We had our first ever Victorian Farmstead Staff Meeting on Monday. I know that doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it was kind of momentous for me. I have sat in hundreds of staff meetings over the years. I have been staff and led staff. They have been held in conference rooms, at picnic tables, restaurants, and even the occasional bar. This was the first held in my office, now big enough to hold more than two people, and I actually had enough people at the meeting to qualify as staff. So it was kind of a big deal.
I now have a total of four employees as of about three weeks ago and there was a common problem lurking in the background. A great friend of mine taught me a long time ago that as it pertained to staff, you don’t have problems, you have an opportunity to teach AND learn. So I decided to call a staff meeting themed “Calm the &%#$ Down”. Maybe not the most politically correct title but it works for us. You see over the past 10 days we have had two fender benders, destroyed two cash drawers, and missed out on a couple key opportunities to increase sales because not enough product was going to the farmers markets. Near as I could tell, all of this was a result of everyone trying so hard go the extra mile that they were forgetting the little things (for instance, look in the rear view mirror when backing up!). So a staff meeting was in order!
I set up an agenda and filled it with all the appropriate minutia that a staff meeting should hold. Please make sure to restock this, if the trash is full don’t make a Jenga tower out of it, here is how to properly rotate product, etc. As we were working through the list, and as is the case in most staff meetings I’ve been in, communication was certainly a common theme. The first time it came up was in discussing who is responsible for loading the van for a farmers market, the person bringing it back or the person taking it out? I explained I wanted the person selling from it (taking it out) to be responsible and asked for feedback. What I thought was a fairly simple issue turned in to a long conversation, much to my surprise. We worked our way through it and it was resolved to my satisfaction. The meeting went on and then it was time for a field trip to the van we use for farmers markets.
There is a small possibility that I am a bit OCD about keeping things tidy, particularly when it came to things in use by multiple employees. The van is my pet peeve. So rather than tell them what I wanted I showed them! As I’m pulling trash out from under the seats and untangling the 14 various power cords in the console, I’m getting this vibe of “what’s the big deal here”. It took about ten minutes to get it to what I considered clean. In my mind I don’t want to get in the van at 5am and have to empty out the trash in the cup holder to set my coffee down. There is no reason to jam six months of bags in the van just so I don’t have to remember to fill it next week. Why did I feel like they were not getting the message? Then I said something that will change how I manage and train employees forever.
I was getting frustrated that I was getting pushback on personal items left in the van. The way I see it, if everyone takes all their personal stuff with them at the end of the day and empties the trash, it should be good to go. Finally, I said “I want the van clean enough for a customer to stick his/her head in it and think well of us”. I thought of it as an offhanded and obvious statement. But I looked up to see light bulbs going off as if all was suddenly clear. Unintentionally, I had given them the key to doing things the way I wanted them done. I had given them a reason. While some of them couldn’t understand why I didn’t want personal stuff left in the van to pile up over time, they clearly understood that if a customer stuck their head in to ask a question and saw a bunch of crap piled up it would leave a poor impression. AHA!
I was thinking about this phenomenon later as I evaluated the meeting as a whole. I realized that if I had given a reason, say “the person that is earning commission off the contents will do a more thorough job of restocking the van than the one just coming off a ten hour day and has already earned their commission”, that earlier discussion would have been much shorter! One of the cool things about my staff is that they are all in a position to build and eventually manage a department. Right now I oversee everything, but that has to change over time. The discussions we have are focused on how to train a new employee to do a task. This is a great teaching technique because it forces the person to learn in a more global way, rather than just how they learn. For the first time I’m in a really good spot staff-wise. They are all dedicated to the success and growth of the business and show it every day. If you as a customer see something good, please let me know. If you see an opportunity for me to teach AND learn, please let me know ASAP. Although both are equally appreciated, the latter is more valuable than the former.
Hi Adam. Proud of you, youngster, as I watch your growth.
As a University Graduate with a BBA Bachelors of Business Administration, along with 4 years of Military Leadership training , off to war with mind boggling responsibilities….Pulling Chief of Police Duty Officer of an entire Island in the War Theater….responsible for ALL THE POLICE THAT DAY ON THE ISLAND. I had to inspect each before they occupied their Patrol Vehicles as I was also in charge of maintaining the vehicles. We are talking LIFE AND DEATH HERE as I all but lost my life in the line of duty more than one time. Far more dangerous job policing highly trained killers on leave…drunk,drugged and crazy mean than arresting a drunk on the streets of Santa Rosa or Sebastopol after finishing a Starbucks Latte!
Following war,50 years as a sole proprietor, I have made near every mistake imaginable…stumbling, failing my way to SUCCESS. Best teacher I ever had…EXPERIENCE. I was raised with the “PERFECTIONIST IDEAL.” Tough road to toe as a kid.
Hardest lesson I learned was give up the perfectionist strategy. I would wake in the middle of the night…fussing on how I had to redo whatever that kept me awake. Tear it out and start over should it be a 32nd of an inch off. That went on for decades. Strive for PROGRESS, Thomas….Wow! EPIPHANY!
LEAD BY EXAMPLE AND JUDGE BY RESULTS. First things first. Shoot for the STARS and surely you will reach the moon. WRITE clearly SPECIFIC, achievable goals although lofty. Must reach them one at a time or folks will flat out give up. Set them too high…folks QUIT. I taught goals as a motivational speaker while building a WELLNESS BUSINESS VIA DUPLICATION. From one person I taught to near 1,000 in the organization I mentored over. TEACHING FOCUS: What are you focusing on? Your future depends on your FOCUS!! I had to craft a SYSTEM that I could easily TEACH to TEACH all that followed me to TEACH! SYSTEM OF DUPLICATION……REPETITION, REPETITION, REPETITION. Military calls it SOP meaning Standing Operating Procedures. As an officer of the Vietnam War, I often taught classes to my men.
