John Linton ....to set better targets - meaning more aggressive targets.
Having spent 10 hours yesterday in 'mediation' yesterday I am confronted with the prospect of adding that 'lost' time to today's work load. In the past I would have been able to cope with that additional work but today, and I suspect for some time, it is well beyond my remaining physical and mental capabilities. It's at times like these that I envy other people I observe who seem to be able to cope with any sort of additional work load without any apparent effort and certainly no 'complaint' - such as I am currently making. I would hate to think that I have joined the unending ranks of the 'other' type of "worker" but it may be the case. I suppose everybody has a use by date.
We continue to measure the new financial year's progress on a daily basis and while that might seem an absurd application of micro management we believe it's necessary to check on the business plan assumptions. Perhaps it is just the sloppiness of our planning processes, especially as we involve more people in those processes, but setting financial and sales targets is never an easy set of tasks especially in difficult times and rapidly changing conditions. So, while time consuming and possibly over reactive we go through this process each year on the basis that if we get the first month's results right then we don't have any 'catching up' to do in the second month and, if we are particularly careless, in subsequent months which inevitably leads to missing the year end targets - assuming the company is still in existence if it continually misses targets.
Over the first twelve days of July we are running either on or only slightly behind all of our targets with the exception of residential ADSL to which we have made two changes over the past few days to bring it back in line and may have got that aspect of the overall business 'back on track'.....again we will check the daily/hourly results to make sure that is the case. While it may seem obvious that various things, such as commercial enterprises, should have detailed targets and measuring progress against those targets should be done very regularly it doesn't seem to actually happen as often as most people would think.....even though almost every Australian (and some high percentage of people around the world) are introduced to the micro measurement of 'goal achievement' from kindergarten onwards.....
.....and I think that's the real problem. Possibly all but the children of migrants and a relatively low percentage of other school attendees get used to making little or no effort, and what little effort they do make is almost always too little and too late, to prepare for tests, assignments and exams from an early age right up until they graduate. Perhaps this is the basis for planning, setting targets and measuring on an hourly or daily basis being a difficult concept for many 'professionals to apply to themselves let alone in a broader sense for the area they work in or for a world larger than themselves? I became aware of this, possible, situation earlyish in my 'business life' and because I was blessed/cursed with an enquiring mind soon realised that it wasn't the measuring of personal performance via goals/quotas set by other people for me - it was that the settings of other people were inevitably based on averages which, by definition can never apply to any single individual. So what I found absurdly easy to achieve other people, despite the rigorous nature of the hiring processes, found impossibly hard.
Unfortunately, for me personally, I have never been brave enough to fix this key anomaly in setting up business plans/quotas/targets. This year, once we make July 'happen' I think we should do that...being brave enough remains the issue.
Copyright © Exetel Pty Ltd 2011
ABN 350 979 865 46
14 - The isotope of carbon that has provided more help in understanding the world's 'history' than any human or any other thing.
PS: For those who have any interest in our law suit against the TIO:
“The
proceeding in the Federal Court brought by Exetel Pty Ltd against the TIO went
to mediation on 12 July 2011. The parties have agreed that for a trial period
of three months the TIO will adopt an amended procedure for responding to certain
complaints, where the complainant advises that they have attempted to call the
Member and the number is engaged, the complainant was kept waiting or on hold
for an unreasonable length of time, or the call was not answered. During the
trial, complainants will continue to be referred to a senior point of contact
with the Member to have their complaints dealt with. Upon the Council’s
rendering of its advice to the Ombudsman, the proceeding will be dismissed. The
parties have released this statement jointly.”