Are routines for your staff considered childish?

One of the best management tools I use with my clients is a routine.

Interestingly, when it comes time to implement, people sometimes wrinkle their nose...

"Would a routine make sense?"

"Yes"

"When can we implement it?"

"Oh, you mean for me?"

Some people think of a routine as being something you give to a child.

The reason we do this, however, is because they work.

They save using our memory. They allow us to spend our thinking time on important things.

It frees up our minds, so we don't have to 'remember to remember'.

Small tasks get done more frequently, preventing crises.

New staff members get inducted faster and become productive quicker, because they have something to work with.

There are lots of reasons why we should define formal routines and put them into practice.

But, what if you (or your team) feel that they are childish?

I guess it depends if you want a tried and tested way to get results for your business.

This post isn't about arguing whether you should feel a certain way about this. You can think they are childish and still use them.

It's up to you.

However, if you think that a formal routine would make sense for your business then check out my book Every Business Needs a Routine. It shares ideas on how to get the most out of routines, effective ways to design and deploy them and things to include that many people forget.

Available from Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats

About the author:

Giles Johnston is a Chartered Engineer who specialises in helping businesses to grow and improve through better business processes and embracing Kaizen.

Giles is also the author of Effective Root Cause Analysis and 'What Does Good Look Like?'.

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