The Process Ninja

Eat Your Own Dog Food

I worked for an  IT Company that had an IT helpdesk that was beyond helpless. I worked for a Telecommunications company where the boss created an atmosphere of fear and hatred. I worked for an insurance company where the staff would burst into tears. I worked for a bank with a stationery cupboard with no stationery in it.

If this is the way we treat our employees, how do you think our customers will feel? But no, we treat our customers like kings, right? But if we look upon our employees, no matter where they sit in an organisation, they all have (or must have) an end impact on the customer experience – we are all part of the chain that leads to the customer. Break that chain or pass the wrong message down the line and we do damage.

So when you come to work for a company that earns billions of dollars profit a year and you don’t have paper to write on, don’t have a cup to drink out of and the printer has been broken for a week, what is the impact? Do you turn up at work full of the joys of spring? Or do you brood and fester your discontent until it spreads like a slow poison?

For too long now businesses have been treating their staff like disposable assets, and in the last year or so employees have been taken advantage of more and more. Whilst many organisations have suffered, many still continue to reap huge harvests – but that doesn’t stop them from cancelling xmas parties and forcing “imposed leave”. So when you talk in fuzzy Marketing speak about how you are going to look after your customers, remember that it all starts within your gilded doors. If you can’t eat your own dog food then how do you expect anyone else to?

The tide is turning, the boats are waiting on the shore.

Are you going to be one of “them” or one of us…?

- TPN

How (and how not) to throw money down the drain with process

You'd think that in the midst of the "GFC" companies would be looking at ways to make their processes more efficient, yet there are still many companies out there that like to throw money away hand over fist.

One of these companies is a furniture chain called Fantastic Furniture ("The package deal kings"). I like fantastic furniture. I don't like all their products, but I get what they are trying to do. They are the budget furniture company and they've pretty much got hold of their target market by the short and curlies. Now this isn't a story about customer service - it's a story of internal process. I'm not going to whinge about them from a personal point of view as when you buy something  cheap you often get cheap service - I can live with that if the price is right. But what I find amazing is when a company like theirs wastes money. OK, here's the story...

I looked online at their website and found a bed and cabinets that I wanted to buy. Actually I'd already seen it in the store. I would have loved to have bought online, but alas, no online store.

Mistake no 1: no online store.

So I call my local store and ask if it's in stock. Yes the bed is in stock he tells me but the cabinets will take longer. OK, says I, can I buy the bed now and collect the cabinets later? Yes, says he. All I need to do is pay a deposit over the phone go to the store, pay for the bed and then go and collect it at the warehouse?

Excuse me? says I. Can't I just pay for it over the phone and collect it from the warehouse? No says the man.

Mistake no 2: Poor process design fed by bureaucracy.

So I go to the store they look me up in the computer and alas I'm not there. We spend 10 minutes wrestling with the system and several calls to a mystery voice of god that tells them that that particular till doesn't work. They then find me and I actually get to pay for my bed.

Mistake no 3: Poor communication & IT support processes.

They then tell me that my items are all in stock - but wait didn't they tell me that my bedside cabinets were out of stock only 2 days ago?

Mistake no 4: Poor stock control and inventory processes

So I finally complete my transaction. Or at least I think so. The staff then take a manual docket pad and write out my receipt. Let me repeat that - THEY WRITE OUT MY RECEIPT. What on earth does their system do if it can't track stock and it can't print a receipt?

Mistake 4: Manual processes due to poor system functionality

So I take my hand written docket and drive to the warehouse. They give me an inaccurate map which gets me lost before I eventually find it. I get there and give my receipt to the chap at the warehouse. He looks at it and asks why I don't have a green slip. I tell him that's all they gave me. He grumbles that as they didn't write it out fully it will take longer to find the stock. He then proceeds to look up the computer and...write out another receipt. Did you get that HE WRITES OUT ANOTHER RECEIPT and gives that to me.

Mistake 5: lack of quality controls to ensure processes are followed

I eventually get all my stuff. It only took me 1.5 hours. But what did it cost Fantastic?

• Phone call - 5 mins
• Staff computer error - 5 mins
• Writing Docket - 2 mins
• Looking up system & re-writing docket - 5 mins

Total "lost" time = 17mins FOR ONE CUSTOMER AND ONE TRANSACTION!!!!

If you think about this in terms of the cost for 17 minutes of staff time multiplied by thousands of transactions you can envisage the amount of money fantastic are throwing away. Of course they could have avoided this entire 17 minute cost if they had an online system. But even if they didn't all they need is to update their system to be able to track stock in real-time and to eliminate the inefficient paper based system that they have become accustomed to. This would allow online tracking, reduce admin costs, control stock flow more efficiently and reduce customer touch time to allow their staff to concentrate on selling rather than performing laborious admin.

Fantastic, the Ninja has spoken. Please stop throwing your money away.

