Get Out Of The Kitchen!

I'm starting to sound like an old man because I find myself saying things only old men say. Things like, "Get off my lawn!", "Slow down you little punk!" and "If you can't do something well, why are you doing it at all?"

Case in point: my recent lunch at Buca di Beppo. Buca is a chain of very colorful, slighly irreverant, highly tasty Italian restaurants. For a chain, the food is really pretty good. But this isn't about the food.

One of the fun, quirky things Buca has always done is parade you through the kitchen as they escort you to your table -- it's part of the experience. It's intended to be fun and interactive, and probably keeps the kitchen staff from swearing like a bunch of drunken sailors. I absolutely love this idea. In addition to the good food and interesting decor, this single act really made Buca stand out from the crowd.

But not this past Sunday. Yes, it was Easter Sunday. Yes, they were busier than normal. And I also heard the hostess say they were short-staffed. Which is why I shouldn't have been surprised when our server sped thorugh the kitchen like a hard-core mall walker. She stayed about 4 steps ahead of us and never really looked back as she pointed out the bread station, the cooking area, the "owners table" (not really the owners eating there, just plain folk like us), and about three other kitchen highlights that I missed because I was breathing too hard from trying to catch up to her. My 7 & 9 year old kids looked like they had just fallen down the rabbit hole with Alice and they were desperately trying to understand what the rabbit was trying to tell them.

When we reached our table, we were a bit dazed & confused. My wife shot me a look that said, "Was that as bad as I think it was?" I shot her a look back that said, "No, it was worse." When you've been married for 19 years, you develop the ability to communicate without words. It's one of perks of being married a really long time to somebody you love with all your heart.

Hey, we're all short-staffed right now. We're all trying to do more with less. And that's the problem. We literally cannot do everything we used to do, but we keep trying. The result is a rapid decline in our level of service because we don't have the time, money, or people to provide all the things we used to. Why are we doing this to ourselves?

More importantly, why are we doing this to our customers?

Seriously, as much as I love the idea of the kitchen tour, I would rather NOT have it than to chase the rabbit down the rabbit hole like we did. Something that was meant to be unique and fun instead became bewildering and the subject of an article on customer service.

At sparkspace, we're forced to do more with less right now just like you are. We love, live, and breath customer service. We work daily to invent new ways to serve you. But right now, we can't do everything we want to do, so we've had to (temporarily) let a few things go in order to have enough time, energy, and resources to do the things we still do, and to do them really well.

Here's how we're avoiding creating customer service failures right now. You can do the same things.

1. We've developed a list of the various components of our business that are critical to our success. For us, it's reservations, operations, programs, catering, finance, and marketing. Your list should be specific to your business.

2. Under each area, we've listed FIVE OR FEWER things that we need to be really, really good at right now. For instance, under reservations, we listed that we need to be uber-good at responsiveness and we need to answer the phone every time in two rings or less. You'll probably notice that your lists are not much more than the basics.

3. We read and re-read our lists. Then we allow ourselves to forget (temporarily) all those other cool things we used to do and focus on this list while our resources are limited. It helps to understand that this will not last forever.

Even when things are going great and we have all the money and resources that we need, we should never, ever forget to focus on the basics. If we don't get the basics right, even the world's best kitchen tour won't be enough to create the kind of customer loyalty that we all desire.

So the moral of today's article is: If you don't have the resources you need right now, get out of the kitchen! And go back to doing the basics, really, really, REALLY well.

Getting More from (the Right) People

(This week's feature article is by long-time friend of sparkspace, Mike Paton A phenomenal teacher, consultant and mentor, Mike is conducting a free workshop at sparkspace on April 27th called "Getting a Grip on your Business. CLICK HERE for details)

I have asked hundreds of entrepreneurs what prompted them to start a business, and not one of them has ever said, "Because I just LOVE managing people."

Even during a massive economic crisis, "people problems" seem to be a frequent and painful cause of frustration for business owners and leaders. They're frustrated about employees, partners, vendors, customers...none of them listen, or get it, or care. Unless you've just joined the workforce or been working alone for your entire career, you know precisely what I mean.

This is the third article in a series I'm writing. The first article in this series introduced readers to the Six Key Components^(TM) of a well-run business; the second article further described the Vision Component. If you easily connect the word "employees" with "frustration," you'll enjoy the focus of today's article - strengthening the People Component.

There are thousands of books, seminars and strategies that can help you find and keep great people. Most provide valuable insight, articulate strategies, and compelling jargon, but in many companies it's just not that complicated. To have a great team, focus on getting the Right People in the Right Seats - you must have both.

