SPOTLIGHT Establishing Best Practices for Your Business BUSINESS mess that should not have happened? How much time will it take you to earn back your customer’s lost confidence? What will it cost you to replace a customer that you lost for all the wrong reasons? Isn’t it better to do it right the first time? (This reminds me of Bill Clinton’s testimony when he said, “It de- pends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is.”) Our question is: What does “do it right” mean? Of course, the answer is “do it accord- ing to our best practice(s).” It is better to invest the effort up front to prescribe how you want certain things done than to repeat instructions over and over to new employees or individuals learning a different role or task. We are probably familiar with the words of Fred R. Bernard, who is credited with coining the phrase “one look is worth a thousand words,” which is oſten stated as “one picture is worth a thousand words.” Inspired by the intrinsic wisdom of Fred’s observation, manufacturers continue the trend to- ward primarily reducing assembly or installation instructions to illustrations. The fewer words, the better! Yes, saving on printing costs, avoiding ambiguity and facilitating multiple languages are all benefits. Many firms now use videos for indoctrination and onboard- ing of new employees. This approach is efficient, consistent and done without taking up the valuable time of an HR person or trainer. Indeed, there are numerous videos on YouTube that are inexpensive to create and free to view. They can be watched re- peatedly on demand and are a wonderful reference. Let’s face it: Some instructions (especially how-to types) are far more helpful in video form than in written form. The same can be said for your best practices, especially installation/repair instructions. Creating Buy-In and the Right Atmosphere When you are ready to get serious about developing your best practices, remember that you can either ram this best prac- tices stuff down your employees’ throats or engage them in the process. This reminds me of a situation I encountered when asked to straighten out customer service–related issues involving several departments in a larger company. The work environment had devolved into various forms of germ warfare between several departments that were required to work together in certain cus- tomer situations. The factional silos had been gallantly erected like pillboxes, and the intramural blame game was perfected to an art form. How could this be fixed while also attending 16 SAFE & VAULT TECHNOLOGY | November/December 2022 to my many other responsibilities? Incidentally, just to make sure it wasn’t too easy to fix, the various players were physically dispersed all over North America and the world. All shared one thing in common: Each group was absolutely convinced that the other departments were the problem! I should add that, as is so oſten the case, these were basically good employees. As a consultant, I didn’t have a clue about all of the permuta- tions, intricacies, system nuances or numerous other consid- erations of this business, nor did I have the time or ambition to learn. Yet, I had to find a viable solution. Aſter ruling out the preferred traditional go-to managerial options of court- yard executions, public floggings and assorted macabre rem- edies, I resorted to a relatively simple approach. I could have just issued an edict and proclaimed a solution, but that would risk imposing the wrong resolution — or at least not the best resolution. Moreover, at least one of the factions (perhaps all) would have reluctantly accepted my directive(s) under silent protest and never fully embraced the fix. So, naturally, I fired all of them and asked Tony Soprano to make the problem go away. Rumor has it they’re all buried in shallow graves in the New Jersey Meadowlands, near Giants Sta- dium… not too far from Jimmy Hoffa. So, what did I really do? Since the total number of employees was too large to be man- ageable, I had each department elect/appoint one representative to participate in a team led by me: “The Exorcist.” We stipulated that each faction would accept and embrace whatever their re- spective reps agreed to. I took on the role of facilitator, teed up the situation, added some structure and guard rails, and tasked the team with finding solutions that they (and I) could live with. Notice that I did not say perfect or ideal solutions. Aſter much back and forth, some role reversals and getting to know each other better, they eventually became more flexible and open- minded. They undug their heels and collectively worked out acceptable approaches to the recurring issues. Why is this relevant, you ask? Because, ultimately, these deci- sions took the form of less-than-perfect best practices (written by me), which went on through additional iterations, improv- ing each time. Perhaps more importantly, we got the job done, and every person with skin in the game felt like he or she had a voice in the process and outcome. I can’t over-emphasize the importance of this broad partici- pation and ultimate buy-in. Aſter all, the individuals with the experience and knowledge developed the processes and rules of engagement. All I did was play Judge Judy and facilitate a www.savta.org