Ninja Tip: How to Crush it at Interviews

This is a bit off the process topic but since there are a lot of people out there at the moment feeling the pain of the financial crisis I thought I would share some tips on how to nail that interview (or CRUSHIT as Gary Vaynerchuk would say). Here's how:

Quality Not quantity

12 months ago, if you were 80% right for a position you'd probably have a good chance of getting it. Now, with the glut of candidates on the market employers can be ultra picky about what they want and can hand pick candidates that are 99% right for the position. The lesson is, go for positions that are very closely aligned with your skills and experience rather than those that are a loose fit. Otherwise you are just wasting your time.

Change your price

The market is paying 10-20% less than it was 12 months ago so make sure that your price expectations are not unrealistic. There are many people living in denial that are still trying to get the same rate they got 12 months ago. Again, as employers can afford to be picky they won't even look at you if your price is too high. Work out what is the lowest price you can afford to comfortably live on and go for that. Just get yourself employed - and stay employed.

Look the part

When you are going for an interview make sure you look a million dollars. Your old suit with the giant lapels from 1977 won't cut the mustard. Guys - Go out and buy a classy suit, a hot tie and shirt with cufflinks. Take someone female with you (we men are useless with clothes, and if you don't agree you are probably gay). Spend some money on it. Your suit you wear to work eavery day isn't good enough. Get a haircut. Shave (if you are a man, of course!) Do not smell BAD. Smelling good is a bonus, but don't overdo it. Girls, you are usually good at this stuff but be careful with the amount of cleavage. Try not to look like a high class...I won't say it. Aim for classy. Buy Trinny & Susannah's The Rules or get more tips here.

Be prepared

Print out all the address details and contact numbers for the interview. Take 3 copies of your resume with you to the interview. If someone has been called in at the last minute and you can hand them a resume they will be most impressed. Also, take along any documentation that you can use as examples (be sure to blank out company specific information). Prepare a list of questions to ask at the interview and provide a copy to each of the interviewers when they ask the ubiquitous "do you have any questions?" question. They will love it. If you would like to see my question list e-mail me.

Before you go in

Drink an espresso coffee with sugar 30 minutes before you go to the interview. This will be just enough to get your brain fireing without making you look like a crack whore who's just had a hit. Make sure your resume, notes and examples are all in a neat folder. Turn up early, but not too early. 10 minutes early is acceptable, anything more you will appear to be a paranoid schizophrenic. If you are early just sit in the foyer, relax, check your outfit is presentable and for god's sake please go to the toilet. A fart in an interview? - let's not go there.

Don't look like a puddle of Jelly

When you meet your interviewers give them a firm handshake. Firm - not a fishy little girl's handshake and not a bone crushing "I've got a bigger penis than you" handshake. Something in between. Look them in the eye with your shoulders back. Be confident. Repeat to yourself "I ROCK!!!" When you go into the interview wait to be offerred a seat. If they don't offer you a seat, sit down when they do. At all times, sit forward, use eye contact with ALL the interviewers and show interest by nodding and responding (Yes, I see, etc). As hard as it may be, try to enjoy the interview. Look at it is a learning experience.

It's a 2 way street

Don't think of an interview as you trying to impress them. They also have to impress you. An interview should be a two way process where you assess them. Don't be afraid to ping questions at them during the interview. It shows alertness. And balls. Not many people have balls.

If it isn't right, say so

If you think the position isn't for you, kill the interview. It isn't fair to waste your time or theirs. Poilitely say that you don't think the position is a good match and that you don't want to waste their time. Keep the door open by saying that you appreciate their time and that you would be more than happy to work for them if a suitable position arises.

Don't be a stalker

After the interview, under no circumstances should you harass the interviewers with multiple phone calls and e-mails. It smacks of desperation and makes you look like you are psychologically imbalanced and needy. Wait for them to come back to you. Give them a week and follow up with a polite e-mail or phone call.

Remember that above all, if you get to an interview, you have every chance to get the job. Just don't blow it!

Good luck!

TPN

The Benefit of Hindsight and Why We Shouldn't Take the Media Seriously

I came across this magazine lying in our lunch room at work. The fact that our only source of entertainment in the lunchroom is a magazine from December 2007 is an altogether different topic for discussion. I just found this cover to be hilarious (with the benefit of hindsight) and another classic example of why we shouldn't believe everything we see, hear or read.

How big firms are taking advantage of the global financial crisis

I'm starting to get really f*cked off listening to all this whinging about the "global financial crisis". I know it's horrible and people are losing jobs and so on but the media are really loving it aren't they? What on earth would they be babbling on about if we didn't have this crisis?

Anyway I wanted to give my two cents on the whole issue because I'm getting increasingly annoyed by some of the bullshit that's going on by big firms.

