My wife and I have walked and spent time with one of those lonely dogs who barks all day long. We discovered how sweet and kind that dog really is. It is a tragic thing to witness. This dog just needs a little more love and a little more attention. She was not meant to be a temporary 'fix' when she was a cute puppy for some adults to purchase because they thought it would be a neat idea for their little children to enjoy. Once she served that role, she got sent out to find her own way around the yard in a very busy world. She barks at every movement and noise she hears trying to find attention. About once every quarter someone plays ball with her. I see this same type of respect given to many important business management techniques. I see those same business owners wonder why their revenues are coming in each month, under par.
Good business management is all about paying high attention to the details of the business. You cannot park some of the more important details out in the yard all day and ignore them without suffering some lower performance marks. Details need a lot of attention. Details will eat up your profits, destroy your volume growth potential and drive your staff, customers and associates away if they are not given enough attention. Ignoring the important details will destroy the love you have for the business you own. Each time a customer barks, each time an employee barks and each time an associate barks is a time of destruction to the attention your business deserves. That dog down the street deserves better. The owners are asleep at the wheel. Is your business model receiving similar treatment? Are you taking care of the thousands of details in your business demands that deserve proper attention?
I actually believe he was showing off a little bit. He may have wanted me to see how strong his staff was able to perform. They were great. I am convinced his business would survive and grow well without his constant presence. It was a beautiful thing to witness.
I was also amazed at how demanding the details were in every facet of his business. There was no quiet time during the day, in any office. The buzz and hum of the activities was relatively high all day long, in each office and in each day I was there. I had been given only a once-in-a-while request to help with a decision or two. The phones were busy, the movement was quick and the camaraderie was high. I felt like I was being placed into the center of an experiment for a good business movie. It was a joyful experience.
Does your business behave in this fashion? Does your business handle challenges in similar style as this one did? Can you leave your business for small periods of time and return to find it doing better than when you left? Is your business model in good hands? Do the people who work for you take care of the menagerie of details without dropping the ball here and there? This is exactly what I witnessed when I 'filled in' for my friend. I also know why his staff took such good care of the details. He takes care good care of the details.
Every challenge they were working on was already patterned for repair. Before he left he had worked to arrange how the challenges they were facing could be potentially solved. What was more evident was the fact that the new challenges that popped up while he was gone were easily approached by his staff because his staff already knew how he would prefer to treat them. He had trained them very well. They completely understood his mission for the business he owned. They did not find the barking dogs in the yard an annoyance. They cared for the customers that began to bark and each other as the tension could ripen. Respect was given for the high level of attention to the various details each needed to provide. Some of his staff would even work to help the others when the demand shifted to do so. It was pleasant to watch.
When he returned, I asked if he had a position open. I told him I would like to work in that kind of environment. It was a joy.
I 'filled in' for another outfit for about three years one time. They were a group of employees that found the art of back biting a regular part of their daily diet at work. They promised to do many things for customers that as soon as the customer left the establishment, nothing close to the promise was done. They lost special order catalogs, misplaced important notes and fudged on arriving to work on time. Sometimes they took longer lunch periods than allowed. Many times they lost important keys. If the boss were to leave for more than a month, the business would suffer greatly. Countless important details were left undone. Many of the customer phone calls I fielded were not of the 'good kind' nature. Much of the customer research work I performed was trying to discover who dropped the ball and why it happened so we could 'fix' the gap. More than 20% of my daily attention was devoted to refereeing employment issues and pampering wounded staff, mostly self inflicted. Selfishness found its way to the working environment more than I can ever imagine. Profitability, sucked. The dogs barked all day in the yard, without anyone paying attention to go give them love and attention. The associates were grumpy, the staff did not enjoy their work and the boss was left holding the bag to explain why so many things did not get done each day. When the clock hit 'time to go' the race for the parking lot was on! Facility lights left on, doors left opened, equipment not put away properly, coffee pots uncleaned and burning the last drips in the bottom of the pot, floors muddy from the day of traffic, notes of importance left in places that look like trash to be picked up and someones partial lunch remained on the table in the break room. Details of the business remained undone everywhere.
It is not difficult to recognize which business is doing well during a recession and which one is struggling more than it should. I have sat in the seat of both. I can assure you that the attention you give to the multitude of details your business faces each day is the trick to performing well. If you are a great leader, you do not skip the importance of giving your dog the attention he deserves. If you own a business and you believe you can park your details out into the yard all day long without giving them some high levels of attention, your business issues will bark all day long and sometimes too loud to enjoy. If you are not the kind of person who likes to do details, do not own a business. It will kill you. If you need to sleep during the day and you cannot stand barking dogs, do not buy a dog and place it outside to spend its day alone without attention. You will not be able to sleep. That dog will bark all day long to try to get some attention.
These types of descriptions are simple to see. Owners know the difference. My neighbor knows his dog barks all day long. He just does not care. You know if your business is barking too much. The question is not whether you know it or not, the question is more about whether you care enough to do something about it. Good business management is all about details, the details and the details. Give the details of your business all the attention you can afford to give. Above all, make sure you become like the owner described in the first example above. Learn how to delegate to your staff what their share of duties and details are to manage. Make sure you give them the parameters you prefer for them to use in their business management procedures and cut them loose. Be a great example. Complete your details. If you buy a dog, give it proper love and attention. It will become one of your best and most appreciative friends.
Until next time...
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