Starting With a Clean Slate
The impact will be felt in various degrees, come, and go in waves, and will be carving a new normal. What does it look like to be prepared, plan, forecast and implement?
Most likely your company’s financial picture looks hugely different than it did just a few long/short months ago. You cannot change the past, you cannot even change just an hour ago in time. What if you turned your focus and energy to something you can change? Become more efficient for long-term goals. Time efficiency is cost effective-which does not mean cutting corners for short-term goals, thus costing you money in the long haul.
Start by evaluating. What slowed the system down, thus costing valuable employee time and slower response time to your customer? Now is the time to develop processes, adjust procedures to become even more time efficient. It is easier to make these adjustments during down times, even when you do not get to pick the down time.
Ask your employees to review their daily procedures. What are the steps before and after the employee handles their part? Do this for 1 – 2 weeks, improving the details and fine tuning the steps
Review with your employee, the details of their documentation. Discuss what the employee feels is tripping them up, or the steps that truly make the procedure efficient. Do this with each employee. If you have the time, sit with the employee, shadow their job, and see for yourself, the actions of the details they have documented. Seeing is believing.
Ask for suggestions. Often your employees have a much better understanding of the daily requirements of the business as well as anyone. Find out what they see as solutions to the issues prior to and after the process continues beyond that employee. It could be passing more people, taking more valuable time, than necessary. Can it be condensed? Does it need to be expanded? These are all important things to consider when doing a procedure review.
When issues need to be solved between two steps of the procedure, and involve more than one employee, offer a safe open conversation with both individuals involved in these two steps. Again, often, they will come up with a workable solution. Perhaps they are not fully aware of why the procedure happens as it does since; they do not fully understand the other employees’ requirements to complete that set of the procedure.
Once the procedures are revised, again, give your employees 1-2 weeks to follow, review and adjust the new procedure and steps. Repeat this until you feel the procedure is fine tuned enough to put it in the procedure manual.
Remember, some procedures may simply be fine. They do not need adjusted, the requirement to follow the procedure needs enforced.
In your next team meeting, remind the employees, change can be difficult, but look at this in a positive light and long-term goal which will benefit all. Time efficiency is cost effective.
Put a ‘deadline’ on all requests. Set a date for the new procedures to be fully in effect for all involved. Deadlines are a great way to ensure everyone is on the same playing field of expectations.
You cannot change the fact, today, we are where we are. But you can move forward, plan, adjust, and keep putting one foot in front of the other. Your financial reports may not have a line item for efficiency, but it is in there and hitting your bottom line. When you start in your new normal with your clean slate, the goal is to have efficient routines, cost effective procedures, and a team that feels empowered in their position.
We did not pick the times to be down, but they are here. Take advantage of this and find the positive, a half full basket of toilet paper attitude. The luxuries of life, all positive affects the bottom line, uh-huh.
Don’t spin your wheels doing this on your own. Find an expert to develop procedures and processes specific to your company needs. Remember, time efficiency is cost effective.