Standard Operating Procedure

Whether something occurs in a plant in New Mexico, or a facility in New Jersey, the complications all will be handled in the same way. This is & a great way to limit delay in reaction time & for everyone involved, no matter what office they may be in, what is going to be done for a specific situation. It limits down time & speeds up any reaction & recovery of any lost time since there is no hesitation & discussion on how the situation will be managed.

Efficiency comes in plenty of forms, & waste comes in even more, but unless you can balance the & get everybody on board, it is a difficult task to accomplish. Tiny things such as SOP, standard operating procedure, are important in getting each department & different plants working from the same beginning point. It is & a great way to know that the questions that arise & any situations are all handled in the same manner.

The earlier an issue is handled & corrected, the earlier actual work can start again & everybody is working towards the actual objective of building or making whatever it is that they make. But these standard operating procedures need to be put in place before the issues arise, & often they are written down in plant & can be radically different in another facility. That is why it is important to share information & to have open communication between the plants & facilities.

These delays & hesitations can often lead to even bigger issues because of confusion & time wasted looking for the "proper" solution. There can be arguments on how to handle the situation, conflicts between different members of the team & delays caused by bickering. When standard operating procedures are already in place, then these kinds of issues are  entirely eliminated & the situation can be handled in a timely & efficient manner.

Why does group get an issue fixed in a sure amount of time & the other group takes a lot longer to make it happen? They ought to speak with each other & decide what team is doing & the other team is not doing. Possibly they may even mix techniques between the of them to get even better at solving the issue. The point is, unless the communication lines are open, nobody will share information.

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Discover the Obstacles That Stop You Cold

Obstacles are all over the place. They can cease progress for individuals, companies & even teams. The categories of obstacles (or roadblocks) that you encounter can be planned for it you take a couple of minutes to prepare for them while you are in the planning stage of your project. You will need to run through plenty of 'what-if' scenarios. When you are in the midst of a change or in to a project & encounter a roadblock, it will be difficult to properly think it through - you will get in to a reactionary mode, so run through the scenarios in advance. Think of this as in case you are on the sideline of the footy field & have a drawing board in front of you & the situations pop - if they blocks left they must do this, in the event that they throw, they must do that.
 

- People Obstacles - who are the individuals who will be negative or generate dissention? Figure out how to get them on board by seeking their input, bouncing ideas around with them, asking them to participate. They may even have some expertise to tap in to. This will help you spread the message & work the project when they are on board.
 

- Mental Obstacles - all of us can get in our own way. Think about what the worst thing is that could happen because of finishing this project & simultaneously, the best thing. It will give you points to start with & you can discover a comfortable space in between where you need the project to land. Play the 'what if' scenario here as well. 'What if I cannot get Susie on-board?' then figure out who you can enlist to help out. Another large 'what-if': "what if I cannot handle this?" Take a deep breath & think through what is causing this thought to come to the surface.
 

- Technique Obstacles - how will you prepare for process breakdowns, technique improvements that need tweaking for your specific team or area? What will you do to anticipate & avoid future issues? Think through each step in your plan & play the 'what if' scenario game. 'What if the promotion budget doesn't cover all of this - which are the priority items?' 'What if our deadline gets moved ahead, how will this timeline change?' The what-if scenario can be played on any item on the project whether it is a product or service or technique or communication strategy.

It is not simple jogging your own business, your own project or a team. You need to take time to think about the factors that could get in your way. This way you are prepared & can work through them ought to they arise. The beauty of anticipating obstacles in advance is you may even discover a way to make sure they seldom crop up.

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How To Dismiss a Difficult Staff Member

There comes a time in every business when you discover that an worker is more trouble than they are worth. That staff member may think they are 'in charge' and be disruptive with other staff and customers. This may be the time to think of a 'strategic plan' to have their employment terminated in order to reduce the destroy to the business. One time again, the idea of the checklist will guide you in determining when that rogue worker needs to go.

Your checklist will require to list the grievances that you have with the worker. For example, in the event that they are continually late for the morning meeting, those days and times will require to be noted in their worker file. One time there's been a positive number of late starts, you require to have an worker review in which that worker is informed in writing that their late behavior is not acceptable. You, the boss, and the worker must sign this document as you explain to the worker that in the event that they are late more time, they are going to be terminated. often, this review will make the worker quit, which is what you may require. This avoids increases in unemployment insurance and a labor board dispute.

