Does your process/workflow match your strategy for success?

Last fall, I stopped by a local sandwich shop and got in line to order some lunch. I had always admired this shop because of their smooth flowing process. They were able to move people in and out quickly. Even at high noon, in the heat of the lunch hour, they were able to keep the lines moving. This day, however, was different. The normally fast moving line was moving very slowly. I tried to see what was different. They appeared to have the regular staff behind the counter. It seemed like everything was stocked. And it didn’t sound like any one person was placing a particularly large order.

And then I heard one of the employees ask: “Would you like your sandwich toasted?” Toasted? This place had never offered toasted sandwiches before. I remembered that a new company had been saturating the market, with their ads about their own toasted sandwiches. It seemed like this shop was responding to the competition. On the surface a good thing to do. Check out your competition, note what they are doing, come up with a response, and implement. They had responded, and the initial feedback seemed positive.

Over the next few weeks, I stopped by the shop several times. Each time I noticed the same thing. Prior to the changes, the lines moved quickly, now they seemed to take forever. Before, customers were friendly and bantering with the employees, now they openly complained and stated they might have to find a new place for lunch. They came here because of the speedy service, and if that was no longer available, it might be time to look elsewhere.

I thought about what I had observed and wondered what business issues I might uncover. Here is what I concluded.

The leadership team had come up with a vision and a set of strategies that allowed them to attain their vision. They had researched their market, uncovered some opportunities for success, and designed both processes an workflows to help them along the way. They executed their strategies flawlessly.

Then a competitor came into their market, observed them, and implemented an alternative approach to business. In response, our little shop altered their own approach to match the competitor. What they failed to do was recognize two key elements of their own success.

First, their approach was working. They had done their market research, built up a clientele, and established their competitive differentiator in the market, speedy service. This change ignored their current success.

Second: They had designed their processes and workflow around their competitive differentiator, speedy service. They had even set up their physical plant to match. Once they made the decision to add toasting, and a toaster, into their business, they needed to rethink their process and workflow before they implemented the change. They didn’t.

In the process of ignoring these items, they turned what had been a successful business into just another sandwich shop.

Do your processes and workflows match your strategies for success?

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Are Your Employees Prepared to Deliver Great Customer Service?

Recently, I went shopping for a new clock. I started my search at a local mall-based electronics store. As I entered the store I noticed it was empty. And yet, a voice welcomed me. I looked around and saw no one. I walked to where I thought the clocks were and it occurred to me each time I visited this store, things were never in the same place. Continuing my search, I noticed some digital converters. I checked them out for future reference, and continued looking for the clocks. I found them on the opposite side of the store but none matched my needs. I decided to ask for help. I called out and a young guy appeared from the back. Here is our exchange.

ME: “Do you have any other clocks besides what’s out?” HIM: “No, all we have is on the shelf.” ME: Do you know if the ones on the shelf have this feature?” HIM: “No, but if you look on the box it should say.” ME: “Okay, well you used to have clocks with this feature. Do you still carry any like that? Maybe in the back or online?” HIM: "All we have is what’s there on the shelf.”

Okay, this is going nowhere. Let me ask my other question about the converter.

ME: Okay, I see that you now carry digital converters. Do you know if they have this feature?” HIM: “Whatever it says on the box.” ME: “Well, I read the box and it doesn’t say. HIM: “Well that’s all I know.” ME: “Is there anyone else here who might know?” At this point he turned and shouted across the store to another guy who had appeared in the back. HIM: ”Do you know if this item has this feature?” Other guy: “What ever it says on the box is all I know.”

Well, now I am totally frustrated. I missed lunch for this. I thanked them and left the store.

Does this exchange sound familiar? Does this resemble your business? Is customer service at the head of your list of attributes? Are your people trained on all your products? Do they have easy access to answers to common questions?

If these questions sound familiar, here are three things you can do.

1) Make sure customer service is not just a line on your wall. Let your employees know specifically what it means to your company and how they can meet the standards. For example, always greet customers personally when they enter your place of business. Let them know you are there to help.

2) Make sure your employee training program covers both customer service behaviors and extensive product knowledge. Your training should go beyond the box and marketing material sent with merchandise.

