In response to my post on Delusional People Nikole asked: "I now have employees, who are representatives of my name, working for me. And how do I know they are going to do the best job possible?"
Her question about "how do I know" is a great one! Here at PFL we have been talking alot about just that subject recently.
Answering "how do we know" is an important key to avoiding or alleviating some of the most severe growing pains in a company. Short answer: put in place structures where, at a minimum, people are having to self report on what they are doing. EG: how do I know our bookkeeper is keeping current on our payables? (Other than an angry call from a vendor.) Just for starters, once a week in our regular huddles our accounting staff report to me, in writing and verbally, how they are doing on payables and other important responsibilites they have. Call me naive, but I don’t think very many people will flat-out lie to your face week after week.
Add some spot-checks and checks-and-balances, and you have the basic structure for being able to sleep at night, reasonably comfortable that all the things you think are happening in your business, really are happening.
That’s a start. I’m sure I’ll return to this topic often.