In a more strategic approach, and this happened with of my clients, they learned that the worker was stealing from the business - and this occurred on a regular basis. There was some proof, but mostly the owner was aware that supplies were being used at an alarming rate and only on positive days (every Monday the supplies were depleted and worker was there on Friday afternoon...hmm...) So the indicators were there, the proof was narrow, but something had to be completed. It took phone call to a supplier to discover that this worker had had supplies delivered to her house - nice proof, but would it hold up in court?

If an worker is blatantly disruptive to the business, it is a nice suggestion to document one time again, the dates and times and nature of these issues. make a list in the worker file each time something happens, and when you have had of their behavior, you can use this list of dates and times to confront them. At this point, either you will handle the issue or the worker will quit - it all depends on how strict your discussions are with the worker.

To be safe, they had a long talk with the boss and decided the best approach here would be to take the next few weeks and enforce the worker job description checklist. They noted EVERY deficiency over the approaching weeks until there was proof to sit down with that worker and explain how dissatisfied the owner was along with her performance. He quit the next day. Mission accomplished.

As a business owner, sometimes you require to plan ahead, think outside the box, and move along sideways to get rid of a controversy worker. The approach may not be direct, but as the boss, you must protect your business, your staff, and your customers.

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How Does That Work?

How would you reply to this query: "Are you of the top 10% of performers in your company?" This query posed in a Business Week survey found that overall 90% of surveyed executives, middle managers, & employees from both giant & little companies thought they were, indeed, in the top 10% of performers.

I am not a math major, but how does that work exactly? In my0 years in management that wasn't my experience. While I would have loved to work in companies bulging only with top performers, that scenario was not reality. What I found in lieu was the proverbial normal bell curve distribution. Most of us fall in the midst of that curve as "average" performers; a little percentage falls above & a little percentage below.

Why are they so inaccurate when assessing our own work performance? Professor Mark R. Leary calls it the "better than average" effect, noting in his book, The Curse of the Self, that most of us have a higher than average perception of ourselves, often blinding us to our shortcomings.

I doubt researchers would get the same results of skewed thinking if the questions had been about performance outside the workplace. What if you'd been asked: Are you in the top 10% of golfers or basketball players or meal preparers in your community? Or in the top 10% of individuals who are healthy or fit, or financially secure, or involved in great relationships? Where would you place yourself then?

This tendency to judge ourselves better than they are might appear the ideal prescription to the adage of believing yourself to success or thinking yourself rich. But it is not. Believing you are better than you are is self-deception, not self-confidence. Believing you are a top performer when you are not may even delay your ability to become.

When performance coaching, developmental suggestions, or well-intentioned critique falls on defensive ears, it is hard to recognize opportunities that generate personal growth & development. When they already "know" we are "great" it is much simpler to fault our teachers, parents, or bosses for our lack of success or disappointing pay raises than to look in the mirror. & when they compose & think our own positive internal press-releases, they can hijack our progress by stagnating our skills.

You see, individuals who are winning at working know not only what they are nice at & what they are not so nice at, but also what is simple for them to do & what is hard. They know what tasks or challenges are intriguing, fun, or thrilling to them & which of them they find uninteresting, tedious or cumbersome.

But individuals who are winning at working know a performance secret. They understand that correct self-knowledge is essential for "real" top performance.

For individuals who are winning at working, self-knowledge lets them hone their strengths & discover their distinctive talents, abilities, & personal success keys. Self-knowledge helps them surround themselves with individuals who excel in the areas they don't. & self-knowledge lets them become the "real" top performers in their workplaces & keeps them winning at working.

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The Pitfalls of Partnerships

Your checklist is something that you ought to generate in the early years - I keep harping on planning ahead, but you require to think exit strategy from day. That list ought to include a barometer of sorts - for example, you have now paid off the debt on the company, you have the line of credit paid off, you have a positive number of patients/clients & can no longer accept any more, you have hit a positive age & require to plan the exit transition, your health is failing, or set a aim like I did & select it was time to leave the business before you got elderly to enjoy your life.

One of the best ways to choose in case you are prepared for a partner is by making a checklist. I am in to having a checklist when it comes to making business decisions. This takes plenty of the emotion out of the deal so that you can focus on the actual issues. By making a checklist of all the things you require to complete in order to justify bringing on a partner, there will be no doubt that you require somebody to work with. After all, working with somebody new is a giant decision that could either help the business grow, or even destroy it.