3) Make sure you provide a way for your people to get quick answers to questions. For example, work with your suppliers to get FAQ sheets, or other material that you can place in easily accessible areas. If your location is connected to the internet, have some supplier sites set up as bookmarks.

If you have some thoughts on how to insure your people are prepared to help customers make purchases, leave your comments below.

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3 Lessons from a Billion-Dollar Leader

Check out this great blog post from a small business coaching Blogger, Amy Franko.
3 Lessons from a Billion-Dollar Leader.
I'm sure you will enjoy her other posts too! I found Amy on Twitter at AmyFranko.

Readers: If you like the idea of linking to posts in other great blogs from this blog, let me know with a comment on this blog to encourage me to do more in the future.
If you like Amy's post and want to comment on her text, please do so on her blog so she will see it.

Bloggers: If you are a Blogger user too and would like to make post links like this from any of the posts on this blog, be sure you are signed in. Then use the "Links to this post" option next to comments at the bottom of the desired post, then choose "Create a link" below the comments form.

You can find me on Twitter too! I'm meetingwizard. Announcement of new blog posts also are on Twitter. Just follow 2bproductive to get them.

Can I Interrupt You For a Minute?

We have all heard that phrase: "can I interrupt you a minute?", but we have learned the hard way that the interruption very rarely lasts just a minute. Then what happens when you try to get back to the task you were working on before the interruption? Have you lost focus or momentum? Can you even remember what you were working on before the interruption? Time yourself next time you are interrupted to determine how long you need to get back the focus for your task. Interruptions, therefore, can have a big impact on productivity.

What type of interruptions do you have? People you work with? Phone calls? Technology such as email, instant messaging, texts, etc.? Or do you interrupt yourself by stopping the important work you are doing with less critical work or fun things such as checking your Facebook updates? Sometimes if you are working on a task you dislike you look for people and things to interrupt you thinking: "Please take me away from this!"

I believe that most interruptions can be controlled. Here are a few ideas to consider:

Handle Visitors and Callers – The key to handling people who visit or call you with the famous phrase, "Do you have a minute?", is the ability to quickly access the urgency of their issue and how much time they truly need. Asking a few quick questions in a respectful way to determine the answer to these two issues will allow you to decide whether to handle the situation immediately or set a specific time later to give the person your full attention. Alan Lakein, author of How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life says to be ruthless with time, but courteous with people. If your employees feel like they cannot ever interrupt you they may handle a critical issue incorrectly which may create a larger issue.

Analyze Your Interruptions - By analyzing the who and the why of your interruptions you may discover a pattern. For example you may have one employee that interrupts quite often with questions he should be able to answer. Could it be he lacks confidence and needs more training? Or you may be interrupted by several people asking the same question. This could mean that you need to plan training for everyone or communicate more information to empower people to handle the situation in the future.

Set Electronic-Free Time Zones – All the use of technology has caused a conditional reflex of immediately checking every time you hear the tone of your email, texts and/or instant messaging. Ask yourself, "What would happen if I did not answer immediately?" If the answer is "not much", you can create an Electronic-Free Time Zone. Set one or two specific time periods every day that you turn off everything electronic and just use this time to complete projects and other work that takes your full concentration. It is a good idea to let colleagues and friends know about your E-Free zones to set their expectations.

Reward Yourself – If you are working on a tedious project or task and find yourself looking for interruptions, you can set up a reward system. Make a deal with yourself to focus on your project for a set period of time such as 30 minutes or an hour and then reward yourself for a few minutes with something more interesting or fun to do. By giving yourself a "brain break" reward you will feel more energized to get back to your project because you know you have another reward scheduled soon.

You can control interruptions, feel more productive, and have less stress in your life.

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Seven Signs to Avoid the Four Losses: Are You an Ostrich or an Eagle?

The story goes that when the ostrich wants to block out the world it sticks it’s head in the sand. If there’s nothing to see things can’t be too bad. Right?! The eagle on the other hand looks for a better and more strategic view. The higher it goes to a lofty vantage point the more it can see possibilities for food as well as potential threats. Are you an ostrich or an eagle?

