What Can You Control?

If you can’t control events or situations, you might find yourself getting anxious.  This is negative thinking, likely to have an adverse effect on your performance and productivity.

In such situations, it is important to identify what you can control and focus on those things.

For example, when the pandemic hit, it was an external, major event.  You, within your organisation, were powerless to stop the threat affecting your organisation and your people.

But, you could control how the organisation reacted to the threat.  You could, previously, have controlled how the organisation planned for such an emergency.

You could control the external messaging with stakeholders.

Never waste time worrying about factors affecting your organisation, your processes or your people if you have no influence or control.  Turn the focus inward, into the organisation and work with those factors where you do have influence or control.  

You will feel better and be more effective,

Information Matters

 There is some research evidence from India that suggests that providing farmers with information and advice about the use of pesticides, high yield seeds, weather forecasts, etc is more important than ‘showing them what to do’.  Farmers react more positively when you leave responsibility with them.  

Of course, today the technology exists to provide advice and information ‘just in time’ via mobile phones. If an advice service can provide information on seeds as the sewing season start, it is much better than giving a lecture 6 months before the second starts. 

In fact, this is a general principle.

Try to identify what information people need to be more productive and provide it in a convenient and timely form just as they need it. 

Now is the Time to Think

As we gain hope, and maybe even confidence, with the first virus injections, it is time to reflect on the effects of the pandemic and form plans for the future.

There are two main items of consideration.

One is your readiness for the pandemic when it happened.  Did you handle it quickly? Well?

Was such a scenario within your business continuity planning?  Should it have been?

What would you change about the way in which you handled it?  

What should you now change to ensure you are better prepared for any repeat?

The second item to consider is the lessons learned. 

What have you learned about your organisation?  

What have you learned about remote working?

What have you learned about remote management of staff?

What changes will you make based on this learning?

If nothing will change, you are missing an opportunity for improvement.  If you miss opportunities for improvement, you will lose competitiveness.

Happy New Year

Was what you did and achieved in 2020 the best you could do, bearing in mind the limits caused by the pandemic?

If not, you have to think about what you can do and achieve in 2021 to improve. There is no point repeating what you did last year and expecting better results.

So, set yourself some performance goals - and then establish a set of action plans to achieve them.

Simply having goals in mind and striving to achieve them is likely to improve what you do.  If not, you should at least improve your ability to plan and to monitor progress against plans.

So, a minor win at least - and a major win at best.  What have you got to lose?

Happy New Year!

Festive Time

I know Christmas day was yesterday, and I know some readers do not celebrate Christmas ... but I send greetings anyway.  

I also remind you that 'festivities' are valuable in  the workplace - to celebrate, and cement, success.

So, take what chances you can to combine seasonal cheer with rewards for effort and success.

Critical Success Factors

Every business - and every manager in that  business - should know what are the critical success factors … what must the company do - and do well - if they are to be successful.  What are the factors that underpin the mission.  

The aim is not to identify lots of these - but the essential (‘critical’) ones.

One probably relates in one way to customer satisfaction or service; another (especially in smaller businesses) might relate to the control of work-in-progress and/or cashflow.

Once these are identified, the business should identify some measure that will tell them how well (or badly) they are doing in relation to each CSF.  These are the organisation’s key performance indicators (KPIs) - and there should be at least one that relates to each CSF.

Finally, they need to identify actions that will make those indicators move in the right direction, showing progress is being made in relation to the CSFs and towards the mission.

We like to think of a form of ‘golden thread’ that runs through everything the organisation does - from establishing the mission, to identifying CSFs, to identifying appropriate KPIs - and establishing acv set of action plans.

The concept is very simple; execution  is harder - but failing to create the golden thread means some important factor may be overlooked.

The Secret Productivity Weapon

We have all been in situations where we have received efficient, friendly service from someone with a smile.  Efficient AND friendly service is so much more effective at creating customer well-being and customer loyalty than merely efficient service.  

We remember it.  We value it. We react to it.

It must be more than ‘smile training’ or the muttering of phrases such as ‘Have a Nice Day’. It should be genuine pleasure from someone who knows their role, knows how to interact with people - and is aware of the effect their attitude can have on customers.

Some of this can be trained - but some of it depends on hiring those who already have the right attitude, keeping those people informed and engaged - and rewarding the behaviours that delight your customers. 

Of course, friendly service cannot make up for inefficient or poor service.  Efficient service is the bedrock on which friendly service can be built.

It is not rocket science but it is not common to receive such service.

Think about it.  A smile might be your secret weapon to improve customer service and improve productivity.