Do it Again
Since summer is the season of reruns. I thought it would be appropriate to review the important points of my previous articles. You might consider this an example of time management.
Three topics run through all of my articles. The first is knowing where you are going, next is the importance of communication and third is the necessity of constant improvement.
Every business has an influence on other people with the ultimate goal of improving their lives. For some companies this chain of events might be long and obscure but I believe the starting place for every business is the customer. Keep this in mind when writing your mission statement. Every aspect of the company should recognize that there are real people out there. Whether designing your product or your billing system never forget actual people have to use it.
Keeping this in mind is the foundation of time management. If what you are doing is not making your product or services simpler and better, you are not managing your time effectively. A common mistake is trying to make something simpler or better that is not part of your business. A client will ask for something that is just outside of what your business does. You may have the expertise to do it but it will take your focus away from what you are truly trying to accomplish. At best you will help just the one client and postpone your own goals.
It is impossible to be excellent at everything. If there are any complex tasks that are not central to your business such as payroll you should consider outsourcing it. You or your staff might be outstanding at these tasks but if you are not working on your core business then once again you are not managing your time appropriately.
Once you have decided what your business passions are you need to communicate this to as many people as you can. The traditional method is with the mission statement. This should be short no more than a few sentences. It should communicate to your staff and your customers what services/products you provide. When writing the mission statement be realistic on what you can do with the resources that you have. Also spend some time in the 'perfect world'. Here you have unlimited resources. With this vision you can plan where you intend to be in five or ten years.
Unless you have a specific reason to keep information confidential (such as salaries), let everyone know. This helps the staff feel that they are part of the company. Time is saved in many ways. Customers can get immediate answers instead of the staff person asking a manager for the information and then calling back the customer. And most importantly everyone in the company will be moving in the same direction.
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