Feedback

I recently reviewed the CD of a seminar I attended last winter. One of the topics was about the importance of giving positive feedback. I think we all know this. It was also about the importance of giving positive suggestions and asking questions. TSP – be Truthful, Specific and Positive. If you are truthful, specific and positive you will earn respect, and when your earn respect then when you ask a question or make a suggestion, people will listen.

You know how sometimes when you make a suggestion some people will automatically say “no, you are wrong because….” or words to that affect. If you are truthful, specific and positive then it is much less likely that you will get this push back.

Our customers demand that we continually improve. Everyone at Monk Office should feel comfortable enough to make positive suggestions to others and to accept such comments when made to them. If we have 130 brains working toward this end we will move ahead more quickly. I think we are a long way towards this already with our Eco Team and Quest team and QIP groups. (A QIP group is a team of individuals from different parts of the company who deal with a certain process and are asked to come together as a group to improve this process.) The need for improvement may be the result of a customer survey or customer complaint or staff survey or an internal audit of the process.

Over the last couple of years my kids and others their age could pretty much choose from a selection of summer jobs. Not so true now. We are finding it much easier to recruit and keep good people. Saying that, we have for a long time been very successful at keeping good people. The trick (actually not a trick, but a challenge) was to convince them to come on board with Monk. There is a steep learning curve in the office products and office furniture business. It is not like groceries or clothing that “everyone” knows a little bit about. Other than a few basic pens and paper and post it notes, the business can be quite tricky. Also the toners and printers and shredders and different sizes and styles of chairs for different needs. It takes a lot of training to get up to speed on 6000 products.

Black Thursday; I just read about it. Times are tough, I know. Many businesses will fail, some good ones, but mostly the not so good ones. Businesses have less business so they buy less. They have lowered profits so they are less inclined to expand. Staff hours are cut back or there may be lay-offs. Plans to expand offices or take on new sales people to build territories are delayed until the expense is affordable, even though this may be the perfect time to take customers away from the competition. Some businesses even lay off salespeople! I wrote a column for the Business Examiner in the 80’s. I recall writing about Black October, I think it was. The market took a huge dive and “times were tough.” We got through that and we will all move ahead through this one too.