Article: Simple Tips To Reduce Errors (December 2012) As business owners we know the cost of mistakes but beyond the actual cost of the error, there is the damage to our reputation that repeated mistakes will do. The value of systemising your business cannot be underestimated when it comes to contemplating the reduction in errors. However, systemisation is not a 100% guarantee that your business will be error free. While systems offer some degree of comfort, "error free" is a matter of vigilance, checking and care. Errors happen - it is a simple fact when the "human factor" is involved. However, in business, errors cost money and careless errors can also cost us our reputation and your client's future business. To eliminate errors, we need to consider how they arise. We have grouped these into Policy - Procedure - People: - "Policy": Is about errors arising from why actions are taken, for example: misinterpretation of rules or of legislation or other guidelines. These errors can have a significant impact and while the action itself may be correct, the reasoning behind it is flawed
- "Procedure": Is about errors that have arisen due to how actions are completed, for example: following a procedure or checklist
- "People": Is about any errors that have arisen because of what was done by the person completing them. These could include errors from oversight, omission or carelessness
It is common, when finding an error, for a manager to immediately look at the "People" aspect of the error. It's the most common place for problems, has the greatest degree of risk and is the area that is the least consistent in your business. It's a case of 3-2-1 problem solved! In fact, one of the simplest ways to reduce errors is to turn this approach on its head. Instead of looking first to who made the error, start by asking why the action was taken. This technique has taught us many lessons: - The right actions taken for the wrong reason highlight a gap in training and illustrate that we have not appropriately matched the person to the job. "Policy" type errors can be prevented by improving knowledge, education and conducting skilled based training on the job
- Following the right procedure and ending up with an error highlights an out of date, redundant or flawed procedure or checklist. While a staff member offering "But I followed the process" will often raise red flags, in a transformed and systemised business, this should sound alarms, rather than be alarming. "Procedure" type errors can be prevented by regularly reviewing and updating procedures, conducting training with staff and maintaining a robust compliance regime
- Once you have eliminated Policy and Procedure as the cause of the error, you can now consider the People aspect. People based errors can be the result of a multitude of issues, but by looking at what was done (rather than who did it) you can begin to identify gaps in training, recruitment and even in processes and checklists. In our experience, training, skills/experience, application and aptitude are at the core of People based errors
Unfortunately, none of these measures will address the impact on the client as a result of an error being made. While they will assist you in uncovering the cause of the error, effectively reducing errors is more about prevention than reactive treatment. In other words, you need to work ON your business to eliminate likely, potential and actual sources of errors in order to reduce their frequency. Get in touch and ask us to conduct a FREE Business Evaluation Meeting and find out about our unique way of designing and implementing strategies to generate sustainable business improvement. Article: Track, Conversion & Measure (April 2012)To really know the success of your business you should track its health. To do this you need three sets of information. This could be done for a website or for face to face sales. You will need: - Your sales figures
- Your subscriber and customer statistics (from your website or sales forms)
- Usage details from your website or records
The most important statistics that you should track and measure are your conversion rates. A conversion rate will measure how successfully you are achieving your goals, such as converting potential customers into buyers or converting first-time buyers into repeat customers. There ill more than likely be several conversion rates that you need to focus on however the below formulas will get you started. 1. How many visitors are you converting into customers? Your potential customer to buyer conversion rate is one of the easiest stats to calculate. This is also one of the most powerful for your business. This formula will give you an indication of how effectively you are winning over your potential customers to buy from you. Calculation : Divide your total number of sales by the number of visitors to your business or website then multiply by 100. For example, if you have 4,000 visitors a month (to your business or website) and 280 of them purchase from you making them a customer, then your conversion rate is 7%. 