What happens when an experienced staff member suddenly quits?
When an experienced staff member suddenly quits your business do you download all of their knowledge before they go so that you can upload it in to the replacement staff member? And how do your best employees leave their mark on your business? Do they walk out and leave a massive gap in your business or do they leave it better than it was when they started?
Why are lists so important?
Have you ever gone to the supermarket and forget to get something? A simple handwritten list would have prevented that second journey to go back it get the job done right! I once had an admin employee, Abbie, who believed in leaving her desk in such a way so that if she got hit by a bus on the way home, someone else would be able to sit in her chair and continue her work from where she left it. One thing she did to support this belief was by writing lists on how to do each task in her job description. Initially this was only for her own purposes and so she didn’t forget to do any part of her job. These lists were titled by the result they generated and kept in a Manilla Folder labelled “Instructions.”
Why do people rely on lists?
Because they send a reliable message that, if followed, ensures that nothing is missed. When Abbie left my business after several years she used her lists to train the next admin person who filled the role, who ended up training the next admin person and so on… Many years later we were discussing systemisation in a planning meeting and decided that we needed to document all of our systems. To my surprise, the admin person pulled out an old ragged Manilla Folder labelled “Instructions” and inside it was all of Abbie’s old lists! They looked like pirate maps, all worn and torn. There were numerous notes, updates and changes on the lists that had been made over the years as the level of service we delivered had changed. I was amazed that Abbie had had such an impact on my business so many years after she had left, she left a legacy and one that made the business better than it was by having her there. Do you know what the other administrators called Abbie’s Instructions? ‘The Bible’
But surely you don’t need to write down everything to get results?
You do, and why wouldn’t you? The surest path to business success is to systemise your business. Every business is a network of systems. These systems are designed to generate desired results and they define the way in which the work gets done, by your people, to satisfy the client’s needs. If you don’t do that… you are out of business!
If there is something in your business that is to be done more than once, you must create a system for it! This will ensure that you are providing your people proven instructions that will allow them to produce consistent results. A business and its people must produce consistent results.
How do I build systems that get those consistent results?
Your first task is to determine the results and then build the business systems around achieving those results. People are the most important part of your business; however, it is necessary to first know the required results, define the work that needs to get done to produce the results and then document the systems to drive the work. Once that is decided, you can find the right people with the right skillsets to operate those your result producing systems.
So, these are the steps:
- What RESULTS are needed to solve customer’s problems?
- What WORK is necessary to produce those results?
- What SYSTEMS must be in place to coordinate the work?
- What PEOPLE must I put in place to deliver the systems?
Why would my people even use the systems we have documented?
Well that’s simple… The results, work and systems form part of the employees Job Description that they sign and will take responsibility for. This means that the person filling that role IS taking responsibility for the RESULTS.
Where can I get more information on property management systems?
Contact us here at RED. Our coaching programs are focused toward helping leaders build a systems driven rent roll for customer-centric results. We deliver our services in a combination of training and coaching which allows you and the team to structure the Rent Roll for scalability and efficiency. Our clients find that once the structures and systems are embedded in to their business they see more growth, happy staff, satisfied clients and more profit and we could all do with a bit more of that, couldn’t we?