Members by… The season for…

Members by…the numbers…

Team members come with different skillsets and abilities but perhaps most importantly they differ in their level of initiative. Let’s classify them with the numbers one through four.

Take a number one type first. He’s the guy who sees a task that needs doing and simply does it. No need to tell him. And it doesn’t matter if it’s his responsibility of not. It’s almost inevitable that he’ll move up the ladder eventually and help manage the business.

Then there’s the number two type. This is the person who may not always see a needed task without it being pointed out, but he’s the guy who always asks what you want needs to be done and then does it. Anybody would love to have a whole team of him working with them.

Then there’s a number three. He has to be asked to do things. He never sees a task unless it’s pointed out and certainly rarely asks what he needs to do. But in truth when asked, he follows through so he’s still a valuable member and we’re happy to have him on the team.

But then there’s number four. This is the guy who would never see something that needs to be done and likewise would never ask what he can do. Worse yet he seems to hide from the tasks he’s assigned and when he does undertake them, he executes them halfheartedly. Hopefully, we don’t have any of his ilk on our team and if we do, maybe it’s time to look for a replacement.

Next up: Character by the numbers.

The season for…wrapping things up

Yep, it’s school opening time and with it the regular rush of stocking them up and sorting out what the summer gremlins left behind in their wake. That includes items like mysteriously missing curtains, misplaced racks and of even the possibility of a new dietitian running the kitchen.

That end of summer task aside it’s also time to visit those seasonal customers to collect their last invoice before they head south – and to remind them about the need to protect freezable liquids for off season storage.

It’s also time to take a hard look at the goals you set for the year before there’s no time left to address them. That includes of course the new business you budgeted as well as the increased sales of those additional products that formed a big part of your planned sales increase.

But sales matters aside, those plans might also have included some professional improvement goals, like mastering laundry formula programming or maybe joining that speakers round table to strengthen your public speaking skills. No matter the range or scope of those aspirations, it’s time to assess them and carve out the time to get them in the checked off box before the year’s done.