You have what it takes for great success Adam. You are personable and friendly with your mission. You draw people in with a smile and AWESOME DINNERS. What’s not to love about that! Every bite of Adam’s non-crappy meat is a bite less out of Factory Farming sickened meats and that tastes ESPECIALLY GREAT to a boy raised on a farm in Birmingham, Alabama.
What you did that turned the lights on was SHOW YOUR EMPLOYEES WHY THEY NEED TO KEEP A TIGHT SHIP. YOUR ENTIRE BUSINESS DEPENDS ON IT.
A BIG statement that I love to teach is: YOU NEVER GET A SECOND CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION. I have numerous one liners but that one is PRIMARY. As a Police Officer approaching a vehicle, I made a FLASH JUDGEMENT: Condition of the vehicle. Is it clean inside? Organized or disheveled? How is the driver dressed. Is his hair combed or messy. Every little tiny last detail TELLS A STORY. A story to emulate or a story to be vary wary about and flee from. INVITING OR REPULSIVE.
I would have flipped had I hired sloppy people…throwing their garbage out ONE TIME AND ONE TIME ONLY. Keep a STRACK SHIP OR SHIP OUT. You are reflecting negatively on the entire BUSINESS to the point you will lose your job and I will loss the business as frequent customers DESERVE FIRST CABIN TREATMENT ALWAYS. Lose one customer because of a messy VAN…that person tells another and another and another. CALLED LOSE/LOSE. A clean VAN leads to INCREASED SALES and repeat business. All goes back to how we were raised. Clutter bedroom…cluttered life.
That FIRST IMPRESSION alone gives me a WINDOW into what this person may be like. SLOPPY VEHICLE, SLOPPY PERSON, no one I care to frequent as I am WAY BEYOND OCD yet for reasons that have served me and others EXTREMELY WELL. Certainly not washing my hands 100 times a day…NOT. I really do not OBSESS anymore over trivialities yet I maintain EVERYTHING ABOUT ME IN RANK AND FILE ORDER. My business VAN was organized so precisely supremely well as should I be a blind man, I would know EXACTLY WHERE EVERYTHING OF VALUE IS WITH SUPREME EFFICIENCY OF ACCESSING IT. ALWAYS WENT BACK IN THE SAME PLACE AS SOON AS I WAS DONE USING IT. ALWAYS. Other learning craftsmen emulated my methods. MUST BE WELL DEVELOPED SYSTEMS/METHODS that take the most expeditious route. SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT. Refine, refine, refine.
My entire lifestyle is exactly the same. Home is perfectly organized as I pride myself as being an EFFICIENCY EXPERT. Constantly tweaking/refining as each day passes. Creature of GOOD HABITS.
I tell people….if you are not using it (whatever it is) it is USING YOU. Give it away/sell it…get it OUT of your PATH. Place “things” of primary value that are used most often in the closest place of access.
I can go into most any business as a business consultant and REORGANIZE OR SUGGEST a better path for dialing in EFFICIENCY,EXPEDIENCY.
MANAGEMENT: Planning,organizing,directing and controlling the activities of subordinates is such a manner as to most effectively and efficiently achieve the enterprise objectives.
As the top of the heap high end Artisan,Master Craftsman, billionaires/multi-millionaires requested me to create their SHOWPIECE ENTRY WINDING HARDWOOD STAIRCASES. Hand craft all the finish work in their Marin County, Wine Country Mansions. George Lucus, Gerry Garcia, drummer for the BYRDS, Jack Linkletter, Robin Williams, many movie producers, CPA, Nelson …. Charles Schultz personal accountant..etc, etc, etc. My “Functional Art” is all over many surrounding counties into SanFrancisco, Truckee, etc.
My claim to fame was I paid excruciating “ATTENTION TO DETAILS.” Gifted with magic creative hands and eyes as a hawk. Invested in best tools on the planet to make any residence or business SHINE with beauty.
Remain known in these parts as “The Finish Guy.” The Functional Art I created will long outlive me.
Keep up the good work Adam. You are wise by building not only a non crappy meat business, you solicit response from your loyal patrons that want nothing less than your family business to succeed wildly. You are on the road, good and faithful servant. You shall PROSPER as we that reap the “meats” of your labors.
One of the evaluations I make of myself is “if I were my employer would I want me as an employee”. And as a customer support person for 20 years, would I want to get ME for help with a problem. When I borrow something from a friend I want to be sure that I return it in as good or better shape than when I took it (since I don’t always treat my own tools very well). I know that what I do, whether for work or away from work, reflects on my employer and my profession. If I am a jerk then everyone associated with me is a jerk. I don’t always live up to my standards but It doesn’t hurt to give it a good effort and after awhile it will become habit. Besides the possibility of having their stuff “disappear” from the truck, would they buy from a company who has a less than clean truck? It’s always a good measure to put yourself on the other side of the boat trailer… I mean counter.
I forgot one thing…. most people won’t be happy and follow a direction unless they know why they are being directed to do so. Take turning on your headlights if your wipers are needed. It seems pretty clear to me that if it’s raining then visibility is reduced and anything you can do to be better seen by other drivers is a good, safe thing, but this seems not to be obvious to everyone. I always explained to my daughter the why of the decision, even when she was clearly too young to understand, because there would come a day when it would all make sense to her. It made her better able to make her own decisions as she grew up and became a lovely young lady.