Latest Articles
- Information – an Office’s Gold
As America moves to service based industries the raw materials needed to bring a service or product to market is information. This is the “gold” in an office. With today’s technology we are able to collect, measure and quantify our leads and customers. The question then becomes what do we do with that information?
- BPs Lack of Seeing the Big Picture
No matter what side of the political fence you fall, BP failed to take the proper quality control measures. As the weeks pass more information is coming to light how the organization cut corners with safety to keep costs down. Safety is not the place to take short cuts. In the long run this can cost you thousands of dollars and possibly your business. In BP’s case it is running in the billions not to mention what it is doing for their stock value. The ramification of poor quality control is costly. So how could a corporation
- Make Your Bottom Line Grow
No matter what size your organization doing things as efficiently as possible is not only ideal it is necessary in the new world economy. One area that can be significantly improved is the office. In fact, 60 to 80% of costs associated with providing a service or product to market is administrative. If you were able to reduce these by one third how much could you increase your cash flow?
- Proper Planning Can Ensure Success
Planning is the backbone of success. Not doing it can cost thousands of dollars, man hours and resources. Proper planning can save you money, increase your cash flow and help fulfill your mission. Here is a simple tool to aid in ensuring your success.
- Working Between Departments Means Faster Cash Flow
When you look at a traditional organizational chart it has silos which contain various departments and the people overseeing and working in those departments. In today’s business climate where information is your company’s gold this can be troublesome. Why, because the right hand may not know what the left hand is doing. We have all [...]
Micro Management Costs Money
One of the fastest ways to sabotage effective delegation and employee moral is micro management. Some of the clients I work with are uncomfortable about passing over work because they feel they can do it better or quicker themselves. If that is the case then the manager is missing the point. Managers should “manage” the workflow of their employees not do the work of the employees. There is a great article that Jim Sandler of The Alternative Board gave me called “Who’s got the Monkey“ by William Oncken, Jr. and Donald L. Wass. This article is a discussion about not taking responsibility for your employee’s “monkey”. If you are interested in a copy of this article send me an email at cmc@crollorganizing.com.
How can you avoid this trap? By having the following:
• The right person for the job
• The proper training and resources for the employee
If you do not have a human resources person then it would be worth your while to use an outside service to help screen candidates. Using a service helps reduce the expense of hiring and turnover. Make sure you provide a list of duties and responsibilities for the strafing services so they can send you qualified candidates. Having a list will also help you with training the person and give you a measure to track performance.
Invest the training time upfront. Good training allows you to hand over the reigns with confidence. After all you are the manager and are costing the business valuable time and money if you do not utilize your employees correctly. If you feel the urge to micro manager ask yourself why. Below are some questions to help you get to the root of your apprehension:
• Is the employee the right person for this job?
• If not, do they need additional training to be able to perform the job?
• Would this person be more effective in a different capacity in the company?
• Do I need a different person for this job?
• Have I given the employee the proper tools and resources to complete the job successfully?
Answering these questions will enable you to address the issue and get you on the right track to utilizing your employees. For more information about delegation visit http://crollorganizing.com/Blog/Blog.
Please email your questions to cmc@crollorganizing.com.