2. How Many Visitors Are Signing To Be A Subscriber? This may mean that your potential customer/visitor has signed up to be on your database to receive your monthly newsletter or business promotional offers via your website or direct mail. This is the visitor-to-subscriber conversion rate which will tell you how appealing your subscription offer is. You should keep an eye on this figure as you test and trial different promotions or written copy for your sign-up form or sign-up procedure. Calculation: Divide the total number of subscribers you have by the total number of visitors to your business or site then multiply by 100. For example, if you get 1,500 new visitors to your site in a week and 700 of them subscribe to your free newsletter, then your conversion rate is 46%. 3. How Many Of Your Subscribers Are Becoming Customers? Your subscriber-to-customer conversion rate is a positive test of how effective your newsletter or other piece of sales material is. Calculation : Divide the total number of people who purchased something from you by the total number of subscribers to your newsletter then multiply by 100. For example, 105 of your 700 subscribers buy something from you, then your subscriber to customer conversion rate is 15%. 4. How Much Revenue Are You Making From Each Visitor? This statistic will show you how much you are earning from your average visitor to your business or website. This is a valuable statistic as the number will help you to determine how much you can spend to obtain a new visitor or potential customer while still earning a profit. This could be calculated over a month, quarter or a year, depending on how soon you want the figures. Calculation : Divide the total amount of your sales by the total number of visitors to your business or website. For example, if you sold £12,000 worth of inventory this month and you had 35,000 visitors to your business or website, then your sales per visitor is about £0.34. 5. How many people are responding to what you want them to? This statistic is the response percentage of people who read your newsletter or direct mail piece either posted or on the website and go straight to the order form. In web terms this is the click through rate from your email newsletter to your order form. Same principle applies for posting of direct mail. Calculation: Postage/Direct Mail Divide the total number of people who respond to Newsletter A by the total number of visitors to your business then multiply by 100. For example you have 4,000 potential customers and 420 respond to your mail via the order form, then your Newsletter has a response rate of 10.5%. Internet Divide the total number of clicks on link X by the total number of visitors to the page with link X then multiply by 100. For example, if you have 4,000 visitors to your emailed newsletter and 420 click on the link to your order form, then your newsletter has a click-through rate of 10.5%. All of these calculations are important for you to understand how your potential and existing customers are reacting to your business and sales promotions. Get in touch and ask us to conduct a FREE Business Evaluation Meeting and find out about our unique way of designing and implementing strategies to generate sustainable business improvement. Article: Written Guarantee (February 2012)Stand out from the crowds and offer something to your customers that either your competitors can’t or haven’t thought of yet. Most products and services have a guarantee statement and offer something that others don’t, enhancing the possibility of customers purchasing from you in return, for example: - Money Back Guarantee
- Pain Free Hair Removal
- 90 day risk free
- See results within 7 days
- 100% officially licensed with an authentic guarantee
- No more to pay
- On time, every time
- Helping you to communicate with the world
- Prints within an hour
- 24 hours, 7 days a week
A famous example of a written guarantee is regularly marketed by dish washing detergents. One company came up with the original marketing idea of promoting that their detergent could remove hardened food and tough grease from the dishes. Although all dishwashing liquids potentially did the same thing, no one else had yet thought of the concept which in turn helped to lift sales immensely and their competitors soon followed suit. The same marketing concepts have been implemented into stain removal and cleanliness of clothes. Powders, softeners and whiteners are all fighting for position and offering special enzymes, oxygen particles, etc to make their product better, more advanced and to receive higher sales than their opposition. A written guarantee can help you to convert a lead into a sale as you are offering something unique, of value and important to the customer. Get in touch and ask us to conduct a FREE Business Evaluation Meeting and find out about our unique way of designing and implementing strategies to generate sustainable business improvement. Article: Improving Systems (November 2011)Always try to find better ways of doing things. If you are able to cut down a process because it is going to save you time or it is going to make the process more efficient then do it. Remember that improving means that there is a better way of doing them and hence you don’t want to reverse that by implementing something that is far more complex and time consuming than the old way. Without contradicting this, it is important to realise that just because you have been doing same thing the same way for ten years doesn’t mean that that is the most practical or efficient method. Improving