A New Page
Making improvement plans for 2011? Give your staff (and yourself) something they can sink their teeth in by simply asking: How?
It only took 28 years, but I can finally say I understand what it means (and how it feels) when my Mom would say to me, “You think time flies now, kiddo? Just wait till you get older.”
The last two months for me have been flying, to say the least. In September, I moved from Cleveland, Ohio, and U-Hauled my way to Chicago to join Lawn & Garden Retailer as the new managing editor.
Roughly 60 days in and there are still times I step off the train at the end of a workday, look at Chicago’s stretching skyline and think, “Wow, this is definitely not Cleveland.”
Things happen fast, but that’s not news to you. Just look at the calendar and you’ll see we’re already nipping at 2011. It’s time to start thinking about next spring and how we’re going to tackle it.
If you haven’t done so yet, you’re probably getting ready to sit down with your team to brainstorm and dissect the year talk about what worked and what didn’t. But before you jot down a list of action items, let me offer up some simple advice: Avoid the vague.
It’s All Relative
An action item is something you can do right away to improve your business. “Better customer service” is not an action item. “Paying closer attention to the bottom line” or “hosting an event” aren’t either. Those are great ideas, but that’s really all they are.
If someone told you to improve your customer service, what exactly would you do? You could go in 10 different directions. Now imagine saying that to your team at the next meeting. It could mean seven different things to seven different employees, and then everyone is on their own, different page.
What you need to do is give your staff (and yourself) something they can sink their teeth in. Something they can actually do.
Just ask: How?
For example: “How can we improve our customer service?” Any answer you give to that question is going to be an action item. Then things take the shape of a list, and the next thing you know, you have a plan (well before spring takes you hostage). Like I said, simple advice albeit advice I’m trying to listen to, too.
Practice What You Preach
Just my second day at the job, I received an email from an industry friend. In the note was a pretty heavy question: In what direction would you like to see the magazine go?
That’s usually the type of question you can’t answer by shooting from the hips. But I did. For me it was a no-brainer.
From financial advice to curb appeal tips, everything we cover in this magazine must answer your question of “How will this help me?” That’s Lawn & Garden Retailer’s direction. So going into 2011, let’s avoid the vague together. Sound like a plan?
Videos
