Walk Your Business
Once you have done the basics—goals, budgets, selecting good employees, customers, and vendors—it is super important to keep your eyes and ears open to ensure your business stays viable and has the ability to grow. What is the best way to do this? Be curious, observe, observe, observe, ask a lot of questions, and LISTEN to what people say.
While I understand the transition and possible benefits, for some personnel and tasks, of working from home, I do NOT believe it is in the best interest of most small businesses and their employees. Why? From the employee standpoint, let’s take a look at personal relationships, including friendships. As I look back on my fifty-plus years of small business ownership, I see that many, if not most, of my friends and relationships were made through business-related interactions. From the employer standpoint, seeing and interacting with employees daily is very important. By doing so, they will see that you are involved in day-to-day operations, you care about employees, and you are willing to lead by example.
In a small business, especially one with fewer than fifty employees, keep your office door open, be available, and welcome conversations and interactions with employees. Greet employees as they arrive, make unscheduled walks through your business, and wish them a good evening as they leave. While walking your business, ask them what they are working on and if there are any issues they see that could be improved or eliminated. If, while walking your business, you sense that someone isn’t fully engaged in something important, ASK them what is going on. You might be surprised by the honest and caring responses you will hear.
On many occasions, while visiting the service department, I have heard things like, “I’m waiting for a service call.” A statement like that should ignite your “what is it” thought process. Is the service department overstaffed? Is this an abnormal day with low service requests? And most importantly, is there a process in place to keep the employee engaged and productive when situations like this happen? If NOT, get that process in place.
By consistently walking your business, you will greatly reduce the chances of uttering things like: “Why didn’t I know that?” “I should have known that.” “You’ve got to be kidding,” etc.
Keep reading our blog, or if you want to Wright Your Business immediately, book a 15-minute Google-Meet meeting to explore the possibilities.