your systems may include manual processes as well as automated or computerised ones, so be sure to broaden your horizons, look at all possibilities and alternatives for improving rather than suspecting that it is one particular area and assuming this needs to be fixed. Eliminating old documents or obsolete items will assist you in being better organised and have healthier processes, because people won’t revert back to or use things that don’t apply any longer. Improving your systems will help you to be more competitive, service your customers better, have a better turn around time, be more productive, be more efficient and have a more organised business. Once a year it is an ideal situation to gather your staff and brainstorm items that should be reviewed, systems that need to improved and things that are now obsolete or should be discarded. When you decide to improve a system be sure to study how the work currently flows and if there are any glitches, problems, hesitations or areas that hold up the flow. Identifying these things will help you to decide on preventative action and strategies to reduce the inconsistency. Efficiency is doing things right, effectiveness is doing the right things! Get in touch and ask us to conduct a FREE Business Evaluation Meeting and find out about our unique way of designing and implementing strategies to generate sustainable business improvement. Article: Reducing errors in your business (October 2011)Errors happen - it is a simple fact when the "human factor" is involved. However, in business, errors cost money and careless errors can also cost the business it’s reputation and our client's future business. To eliminate errors, we need to consider how they arise. We have grouped these into Policy - Procedure - People: - "Policy" is about errors arising from why actions are taken, for example: misinterpretation guidelines. These errors can have a significant impact and while the action itself may be correct, the reasoning behind it is flawed
- "Procedure" is about errors that have arisen due to how actions are completed, for example: following a procedure or checklist
- "People" is about any errors that have arisen because of what was done by the person completing them. These could include errors from oversight, omission or carelessness.
It is common, when finding an error, for a manager to immediately look at the "People" aspect of the error. It's the most common place for problems, has the greatest degree of risk and is the area that is the least consistent in your business. It's a case of 3-2-1 problem solved! In fact, one of the simplest ways to reduce errors is to turn this approach on its head. Instead of looking first to who made the error, start by asking why the action was taken. This technique teaches us many lessons: - The right actions taken for the wrong reason highlight a gap in training and illustrate that we have not appropriately matched the person to the job. "Policy" type errors can be prevented by improving knowledge, education and conducting skilled based training on the job
- Following the right procedure and ending up with an error highlights an out of date, redundant or flawed procedure or checklist. While a staff member offering "But I followed the process" will often raise red flags, in a transformed and systemised business, this should sound alarms, rather than be alarming. "Procedure" type errors can be prevented by regularly reviewing and updating procedures, conducting training with staff and maintaining a robust compliance regime
- Once you have eliminated Policy and Procedure as the cause of the error, you can now consider the People aspect. People based errors can be the result of a multitude of issues, but by looking at what was done (rather than who did it) you can begin to identify gaps in training, recruitment and even in processes and checklists. In our experience, training, skills/experience, application and aptitude are at the core of People based errors.
Unfortunately, none of these measures will address the impact on the client as a result of an error being made. While they will assist you in uncovering the cause of the error, effectively reducing errors is more about prevention than reactive treatment. In other words, you need to work ON your business to eliminate likely, potential and actual sources of errors in order to reduce their frequency. Get in touch and ask us to conduct a FREE Business Evaluation Meeting and find out about our unique way of designing and implementing strategies to generate sustainable business improvement. Article: Tracking Jobs Within The Business (October 2009)
Keeping track of jobs in your business is a basic process every business needs. The ability to understand when a job was received, its expected completion date and its progress through the office delivers a number of benefits to you: - You control your business and determine what work gets done and when
- You are able to determine what resources you need, the skills to apply and the capacity of your business
- You and your team have a built in mechanism for planning your time
- You can more effectively manage your clients and their expectations
- If required, you can start doing forecasting around your potential income stream
- You have an "early warning system" for any problems that may arise.
