KickStart: “Accountability breeds response-ability.” Stephen R. Covey
An essential part of growing into adulthood is becoming “accountable” for our actions. Honestly? Prisons are full of overgrown babies who have never matured enough to follow this basic rule of nature: “For every action there is… a re-action.”😥
However, I (eventually) learned that “accountability” shouldn’t focus ONLY on the bone-headed mistakes of my service employees! Instead, when a worker took “response-ability” I needed to both praise them and share the extra profits that they generated!
NOTE: Click HERE to get the 30,000′ overview of my Worker Efficiency Bonus (WEB) plan.💲 And click HERE to learn how to pay more with more profits for you by implementing the WEB plan.
I also learned that many times it was MY fault when an employee didn’t follow through on my (to me) clearly defined expectations. But, in reality my communicating was often a muddled mess! You too?😲 Then you should …
Implement this “5-W Checklist” clearly define your “Employee Expectations”!
NOTE: As far as I know the author Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) wasn’t a business consultant. And yet I’ve used his poem, “SIX HONEST SERVING MEN”, many times in business. (Including in my Complaint Analysis Process.) You’ll see five of Rudyard’s six key words in this KickStart!
When preparing for a company staff meeting (or when giving directions to an employee) analyze if you’ve CLEARLY defined your expectations using Rudyard’s five key words below…
1. WHY- I assume (hope?) you have intelligent employees. (If you’re struggling to hire ANYONE then check out my new online hiring class.) And guess what? You’ll always get more “buy-in” from smart people IF they understand the “WHY” behind your request.🤔
2. WHAT- One of my core Timeless Concepts is to “make it easier to do it right than to do it wrong”. (This is much tougher to do than to type!) I’ve been accused by Sioux (falsely in my opinion) of explaining things in a verbal shorthand. But to comply with “what” you must slow down and be very clear on WHAT you expect.
NOTE: Especially when scaling up an owner-operated business model into a Critical Mass Business you must listen to yourself with “Employee’s Ears”. (What do they hear when you speak?) This means you must focus on, and eventually write down, 1) clear step-by-step instructions for every procedure that form 2) every system that… up till now you’ve personally been doing on auto-pilot!
3. WHO- Never forget that, “When ‘Nobody’ is assigned to finish a task, that is who will do it… NOBODY!” It is extremely de-motivating for your staff to endlessly discuss a project and then… nothing happens. Why not?
Because “Somebody” is closely related to “Nobody” as in, “I sure wish ‘Somebody’ would do something…” And of course this faceless “Somebody” never does anything!😲
4. WHERE- As in “where” can your employee(s) find additional resources to complete the task? The training, tools, help from the office, etc. And your single most important “W”…
5. WHEN- Here’s a NEWS FLASH: “We all do better when we’re ‘held accountable’!” For example…
I’m typing this KickStart because I’m have a (wait for it)… deadline! I dearly love writing to you folks “down in the trenches” but without this accountability… who knows when (or even IF) this column would appear?🤷🏼♂️
HINT: Especially on big projects ask for daily or weekly progress reports. NOTE: Both you and your workers should schedule update reminders times on your smartphones.👍
RESOURCE: You need our 3 hour, online SFS: Winning over your caller! LIVE seminar. Click HERE for 100’s of ‘Lead Conversion’ ideas and systems to easily book prospects who use text, email, Facebook, website chat or even… the phone! HERE are our upcoming class dates…
Steve