The new partner will usually have his or her own ideas about how to run the business. They may even have some amazing ideas. But as senior partner you will require to analyze the new guy's ideas before making changes to the business. After all, YOU built the company together with your own hands & if the new partner changes the business philosophy much, it could cause you to lose customers quickly, & that is definitely NOT what you brought on a partner for.

No matter your best made designs, no matter your best laid out checklist, you still must go together with your gut feeling on whether or not you require to partner up at this time. I think your list will come in handy in guiding you as to whether or not you are prepared to move toward giving up the control that a partner will cost you. & here is where they come in to the pitfalls of the partner - you will, & must, give up control when somebody new comes in & becomes part of the business. After all, that is what they are paying you for - to have some control & say the business is part theirs.

Having gone through several associates & partners in the dental business, I have learned that a slow & gradual surrendering of your control is the best way to make the transition when bringing on a partner. Let the staff & customers slowly get used to the idea that somebody new is coming on board. Let the new man used to the fact that they must make his changes slowly & carefully. With all lovely luck, this might be a lovely transition for all!

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The Pitfalls of Partnerships

Your checklist is something that you ought to generate in the early years - I keep harping on planning ahead, but you require to think exit strategy from day. That list ought to include a barometer of sorts - for example, you have now paid off the debt on the company, you have the line of credit paid off, you have a definite number of patients/clients & can no longer accept any more, you have hit a definite age & require to plan the exit transition, your health is failing, or set a aim like I did & pick it was time to leave the business before you got elderly to enjoy your life.

One of the best ways to choose in the event you are prepared for a partner is by making a checklist. I am in to having a checklist when it comes to making business decisions. This takes plenty of the emotion out of the deal so that you can focus on the actual issues. By making a checklist of all the things you require to complete in order to justify bringing on a partner, there will be no doubt that you require someone to work with. After all, working with someone new is a very large decision that could either help the business grow, or even damage it.

The new partner will usually have his or her own ideas about how to run the business. They may even have some incredible ideas. But as senior partner you will require to analyze the new guy's ideas before making changes to the business. After all, YOU built the company together with your own hands & if the new partner changes the business philosophy much, it could cause you to lose customers quickly, & that is definitely NOT what you brought on a partner for.

No matter your best made designs, no matter your best laid out checklist, you still must go together with your gut feeling on whether or not you require to partner up at this time. I think your list will come in handy in guiding you as to whether or not you are prepared to move toward giving up the control that a partner will cost you. & here is where they come in to the pitfalls of the partner - you will, & must, give up control when someone new comes in & becomes part of the business. After all, that is what they are paying you for - to have some control & say the business is part theirs.

Having gone through several associates & partners in the dental business, I have learned that a very slow & gradual surrendering of your control is the best way to make the transition when bringing on a partner. Let the staff & customers slowly get used to the idea that someone new is coming on board. Let the new man used to the fact that they must make his changes slowly & carefully. With all nice luck, this might be a nice transition for all!

Read More

How To Dismiss a Difficult Staff Member

Your checklist will require to list the grievances that you have with the worker. For example, in the event that they are continually late for the morning meeting, those days & times will require to be noted in their worker file. One time there's been a sure number of late starts, you require to have an worker review in which that worker is informed in writing that their late behavior is not acceptable. You, the boss, & the worker must sign this document as you report to the worker that in the event that they are late more time, they are going to be terminated. often, this review will make the worker quit, which is what you may require. This avoids increases in unemployment insurance & a labor board dispute.

There comes a time in every business when you discover that an worker is more trouble than they are worth. That staff member may think they are 'in charge' & be disruptive with other staff & customers. This may be the time to think of a 'strategic plan' to have their employment terminated in order to reduce the destroy to the business. One time again, the idea of the checklist will guide you in determining when that rogue worker needs to go.

In a more strategic approach, & this happened with of my clients, they learned that the worker was stealing from the business - & this occurred on a regular basis. There was some proof, but mostly the owner was aware that supplies were being used at an alarming rate & only on sure days (every Monday the supplies were depleted & worker was there on Friday afternoon...hmm...) So the indicators were there, the proof was narrow, but something had to be done. It took phone call to a supplier to discover that this worker had had supplies delivered to her house - lovely facts, but would it hold up in court?

If an worker is blatantly disruptive to the business, it is a lovely suggestion to document one time again, the dates & times & nature of these issues. make a list in the worker file each time something happens, & when you have had of their behavior, you can use this list of dates & times to confront them. At this point, either you will handle the issue or the worker will quit - it all depends on how strict your discussions are with the worker.