Importantly, you don't have to invest in an expensive system to track jobs, although for larger businesses, it is certainly a great advantage. The point is, you have a centralised list of every piece of work that your business is about to complete. As you know, the best system in the world can easily turn into the biggest white elephant unless it is used and used correctly. That means you also need to have in place a system to ensure new jobs are entered when they arrive, staff update records at key checkpoints and tasks are closed when the invoice is sent out. A procedure for tracking jobs doesn't have to be complicated: - When a job arrives it is logged into the tracking system (we suggest this be a centralised function to ensure all jobs are tracked appropriately)
- Against the record is the date received, basic client information, a letter or word to distinguish the type of job, who it is assigned to, estimated completion date and, if known, an estimate of cost
- The person responsible for completing the job then updates the tracking system at agreed milestones and closes the task when the job is completed and the invoice sent.
As you can see, the procedure is basic common sense. We do suggest that you put in place meaningful milestones for each type of job being tracked. This simple process will allow you to look at your entire business each day and determine where jobs are running behind schedule, where bottlenecks are occurring, which of your team are under/over-utilised etc. The best thing however, is the control you have over your work. If you opt for a "first in, first out" policy with new work, you not only get to effectively manage your own time, you also have a way of dealing with those clients who believe you need to drop everything to do their work! Tracking work will add a few additional minutes to each job but the investment is worth it. Get in touch and ask us to conduct a FREE Business Evaluation Meeting and find out about our unique way of designing and implementing strategies to generate sustainable business improvement.
Article: Writing Effective Emails (June 2008)To put things into perspective - it is only in the last 20 or so years that we have been able to enjoy the multiplicity of communication channels we now have. Before the advent of emails and mobile phones, we either wrote a letter to our customers/clients, called them on the phone (during business hours), met with them, or, if we were being a bit casual, we may have sent them a fax. Urgent messages were communicated via telex or telegram or sent via courier if the client demanded it. The unique point which drew all these pieces of correspondence together was the formality of the message. Each piece was carefully constructed and (in most cases) meticulous in its presentation, punctuation and grammar. Unfortunately (depending on your point of view), some of this professionalism has been lost with the increasing use of emails in our daily business lives. It is true that we tend to deal with our clients less formally these days which has helped to create stronger and longer lasting relationships. However, one thing we continually find saddening is the number of business people who have allowed "less formal" to become "less professional" in their email communications to clients. The following is a sample: "JB, have got back some info back from the ato about GST which may be of interest. I will folow later on the other issues of BAS and unit trts etc" On the face of it, there is seemingly little wrong with this message - it is informal but understandable and provides the client with what they need to know - just as if we were face to face with the client. But that is exactly the problem; emails are not a substitute for the spoken word and therefore require just as much attention as we would pay to a letter. This email has no greeting, is overly familiar with the client, is full of grammatical and typographical errors, is poorly punctuated and ends with no sign off from the writer. And these are the types of emails that are probably being sent from your business every day. What does it say about this business? So here are some simple suggestions for writing effective emails: - Create an Email Policy. This should contain guidelines for the use of emails in your business.
- Standardise your emails. That means create a standard email 'signature' for each staff member. This should have (at a minimum) a signoff, their name, contact details, business name and an indemnity statement. Your email template should also contain your logo.
- Determine a standard font for emails taking into consideration the demographics of your client base - this will eliminate the use of colour, over/under-sized fonts to convey emphasis and other items such as 'smilies'.
- Ensure all email spell checkers are set to 'English - United Kingdom' which will ensure Americanisms are eliminated.
- Set all emails to 'Always check spelling before sending'. While spell checkers should never replace a manual check, they will assist in identifying potentially misspelt words.
- Set an email format standard for your business. While this does not have to be a rigorous style guide that would dictate the format of letters, it should cover basics such as emails having an introduction, body and conclusion, the tone in which emails are written, use of jargon, abbreviations etc.
