THE 12 RULES OF BUSINESS PRACTICE
?We need to stick to these rules in our various business undertakings.
?Rule1:The Rule of Time Management
That if you manage your time well, you will get the most out of time. It starts with listing out all the things to be done in a given period of year. Then, prioritize them into order of importance, significance and urgency. You ?then? try to allocate time to them and move on to execution. That was then, and that still remains the formula of time management for achievement of maximum output today. That there is no where it was said that you can allocate time to doing nothing, or for doing something unproductive. But, our new generation of workers have found a new formula for time management. They spend time doing nothing or doing unproductive things, such as meaningless pinging, texting etc.
?
Rule2: The Rule of Managerial Leadership.
?That if a company has a manager that has great leadership skills, the company will be led to greatness. A leader is a person with the capacity and willingness to mobilize people and motivate them to execute a project for the common good of people’’-John Maxwell. So without managerial leadership skill, Managers will not easily produce results because of human element in the management process.? A good manager must therefore possess the essential leadership qualities such as vision, competence,commitment,communication,courage,discernment,focus,generosity,initiative,passion,positive attitude, relationship, responsibility, self discipline, teachability and listening in order to succeed. But, above all these qualities, a good manager must pass the test of character and possess strong leadership will to move the company forward.? Leadership will is the courage and the audacity to do what is right for the future of the company. And what is right will not always be pleasant to everybody. Test of character is the ability of a manager to change direction or to stop doing what is wrong based on his personal conviction.
?
Rule3:The Rule of World Best-Practices
?That for you to win in the fierce business competition, you should adopt best-practices in management of your finance, marketing, accounting and administrative procedures. But what is world best practice? It is the use of methods used by the most successful international organizations and/or procedures prescribed by The World Bank in financial reporting systems.? But how can we win if we use the same method every other person is using? If you do what others are doing in the same way they are doing it, you will have no winning edge over them.
?
Rule4:The Rule of Adapting To Changes
?That you either adapt to changes in your operating style or you die. Yes, change is the only constant thing in life and in business-change of company logo and brand ,change in product design, change in location, change of staff, change in use of Technology, and change of company structures, etc.
But some changes, if not properly managed ,will bring quicker death than life and progress to the company. So you have to prepare for a thorough Change management process. This involves communicating the need for the change to your staff, selling the need for change to them, preparing change Agent that will manage the change, implement the change in phases and prepare to let go of those that are not ready to accept the changes. You don’t embrace change if you haven’t the capacity to manage the change.? Change in Technology requires extensive capital outlay and capacity building of your workers. It is not wise to embrace technology you don’t know how to use or that lack the infrastructure that will make it function. Stick to your technological tools if they are not affecting your revenue base. After all, customer satisfaction is deeply rooted in quick service delivery, and not in the display of fanciful technology
?
Rule5:The Rule of Effective Management Process.
That Management which is the ‘’art of getting things done through others’’ by application of decision making, planning and execution through the process of directing, coordinating, organizing ,staffing, supervising and leading will produce efficient result if the processes are followed to the letter. Oh yes, nothing can be achieved without decision and planning.
?But there are many projects that cannot be fully planned out until you start ,and staffing, coordinating, organizing and controlling are not one time activities. They are processes that are carried out in various stages of the projects.? Ever heard of ‘’paralysis by analysis’’?? Many managers fail to take off a project because they are stuck by analysis of details of the process.? Britain who colonized the world has been overtaken in science and technology by her colonies due to ‘’too much details ‘’ with delayed decisions and actions.
Rule6:The Rule of Staff And Customer Loyalty.
?That if you treat your workers and customers fairly well, they will stick to you. Yes, but not always and not for ever because you cannot please everyone all the time. No relationship is permanent except that of your immediate blood lines. Friends come and go.? So do workers and customers. They all come with different baskets of motives and they will do anything to fulfill their missions. While some come to spy on your operational method, others come to cheat, steal, manipulate, seduce and even to kill you if need be. As soon as they satisfy their objectives, they will evaporate into thin air. To survive these characters of workers and customers, you have to develop strong business policy to guide your daily operations and ensure that every worker and customer adhere to the content of standard operating procedure and policy Manual(SOPPM) of your company. ?If they are not ready to obey the rules of operation, then you can be sure that they will never be loyal to you.? If you have not developed any standard operating procedure and policy manual for your workers, develop one now because without it you have no yardstick for discipline and performance measurement of your workers.
?
Rule7:The Rule. of Focus And Consistency.
