the case. In fact, they might be harming your business far more than they’re helping it succeed.  IDENTIFYING DAMAGING BEHAVIOR It’s important to keep a close watch on [...]

12 05, 2020

Keeping Your Remote Meetings Efficient

2020-07-06T21:35:53+00:00By |

Whether you’re in the office or not, meetings often suck up a lot of the workday, and that’s perhaps most true during video calls. You’re staring down a long list of tasks to execute and objectives to hit while your call meanders for hours. What’s more, long and winding meetings leave non-essential personnel to sit absentmindedly, getting paid to listen to irrelevant info while falling behind on work. There are two solutions to this problem, and both work well - it just depends on the needs of your team. Keeping Your Meetings Efficient Many managers are surprised to learn that [...]

6 05, 2020

Enabling Remote Teams to Thrive

2020-07-06T21:38:49+00:00By |

These are trying times for companies all across the globe, and most leaders are doing their best to offer empathy and extra space around expectations as employees figure out how to navigate tasks and time management while at home. Adjusted expectations are fair and right during this season, especially considering that many team members are also parenting and unexpectedly homeschooling, sometimes in small spaces with no designated office or workflow. However, when COVID-19 quarantines fade and offices begin to open again, employees who choose to remain at home should be subject to a different set of expectations and a higher [...]

29 04, 2020

Does COVID-19 Mark A Permanent Shift In Remote Work?

2020-07-06T21:41:08+00:00By |

In recent years, many companies have seen a slow shift in the workplace -- more and more employees are staying home. Whether due to a difficult commute, a need for flexibility, or simply finding no impetus to be present in the office, working remotely has had an appeal, especially in certain industries. But now, as COVID-19 brings a new normal to the work week, businesses everywhere are finding remote work their best or only option. Companies who have already put “work from home” policies in place at some earlier point may be handling this shift fairly well. But many teams [...]

16 04, 2020

Managing Your Business During COVID-19 & Beyond

2020-07-06T21:43:14+00:00By |

We’ve entered a new era in the workforce.  As businesses have found themselves thrust into a challenging new world, many have scrambled to cope with the new realities COVID-19 has introduced. As we adjust to this new normal, we also need to prepare for the permanent changes that will impact how people work, live and play. Whether or not you were considering “going remote” for some, or all, of your team, the genie is out of the bottle now. There may be no turning back—this is no experiment.  Success will look differently these days than it did in even our [...]

21 02, 2020

Will Improving Productivity Hurt Company Morale?

2020-07-06T21:46:46+00:00By |

The water cooler.  The break room. Those sacred places in the company where employees congregate to catch up on the latest news, share information, and build enough stamina to get through the day. Necessary...or a waste of time? When I consult with companies around the world, we often have to address the culprits of lost productivity. This means we look at time wasted in idle conversations, extraneous breaks, and irrelevant interruptions.  Yet some managers worry: “Will eliminating all this wasted time kill morale? Without the water cooler, what do I really have in company culture?”  This blog will show that [...]

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