- By simply adopting a few standard rules, you can ensure you and your team send emails that are a professional reflection of your business and act as a mini marketing message.
Get in touch and ask us to conduct a FREE Business Evaluation Meeting and find out about our unique way of designing and implementing strategies to generate sustainable business improvement.Article: Contact Lists / Databases (May 2008)If you are looking to gain further leads for your business, you may consider purchasing a contact list or database from a company who makes it their priority to collect personal information about people. These contact lists or databases will include the peoples names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, mobile numbers, etc and can be adjusted to your personal requirements of the business. There are many companies who do offer this service and they concentrate on collecting data. Research companies annually send out questionnaires to residents/business owners etc and ask them to fill it out. The survey isn’t compulsory as it collects general personal information about you and your lifestyle. Once the person fills out the survey, they send it back to the company where they insert and up date your information. When doing this survey it actually specifies that your information will be made available for purchase for business use by external companies and hence doesn’t breach the privacy act. When a business uses one of these lists they are required to include an opt in or opt out decision and advise your sender that you purchased their details from the Research company. Each company who sells these lists may require you to do different things, for example use it only for direct mail campaigns and the database is only available for use once. When you purchase a database you will be able to specify the type of people you are wanting to attract to the business, the ages, lifestyle habits, etc. For example you maybe a cosmetic store who is selling high quality products at a wholesale price. The cosmetics are mainly perfumes for men and women. Through your research and previous knowledge you have determined that women between the ages of 18-35 purchase perfume for both themselves and for their male counterparts. You are also aware that these women normally come from a salary job and earn between £20K – £50K per annum, adjusted accordingly to their ages. Because you have defined specifics about your target audience you are able to provide this information to the database owner in which they will be able to design the database to your needs and requirements. Another example could be that you are trying to promote shares in a new company and you are looking for investors, so you consider purchasing a list which will target people who are likely to buy shares. Through the questionnaires it will determine people who are in the share buying division, if they have an interest in shares, what their financial income is, if they already have shares, etc and therefore pin point your target market without wasting valuable time or money on other marketing campaigns that may not be directed specifically to your audience. Lists are a sophisticated database of potential customers for your business. Get in touch and ask us to conduct a FREE Business Evaluation Meeting and find out about our unique way of designing and implementing strategies to generate sustainable business improvement.Article: Performance Measurement System (April 2008)A performance management system allows you to collect, analyse, define and make decisions based on how the business is operating through efficiency, effectiveness and cost performance indicators. Implementing a performance system enables you to understand your business, where it is currently situated, what improvements have taken place, which improvements need to be made, acknowledgement of its processes, whether decisions are being made on facts and whether targets are being met or not. Each department or business activity has a process such as, invoicing, getting products ready for delivery, etc which all have performance indicators which can be measured. To identify these you will need to consider what product/s or services do you produce, who your internal and external customers are, what your processes are, what do you do and how do you do it and what is at the beginning and the end of the process. Once you have determined this then you can identify the activities that need to be measured. These could include efficiency, cost effectiveness, productivity, quality, customer satisfaction, safety, etc. These activities can then be given a performance indicator. A performance indicator should be realistic, include any legislative information and requirements where necessary, clear and precise, economical, adaptable and of course measurable. When you make your performance indicators measurable you will need to determine what it is you are actually measuring. For instance is it time, money, number of sales, etc. You will also need to decide how and when you are going to make the measurement and how accurate or precise the measurement needs to be. You should always compare your actual performance against you indicators so that you will have a clear understanding where items are failing or winning. It should also be set so that it starts and finishes in the same month or year so that you have a clear period of time in which the performance indicators are being monitored and measured. Performance systems are ideal for ensuring your business is on track and is going the direction in which you want it to go. It is important however that you don’t underestimate the time or cost for implementing one of these systems. Get in touch and ask us to conduct a FREE Business Evaluation Meeting and find out about our unique way of designing and implementing strategies to generate sustainable business improvement.Article: Are Your Administration Processes Affecting your Customer Service? (March 2008)Think about your administration system. Is everything documented and filed. Is there an efficient, working procedure for all customer enquiries, complaints, sales, after sales service, personal details, etc. Could your administration be effecting the way that you are doing business and therefore reducing the amount of sales walking through your front door and returning for seconds? Effective and efficient administration should be a priority in your business. Streamlining regularly carried out procedures by using standard forms and systems will help you to not only improve your initial contact with your customers but keep your customer service going for much longer than the first purchase. Setting up clear and defined administration systems in your business will prove to your customer that you are professional, you have a systemized measure to deal with their wants and needs, and you have the time to assist them with their purchase. Some forms and systems that you might like to set in place to improve your customer service would include: - Customer Details Form - name, address, phone, etc for your database
- Sales Form - for collecting important information about your customer such as the brands, types of products/services, etc your customer is interested in.
