The morning sets the tone for the day. Too often in a contracting business it’s a fire drill. There’s a scramble to get truck stock replaced, get guys on the road, get the day’s schedule managed, source necessary parts and equipment for sold jobs, deal with employee issues, and on and on. Instead of helter skelter, try a five minute meeting to start the day.
A five-minute meeting must start on time and end on time. It can be in the training room, by a video conference, or even a call in. A company leader runs it and leadership can rotate if necessary. Attendance should be noted without a roll call necessarily taken. No shows can be dealt with outside of the meeting.
The purpose of the meeting is to set the tone for the day. It should be uplifting. It should keep everyone focused on the mission. It should communicate essential information.
1. Open with the mission statement. The mission, if it is truly important, needs to be repeated over and over and over to sink in.
2. After the mission, report any performance numbers the team should know. How did you do yesterday? Was it above or below your target? Are there any wins to share? Is there any news everyone should hear? What is the weather forecast?
3. Pick a random person and ask him or her to tell you something good. Since no one knows who it will be, this will force everyone to think of something good, which means they are programming themselves to look for the good around them.
4. Close with a motivational quote. With the Internet, there is no limit to the quotes you can find. They can be quotes from famous people, business leaders, motivational speakers, the Bible, books the business leader has read, and so on.
For more ideas on how to run a profitable service business, visit the Service Roundtable at www.ServiceRoundtable.com.