Archive for October, 2008
What impresses me about a small business or practice?
Posted by: | Comments- Predictability of service.
- Customer service mentality from everyone in the company.
- Professional sales and marketing systems.
- Organization and efficiency in operations.
- Sleekness and style of office, equipment and processes.
- A committed mission and passion.
- A desire to bring value and the lowest possible cost.
- A desire to get better tomorrow than they are today.
- Convenience of doing business.
- A focus on giving back and not on keeping more.
These are in no particular order, but they are all important when I evaluate patronizing a business.
If you hit a road block- then ….
Posted by: | CommentsTake some time to clear out the cabinets or closets. Mow the lawn. Go for a jog. Organize your itunes. Play some ball. Go play golf, Take your spouse and kids to do something fun. Whatever the case, take action. Peter J Daniels suggests this method to overcome mental roadblocks, procrastination and nerves. Get into action. Nervous about speaking or an upcoming meeting, do something to burn off the nerves, the anxiety or the lack of mental clarity.
Take action.
A Digital Proficiency Test from Seth Godin
Posted by: | CommentsForget the changes happening each and everyday with web tools and technologies, how are you with the basics of productivity?
Does your business have systems to make it flow properly?
Posted by: | CommentsI don’t like to eat fast food, even though my lack of will power leads me there a little more often than I would like. When I am on the road or in a different area of town, I usually opt for McDonalds. Why McDonalds? Why not Burger King, Arby’s, A&W, Hardees, Rally’s, or a million other restaurants? Well the reason I choose McDonalds is because their franchise model seems to me to be the most duplicatable and therefore the most predictable. If I go into a McDonalds in Louisville or stop at one off of I-65 on the way to Atlanta; the service, the cleanliness and the food is very similar and very predictable. Sure there are exceptions, but I find that is not the case with the more loosely organized franchise restaurants. When too much autonomy happens in the restaurant business, you see a line wrapped all the way around a restaurant even though they are not nearly as busy as McDonalds during lunch. You get a burger on a stale piece of bread with wilted lettuce. You get home and your food is not in the bag. You get a flat coke. You get a pain in the neck. I have never sent a plate back at a restaurant, so I am not hard to please when it comes to food. When systems are documented and tested, the franchise owner doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel. He just follows the system. Sure McDonalds has changed the systems that Ray Kroc put in place some years ago, but the point is that they have a system, they teach a system and they follow a system. When a problem arises they fix the system. How does this apply to your small business, practice, non profit or home business? Are your services predictable? I know mine need some work from time to time.
Organization is futile without developing the proper habits
Posted by: | CommentsOrganization is futile without developing the proper habits and mindset. Call it a new philosophy about stuff, or a call it whatever you like. The fact remains- if you organize your home, your email, your systems, your finances, your garage, your files, your office, your iphone, your computer, your calendar or your life; they will probably become disorganized very quickly if you don’t work hard to develop new habits and a new mindset.
Here are the most important tips I can summarize to get you moving with small daily improvements in your organization quotient.
- Eliminate- the more you eliminate off your calendar, next actions list, projects list- the more you eliminate from your office, home, finances, and life in general the simpler you will make it to keep organized.
- Seek simplicity- if there is a complicated way to o something and a simple way, choose the simple way. Go for the big picture. Sometimes simple may cost a little more on the surface but after you look at the hidden costs ( opportunity cost, cost of time, cost of gas, cost of diffusion, cost of distraction) you’ll come out ahead by choosing a simpler more focused option.
- Organize your stuff. After step 1 and 2 you shouldn’t have that much stuff left to organize. The proper process to organize just about anything (hat tip to all professional organizers like myself, NAPO and where I first learned this system- Julie Morgenstern) is as follows. Sort by putting like items together by association, then Purge by tossing, selling, giving away or recycling, then Assign the remaining items a home, then Containerize the items in their home, then continually Assess your system.
- Put your stuff back in it’s home right now. Form the habit of picking up your stuff and putting it back after you use it. We teach our kids this right? Put you toys up before we go to bed. Put your books in your locker before you leave school. Put the dishes in the sink. Put those toys up before you get more out. So, my theory is that if we teach it to our kids you better do it yourself or you’re a hypocrite and kids are the best hypocrite detectors. Not to mention the fact that your life will be less stressful when you know where things are.
- Implement David Allen’s GTD system to handle the rest of your productivity concerns. This system will help you organize your thoughts and close the open loops in your mind. It will teach you to collect your information with various tools, to process this information and then how to act on it. You’ll create next actions lists, tickler file systems, project plans and lots of other helpful systems for increased personal productivity.
