Let’s consider two perspectives when analyzing the physical plant that contains your business. Those two perspectives are location and contents.

LOCATION

The old real estate maxim has a lot of weight when considering your business. The three most important elements to consider are Location, Location and Location.

Is the location of your building(s) best suited for the customers you serve?

Do they know where you are, and can they get to you?

Can your employees serve your present and future customers from the location you have selected?

If visibility is important for your company, can you easily be seen and remembered as people pass by?

If the answer to any of the four questions is “no” you might consider relocation as a solution.

CONTENTS

The function of each element of the business helps to define the requirements for the form the structure takes. The interaction among departments in a business helps to determine the location within the four walls for each department.

Asking those who are involved with the situation their opinions as to how best to arrange the space is a most effective approach.

At Gabrilson Heating in Davenport, IA Tom Gabrilson decided to get the employees involved in planning the layout of the shop.

Plastic covered blueprints of the warehouse/ shop were posted on the wall. Employees could draw their suggestions on one of the blueprints and the other blueprint was used to present ideas to be implemented. After several months of drawing and decisions a final layout was adopted. Tom believes that this method got better results than if he had used an architect or an engineer.

In one company a plan for reorganizing the shop was submitted not on paper but on a piece of sheet metal cut in the shape of the space and drawings of machines was indicated with a blue magic marker.

Dominic Volpone of the H.J. Ziegler Company, in Ashtabula, OH. spent over a year researching the best arrangement for the space in his new building. He asked for and received the input of employees, staff and vendors involved in all areas of his business. The outcome resulted in one of the most functional buildings we have witnessed.

If your business includes vehicles that are used for service, installation, delivery of your product or service they should be included in the scope of Physical Plant.

The arrangement of contents of vehicles should receive the same focus of organization and planning that traditional building space receives. They are seen as a representation of your company from the inside the outside and are one of the most powerful marketing tools provided you can own.

 Some with interesting methods for improvement in business or self.

When I find a book that you should read, I’ll share.

Here is one.

Over 20 years ago, Larry Bossidy and Ram Charam teamed up to create an approach to “Getting Things Done” in the world of Business.

The book is titled “EXECUTION”. The subtitle is “The Discipline of Getting Things Done.”

This excellent book explains their approach and focuses on (in Part II) ‘The three Building Blocks of Execution’ and in Part II ‘The three core processes of Execution’.

They began, in part I, by establishing how important the discipline of execution is and how without execution “breakthrough thinking breaks down, learning adds no value, people don’t meet their stretch goals, and the revolution stops dead in its tracks.  What you get is change for the worse because failure drains the energy from your organization. Repeated failure destroys it.”

They believe that the first building block is to clarify the leader’s seven Essential behaviors.

1. Know your people and your business.

• Insist on realism.

• Set clear goals and priorities.

• Follow through.

• Reward the doers.

• Expand people’s capabilities.

• Know yourself.

All these platitudes are of limited value unless clearly explained and they do in a very readable way.

The second building block is to ‘Create the framework for Cultural Change’.

The third building block summarize is the job you should never delegate ‘that is, ‘having the Right People in the right place.’

These are great ideas but without the “how” worthless.

The ‘how’ begins in part III starting on page 141 and now the book reveals its extraordinary value.

There are three ‘Core Processes’

1. People

• Strategy

• Operations

In my view it doesn’t matter the size of your organization. What Larry and Ram have to say applies whether you have three people or three thousand.

It’s worth the read. For dinner it’s steak and mash potatoes.