Whether you’re a manager or an employee retention is a critical issue for your survival. Let’s review the four primary losses that accompany attrition and then we’ll look briefly at seven early warning signs.

Lost Productivity X Four

1. Here’s the first level of lost productivity. The typical team member begins thinking and planning about leaving from three to six months before they actually depart. This is a period of partial to full disengagement and can be very costly to the organization.
2. Secondly, there will be a loss of productivity when the person is gone because there will not be anyone who can quickly take their place. This vacancy could remain open from three to six months or longer. That adds to the problem and the loss of productivity.
3. Next there is a loss of productivity even after the replacement has been found during the on-boarding and training phase. This can easily take weeks or months before a return to full productivity is reached.
4. Finally, there is the time and energy drain on those employees who are involved in the recruiting, hiring and training of the new person which takes away from their normal levels of productivity.

This ripple effect can involve over a dozen people scattered in several departments and equate to the loss of tens of thousands of dollars or more. That is a huge and costly loss that can be avoided if you’re eagle eyes are open and trained to spot certain details.

Seven Early Warning Signals

If you find yourself described by these signals this might be your own personal wake up call. You may need to have a chat with your boss about your own level of discontent or discouragement and how it is impacting your behavior and productivity. Or you might be hearing from him/her if ‘ostrich’ isn’t their typical reaction to problems.

Either way recognizing these signals will be a red flag you don’t want to ignore. Retaining those who are engaged and productive is more critical than ever in this weak economy.

Some of the early warning signals you might see are:

• Increased sick time
• Arriving later or leaving earlier than normal
• Increased web browsing and personal calls
• A drop in productivity either in quantity or quality
• Frequent disagreement with management and company policies
• Stops volunteering for projects
• A non-complainer expressing discontent
• Refers to departed team members

There are other potential warning signs but this list gives you a smart starting place to recognize those who are planning their departure. In the coming months and years of the ‘new economy’ knowing the value and importance of how to avoid the four losses will be one of the three top reasons for your personal success and that of your organization.

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Wize-Up To Business: Specialists? No, we just want generalists...

Check out this great blog post from a UK business and leadership Blogger, David Cotton.Wize-Up To Business: Specialists? No, we just want generalists...
I'm sure you will enjoy his other posts too! I found David on Twitter at WizeUpLtd.

Readers: If you like the idea of linking to posts in other great blogs from this blog, let me know with a comment on this blog to encourage me to do more in the future.
If you like David's post and want to comment on his text, please do so on his blog so he will see it.
Bloggers: If you are a Blogger user too and would like to make post links like this from any of the posts on this blog, be sure you are signed in. Then use the "Links to this post" option next to comments at the bottom of the desired post, then choose "Create a link" below the comments form.

You can find me on Twitter too! I'm meetingwizard. Announcement of new blog posts also are on Twitter. Just follow 2bproductive to get them.

Lessons in Leadership from Undercover Boss

This post is a simple review of the February episodes of the television show Undercover Boss, along with opinions by viewers. From this show upper management learns how their attitudes and policies can affect the company bottom line and lower rungs of the career ladder. It is meant to make managers think and acknowledge the value of employees at all levels of the business. The primary episode summaries here are merely my expressed opinion using a little more text than available for 2bproductive tweets. Also includes a few comments from other people on Twitter regarding their feelings as they related to a particular episode.

If you want to check out someone who made a Twitter comment, please click on their Twitter name at the beginning of the tweet to view their profile. If you want to see a longer review of an episode, please click on the company featured to link to an on-line story featuring the company’s participation on the show. If you missed an episode of the show Undercover Boss, check out video clips and reviews athttp://www.tv.com/undercover-boss/show/76698/videos.html?tag=page_nav;videos

