Teamwork

Not for the first time, I have been reminded in the last couple of weeks, how you are only as good as your team.

In the early days of a small business, it is comparatively easy to surround yourself with a few like minded people, all of whom know what is going on, all of whom buy in to the same ethos and want the same future. As the business grows, that dilutes.

Necessarily, you have to put in tight structures and tight systems especially to communicate information. This is fine, particularly if people use them! You then have a further problem - some if not all of your staff will be speaking to your customers and therefore customers will be hearing what they say as what you say. If they have talked rubbish, you are left with situation of saying your staff have talked rubbish or abiding by it...either way, not good news!

You put in checking systems but however good these are, there are often ways around them, especially if your staff lie about what they do and undoubtedly a bad member of staff will manage to cover up a few horror stories before they are discovered.

On the plus side, however, as I have been also very forcibly reminded this week, when you have good people, they are a joy and an inspiration to work with. You get excited by their achievements - for them personally as well as the company - and you feel buoyed up by their incredible dedication.

Such it has been for me, in the wake of some 1st class staff disasters. My sales team, not to mention some members of the shop floor, have stunned me with their devotion and dedication. They have kept me going, when otherwise I might have despaired. They re-affirm my conviction that this is a great company.