?That if you focus attention on a particular business line over the years without shifting from one business to another and you will make steady progress and reap bountiful rewards. Yes, you may reap bountiful rewards, build lasting legacy and gain recognition in the industry. But don’t forget that priorities often change over the years. So you need to constantly review your ambition to suit the prevailing business realities.
It is stupidity to hold onto ideas that don’t sell anymore. To sustain your focus and make consistent progress ,you must have an effective yardstick for constant monitoring of performance of your business.? You must keep reading the indicators on your business radar-your account reports, your business ratios, your customer responses to your products and services, the emerging government regulations, and the changes in the global industry practice.? If you ignore the business weather forecast demanding for change of direction, you will crash without surviving.
?
Rule8:The Rule Of Hard Work And Result.
?That if you work very hard 24/7, you will reap abundant results. Well, hardworking is now being replaced with smart working. ?Hardworking demands that you spend hours on your table till all the work is done . It pays little regard to the time it takes to get results and other methods that can yield better results.
?
Smart Working requires, re-defining your objectives, and identifying the key jobs that need to be done to achieve the objectives.
?It is in the answers to the strategy question of where am I now? Where do I want to be in the next two or more, years?. And how do I get there?? Ever heard of the 80/20 Principles(The so called Pareto principle)?
? Concentrate 80% of your time and energy on the key success factors of your objective. The key success factor of your business is only 20% of all the things you need to do.? After all, it is only 20% of your customers and 20% of your products that generate 80% of your income. Identify those products and customers and give them 80% of your time and energy. That is what smart thinking and smart working is all about-getting more results in less time with less energy.
?
Rule9:The Rule of Collective Decision Making.
?That to get the best result from your team,you should involve them in every critical decision making process through committees and consultations at meetings, etc.? Very fine thoughts on executions, change management and managerial leadership principle.? In any organization, there are handful numbers of Judas, who will never buy new ideas from the leader. They are there as spies, sadists ,and saboteurs, ever ready to inflict injuries to efforts that would bring progress to the company.? So, look out for few workers with good intensions, spirit of creativity and loyalty ,and form your team out of them to move your company forward. They can be found among all cadres of workforce.? The remaining majority of about 80% of the workers should be managed under the principle of command and obey.? Information should get to them only on the basis of ‘’the need to know’’.? The army all over the world, have the most efficient and effective result-oriented management and leadership system. Copy their style of command and control system of operations to succeed in your business.
?
Rule10:The Rule of Talent And Competency.
?That if you hire the most talented staff into your organization, you will get the best results all the time. But that is if the talents is backup with other positive attribute. According to John maxwell, ‘’Talent is no longer enough’’. Talent must be accompanied with high levels of integrity(honesty) to protect it, passion to energize it, teachability to expand it, preparation to position it, perseverance to sustain it, relationship to influence it, practice to sharpen it, team work to multiply it and responsibility to strengthen it. You must therefore look beyond talents when recruiting workers into your organisation especially those talents that are not supported by the above positive attributes .
?
Rule11:The Rule of Leadership And Followership.
That if you provide good leadership, people will follow; that if you teach, they will learn; that if you motivate, they will appreciate; that if you command, they will obey; and that if you speak, they will listen and hear.? But, that was then. Things have changed now.? Most of the youth of this generation have lost the art of listening and learning.? They have also lost the spirit of patience, obedience and respect for constituted authority. We have lost a bunch of unlearned and unskilled graduates parading themselves with undefendable certificate without any remorse.? They have all forgotten that the shortest route to riches and glory is the longest route of skill acquisition and experience over the years.? No one is ready in this generation to pay his dues of time, knowledge and skill acquisition before becoming rich. Impatience has become the order of the day.? So while we talk of unemployment ,we have so much jobs looking for workers, simply because all our graduates are not employable. They have neither the required skills nor the willingness and the patience to be taught. All they want is big salary without contributing to the whole company.
?
Rule12:The Rule That The Customers Are Kings.
That customers should always be treated with respect accorded to kings and that customers are always right. This has been the rule of customer relationship over years.? Yes your customers are kings and deserve all the respect and good treatment accorded to kings and queens. After all, you survive with their money. But that is until they have money.? And customers are only right when they behave within the province of the extant laws of the land.? Kings are no longer above the law in the modern world.
Kings and queens are not poor people who come asking for free services or who come demanding for credit services or who come requesting to pay prices that are below the cost price of your products. They should be reasonable enough to understand that business exists to make reasonable profit.? If they fail to understand that with you, you will have no option than to politely turn them down.? Until they can pay for the good and services, they are but ordinary people who deserve nothing but ordinary respect.? So, when next you visit any organisation to patronize their services, behave like a king so that you can get a king’s respect.
?
.
?