I talk to people in and outside of our industry every day and I am always looking to learn something from every conversation, not matter how short or long the conversation happens to be. Sometimes the conversation is very short, a simple phone call to check in with staff at the office or colleagues in the field, and sometimes the conversation are much more lengthy, which could include planning meetings or networking opportunities. All in all, everyone has something to say and there is always something to learn.
Recently, I was speaking to someone on a plane about their business. We engaged in the standard reciprocal greeting when we found ourselves sitting next to one another and then proceeded to go to work on our laptops. After clicking away for about 30 minutes, I happened to pick up a vibe that the man I had said hello to just a little while ago is in some form of law enforcement or military, I wasn’t sure yet. So, being the social butterfly I am, I asked. Boy am I glad I did!
The man was a retired Marine who is now working as a management consultant. I was instantly intrigued. I asked him what lessons he learned from the military that he felt were the most valuable to him in his new line of work. He answered very quickly. His top pick was “systems” and “standards”.
Wow! I couldn’t agree more and I let him know this. I told him he was going to be the inspiration behind my next blog post. You see, we often times catch ourselves in situations that take up a huge amount of energy addressing the same problem over and over again in our business. Sound familiar? Why does this happen? How can we prevent this? What do we need to do or become to help ourselves? We need better systems and standards in our business. Here are some ways you can help yourself. Please understand, however, there will be an investment of your time and energy creating and documenting these things, but like any other investment, do it correctly and you should yield positive results.
No matter the size of your business, (yep, even if it is only you) all businesses deserve a systematic way of creating accountability. The best way to do this is to “declare” to everyone in your business, staff and clients, that you have standards you wish to operate by and expectations you intend on being held accountable to. Here’s a quick tip. If you want your staff to understand and accept the notion of accountability, the business must adopt this mentality first.
The easiest way to make promises to staff and clients is to define a clear picture for everyone what “correct” looks and feels like. While some may feel this is subjective, and I agree to a point, your business is your business and you get to make the rules. This culture of “correct” starts with the hiring and training of staff. From the first minute you meet a potential employee in an interview, be sure they have a clear understanding of your standards. From the first minute you meet a potential customer, be sure they too have a clear understanding of your standards. The employee is accountable to you and you are accountable to your customers.
There are some mechanisms or tools you can put in place to help you with this definition of “correct” and the organizing of your thoughts, direction, standards and accountability. Setting standards is a way of organizing your business, your time, and your efforts so that everyone is pointed in the same direction. I compare a loosely run business to the chaotic nature of an unorganized closet. It takes effort to continually mind the clothes, hangers, shoes, boxes, hats, and various other things found in your closet, but there are few things more frustrating than not being able to quickly identify what you have, what you need, and what you want to wear. If everything in your closet were always perfectly hung, in order, and in good condition, wouldn’t your day be much brighter? Wouldn’t your attitude be more positive? Wouldn’t this save you a lot of time? Be a closet organizer for your business. Keep things organized and take control of your situation.
Here are just some of the tools of organization that you might find handy. If you have some of these in place, congratulations. If you don’t, consider starting today! If you need help, reach out to me. I have developed templates that can help you get started. I have done the hardest part for you. I have identified the skeleton outline of the content needed; you just need to customize them for your business!
- Safety Manuals
- Employee Manuals
- Operations Manuals
- First Aid and Veterinary Protocol
- Employee Agreements
- Take care and I wish you and your business the very best!
This guest blog by Joe Zuccarello is used by permission from the author. To see more from Joe, check out his blog at: High Performance Tips for Pet Industry Professionals
