Looking at a business as a ship is one of my favorite metaphors and one of my thoughts has been centered on the collection of information”
- Current position?
- Does the ship leak?
- Quantity of fuel?
- How far could we travel?
- What are possible destinations?
It is my belief that gathering information and then counting is a primary source of success when that information aids in the decision-making process.
Every Business we work with consists of seven areas: 1. Office, 2. Accounting, 3. Marketing, 4. Sales, 5. Production, 6 Physical Plant and 7. Management
Often, people assume that area #2 is relegated to the accounting of money, but in fact our concern goes far beyond money alone.
Please, don’t be confused. Money is the fuel that drives the engine of the ship and knowing how much fuel you need and how much you have and how much you can expect to get is critical. But there are many more things to count in a business.
It is helpful to decision-making if a company counts and evaluates.
- Productivity of support staff.
- Timeliness and accuracy of reports.
- Effectiveness of Marketing efforts.
- Success of Sales staff.
- Productivity of field personnel.
- Use of space within the buildings and trucks.
- Effectiveness of the Management team.
In each of these areas objective quantifiable measurements have to be used and standards of compliance must be created.
No report or analysis is worth the time unless within a 12 month period it has been actively used to make decisions “to do things differently”.
When you look at Office personnel some areas you might count would be:
- How many phone calls can be handled effectively by the call takers?
- How quickly are customer service questions and problems answered or resolved?
- What is the ration of correctly filed material to that which is misfiled?
- Are communications with internal and external Customers clearly executed and correct?
In the next few posts I will continue to share some of my specific observations and perspective regarding counting in the six remaining areas of business.
