Hot & Cool Blog

Does good management mean eliminating numerical goals and quotas?

Yes, says quality guru Dr Edward Deming in his 14 Obligations of Management:

Eliminate numerical goals, numerical quotas and management by objectives. Substitute leadership...a numerical goal without a method is nonsense. Where there is fear you do not get honest figures.

I'm remembering the distortions that would arise when cunning staff worked to maximise their sales bonuses at Cafe Troppo. It needed constant attention - when I combined strong direction with the bonus scheme, it worked brilliantly. When left to work on automatic by a distracted boss (me), it was not unknown for customers to be pressured into ordering things they really didn't want. Or wrong items rung up on the POS etc...

The gods were listening...

I was bellyaching to good friend Yuri Bolotin of Design Portfolio about the lack of decent tea in restaurants and cafes. Usually a miserable tea bag (with label - no shame) and little ceremony. Then at lunch straight after, the sign below was proudly fixed to the cafe wall - they get it!

Here's the thing...if 20% of the population say they don't drink coffee (true) and 25% of coffee drinkers won't drink it in the evening (approx.), that's 4 out of 10 people who want something that's not coffee when they eat out at night. Sounds like a lot of people ready to buy if they could just find what they want...

Do exceptions block you or benefit you?

I hired from Economy Car Rental on the Gold Coast last week, and the tariff was surprisingly reasonable, with no nasty plus+plus+plus extras. When booking by phone, they asked for my name and flight details...and that was all! No phone number or credit card? 'No buddy - we only have about one in 300 people who don't turn up, so we're not too worried'. Maybe all that bureaucracy is why I pay more elsewhere?

It made me think again about a struggling client, who explained the new planter boxes around his cafe. There had recently been a 'runner', and this was his way to prevent further incidents. The cafe was perfectly placed opposite the escalator in a shopping mall - people could step off and walk straight in for a cappuccino...until the barriers went up. I'm guessing the number of people who leave without paying would be way fewer than 1 in 300. He's still struggling...

Another connection: this 'grab and go' beverage trough (above) has been placed at the front of a salad bar. Yes, it's the perfect height for thieves with bags, but it's now much more likely that customers will impulsively buy (as this man did) if they can help themselves.

Time to stop worrying about the one in 300 baddies and make it easier for the other 299 to buy more...

This Mission Statement doesn't suck!

I like the site for franchise owners Thomas & King - have a look around. The way they express their Mission Statement is free of hype and easily understood by staff, and the Leader Quest is a neat way to show career possibilities.