Do you ever have a day at the office where it seems there is just one problem after another? Maybe every day is like this for you. Dealing with issues is a natural part of business, and is especially prevalent in start ups and businesses going through changes.
Getting Overwhelmed
The problem with being hit with a series of issues, one after another, is that you can quickly get overwhelmed. Suddenly, the good idea you had to expand your business doesn’t look so bright. But you need to accept the fact that problems are inherent in any business. How you deal with them will set you apart.
You need an organized approach to dealing with things as they come up. If you just react to each situation, you may find yourself surviving today just to deal with the same problem tomorrow. For instance, if you have a customer who was not happy with the service they received when they called in, you may personally apologize to that customer and make it right. You may even reprimand the customer service rep. But if you don’t spend a little time looking at the root of the problem, it is bound to occur again. In this case, there probably needs to be better training and/or better customer service procedures.
Start a Spreadsheet
The reason you don’t do the in depth analysis is that you are overwhelmed and too busy at the moment. So you just do the short term response. You may think you will go back and work on the problem when you get some time, but without a plan that is very unlikely.
So here is a simple solution. Start a list of all of the issues that come up during the day. Write them on sticky notes, a notepad, your hand, or whatever. Noting the issues is very important, because just by doing that you will start to see patterns and will have a road map to underlying issues.
At some point in the day, put those issues in a spreadsheet. If you are too busy, have an employee do it for you. If you have a lot of different issues, it is a good idea to use separate tabs in the spreadsheet for each category. Yours might be “office issues”, “customer service issues”, “product issues”, etc.
Once you have a column of issues, add three more columns. The first will be labeled Short Term Response. This is where you write in what you did immediately to fix the issue. The next column will be labeled Long Term Response. This is where you will write in the solution that will make the issue never happen again. It may be some time before you get the right response for this column. The last column will be Notes. Here, you can write down your thoughts, discussions, or whatever as they relate to the issue.
Patterns and Solutions
As you begin to write down all of the issues that come up during a typical day, you will see a story unfold in front of you. Just as interesting will be the story of your immediate responses. Do you react with an even hand and a cool head, or not?
You may find that a lot of your issues stem from one procedure (or lack of procedure) or from one employee. This is what you want to know, because then you can go to the root of the issue and fix it for good.
What’s more, as you build your list, you will have it handy to refer to when you do have some time to work on the business. I suggest scheduling time every week to work on your list of issues. If you have other people that can help you do this, all the better. Schedule a weekly meeting. The ultimate goal is to have the Long Term Response column filled out for every issue, and to gain the upper hand on your business issues. You have better things to be doing every day than putting out fires.
Take Action
Today, write down any issues that come up. Then, create a spreadsheet and fill in the issues column along with your immediate response. And remember, even if you put off dealing with the issue, that is a response. Just write in “ignored”. Schedule a time this week to review the list and start to solve your recurring issues.
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Bradford Shimp is the publisher of All Biz Answers. He is also the co-creator of Idea Anglers, a place to see your ideas come to life through collaboration. Follow Bradford on Twitter @bradfordshimp. Let Bradford help you with your business – visit BradfordShimp.com
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