Staff - Who Needs Them?
Staff are one of the biggest headaches for small business but are also something that you just can’t do without.
Over the last month I have been talking to the staff of different businesses. From this a number of things have become apparent:
- They didn’t have staff meetings or if they did then they weren’t effective – the staff didn’t know what work was in the pipeline and who was doing what. There was never any reflection on what was working and what wasn’t
- Processes, if in place, were not followed by all staff
- Communication between staff was poor – little issues were getting out of control while fundamental issues weren’t being raised.
- The owner/manager was too much on the tools.
- The owner/manager had a very different perception of what was happening in the business than the staff did.
The overall result was disgruntled staff – which means poor work performance...
So what can be done?
Someone needs to MANAGE.
Management is crucial because you don’t get paid for what you do, you get paid for what your employees do. As such you have to do everything in your power to help them be successful – you succeed when they succeed.
Employees need the person in charge to make time to:
- Provide understanding – talk about the strengths and weaknesses in the business and how you are managing them. Ask for their input and ideas for improvement.
- Provide direction – 80% of the time talk about the future of the business. Let them know that they are a part of it.
- Walk the Talk – encourage and reinforce what you love about your business
- Understand the roles of the staff – make sure they are well defined and you have the right people in them
- Plan – set budgets or targets and review in team meetings – what is working what isn’t and Why? Delegate and mange workflows so that no-one is idle or too busy. Communicate what has to be done by when.
- Have procedures – how do you know something is being done effectively or not getting missed if you don’t have a benchmark to measure against. They don’t have to be complicated – it can be a simple checklist.
- Supervision – no one enjoys a micro manager but you need to take time to sit with each staff member every couple of months to see how they are doing their job. Ensure procedures are followed and ask for their ideas on improving them. Check that they have the training and tools to do the best job that they can.
- Give feedback – always respond immediately to a job well done or a job done badly.
Feel free to write a comment on how you manage staff issues.
Mariejan Bigby
Small Fish Business Coaching Toowoomba
www.smallfish.com.au
Frank Connolly 01-Feb-2012 11:43 AM
Based upon feedback in every organisation I have worked in, 95% of staff say that the meetings they attend are ineffective. Most now view meetings as a major distraction. This is a major issue because effective meetings are perhaps our lowest hanging fruit
in terms of getting things right in business. At a meeting we ideally have the right people in the room, for the right reasons and we have them face to face in real time when the best possible communication can occur. Unfortunately our processes and our thinking
tend to let us down. I favour the application of the "Six Thinking Hats" in meetings to ensure the thinking is sound, argument and rambling discussion are replaced with useful input from all and you have a clear focus and intended outcome. Meetings then become
shorter in duration and more effective. Try facilitating your meetings this way, it can make a huge difference.
Things About Life I Learned From Santa
- Encourage people to believe in you.
- Always remember who's naughty and who's nice.
- Don’t pout.
- It’s as much fun to give as it is to receive.
- Some days it’s OK to feel a little chubby.
- Make your presents known.
- Bright red can make anyone look good.
- Wear a wide belt and no-one will notice how many kilos you’ve gained.
- If you only show up once a year, everyone will think you’re very important.
- Whenever you’re at a loss for words, say: “Ho, Ho, Ho!”
Mariejan Bigby
Small Fish Business Coaching Toowoomba
www.smallfish.com.au
Melanie Miller 20-Dec-2011 06:02 PM
Love it Mariejan!
What Hat Are You Wearing Today?
Being a small business owner means that you have to wear many different hats. You are not only the owner, but the marketing manager, IT specialist, book keeper and workplace trainer etc.
The success of your business depends on your ability to wear all the multiple hats needed to keep the wheels of your business turning. At times, the dizzying pace needed can turn even the most capable person into an overwhelmed manager wearing too many hats. As such you need a plan and you need to work that plan. Some simple pointers are:
1. Identify your separate roles
The first step is simply putting down all the varied aspects of your business that you are currently in control of. This includes both income-generating tasks (sales, marketing and customer service) as well as operational ones (managing the team, stock control, finances etc).
Are you successful in all these roles – do you know what is needed to be successful?
Effective goal setting is key to success in any business, and you should set individual goals for each aspect of your business and measure your results.
2. Make time to work on your business (not just in your business)
It’s all too easy to get lost in the daily grind of your business (working “in” your business) or only doing the things you enjoy and put off strategic, long-term planning (working “on” your business). If you find yourself in this situation, you need to make time in your calendar each week to consider your business, think about potential opportunities and do some long-term positioning. Stay disciplined: You’d never put off a meeting with an important client, so don’t slide on this critical strategizing time, either.
