Get the strategy worked out and the tactics just fall into place.
I'm always one for finding a little time to think well ahead - it really can be just a little time, and thinking can be done in the shower, driving a car, or seated in a train. I find that if I've thought through the longer term strategy (what do I want to achieve / why are we doing this) then the short term tactics and decisions become easier and (I believe) better. And there's a huge reduction in reversed decisions, And (in a customer facing environment) there's far less chance of one employee saying something and another contradicting it. And all members of the team can be far more empowered to make decisions, leaving senior staff more time to play golf. ;-)
Except for the playing golf(!!) this is the approach we try to take at Well House Consultants and it does seem to work for us; we achieve a lot, it seems effectively, and we know where we're headed.
I have to admire the organisation at the company I'm at this week. They've grown in the semiconductor business from nothing to a billion-dollar company in 10 years, and they've weathered out the storms in their industry well. They have strategies which they impart to their staff, and these strategies are detailed on the wall of the conference room I'm in. "Enjoying our work", "very open communications", "integrity" and "teamwork" are the four I can read from where I'm sitting, and each goes on to list about half a dozen bullet points. It's NOT all about "be nice to everyone" - there are some difficult things there like "if you don't like what someone has done, tell them privately, politely and with respect and don't let it fester". Good strategy, and I'm sure it's lead to things being brought out into the open and dealt with quickly and easily.
(written 2004-09-30, updated 2008-05-10)
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
G502 - Well House Consultants - Business Practice [15] 90 to 10 or 80 to 20 rule - (2004-08-15)
[27] Sales technique - (2004-08-25)
[77] Telephone systems - (2004-10-07)
[88] Getting the right level of trainer - (2004-10-14)
[95] Five red flags - (2004-10-21)
[108] A typical morning - (2004-11-03)
[121] Fair and Simple - (2004-11-17)
[125] Staff theft - (2004-11-21)
[129] Trawling our site to prevent student copying - (2004-11-24)
[137] Certification schemes - (2004-12-02)
[157] Automatic service upgrades - (2004-12-19)
[180] Skunk works - (2005-01-17)
[188] Pink elephant and appreciation - (2005-01-24)
[200] Tips for the top - (2005-02-03)
[211] Look after your staff and they'll look after you. AOL. - (2005-02-12)
[217] Use of time - (2005-02-16)
[226] Growing our systems - (2005-02-24)
[297] A reminder that the customer is King - (2005-05-01)
[321] Sales - the alternative close - (2005-05-23)
[399] simplicity hides real size - (2005-07-31)
[438] Fair system for travel and accommodation expenses - (2005-09-07)
[457] Do the work and take the risk - a PHP contract to avoid - (2005-10-06)
[467] Tell them three times - (2005-10-17)
[487] On line course booking - credit card protection - (2005-11-06)
[491] Being atypical is typical - (2005-11-10)
[536] Cancellations and penalties - (2005-12-21)
[626] Not just a pretty face to answer the phone. - (2006-02-26)
[652] Morning Post - (2006-03-20)
[664] Ruby course - oops - it's not happening - (2006-04-01)
[766] Discounts and approved supplier lists - (2006-06-17)
[808] Sales call - (2006-07-19)
[849] Staff Meeting - (2006-08-30)
[869] UNABLE TO ATTEND - (2006-09-16)
[883] Age discrimination law - (2006-10-01)
[906] A commitment we won't be making - (2006-10-27)
[1057] Selling by phone and Skype - our policy - (2007-01-30)
[1084] Writing terms and conditions for conferences and other events - (2007-02-17)
[1133] B-2-B Networking, 20th April. Useful for YOUR business? - (2007-04-03)
[1157] Speed Networking - a great evening and how we arranged it - (2007-04-21)
[1165] Extended Credit request - train in June and be paid in September - (2007-04-27)
[1243] Heavy duty hole punch - (2007-06-24)
[1260] An inspirational business talk from one of our prospective MPs - (2007-07-06)
[1263] 0800 043 8225 - a new phone number for Well House - (2007-07-10)
[1319] Customer feedback - lifeblood of a business - (2007-08-25)
[1342] Google, wwmdirectory, Freshwater, ATP - new scam? - (2007-09-09)
[1373] New Month, New Quarter, New Laws - (2007-10-01)
[1394] Business to Business Networking - North and West Wilts / Melksham - (2007-10-17)
[1453] What makes our courses special? - (2007-12-02)
[1485] Copyright and theft of images, bandwidth and members. - (2007-12-26)
[1626] Early May - a short chance to regroup and improve - (2008-05-01)
[1713] Ways to accept credit cards - or not! - (2008-07-19)
[1855] Volunteer v Employee - a skewed balance? (FSB) - (2008-10-25)
[1913] Alastair Darling helps make paperwork and confusion - (2008-11-30)
[2044] Please Trouble me - (2009-02-16)
[2122] Commission Creep - (2009-04-08)
[2126] Weeding out old phone numbers - (2009-04-11)
[2161] Get it right ... if it goes wrong, it takes so much effort to sort out! - (2009-05-08)
[2187] Are we IITT (Institute of IT Training) members? - (2009-05-17)
[2190] How you are (re)presented at an exhibition - (2009-05-19)
[2283] Everyone is in the customer relations business - (2009-07-12)
[2331] Certification Revisted - Lua - (2009-08-09)
[2465] Melksham Town - asleep or awake? - (2009-10-21)
[2598] An excuse for making a sales call - (2010-01-26)
[2788] Cost of Sales - (2010-06-01)
[2821] Chancellor George Osborne inspires Perl Program - (2010-06-22)
[2936] The service that customers should receive - (2010-08-27)
[2966] Cheap Country Hotel in Melksham, Wiltshire? - (2010-09-21)
[3073] Customer Service - the boundary - (2010-11-27)
[3157] A new monopoly on the ferry to Northern Ireland - (2011-02-04)
[3333] Honesty and a friendly welcome goes a long way - (2011-06-25)
[3506] Cold call contacts - preference services and turning off spam sales approaches - (2011-11-03)
[3613] Keeping Business Local. But is that realistic? - (2012-02-13)
[3665] Will will smile? - (2012-03-22)
[3750] Matching opening hours to when customers can come in and buy - (2012-06-04)
[3755] Cruising on the Mersey Ferry? - (2012-06-07)
[4107] Snog, Marry, Avoid - (2013-05-31)
[4293] Certification - (2014-09-15)
[4415] Buffet review - taking the price into account - (2015-02-05)
[4520] No cold sales calls please - but delighted to hear from others! - (2015-09-29)
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