- After Sales Form/Database - to document all of your after sales contact
- Customer Complaint Form - for you or your customer to fill out at the time customer has raised their issue
- Customer Service Feedback Form - to gain needed feedback about your business
Remember that when you implement a system into your business it must be easy for your team to administer. You want to improve your customer service, not decrease it. Article: The secrets to e-mail management (February 2008) E-mail is an established, and often preferred, communication channel among consumers that, when managed effectively, can lead to increased customer satisfaction, improved agent efficiency and reduced operational costs. Here we outline how to provide an exceptional e-mail customer service experience. Over the last decade, e-mail has not only evolved into an entrenched medium for personal and business communications, it has also been widely adopted as a channel for customer service and support. However, while the cost-effectiveness of e-mail offers an attractive option for companies looking to manage an increasingly demanding customer base, it does put the onus firmly on the organisation to deliver an exceptional service via this channel. There is a vast array of best practices, strategies and techniques that customer service and marketing teams need to take into account when looking to optimise their e-mail management. However, these can be distilled into a number of key principles. Always respond! One of the often unspoken, but critical rules to e-mail management is that every e-mail that requires a response must receive one. Sound obvious? In fact, it was one of the biggest failings in an independent audit conducted among UK retailers in 2007, with 45 percent not responding to an e-mail enquiry at all. Speed of response also has a direct impact on customer satisfaction and although practices vary by industry, a simple e-mail enquiry should take no longer than 24 hours to answer. Some e-mails may require a single automatic acknowledgement and some may not need one at all, but it’s important that each type is accurately identified and handled appropriately. An auto-acknowledgement can be an effective way to inform customers that their e-mail has been received, and also prevent you from receiving repeat e-mail from the same customer on the same issue. Intelligent tools can also scan e-mail content, understand the specific request, and suggest appropriate responses to an agent or even automatically respond to the customer. Effective routing practices Managing the path of an incoming e-mail can be the fundamental element to managing e-mails effectively – or a significant point of failure. Routing e-mails based on departments and queues rather than individuals is critical. In the absence of a particular agent, routing logic based on individual agents will result in e-mails that either remain unanswered or have to be manually moved from one agent’s inbox to another. Instead, appropriate queues or mailboxes should be created, as well as roles and departments, and rules configured based on these parameters so routing is always based on the “best available agent”, opposed to a predetermined named agent. Intelligent routing can also be carried out by using information gathered via the e-mail web form, the incoming e-mail address, or via intelligent e-mail content scanning to identify the sender. Personalise all communication Unlike a branch visit or a counter at a high street store, e-mail doesn’t offer the live, real-time interaction of a face to face encounter. As a result, companies must work hard to engage with customers in order to initiate and develop a lasting relationship. Starting with the acknowledgement, personalise every e-mail by including the customer name in the greeting, the agent’s signature, and other pertinent customer information. Making use of web forms that ask for first and last names will help to automate this process. Empower your e-mail agents So far, I’ve discussed the importance of e-mail communication from the customer’s perspective, but it’s worth us spending some time looking at how you can help your e-mail agents manage the incoming e-mails