Everything Needs An Owner
At Swift Straw, we are constantly growing and taking on new challenges. One thing that I have learned over the last year is that every part of the business requires an owner. If an area of the business does not have an owner, it turns into a blind spot that will certainly not perform as well as you would like. Here are a few thoughts on how to assign an owner to each piece of your business:
1) Talking about something does not serve as having an owner. Having an owner means that there is a specific person in the company that owns the results.
2) In order to own the results, everyone is required to be fully educated on the subject. Last year, I did not fully understand the repairs and maintenance part of our business. Since no one really understood it, it became a classic blind spot with less than stellar results.
3) In order to truly own the results, a "plan" must be established for each area of the business. Then, the results must be reported each week as a comparison to plan. This taps into the competitive spirit and let's each owner know how they win the game.
Like every mistake we have made in the past, I am very excited about the lessons learned around owning each part of the business. The best way to get rid of those blind spots is to start with a solid plan and then shove them in a weekly fish bowl.