philipbuster

Did you know, that shoot-from-the-hip business decisions are the accepted “norm” in most small companies. Yet, thousands of call-to-action decisions are necessary to correctly process many jobs and services. Now you may be thinking, making thousands of decisions to process a job or service is a little exaggerated. However, if that’s your assumption, here is a master control checklist from our formerly owned printing company that proves otherwise. And it’s the same in other industries using a comprehensive Quality Assurance system. Bottom-line is, a checklist is a system used to avoid leaving the decision-making process to human memory. In other words, a checklist is a list of predetermined prompts that calls someone to an action as to complete any process correctly. AND importantly, consistently. All, to achieve zero errors in products and services.

Have you ever witnessed a failed attempt at launching management software in a business, where expectations were high for improving operations; Time and money were spent, yet it just never got off the ground?

True, a business owner held hostage. In my book, System Busters: How to Stop Them in Your Business, I wrote the story of a once key player in my own company. Someone I’d also feared losing, in spite of the mistakes they made and being a little stubborn to work with at times. I had depended on their EXPERTISE with all of our operations, and was sure, if they ever left, our company would be in big trouble. Others in our company expressed the same fears about them ever leaving. Like many owners, I had danced around the issue and made special provisions for this “special” employee; admittedly, MY “sacred cow.”

Honestly, Don’t Advertise What You Can’t Deliver. Because, in the LONG RUN, “Honesty will always be the best policy! However, to be fair, most small business owners, when first starting out, really believe they can deliver what they advertise. For the simple reason, the owner usually oversees ALL of work; so they maintain the belief they can deliver on what they promise. The problem with that thinking is, as the business begins to grow, the owner starts losing control over the work along with the promises they made. Not to mention, what their employees are doing at any given time. It’s a well-known fact in business that errors and employee miscommunications increase exponentially as sales increase. Moreover, when a business grows to around ten to fifteen employees, the owner can lose substantial control over the quality of product and service. The beginnings of a poor reputation! That’s when new customers walk in the front door, and existing customers walk out the back door. Nevertheless, even knowing this, many owners just keep advertising great quality and service. Truth is, without control systems, NO company can promise consistent quality and on-time service! How do I know? For over twenty-five years we’ve been developing Quality Management systems, so business owners can GUARANTEE their promise of great quality and service. In other words, PROVE what they’re advertising.

As an owner I never wanted to get that call from a client saying “Where’s my job you promised? Philip I told you told you how important it was to have that delivered on time. The truth is after we systematized production to guarantee on-time delivery along with a method to measure our success. The result was we delivered error free printing 99.7% on time every time. That’s the truth. When implementing those systems we identified the 7 main enemies of On Time Delivery. Some of these may surprise you and others you’ve seen countless times disrupting your own delivery schedule. Let’s get to it!

Take a tour of lean management and learn how to fix the messes in your business.

Is your business afflicted with The Magoo Syndrome?” The Magoo Syndrome is prevalent with many business owners and managers. Many seem either unaware or indifferent to the pitfalls, errors, bottlenecks, interruptions, and miscommunications others see. Not to mention, the clutter of paper and other materials strewn all around their offices and plants! Amazingly, if you bring it to their attention, they’ll likely say, “Yes, yes, I see it, but we’re still making a profit. And besides, we don’t have time to clean up the mess. That’s the way it’s ALWAYS been around here!” How can you argue with that logic when a Magoo-type business owner seems, somehow, to always land on his feet? Well, to tell the truth, you can’t! It's was the OTHER people who were the recipients of Mr. Magoo's erratic and hazardous handling of his vehicle. Those OTHERS were the ones crashing into each other; constantly trying to avoid wrecks and having to pay for Magoo’s recklessness. In the real world, being oblivious is not quite as funny as in the Magoo cartoons. The Mr. Magoo’s in business risk NOT landing on their feet, eventually. They will pay a high premium by failing to pay attention to certain others around them, operating as if they haven’t a care in the world. Well, there’s a cure for The Magoo Syndrome It’s about How to stop the Magoo Syndrome in your business, if you happen to have it that affliction! It may be just a pair of glasses is needed to see the chaos around you. However, if you stop and listen, you might hear all those legitimate, frustrated cries of employee and customer complaints. Hopefully, this would be enough to wake up a Magoo, so they would change the way they operate their business! May I suggest, if this is you before your employees and customers walk out the door, you might take some time to read a few books on how to stop the “Magoo Syndrome” in your business.

Folks, there’s only one GUARANTEED way to stop stupid, yes, STUPID business mistakes. It’s a non-human PROMPTER! Imagine an “all-seeing A-I robot” overseeing every process; warning and prompting every employee, in order to ensure all work is error-free. However, we all know that constant over-the-shoulder management by AI Robots is not practical for small businesses. Although we have great tools like computers and automated machinery to reduce mistakes, HUMANS must input correct data into these tools, or mistakes still happen. Which brings us back to the PROMPT! Who is the PROMPTER in most small businesses? Usually, it’s the business owner or a manager. And sadly, when the “prompter” is away or distracted doing THEIR own work, stupid business mistakes happen. BUT the fact is, in most cases, the employees are left to prompt themselves! There's a better way. System100

Let me share with you a true story that will demonstrate that Customer Service IS, no doubt, a real art form. It was during the period as owner/president of a commercial printing company in Tennessee I received a call from a top client. They were a world-renowned company that has been in continuous operation for over a hundred years. The person calling was in upper management and he wanted to speak to me directly.

If you had to guess, what would you say the Number ONE reason was for business screw-ups and business blunders? In other words, what’s the main reason, for stupid errors, dumb reoccurring questions, unclear communications and employee un-civil war? The reason may surprise you! “Forgetting”— is the number one reason for the free-for-all confusion and chaos in business. How do I know? Before learning the art of systematization, I was a “professional” at business screw-ups. Moreover, an aficionado at business blunders. Did you know, way back in 1858 a man by the name of Hermann Ebbinghaus studied and developed a system to measure “forgetting?” It’s called the Hermann Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve. It’s true!

I want you to dream with me for a minute… You arrive at your business on a Monday morning and find the offices, restrooms and production areas immaculately clean. All desks and work areas are totally clutter free, and everyone is busy performing their work. Your business is buzzing with the quiet peaceful hum of a well-oiled machine! Keep Dreaming…Does this sound like your business? It can be!