Employees are being taken advantage of. There's no doubt about that. I have "a friend" who works for a prominant telecommunications firm in Sydney. This firm have just asked all contractors to take a 10% pay cut. If they don't accept then it's farewell...the company's point of view is that there are plenty of desperate people out there. This is the same company that announced that there would be no bonus this year, even though the actually made more money this year than last year (and last year they got a bonus). This is the same company that is sacking employees hand over fist whilst the GM's chums at the top keep getting given new highly paid positions. Sucks doesn't it?

The "crisis" is the perfect excuse for guys at the top to cut out all the things they've really wanted to cut for many years. The staff drinks, the lunches, the marketing events, the IT spend, the HR dept. Now they have the perfect reason. If they had tried to do it before they would have been seen as monsters, now they are pitching themselves as the saviours of firms by chopping the easy targets.

They are so far removed from what goes on "on the floor" that they don't see the true impact - the loss of morale, the sabotage and the brain drain when the best employees decide they don't want to take it any more. But what's worse is the short term chop shop men are happy when they see their costs reduced - they won't see the real picture until it's too late - the poorly built systems with revenue leakage, the drop in quality that loses customers, the lack of skills that causes major errors. They will see it eventually and they will see it starkly and they will wonder how they got it so wrong.

There are better, smarter ways for businesses to save money, but that's the subject of an altogether different post...

How to save money and reduce time spent at the supermarket

In the past my wife and I were terrible shoppers – we would simply amble around the supermarket throwing whatever we fancied in our trolley. We ended up spending staggerring amounts on food that sat in cupboards for all eternity and fruit and veg that ended up in the bin. By following a few simple steps we have not only slashed our grocery bills, but we save time at the supermarket so we can spend it in better ways!

Planning

Every week my wife and I have a quick chat about what we'd like to eat for the week.We only plan dinners as I take my food to work (another good way to save money) and my wife usually makes something at home.  As we are a busy family with 3 kids under 3 (and two cats!) we try to identify dinners that are easy to make.

Note: We have found a great book called 4 ingredients which I highly recommend for busy people.

We plan our dinners Mon-Fri as on Sat we usually have take-away and by Sunday we find that there are usually leftovers from take-away or dinners from the last few days.

This planning helps us to focus on exactly what we need for the week. It also helps us to focus on expenditure - when you lay it all out on paper you might see that having salmon then lamb then prawns in one week might be a bit expensive! - so we usually have a more expensive type of meat once a week and no more. We do love a bit of meat, but we mix it up each week (no not literally!) with fish, chicken and a vegetarian dish or two.

We check the recipes and check in the cupboards to see what ingedients we need and these ingredients are added to the shopping template...this way we only buy what we need.

The Shopping Template

I got so familiar by going to the supermarket every week that I found myself remembering visually where the items werein the store. However, when I wrote my lists I didn’t always get the order right and I found myself having to go back to other aisles to pick things up – very inefficient! However I noticed that at the end of each aisle at the supermarket there was a little index card that listed all the aisles and their contents. When I went home I e-mailed the supermarket and asked them if it was possible to send me a copy of it. Lo and behold they sent me a copy in excel format which I was able to reformat so that I had a list of products in aisle order. I then went through this list and added all the products that we usually buy to create a list that would act as a template. So when we run out of something we really need or when we plan our menus it gets written straight onto the supermarket template – then it’s off to the shops…

At the supermarket

Now that I am armed with my completed template I simply cross off the items as I pick them up. As everything is in the correct order there is no doubling back (wasted time) to pick things up. Having a list also helps to stop impulse shopping (our rule is only to buy what’s on the list) – so this also saves money.

When I buy items I rarely stick to specific brands (except maybe for Heinz tomato ketchup!) as this allows more flexibility to pick things up on special. I usually try to scan for specials but I am always wary that even though an item is on special it may not be the cheapest option (saying that sometimes it can be a false economy to buy the cheapest). If you can – use unit based pricing to do a more accurate analysis. However I am always wary of “buy 2 for X$” offers. Remember – only buy what you need. Ask yourself – “if I buy this special offer this week will it save me from buying it next week”.

I also stack similar items in my trolley together each time. This means that similar items e.g. frozen goods stay together when they are placed onto the checkout, which means that they will be together in the same bag when I get home which makes it faster to unpack them and put them away.

Make it a habit

Try to go to the supermarket a few different times before you settle upon a regular time to go. Items usually go on special at particular times of the week. If you can identify when this happens then you can save yourself some more money (talk to the staff at the meat and bread counters – they may provide some inside knowledge!)

I go to the supermarket once a week. I choose this period because my fruit and veg will stay good for up to a week. I spend about an hour doing it which I think is pretty good for a whole family. This process may seem a bit extreme to some people but it saves me money, time and gets me back to where I want to be – with my family.

Cheers,

TPN

Will the Credit Crunch Kill BPR?

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