Copyright 2007 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
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I posted this on Inc.com as comments about what Leigh Buchanan wrote in the February issue. I advise you to read what she wrote since it fits what I've been teaching you.
The URL is http://www.inc.com/magazine/20070201/column-buchanan.html
Those who use Microsoft Word may understand this analogy. It's different in various versions of Word but the effect is the same.
Hiring a person is like copying & pasting text from a web site to a document. Each site is formatted differently. If you paste things from various sites without using "Paste Special", your document will be a hodgepodge of knowledge & possibly wisdom, but it won't look like it is. It'll look chaotic & somewhat like a stereotypical ransom note.
Sometimes what's pasted hijacks a document & the rest conforms to its style. If you haven't disabled "Automatically Update" your document may change formatting every time one thing changes. Too often, "Automatically Update" mysteriously gets checked again.
You should have a policy against "Automatically Update" in your business. If the culture is changed without your permission, you'll have to uncheck "Automatically Update" by having a training session again. Employees may think their changes are updates, but changes are only updates if the situation is improved.
Each person has a comfort-zone & starting a new job disrupts comfort-zones. It's natural for people to try to change environments to suit themselves. But a business can become a big mess, if each employee adapts it to him/herself. Customers won't recognize your business, if every product, service or customer interaction is left to employees' whims. Business owners won't recognize what they create, when others recreate their businesses.
Businesses should be formatted & maintained by policies, plans & procedures. Some randomness is tolerable, if it doesn't adversely change what customers expect. But randomness may happen anyway, without it being instituted. If something different works, it should be refined & kept.
Instituting policies, plans & procedures is a vital way to work on your business, so employees will work consistently. Even employees, who don't like your particular structure, dislike chaos.
If you don't have a policy to guide plans, it's like traveling in a foreign country without a map. You may end up somewhere else. If you don't have a plan for procedures, your procedures won't accomplish much. Results may be different each time.
If you don't set up procedures, how will you or employees know if something is being done correctly?
"Running" a business any other way is doing it by the seat of your pants. Eventually, you'll be found with your pants down & competitors will kick your butt.
Marketing may seem effective when people interpret it their way. But it means some will be disappointed or frustrated. This includes marketing your business to employees.
Effective branding requires providing what customers expect. Brands promise a result. If you haven't designed & installed policies, plans & procedures for yourself & employees, how can you consistently fulfill what your brand promises?
If you don't have a brand promising consistent solutions, you're depending on luck. Luck is usually being in the right place at the right time. Successful people & businesses make their luck by being where the right things happen & being ready for those things to come to them.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2007 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
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