As a business owner, sometimes you require to plan ahead, think outside the box, & move along sideways to get rid of a controversy worker. The approach may not be direct, but as the boss, you must protect your business, your staff, & your customers.

To be safe, they had a long talk with the boss & decided the best approach here would be to take the next few weeks & enforce the worker job description checklist. They noted EVERY deficiency over the approaching weeks until there was facts to sit down with that worker & report how dissatisfied the owner was along with her performance. He quit the next day. Mission accomplished.

Read More

How Does That Work?

I am not a math major, but how does that work exactly? In my0 years in management that wasn't my experience. While I would have loved to work in companies bulging only with top performers, that scenario was not reality. What I found in lieu was the proverbial normal bell curve distribution. Most of us fall in the midst of that curve as "average" performers; a little percentage falls above and a little percentage below.

How would you reply to this query: "Are you of the top 10% of performers in your company?" This query posed in a Business Week survey found that overall 90% of surveyed executives, middle managers, and employees from both huge and little companies thought they were, indeed, in the top 10% of performers.

Why are they so inaccurate when assessing our own work performance? Professor Mark R. Leary calls it the "better than average" effect, noting in his book, The Curse of the Self, that most of us have a higher than average perception of ourselves, often blinding us to our shortcomings.

I doubt researchers would get the same results of skewed thinking if the questions had been about performance outside the workplace. What if you'd been asked: Are you in the top 10% of golfers or basketball players or meal preparers in your community? Or in the top 10% of individuals who are healthy or fit, or financially secure, or involved in great relationships? Where would you place yourself then?

When performance coaching, developmental suggestions, or well-intentioned critique falls on defensive ears, it is hard to recognize opportunities that generate personal growth and development. When they already "know" we are "great" it is much simpler to fault our teachers, parents, or bosses for our lack of success or disappointing pay raises than to look in the mirror. And when they compose and think our own positive internal press-releases, they can hijack our progress by stagnating our skills.

This tendency to judge ourselves better than they are might appear the ideal prescription to the adage of believing yourself to success or thinking yourself rich. But it is not. Believing you are better than you are is self-deception, not self-confidence. Believing you are a top performer when you are not may even delay your ability to become.

You see, individuals who are winning at working know not only what they are nice at and what they are not so nice at, but also what is simple for them to do and what is hard. They know what tasks or challenges are intriguing, fun, or fascinating to them and which of them they find uninteresting, tedious or cumbersome.

But individuals who are winning at working know a performance secret. They understand that correct self-knowledge is essential for "real" top performance.

For individuals who are winning at working, self-knowledge lets them hone their strengths and discover their unique talents, abilities, and personal success keys. Self-knowledge helps them surround themselves with individuals who excel in the areas they don't. And self-knowledge lets them become the "real" top performers in their workplaces and keeps them winning at working.

Need to be winning at working? Start with self-knowledge.

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Seven Tactics for Instigating Change

Before somebody is going to support & implement change in your organization, they must see the necessity for change. That is, they must feel some kind of pain or frustration from the way they currently do things. Sometimes that takes a lovely look in the mirror to see things the way they are. Other times, they must recognize that the grass could be greener in the event that they made the work to change.

If the remainder of the organization seems unaware of or unfazed by the necessity for change, then it is your role to step forward as a change agent & generate a sense of urgency. The following are seven ways you can raise awareness of the necessity for change:

Write a white paper. Clarify your idea on paper. Collect articles, knowledge, & other research that supports the change. Find tales that illuminate the necessity for change. Then compile it all in a succinct document, & share it with others who might act on it & pass it around.

Conduct a survey. When a leader expresses frustration with an issue that you require to help fix, offer to look in to the matter. Generate a survey to learn more about employees' perceptions & the underlying causes of behavior. Feed back the results with recommendations for what to do about it.

Take advantage of an open door policyowner. When a leader invites somebody in the organization to come talk to them, assume they mean you. Prepare in advance - the points to make, the questions to ask, the result you require from the conversation. Tie the initiative you require to start to the leader's goals & values. Finish by clarifying when you will continue the conversation.

Host a brown bag lunch. Better yet, order pizza. Invite a few colleagues to attend & start an casual conversation. See who else feels the necessity for change, & seek to understand potential resistance. Join forces with those who require to help you start.

Call out the elephant in the room. When colleagues noticeably skirt an issue in a gathering, be the to point out the topic that everybody is avoiding. Until the issue is spoken out loud, it will continue to go unaddressed. Change starts by safely discussing the undiscussable.

