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I have spoken with Mary a few times and suggested the
best course of action to take and she always responds with
"not right now, I have this to do and that to do (and everything
else to do)". Mary always procrastinates and says to call
her back in a few weeks' time when the current major crisis
should be over.
One month her database was completely wiped out. It had
mistakenly been deleted by a temporary assistant she had
hired. Of course there was no back up. It took many hours
to reproduce it. Mary had to hire an extra person for the
next month to establish a new database. In real terms this
latest crisis cost her business thousands of dollars in
lost productivity, not to mention the effect it had on her
stress levels.
People often only think of having a back up when something
goes wrong. They don't worry about their own business and
systems. As long as they are 'busy', who needs to 'waste
time' on systems?
Specialist skills are required and they are not just acquired
by experience. Mary needs to equip herself with some basic
life skills so she can live and work effectively. She has
to be able to put those skills into action! At the rate
she's going, she won't be living long enough to enjoy the
years of hard work she has contributed to her business.
It's been a couple of years since we first spoke and I'd
forgotten all about Mary until I bumped into one of her
former employees who had stayed with her for six months.
Jan told me it was extremely stressful and unrewarding working
for Mary. She could never complete her work as her duties
were always changing. Mary made promises to clients which
she would often break and Jan, being her personal assistant
was the person the clients would go to make sure the work
was done on time. She was also the key person who kept the
peace with the rest of the staff.
Jan had given Mary one month's notice when she handed in
her resignation, so Mary had plenty of time to find a replacement.
When Jan left, Mary still hadn't found a replacement as
she left it to the week before Jan exited to advertise the
position. Of course she did all the recruiting herself,
advertised in the local paper and had 50 replies. No doubt
she wasted the next month interviewing suitable applicants.
If Mary had been a member of our Productivity
Coaching Club she would have learned How
to Take The Gamble Out Of Hiring Staff and saved herself
many hours of her time. This powerful interview was with
profiling expert Nathan Chanesman who shared his powerful
tips in finding the right people.
Procrastination and her disorganisation made such a dramatic
impact on all aspects of her life.
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