"Get with the program!" is a common command. It's frequently used as a straight order to get someone to follow the procedures expected at your workplace.

The issue is that most business owners don't have "a program" for their employees to follow, which leads to erratic and unpredictable results as well as significantly lower performance, output, and productivity from each employee. Everyone becomes frustrated at this point, including you because no one is performing the task at hand and the other party because they were not provided with clear directions and guidelines regarding the work and outcomes they were expected to produce.

No business can afford to hire employees who aren't "with the program" anymore given the current economic climate, which includes high inflation, rising salary demands, and a potential harsh recession.

To be clear, I'm not referring to a boiler-room, sweatshop, "manual" with detailed instructions for everything you do in your office (although that may be necessary for some positions and tasks). I'm referring to a carefully considered and articulated set of RESULTS and EXPECTATIONS for every employee in your organization so they can be completely clear about the results they are expected to deliver for you. It is known as a job scorecard.

For instance, does your receptionist's role simply consist of "answering the phone" or does she also serve as the "director of first impressions," making sure that every client, potential client, or caller to your office is satisfied with the way they are welcomed and assisted? How guarantee that each potential customer is promptly connected with a salesperson and not left to scrounge through your phone tree or leave a voicemail for an unidentified stranger in the hopes of receiving a callback?

Most people just say, "Answer the phone," to their assistant. However, even a harsh, foolish, and maliciously vengeful individual can pull that off. If that's what you want, are you certain? Some workers might do that if left to their own discretion. How often have you contacted a business to speak with "customer service" only to leave the call feeling angrier and more irritated than you were before? My exact point.

So, step one is make sure every employee has a scorecard that clearly defines the following:

  1. Mission of the Position: What does that position serve? to boost sales? delight clients? prevent churn and cancellations? build a clientele and encourage recurring business? When considering positions in your firm, start here.
  2. Key Results: The second section you need to describe is the major outcomes the person is expected to achieve in a fashion that can be measured once you have established the mission of the role. That's simple for sales and marketing experts. Ensure new monthly sales of $100,000. Produce ten qualified appointments or leads each week. Customer "saves" or upgrades are examples of this in the service industry. It can be the speed at which tickets are resolved and customer satisfaction scores on a service desk like ours. Reaching certain revenue and profitability goals may be significant for leaders. Give everyone the opportunity to attain at least one, but no more than three, essential outcomes. Due to the fact that measured performance is not based on subjective judgment or personal experience, it loses its dramatic appeal.
  3. Specific Responsibilities: Next, make sure that each employee has a list of particular duties, obligations, and activities that they must carry out on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. By doing so, you can prevent making mistakes and forgetting to do things because "no one told me I was meant to do that." Naturally, if you're clear on the results someone has to achieve, the tasks almost write themselves. After all, if the objective is to minimize churn or boost sales, and staff are compensated in that way, it's much simpler to "motivate" them to do what's necessary.

Once you have these roles and scorecards, it can be beneficial to distribute them to the entire team so that everyone in the organization is aware of each person's obligations. You may work on projects involving various departments and people with Microsoft Teams, where you can establish Wikis, To-Do lists, file sharing, checklists, and chat

Click here to set up a quick discovery call to see what's possible if you need assistance figuring out how to apply any of these technologies in your business.