Demonstrate results. Conduct a trial on a little scale. Start within the scope of your personal influence to show the idea. Then, share the results with those who might duplicate your efforts on a bigger scale.

Enable others to acknowledge their frustrations & challenges. Watch for opportunities to share the likelihood of a better way. Generate circumstances to show others the necessity for change. Take the initiative to instigate change.

Invite yourself to present at a leadership team meeting. Find the person in charge of the agenda & request some time to speak to the group. Even in the event that they say "no," surely somebody will be curious about your request to find out what is so important.

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Seed to Success: Slow Start Cleaning Business

For a cleaning service, this is most probably true. Business people would start cleaning business because there is a nice markup for the business. A cleaning service can be a profitable start up assuming that the business is run wisely.

A recent study showed that there has not been government support for start ups. In this study, there was a differentiation between the categories of start-ups. However, there was no quantification between start-up types. It would have shown what the motivation was for these entrepreneurs in beginning a business. With an economic downturn & an extended financial crisis, it seems that plenty of new start-ups come in to being in order to feed the relatives. In short, these companies were started because the owner was eased out or laid off.

To start cleaning business, you need to introduce your company & its service offerings to the community or city. It usually doesn't matter if there's more established cleaning businesses in the area. What is important is for the owner of the new company to show that it can compete in terms of cost & performance. Getting a foot in the door might be simple, but getting the business & then holding on to it takes hard work & plenty of dedication.

When you start cleaning business, you need to keep in mind that it is a business. You need to keep track of the costs & expenses. You need to market & sell your services. Since the business is still in its infancy, it's not yet established a name for itself, there would be more work in sales & marketing than in other parts of the business.

There's plenty of ways to market a cleaning service, but it takes perseverance & creativity to convert the marketing hard work to sales. A first time client has to see that the new cleaning service can deliver on it is promise. The cleaning company has to show itself with actual work. The contract might be won because of the low cost. But repeat sales & referrals would roll in only through exemplary work.

 advantage of owning your own company is that you can earn as much as you require or need. Your efforts & work done is  directly proportional to the income you earn. The more work you do, the extra money you take home. Of work, when you start cleaning business, there would be plenty of hard work with a low success rate. This ought to be expected. Think of it as child steps, you need to learn to walk first before you can run. In this case, each failed attempt is part of the learning technique. At some point, your batting average ought to increase, which ought to lead to more sales & contracts.

When you start cleaning business, advantage which you will recognize early on is that you don't need personnel who are college graduates for the cleaning crews. The disadvantage of that is the training your crew has to undergo prior to being sent to neat up an office or a home. What you need are reliable, trainable individuals who can follow instructions. Cleaning is a matter of following instructions to the letter. In doing so, they are going to be sure to do a thorough cleaning of the office or home. Additionally, doing things by the book will save you tons of money because of prudent use of cleaning supplies.

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Plan All Your Changes Before You Act

That funds and time might have been used for something else, something that could have possibly been a better investment and actually returned funds on that investment. When the funds and time is wasted like this, it makes it awfully difficult to make a profit. That is why it is so important to write out the plan and the steps involved with doing anything new or changing anything.

One of the largest causes of waste is the dearth of a nice plan. Lack of plan can make, and often does make, the technique and the job much harder than it ought to be. Not having a nice workable plan will often make the job very impossible and it may cause it not to get completed at all. The job will must be scrapped or restarted and when you do that you have lost something. You have lost the time invested and the funds that it costs to make use of that time.

One time you start to tear it apart, it will be valueless until you put it back together. While it sits there, not producing, you will be in a mad scramble to get it back in to production mode. In the event you hit some unexpected snag or delay, something doesn't work out the way you thought it would in your head and you don't have a backup plan, then you could be in some serious trouble.

Say you are putting in another line to build more machines or parts. You will require to do so with the smallest effect on current production, but you require to do it in the quickest feasible way. This is a time to step back and examine your options. Look at what you are doing and how integrating the new line will affect each technique along the line. This is a time for examining these things; you cannot jump in and start. Look for the places that can be updated or modified and take measurements and notes on what will happen.

The point being, that before undertaking any major changes that will affect production, be positive that you have the plan in place that will help you get through the technique. It takes this special planning; this attention to detail that will help get the job completed the right way the first time. Otherwise the waste that you are trying to eliminate will only be magnified and become worse than what you had expected.

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