Episode 1 = Waste Management story was about the guys who pick-up our garbage and recycle the stuff we put out on our curbs. This show emphasized breakthrough improvement ideas and true customer service come from the bottom up and that C-levels should listen. This show was very popular although no one who commented on it mentioned the “green” aspect related to the recycling part of that business. We got to see that the COO thought recycling was important, but it is an expensive and labor-intensive business to be in. Has our appreciation for the man on the back of the truck increased? I hope so…What a few people said on TwitterKellyFerrara: #UndercoverBoss - perhaps my new favorite show! Featured Waste Management President and COO Larry O’Donnell...like reverse Apprentice.BGdoesPR: Same here, would work for the COO of #WM after watching #undercoverboss. He is ethical and real, qualities rarely seen in todays execSoSoulfull: *wiping my eyes* It’s so sad how companies will work the life outta folks. This Waste Management Exec really gets it! Kudos #undercoverbossginavergel7: Especially multitasking. This Waste Management CEOs mind is blown! #undercoverboss
Episode 2 = Hooters story was more on the people aspect of the business. The CEO had the right idea that employees were a key part of the brand. If mutual trust/respect exists between employees and managers, it can motivate work performance and company loyalty. Customer service and employee attitude says a lot about the business the people are working for. However, the show seem to take a different turn than what the CEO said for his main goal of changing minds about the brand and hopefully resulting in broadened customer base. Did being on this show accomplish his goal since it spurred a Blog and Twitter campaigns to fire one of their managers? Would promoting that they have more than wings and beer on their menu have been a better way to get in new customers? How about specially-priced quick-lunches to attract professionals working nearby like many of their competitors are doing?
What a few people said on Twittermrobin032009: Anyone else disappointed w/ how the Hooters CEO handled the inappropriate manager on #UndercoverBoss last night? Even hubby said "fire him"!mariva: #Hooters CEO may not be able to #FireJimbo because of corp. bylaws/contract w/franchise. Maybe franchise OWNER is the prob.? #UndercoverBoss404techsupport: Hooter’s #UndercoverBoss instead of just giving the female manager a vacation, should have built a mgmt class from her style.worknclassbunny: This new show is an amazing insight on American companies. Every CEO/President should do this #UndercoverBoss
Episode 3 = 7-Eleven story appeared to result in the goal stated at the start by their CEO. He noted that employees are the key to the business and their attitude supports the business processes and affects customer service and support. He recognized his best workers at the end of the show and emphasized how many people are loyal customers based on how they are treated by the employees at the store they visit regularly. It wasn’t just about how many cups of coffee and donuts are sold, it was about building customer relationships. Isn’t relationship selling the new buzz in business? What is your company doing to build the best customer relationships possible? Can customer service and better relationships be what turns the tide in the success of a company?What a few people said on TwitterChareeKlimek CEO Joe DePinto of @7eleven is the real deal. Humble, genuine, passionate about EE's - the heart of every successful biz #undercoverbossmelindamusil: This #undercoverboss show is so moving! I mean- he improves his company, he gets some free pub, but most of all he improves PEOPLE!childsplayx2: The secret to greater sales is creating relationships. Dolores at 7-11 knows that. #UndercoverBossjingstri: I LOVE Igor on #undercoverboss. He’s so passionate and upbeat about his job. It’s nice to watch. Igor: "Big boss comes to the plain worker. Only in America."JLWNEO: Imagine how many great employees with real capabilities who go unchallenged/unrecognized everywhere. Every boss should be an #undercoverboss
Episode 4 = White Castle story where the owner looks to the youth at his restaurant to find new leadership as well as ideas for future business improvement in various areas of the business. Hopefully the new managers don’t forget where they came from, like one on the show seemed to, and will continue to look to those who work for and with them for process improvement. After all, the people on the front-line know the business the best and can find quick, easy improvements that save time and money. Every business can benefit from building teamwork between peers and supervisors as well as encouraging upward movement and career planning within the corporation to keep the talent and get return on their investment in training employees.
What a few people said on Twittertericee: Kudos to @OfficialWC for pursuing corporate change instead of just individual employee solutions! #undercoverbosscindybutts: Lessons after 60 min of #undercoverboss: have employees write the procedure manual, have wellness programgenochurch: I guess I’m a helpless romantic… but it’s great to see regular folk getting the limelight for just doing their jobs #undercoverbossteresamhauck: Thank you Dave for putting faces on the numbers! Others should do the same! It’s the people #undercoverboss //agreed

If you want to see another nice boss story, view the ABC News video story where Red Mill Natural Foods owner gives company to 200 employees athttp://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/boss-company-workers-9881720.
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