What are "Right People?" They're employees who share your core values. They "fit" your organization, and it fits them. "Right Seats" means everyone has the talent, skills and experience to excel at something that's critical to your business. When you have 100% Right People in the Right Seats you have an ultra-efficient organization full of happy employees and healthy teams who get consistently exceptional results.

If creating such an organization seems like a pipe dream, your skepticism is understandable. Many of our clients felt the same way when we began working together to strengthen the People Component. Here's what we've done (and the practical tools we've used) to change their mind:

1. Discover and Define Your Core Values - the qualities and attributes that describe the very best people in your organization. You don't "create" core values because they already exist - you just need to define them.

2. Use your Core Values to hire, train, manage, and reward your people. Our teams use a simple tool called the People Analyzer to evaluate each employee and build an enduring culture full of all "Right People."

3. Build an Accountability Chart to create the ideal structure for your organization:

a. Start from Scratch - take history and people out of the equation. Create the simplest and best structure for your organization. Include only those seats critical for your success over the next 6-12 months.

b. Define Roles. For each critical seat, identify the 5 things you need to excel at in order to take the company to the next level. Look forward - don't think about how things used to work or who's always done them.

c. Put Right People in Right Seats. With your ideal structure defined, you can now place employees who share your core values into each open seat. You can use a simple tool called "GWC" to make sure each seat owner has the talent, skills and experience necessary to excel at the 5 Roles in that seat. To be a "Right Seat," each employee must:

i. Get It - have a brain that's wired in a way to understand the rigors of the job at a fundamental level. For example, you wouldn't hire someone who's wired as a bookkeeper to be a salesperson, and vice versa.

ii. Want It - be genuinely driven to excel in this job. You can't pay someone to want it, beg them to want it, or kick them in the tail to want it.

iii. Have the Capacity to do it - possess the intellect, the ability, the skills and experience to consistently do the job well in the time allotted.

If you follow these steps in your own company, you will almost certainly expose two people issues that need to be solved. The first is Right Person, Wrong Seat. You have someone who shares your values, they've been around for ever, you love them - but they're in the wrong seat. They may not get it, they may not want it; they may lack the capacity - whatever it is they're just in the wrong seat. Hopefully in your organization there is a different seat for that person - but if there isn't (assuming you're a "for-profit" business) you must make tough people decisions.

The second people issue is Right Seat, Wrong Person. You have a talented, productive person - they absolutely get it, want it, have the capacity to do it - they just don't share your core values. They're "below the bar" on the People Analyzer. And as tough as it is, you must let them go. These people are KILLING your culture; they're chipping away at you in ways you can't even see. They're consuming your time and energy; they're making other people in the company miserable. Long term they do far more damage than good.

Using these tools and making those tough decisions, you'll ultimately get to a point where everyone on your team - 10 of 10 or 25 of 25 or 60 of 60 - are the Right People in the Right Seats. When that happens (as it does with our clients) - your company will flourish, your life will become more peaceful and more fun, and you may just start to LOVE managing people.

Join Us for Dave Ramsey's Town Hall for Hope

Date: Thursday, April 23rd
Time: 8pm (approx. 90 minutes)
Location: sparkspace in the Arena District
Cost: FREE

So we may plan effectively, CLICK HERE to RSVP. Thanks!

Town Hall for Hope is your opportunity to sit down with people in our community for a nationwide town hall meeting led by Dave Ramsey. sparkspace is one of the select venues across the country that will host the event, broadcasting Dave's live presentation. In the opening half hour, Dave will offer straight talk about the economy, recession, foreclosures and more. He'll carefully explain where we've come from, where we are now, and what we should be doing with our money during this time. Then, Dave will spend an hour answering your questions live!

Dave will take questions by phone, email, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and more! Check out the Get Involved page to see all the ways in which you can join in the conversation! And remember, this is a free event!

If you have other questions, be sure to review the Frequently Asked Questions page.


Who is Dave Ramsey?

Dave Ramsey is a personal money-management expert, an extremely popular national radio personality and best-selling author of The Total Money Makeover. In his latest book, a follow-up of his enormously successful New York Times best-sellers Financial Peace and More Than Enough, Ramsey exemplifies his life's work of teaching others how to be financially responsible, so they can acquire enough wealth to take care of loved ones, live prosperously into old age, and give generously to others.

sparkspace is a debt-free business because of Dave Ramsey. We have followed the money management principles in our personal lives and in our business. While we are concerned about the economy, we also have a sense of peace and control that being debt-free brings. We wanted to share these ideas with others in the hopes that it will help you build a stronger business and personal financial situation. The Town Hall for Hope is a great opportunity for you to learn more about how you can control your own financial destiny. We hope you can come!



Watch the video promo of the Town Hall for Hope!