and streamline the response process. E-mail management systems offer an array of features to help provide value to the process, such as automatic spell-checking in multiple languages, the ability to personalise messages using templates for parts of the e-mail, preview e-mails, or use pre-configured responses. Train your agents to use these tools effectively; it will not only increase productivity, but engender a greater sense of confidence and satisfaction within your team. Improve and evolve your e-mail communication As with any other ongoing process, it’s critical to gather metrics, measure performance and make continuous improvements to your overall e-mail management initiative. Real-time statistics present a live snapshot of the system and agents, for example the number of e-mails in a queue, number currently within service levels, agent workload and response times. Metrics should be gathered on an ongoing basis and analysed to monitor trends, identify issues, evaluate agents, and escalate product or service problems to other departments in the organisation. E-mail: an efficent communication tool E-mail is generally accepted as one of the most efficient communication tools, but overlooking its vital role in any multi-channel customer service strategy can be extremely detrimental to any organisation. Article: It is a common misconception that checklists and procedures are a waste of time (January 2008)"It is a common misconception that checklists and procedures are a waste of time - why use them when you know how to do the job? They just slow you down and create too much red tape over what should be a simple task" The problem with that view is that it assumes every person does the job the same way every time and that everyone has the same level of knowledge, skill and experience when completing the job. As we all know, that's not the case. You may be working in a business that has, or is in the process of systemising and introducing checklists and procedures. You may have also received training in how to use these checklists or procedures but may not understand why it is important to use them. Understanding why checklists and procedures are important in your business is the first step to encouraging you to use them every day. Rather than being designed to make your life more difficult, checklists and procedures serve a number of critical purposes in the business: - When used correctly, checklists and procedures make sure each job is completed in the same way, to the same standard every time. That means the clients get consistency, accuracy and a high level of service
- Checklists and procedures help serve as a training tool for new staff. Having a document you can refer to helps you get up to speed with the way things are done much quicker
- Checklists and procedures also help existing staff gain exposure to more complex jobs. Like new employees, existing employees benefit from having a document they can refer to to help them complete a new or unfamiliar task. That means if you want to move ahead, you have a set of documents that can help you identify some of the skills and experience you are going to need
- One checklist and procedure for each job means that everyone works exactly the same way. Since each job is done the same way, which builds efficiency, should someone be away for any length of time, it is much easier to step in and help out with their work
- Systemising the business and introducing checklists and procedures means that knowledge is shared and kept in the business. Since it is potentially dangerous to the business to have all the knowledge in one or two people, procedures help ensure that should these key people leave, the knowledge doesn't leave with them
- From a business perspective, checklists and procedures are a way for partners to reduce and potentially eliminate some risks
- Even the most experienced person can make a mistake or overlook something important in a job. Checklists and procedures mean you have something to remind you about each of the important components of a job. Rather than slowing you down, checklists and procedures will ensure you don't have to redo a job because you forgot something important.
