PEMBROKE, Mass. — Most dry cleaners operate by the principle of do what you can and leave the rest for tomorrow. It seems to me that, because of this work avoidance, many important matters are being shoved aside. This “If it isn’t in front of you, don’t do it” attitude is short-sighted, of narrow focus, and keeps you buried in work. Being so disorganized, you lose control of your time. Even worse, you lose control of your management focus.
I have called dry cleaners, only to have them get back to me a week later. This means the call note was placed in a pile and only when it appeared sometime later did the dry cleaner take action. I have seen workers talk to the boss about a situation, and then when the boss leaves, turn to me and say, “He’ll never do anything.” I have seen offices so piled with mounds of paperwork—brochures, notes, invoices, catalogs—that I know every attempt to do anything begins with “Now where did I put it?”
I’m not saying the dry cleaner isn’t busy; there are problems to solve, job positions to fill, civic luncheons to attend, vendors to see, employees to deal with, customers to attend to. But the attitude of “there are never enough hours in the day” must be shelved. In fact, you can keep up with the workload. You don’t have to be buried all the time.
BECOMING MORE EFFICIENT
Life can take over and all sorts of situations will come up, but one can overcome that by creating a structured workday, by creating pockets of time for work not due tomorrow, and by having an attitude of “I’ll not leave here until I get to everything, at least to take a cursory look at the matter.” This will make you an efficient executive.
An efficient executive. That’s an interesting concept. Did you ever think of yourself in light of that term? Am I an efficient executive? Am I someone people can count on to attend to matters promptly? Am I the individual, when given an assignment, gets to it right away? Am I the manager who returns calls right away? Or am I the inefficient executive who lets matters slide until reminded a second or third time that the matter needs to be addressed? Do I postpone decisions until the very last minute? Am I always loath to take on anything new because there’s so much work involved? Do I have the reputation of a procrastinator?
START WITH VIGOR
For starters, push through your day with vigor. Arrive early to get a jump on the workday. Look over everything you have to do and make a list of what you want to accomplish. At the end of the day, cross off what was done, and put the undone chores on tomorrow’s list. Make sure you get to those matters tomorrow.
Set aside time pockets every day for sitting in the office and pushing through the to-do list – before work, during lunch, at the end of the day. Additionally, set aside time to work on long-range plans. Devote commuting time to thinking about decisions, rather than listening to the radio. Spend some time every night at your home office muddling over problematic matters. In other words, have in place a structure that allows you to get to the work.
There’s another big benefit. Your attitude infects the staff. If you display a “roll up your sleeves and get to it” attitude, your staff will mimic you.
For example, counter staffers will find the time to research problems if they know you trust them to get it done.
STAFF COMMUNICATION
Let’s look at several situations that show why it is important to be an efficient executive.
An employee asks for a raise. You say you will get back to him. Two weeks pass. The employee asks if you’ve had a chance to consider the raise. You say you’ll get to it, and two weeks later, he finds a 20-cent-per-hour raise in his paycheck. Rather than being satisfied, he complains that it’s not much.
What would have happened, if you told the employee, when he asked, that you would get back to him within two days. Then, two days later, you sat down with him in your office, and said something like this: “Business is flat, and it is not a good time for a raise. In fact, neither I nor the cleaner/manager have had a salary increase for two years. But I looked into what you are currently being paid, and I appreciate the good job that you are doing. So I can see my way to giving you a 20-cent-an-hour raise. I can’t give you any more because we’re up against cost increases in the next six months. Are you OK with this?”
The employee winds up in the same spot, but at least the decision was explained to him, he was part of the process, and it was enacted right away. Clearly, the employee will be happier with the second scenario.
YOUR FACILITY
In another scenario, a staffer tells you that a finishing press is malfunctioning. You go to his workstation to see the problem. The press is not working correctly, but you see how it can be jerry-rigged to work. You tell the presser to do the jerry-rigging. He argues with you that it will break down eventually. You counter that the fix might last and insist that he do it. The staffer repairs the press unit reluctantly, then goes back to pressing. But he is bothered that he has to do an extra step each time a new garment is put on the board. Inwardly, he stews.
You sense this every time you walk by his station. You never ask how the machine is working because you don’t want to hear his complaints.
One day, the machine breaks down. Now you must really fix it. But you’ve done something more serious than putting off a repair. You’ve poisoned the presser’s attitude. He will never care about putting out a quality product again. His reasoning is, “If the boss won’t give me a working machine, then I am not responsible for what comes out of it.”
CUSTOMER RELATIONS
A customer demands a credit on a damaged garment, and you put the information on top of your pile. Two weeks later, the customer calls. You tell her you haven’t finished researching the situation. You search frantically for the paperwork, but can’t find it.
One week later, the paperwork appears (a common problem for procrastinators). You look over your notes, then put the material back on the pile. A week later, the customer calls, most annoyed. Again, no paperwork is in sight. You feel defeated and ask what she wants. She says a $50 credit. You agree.
You’ve given the customer what she wants, but what do you think is her opinion of your business? She’ll know that you let things slide. Moreover, there’s a good bet that you’ll lose her as a customer. Finally, she’ll bad-mouth you to anyone who will listen.
The bottom line is, you must be relentless in getting it done—all of it—day after day after day.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Dave Davis at [email protected].