3. Bring on help
Many business owners end up wearing multiple hats because they wait too long to hire additional staff or outsource some of the roles such as IT and book keeping. Wages are usually one of the higher costs in the budget, but skimping on staff can have a detrimental effect on your business’ ability to grow, support customers and take advantage of new opportunities.
Before looking to bring on help, you should sit down and objectively assess your own strengths and weakness in each of the roles that you do. What areas of your business do you love? Where do you need more discipline and development? When hiring as a small business owner, it’s always best to try to capitalise on your own strengths and fill in gaps for your weaknesses, rather than just hire for what you’d consider “lower wage” work.
4. Empower those around you to do more
It can be difficult to relinquish control of day-to-day details to others. But it’s critical to let go. Successful business leaders don’t micromanage what everyone else is doing. Rather, they empower people around them to do their jobs.
Make sure you’re giving your workers the freedom to make decisions (even make mistakes and correct the mistakes themselves). In the long run, you’ll have a wiser, more confident, more effective and more capable workforce. And you’ll be able to focus on the strategic aspects of your business.
5. Always stay close to the customer!
No matter how big your business gets and how much staff you bring on, talk to your customers one-on-one. This is the best way to truly understand customer needs and how your company is doing. And helping customers is probably why you started your business in the first place, right?
Most importantly, embrace all the many hats you wear in your business. Because one thing is for sure; you’ll never get bored!
Mariejan Bigby
Small Fish Business Coaching Toowoomba
www.smallfish.com.au
Howard Coggan 02-Nov-2011 01:57 PM
Hi Mariejan. You make some very pertinent points here - especially that around 'Working on the Business'. It is very easy to spend time 'on the tools' rather than strategising, and actually doing, the business generating marketing and sales. Thanks for
the reminder!
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Anonymous 20-Jan-2012 03:55 AM
Un bon blog, bien écrit, merci.
Are You Getting Referrals?
We would all like customers to just come to us - but this is just not the reality of the world. Business operators need to be out and about “walking the talk”, building a referral engine either through networking or raving fans (i.e. happy customers).
How much time do you spend educating the people who refer to you about what type of clients you want and nurturing these relationships?
Everyone loves word of mouth advertising and for many in an established business this is where the majority of new customers come from.
So how do you make it happen?
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Identify a team of people to promote your business – BNI groups were established on this principle. This team should be made up of loyal customers, suppliers and others that you network with or who have a circle of influence.
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Invite these people to actively help you by offering them something e.g. a discount off your services for the other business to provide to their customers as a thank you, or by giving them referrals in return.
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The most effective way to earn referrals is to exceed expectations. In order to do this you must first truly understand what your customers or network group expect and manage this effectively.
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Ask for the referral – let your customers know that you will be asking for referrals .
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Acknowledge the person who provided the referral. Let them know that the referral has contacted you and thank them. Once you have met the referral let the referrer know what is going on and if the referral becomes a customer be the first to let the referrer know. Make sure they feel appreciated for sending people your way.
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Contact and nurture your relationships with referrers. Let them know of any new or different things that you are doing and try to reciprocate their generosity in referring.
Referrals are a privilege, not a right. You don’t automatically deserve referrals, you have to earn them.
Mariejan Bigby
Small Fish Business Coaching Toowoomba
www.smallfish.com.au
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Celebrating The Wins
I have had a fantastic week!
3 of the businesses that I have worked with have been nominated (by clients) for the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards. What a great achievement.
These businesses knew that they had to change. They took on advice and did the hard yards to make the changes happen and now they can celebrate.
Although driving a business to success is a long and sometimes tedious process it is important to stop and enjoy the wins. Reward yourself and your staff along the way for reaching goals. In this way you can really enjoy hitting targets and the business success that comes with doing so.
If you want to drive change in your business then make an appointment with a Small Fish Business Coach today.
Mariejan Bigby
Small Fish Business Coaching Toowoomba
www.smallfish.com.au
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Time Management
What a start to the new year! As you are all aware Toowoomba got off to a catastrophic beginning and only now are we emerging from the shock. But as like showbiz business must go on.
From the people I have spoken to this year, and I admit to the same problem, work is overwhelming. There have been constant interruptions (family, colleagues and employees) and delays (Roads closed, Australia Post not delivering – “the cheques in the mail” has certainly been true this last month) which has left the to –do list ever growing and the bank balance hurting.
So… take a step back, draw a breath and close the door.
• Work out what the priorities are – review your plan – focus on what will make money for your business.
