Management Protocols

TAKE THE STEPS. IMPLEMENT THE PROTOCOLS.

• Organizational Structure:
  Balanced structure is key to effective function in any organization. The organization chart identifies major areas of function (departments), links job titles with areas of responsibility and provides the basis for developing accountability systems.
• Goal Setting and Planning:
  A Strategic Planning system is established that creates meeting systems and protocols for inter- and intra- departmental and corporate interface for Goal Setting and Planning that includes the development of strategies and tactics for goal achievement. The Strategic Planning system also includes the development of a 5-Year Plan for the organization which is updated annually. This Strategic Planning system encourages and solicits some level of input to developing goals and plans for goal achievement from every Team Member (TM).
• Communications:
  Effective communication is essential for the organization to develop common goals and to track the success of implementation of those goals. Systems are developed to ensure that inter- and intra-departmental dialogue happens in regularly scheduled meetings to review progress on goals and to discuss issues central to the success of inter- and intra-departmental functions. Each meeting has a standard agenda as well as an opportunity for “new business” or “open forum” discussions. Minutes are kept for each meeting that identify projects adopted, persons responsible for those projects and estimated timelines for completion. Each scheduled meeting opens with a review of minutes of the previous meeting to track progress on committed projects.
• Market Analysis/Market Attack:
  Understanding the customer/constituent and marketplace of the organization is essential to serving the customer/constituent successfully. Protocols are developed to train teams and/or individuals to analyze marketplace and customers/constituents, and then design and implement goals, strategies and tactics to attack the market(s) and increase market share and customer/constituent satisfaction.
• Profit and/or Goal Achievement-Driven Incentives:
  In a for-profit organization, profit-driven incentives should be developed in some form for every TM. In not-for-profit organizations, goal achievement-driven incentives should be developed for every TM. Tracking and frequent reporting of progress on the incentives metrics is central to the success of these programs and a primary component of supporting team and morale building protocols.
• Team Member (Employee) Job Description and Performance Evaluation:
  Vital to organizational effectiveness is being sure that each TM understands, through developing thorough and complete job descriptions, what they are responsible and accountable for, and that part of their responsibility and accountability is to help and facilitate all TMs and the entire organization in achieving their individual and common organizational goals. Comprehensive performance evaluations at least annually are essential for all TMs, and if a TM is under-performing and notified of what improvements are required, then quarterly evaluations should occur until performance is satisfactory.

• Accountability – Monitoring Goals Related Performance:
  Once goals are established and strategies and tactics are in place to achieve those goals, accountability systems in the form of “scorecard reports” need to be developed to evaluate individual, departmental and overall corporate performance success ratios against goals-related metrics. Frequent reporting and review of goal-achievement metrics must be committed to and diligently followed-up on the inter-departmental, intra-departmental and corporate levels.
• Team Building:
  Establishing inter- and intra-departmental protocols for “Team Building” is vital to optimize TM understanding of the viability and achievability of corporate goals and to the very important role each TM plays in achieving these goals.

The building blocks
for "Team Building" will be:

• Maintaining a commitment to involving every TM in annual goal setting and planning meetings by department and corporately, and then to tracking and reviewing performance through reports and meetings throughout the course of the following business year in an effort to meet or exceed performance to goals. Diligent, documented follow-up is essential to this function.
• Constantly asking TMs for ideas and suggestions for ways to improve corporate/departmental/individual TM performances. Systems need to be established that regularly recognize and reward valid suggestions.
• Maintaining an “open book” on corporate performance on an ongoing basis so that every TM understands how the organization is performing in terms of financial strength, profitability and overall goal achievement.
• Meeting regularly inter- and intra-departmentally and corporately to review corporate and departmental performance, and to review, refine and improve goal setting and planning protocols.
• Providing TMs with ongoing educational opportunities that facilitate personal growth and improve business skill sets.
• Maintaining a “disciplined culture, not a culture of discipline,” by creating operating protocols (rules of operation) goals, strategies and tactics for goal achievement that all TMs have input to and, therefore, understand, believe in, are committed to and rewarded by.