Scenarios and Protocols

Many companies compose operations manuals that demonstrate how to successfully complete tasks. These can become important tools in training and developing people within your organization. Our operations manual did a great job in teaching processes to handle tasks. It is a clearly written step by step checklist that is easy to follow. Despite this, we were still experiencing unexpected breakdowns. Something seemed to be missing.

Many frustrating experiences later, the solution finally came to me. I needed to establish clear processes to successfully handle different situations. Thus, Scenarios and Protocols was born and I was able to clearly document what our team should do on in different situations.

It started off as a couple of situations that had caused us financial loss. Realizing the potential of this approach, I organized a brainstorming session with a few key people from my team and we were able to identify a base of scenarios that needed protocols. It has since grown into over 40 in number and continues to grow. The scenarios included opportunities and challenges. A sampling includes:

• What you should do if you have an idea to save or make the company money
• What you should do if you know of a potential client
• What you should do if you would like to recommend someone to fill out an application
• What you should do if you get in an accident driving a company vehicle
• What you should do if you will not be able to meet a deadline
• What you should do if you witness non-negotiable behavior

My team is now better trained and prepared to handle a multitude of situations. It has saved us time and helped us operate at a higher level of consistency. This section has become a key driver for the success of our personnel development.

Blood From a Turnip

During difficult economic times, it is important to drive down costs. Although there are many ways to accomplish this, some cost cutting can cause permanent damage to your business. My approach to cost cutting is to turn it into a contest, which I have named "Blood From a Turnip". Here is an overview.

Objective
Find creative ways ways to lower our costs without cutting staff. Our strengths as a company are our people, capital, processes, and reputation. With that in mind, come up with ways of improving each.

Rewards

There will be rewards given to everyone that comes up with improvements that are implemented. Value of reward will depend on the impact the initiative has on the company. The grand prize is a trip to Hawaii.

Requirements

The entry must have a name that summarizes the initiative. Give a clear description of how you would like to go about gathering date to analyze and project impact. Send an email to me to review. I also instituted a deadline.

Summary
These economic times are tough. We need to utilize this pressure as a catalyst for creative ways of managing costs and creating new revenue. We need to look at other opportunities to cut costs, not people. Remember our strengths.

We found over 30 items to improve within resicom that translated into tens of thousands of dollars in annual savings.

Quick Tip on Delegating Tasks

What does a home run look like? Very easy to understand and describe. When delegating tasks, ask yourself the home run question. For this person you are delegating to hit a home run with the given tasks, they must...

It turns the tasks into small bites of work, each with a picture of what success looks like.

If you can do this consistently, you will find tasks being completed better, faster, therefore, you should be more profitable.

Entrepreneurs and Economic Cycles

Good entrepreneurs tend to be a misunderstood group. They push when others pull. They take chances when others are cautious. They expand while others contract. All the while, their group of friends and family are left scratching their heads trying to figure out if the entrepreneur is crazy or a genius.

This current downturn in the economic cycle is necessary and healthy. It gives great companies the opportunity to be compared more closely to their competitors, allowing them to capture market share. Companies that shed good employees to save money end up losing all of the money invested in the person and as well as the goodwill with the remaining employees.

It is times like these when entrepreneurs have the opportunity to prove their commitment and faith they have in their team and business by working towards strengthening themselves. Upgrade talent where possible. Spend more to improve the infrastructure and sales teams. Protect the investments made in development of great members of the team.

Resicom believes one of its biggest assets is its people. This is the best opportunity for growth that we have ever experienced. Many of our competitors are closing or weakening themselves through layoffs, while our potential clients are re-examining existing relationships, looking for better solutions. We want to be positioned to service them.