The transformation of your business is about building a business which continues to grow and flourish into the future. A healthy, successful business offers opportunities for personal development and career progression. Checklists and procedures not only assist in managing workflow and setting priorities, but help us build a business that is focused on delivering consistent, accurate and timely service that exceeds our clients' expectations. So contrary to the belief that checklists and procedures are a waste of time, they will help you to do your job more efficiently which will actually save you time. That time can be used to expand your relationship with your clients. Article: Policies and procedures can help your organisation? (January 2008)
“Why do we need policies and procedures?” Have you heard that question before? Perhaps you were even the one asking it. How happy were you with the answer you gave, or with the one you received? Frequently people struggle to give a clear and meaningful response to such an obvious question. It is, however, probably one of the most important questions to answer before starting or updating a system of policies and procedures. There are page-long lists of why policies and procedures are necessary, but, of course, such long lists lose meaning and value. By the time you read to the bottom, you don’t remember what was at the top of the list. Plus, such long lists have too much overlap and repetition. A simple approach may be more useful. The purpose for creating an internal control system through defining and documenting processes with well-written procedures boils down to a few very basic reasons: - Compliance
- Operational Needs
- Manage Risks
- Continuous Improvement
Policies & Procedures Can Improve Compliance Complying with laws and regulations should be the most basic function of an organization. Even the smallest of organizations must comply with tax laws and with state and local regulations (i.e. zoning, licensing), while some organization must cope with a myriad of federal and state laws and regulations. Other compliance issues may deal with quality standards like ISO 9001, ISO 22000, or UL. While procedures themselves may not demonstrate compliance, well-defined and documented processes (i.e. procedures, training materials) along with records that demonstrate process capability can make evident an effective internal control system and compliance to regulations and standards. Let’s face it; if your organization is having trouble in performing the rudimentary function of obeying laws and regulations, then it is likely struggling even more at being effective and successful in fulfilling its core missions. If compliance is an issue in your organization, then creating well-defined processes documented by procedures in order to meet your legal and regulatory requirements should be a high priority. Ensure Operational Needs Are Met through Policies and Procedures What is really important in your business? What is fundamental for its success? Are practices associated with them being steered by top management. How much visibility and transparency is there into the effectiveness of these key processes? This brings us to the next important role of procedures; to ensure processes fundamental to the organization’s success are properly guided by management, are performed in a consistent way that meets the organizations needs, and that important related information and data are captured and communicated. For example, if regularly introducing new and improved products is essential to the success of your business, shouldn’t you be in control of your sales and marketing cycle that captures customer requirements and desires so they can be translated into your product design? Shouldn’t there be well-documented design review and product launch processes? Policies and procedures are a way to document such key activities so they are executed consistently and implement the best practices for the organization. Compliance and meeting operational needs are two very important reasons for implementing a system of policies and procedures. But it is still only half the story. Next week, we will discuss the role of policies and procedures in managing risks and in continual improvement. Learn more about developing policies, procedures and processes, or improving your organization by getting in touch. Article: Christmas ...Is Nearly Here (December 2007)
The slightest hint of Christmas in the air will send Managers into a frenzy and your staff into holiday mode. While most are motivated to work, the anticipation for holiday break or Christmas Day starts to overwhelm them and things can become out of control. Administration is an area that often fails because people are too busy to worry about the little things, such as filing, updating the database, archiving old files or emails, etc. Prior to Christmas it is practical to get your staff prepared to carry out administration activities so that when you all come back everything is where it should be. - Make it policy that your staff have all filing, updates, etc done prior to them taking their time off. The new year is going to see plenty of new projects so you don't want to have a backlog or overflow of work from last year.
- Encourage teamwork during this time. Time off is only a few weeks away and some staff may be overwhelmed with work loads, while others comatose themselves with boredom. Administration activities are time-consuming and often having a few people working together is better than none at all.
- You want your work team to be productive prior to Christmas so give them a checklist of the activities that they need to do. For instance, you may have an area checklist for your marketing department advising of all administration activities they need to carry out, e.g. all press and advertisements filed and documented, all finished project files for 2007 archived, project dates for 2008 are documented in the electronic calendar system, business closure emails have been sent to contacts, etc. You don't want to add to their work load but instead assist in organising their department for the smooth function and operation in the new year.
- Shuffle people if you think that a key area manager in your business requires further assistance, or could make use of a skill that a particular person has. Don't move people for temporary help unless that person has completely succeeded in achieving their own tasks and has helped their own department.
Memory loss often happens when people have been away from work, even for a short amount of time, so therefore make your new year an organised and functional one where finding that important piece of paper is easy.
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