Far too often when I go into Companies or Credit Unions I find that there are so many different departments and so many different people with so many different agendas, so many people pulling in opposite directions. Each convinced that what they are doing is for the best.
It is the job of senior management to make sure every single person in the organization know and are committed to the goals. For this to happen, the goals must be written down in clear and unambiguous language and have to be something everybody can buy into.
Goals like “to be our customer’s supplier of choice” to me, are absolute rubbish – who is doing the choosing? How can we have any control over it?
Our goals should be stated in present tense that everyone can understand “We are selling and collecting €200k per month” is a far better goal, now everyone knows what we have to do and it is up to everyone to work out how we can work together to achieve it.
Sometimes a working day can seem like a battle, and Credit Controllers are well aware of this and some see their role as people spending more time during their working week playing politics
and covering their own backs than they spend on doing the job they are paid to do. If this sounds familiar I ask you to read the title of the article again.
and covering their own backs than they spend on doing the job they are paid to do. If this sounds familiar I ask you to read the title of the article again.
It is the job of senior management to make sure every single person in the organization know and are committed to the goals. For this to happen, the goals must be written down in clear and unambiguous language and have to be something everybody can buy into.
Goals like “to be our customer’s supplier of choice” to me, are absolute rubbish – who is doing the choosing? How can we have any control over it?
Our goals should be stated in present tense that everyone can understand “We are selling and collecting €200k per month” is a far better goal, now everyone knows what we have to do and it is up to everyone to work out how we can work together to achieve it.
I tell a story of John F Kennedy’s visit to NASA and he asked a janitor “What do you do here?” The man replied, “ Sir, I’m putting a man on the moon.” What a wonderful answer. In that case everybody in the
building was there for one reason only and that was to put a man on
the moon. Each made their own contribution based on their role and
building was there for one reason only and that was to put a man on
the moon. Each made their own contribution based on their role and
level within the organization. This article is a challenge to all business people and senior managers – “What is your man on the moon?”The clearer we are able to define this and the better all our staff understand it the more successful our business will become. Failure to achieve this seemingly simple task will add more cost, more wasted time, more inefficiency and in today’s competitive world we cannot afford the luxury of any distractions.As we move to middle management – they too have to define their role within the organization with equal clarity and constantly communicate it to each and every member of staff. I have heard the saying that “cash is king”, I have also heard “the customer is king” – our success depends on our ability to reconcile these two priorities and deliver accordingly