Friday, August 27, 2010

Get Organized

Just a brief comment on the importance of being organized and having clear systems and administration for your company.

I personally feel that a huge amount of profit is lost in this area. A lot of companies are strong in sales or delivery or customer service but not many are truly strong in administration. In other words, your process, operations, systems etc. Really think it through and make a checklist of the areas that need to be addressed.

Here is a starting point:

- Flow charts for all key areas and functions like sales, delivery, finance posted on the wall so they are viewable for training and drilling

- Progress boards to monitor and track key actions so you can manage and push progress week to week

- Clearly defined positions and actions for each person in written format so your people can study them and become competent for their position

- A form of measurement for all key company indicators that can be tracked weekly to compare from week to week and to set targets for improvement

- Checklists or procedures for handling specific actions like collecting income, closing sales, delivering to new clients in order to have exact sequences that are followed every time without fail

These are just a few basic fundamental points to look into. The basic message here is that time and time again I see companies losing opportunities and income simply by lack of planning, lack of systems and lack of organization which results in chaos and confusion in the company making people look busy when in actual fact it's unproductive business.

Make all systems and functions clearly defined and ensure you have procedures that are organized and orderly in all areas and your production level will go through the roof. It's not time you lack, it's a lack of administration that organizes processes to create more time for you. Inefficiencies are expensive.

Our agency tends to get about a months work done in a week simply because we are organized and can execute and have systems for everything. Don't run around and say your busy and have no time... get organized, be ruthless about your systems and create time in order to focus on doing more to expand your company. Dissect your processes and jam in orderly operations and you'll see what I mean.

- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Title Vs. Task

What is a title to you? The title of where you work whether it is CEO, VP Sales, Creative Director, CFO etc, what does it mean to you? If your thinking it has anything to do with power or importance then you have completely missed the mark and have lost the true purpose of your job and position within your company.

A title is not for power or importance or making anyone feel under you.... it's a description of where you are in your company and what your responsibilities are. It's a function. Now I realize this sounds a little self explanatory but many people seem to mis-use and mis-apply their titles which I find to be a shame to the company in general.

When you are a CEO or any position for that matter, that title simply is a label for your function. It means that the day to day tasks related to that title are your responsibility and your team relies on you to get it done. That's it. If you thought it was anything more than that, you've lost the focus and true spirit of business.

Think about the tasks and functions that go under your position or title. This is the only importance associated with your title. It dictates your job and reveals your tasks so everyone knows who is who in the company and who will handle what functions. Think of your company and position like a sport.... the goalie is supposed to stop attempts on goal, period. The goalie is not so he can be respected or act important (even though he is) or to be used for power.... it's simply a duty.

Take a look at your post, position or title and ask yourself whether you are exclusively handling the functions for your team to get the job done and whether you are making a valuable contribution to your team for the responsibilities that fall under your position. If you do this, your company will do better and if you can get others to do the same, the company will boom.

Focus on the task at hand, the functions that need to be done for the title and execute, execute, execute and forget the importance of it all.