Remote business management

[Yvonne]

Well first lesson immediately we arrived back.

Entrance to training center has a very small garden approx 1.2 meter x 1.5 meter right at our front door.

As tiny as it was I had landscaped it, on our return the centerpiece: a cycad had been stolen, (obviously no-one was responsible for that) nor did we even ask who knew anything about it!
But - the weeds were approx 80 cm high and looked dreadful.

Not a single member who walked past it every day! felt any responsibility and in fact acted hurt that we felt it should have been attended to!

One bright spark suggested in future if we want something like this attended to we should send a memo, or it should be included in someone's job responsibiltiies.

A small issue, but to my mind a big indication of the problems involved in maintaining standards representative of how we want our branding of our company to "remain" - not to develop - just to maintain!

Giving shares and offering commissions has not indicated any more desire for profitability and success as the previous attitude of doing a job for a salary (Always considered insufficient). So I now believe it is going to be harded to achieve "remote control" than envisaged. Wish I had sufficient capital to have CCTV throughout the premises.

Yvonne

[Dave A]

Now that's an interesting observation.

Perhaps the solid employee syndrome - can be relied on to deliver everything asked of them and not an ouce more.

Or perhaps an environment issue. How much space have you given to employees in the past to use initiative, even if they make the occasional mistake along the way?

[duncan drennan]

The weeds outside make you wonder what is brewing inside! I hope that the rest of your business is mostly weed free....

Where is that healthy middle point between micro-managing and laizzes-faire? Leaving people to their own devices certainly seems to tell you a lot about their character. And if their leadership is flawed, how do you find level 5 leaders?

[Karenwhe]

Hi Yvonne,

Your story is definitely amazing and must require a lot of courage.

I was just wondering. Instead of incentivizing the employees have you ever considered selling only a portion of the business to a new owner that will make sure is hands on and will carry on with the business???. This may give you some capital and more piece of mind that the person running the business is a business person and not "incentivised employees", which could make a large difference?????

[wynn]

It's like the story of the boss when hiring staff set up the interview by first putting a sheet of paper on the floor, the first person to pick it up and hand it to him got the job.