• Spend 15 mins every morning organising your day - what are the top 5 things that HAVE to be done. Block out time in your diary to get them done. (no phone calls, emails or people dropping in)
• Don’t procrastinate – actions reap results and makes you feel in control
• Learn to say no.
• Learn to let go and delegate non-money making tasks to others
There are other strategies for time management but simply put have a plan and work it. Do not beat yourself up over slipping now and again, just pick yourself up and start each day fresh.
Good luck and remember if you haven’t got a plan than you may need a business coach.
Mariejan Bigby
Small Fish Business Coach Toowoomba
www.smallfish.com.au
Pamela Aurino 23-Feb-2011 04:26 PM
Very nice time management tips LOL.
Saying No is my killer here.
See you tomorrow!
Networking - A Powerful Tool
I realise that to many businesses, networking is just another thing that has to be done. However, I find it a very powerful tool in the marketing mix:
• For starters, it's fun and I usually get a free drink and nibbles out of it :)
• Secondly, you never know who you are going to meet and there really are some amazing people with interesting stories to tell, and
• Most importantly, it works! – I was approached by a person who had been told about me by a friend who I met at a networking event and then saw me getting out of my car (which had the Small Fish logo on it of course) at the school.
If you want to grow your business then you have to get out there and tell people about it. When it comes to sales - trust trumps price every time. People will buy from those they know and trust.
In the book “Network or Perish,” Robyn Henderson comments that networking is a life skill that revolves around treating people in the same way that you want to be treated; that there are abundant opportunities for everyone; that if you give referrals, you will receive referrals- but do things without an expectation of getting something back directly from the person you help. This is a great book. If you need help to get out there, then I suggest you should read it.
Mariejan Bigby
Small Fish Business Coaching Toowoomba
www.smallfish.com.au
Anonymous 10-Nov-2010 05:01 PM
Hi Mariejan
As usual, another great blog!
I totally agree with you! I have met the most interesting and talented people at networking functions. Initially, the hardest thing for me to do was to talk about my business - but practice makes perfect and I'm getting better :-)
Looking forward to your next blog and catching up with you at an event soon.
What Really Differentiates Us From Our Competition?
After talking to many business owners from varying industries about what is unique about their business - it nearly always comes down to them. That is because the business revolves around them. This is not always a good thing because it means that they are tied to the business and can rarely if ever get away from it. They are the great technicians ... but are they great business people?
The reality is though that as a business owner your competitive advantage is the way you think (and act on those thoughts). However, if you don’t take time to think, to do and to review, then you lose your competitive advantage. We harp on about working on and not in your business - and this is why:
To become a great business person you need to take the time to think.
You need to get out of the day to day and look at what you are doing..................................... Audit.
You need to think about the future, what are you trying to achieve with your business and your life. Why do you get out of bed every day? (apart from children jumping on you J) ....................... Plan.
You then need to make it happen, do the right things to achieve the right results. As the saying goes “if it is to be then it is up to me” (or in my case who ever I can delegate it to)........................... Action.
Mariejan Bigby
Small Fish Business Coaching
www.smallfish.com.au
Suzanne Bolte 06-Oct-2010 04:10 PM
Mariejan
Great article......
I can now see that I am good at the "Audit" and then the "Plan," but I need to do more "Action."
It is easy to say that I am busy, but what am I busy with? Is the action the money making action?
Definately food for thought.
Systems and Processes
Anyone who has looked at coaching will know that we stress that systems and processes should be put in place. This helps the business run more efficiently and to free business owners from having to be there day in and day out.
The most successful businesses spend a lot of time in getting these systems and processes in place. One of the best systems that I have seen was at Toowoomba East Chiropractic Centre. Trevor has spent a lot of time and effort to implement systems and processes that allow his business to run very efficiently. This is a doctor’s office that runs so smoothly you could almost set your clock by it and you never have to wait. All this and the quality of care is excellent. When carrying out the customer satisfaction survey for Trevor the clients raved about the level of service, the care and how they were listened to.
Having set his business up to run this way Trevor has a wonderful work-life balance, can plan for the future as he knows when he will reach full capacity and have another practitioner step in and know exactly how the clinic operates. All in all it has allowed him peace of mind and a management tool that is invaluable in tracking how his business is operating.
Putting systems and processes in place is usually not difficult – it is taking note of what gets done and documenting it so it gets done that way every time. Always look for what is working well and what needs improving and review the systems and processes to reflect this.
If you need help to do this then contact us.
Mariejan Bigby
Small Fish Business Coaching
www.smallfish.com.au
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