A Hands-on-Everything Method of Madness

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I must say, I am mystified by certain owners’ micro-managing, hands-on-everything business operations methodology these days!

I’ve worked with many small-to-midsize businesses for many years to help them implement lean practices via SOP (standard operating procedures) documentation. However, many more businesses continue to cling to old methods, that have noticeably driven them to frenzied activity. I would call that madness.

So, why DO many business owners choose that hands-on method for running virtually every facet of their business?

Fear Prompts Hands-On Madness

I submit that these owners cling to the hands-on-everything method simply due to FEAR...

• Fear that someone won’t do a job the way they would do it.
• Fear that a crucial or devastating error may occur, if they are not eyeballing every step of a process.
• Fear that they might lose an account or some new business, if they don’t speak directly to the customer or prospect.
• Fear that someone may order the wrong supply from a vendor, causing a bottleneck.
• Fear that someone may not check and compare what was purchased to what was delivered; or what was ordered by a customer, to what was invoiced.

Fear is Avoidable

The truth is, there is a better, easier, more affordable, less-timely, less-wasteful, and less-frustrating way to operate a business, and fear is avoidable!

Implementing a few simple SOP’s would alleviate those fears. The solution is a step-by-step procedure or checklist, written or verified by the owner, showing the way the owner would do the job themselves. The steps, written down on a quality control checklist, show exactly the way, and in what order, a job or project is done.

Sound simple?

YOU BET IT IS! However, it does take some time!

What I know about TIME is ... time goes by, whether we are proactive or reactive, and whether we choose to continue “business as usual” or choose to change.

Did I mention? Great systems work!