MANAGEMENT Put Me in (with a) Coach
1 Hire a coach, advises new Brain Squad member Clayton Letourneau of Custom Sign Lab (Beamsville, ON, Canada). If you’re a growing business or a small team, the time to hire one is now. “All of our hard work and efforts got ‘concentrated’ and focused as soon as we hired someone to keep us accountable and on track,” he says.
ORGANIZATION Short-Staff Realignment
2 “Being short staffed, we had a group meeting and realigned job responsibilities,” reports Dawn Homa, Signarama Brighton (Brighton, CO). “Locates and installation scheduling were reassigned. Our social media updates were given to another designer so our marketing manager can focus on events and marketing materials,” she says. “We modified how jobs went through production through completion, reducing time and improving our QC process. Fewer touches, fewer mistakes.”
INVENTORY Moveable Labels
3 Use magnetic labels for digital materials in production. They can be moved from the storage rack where materials are stored to the printer (to clearly identify what is loaded).
SYSTEMS Track Stars
4 One shop suggests everyone invest in a system that tracks inbound email requests and responses. “Knowing that we have timely replies to requests and who on the team replied has greatly improved conversions and customer satisfaction,” they say. Another shop reports implementing more Lean Manufacturing speed and Six Sigma process systems in their company’s workflows — and “they are really helping!”
INSTALLATION Caulking Hack
5 Mix 70% isopropyl alcohol with water in a spray bottle and spritz a bit on a fresh bead of caulk to allow the quick and easy spread of the bead with your finger.
MARKETING Howdy, Neighbor!
6 “We work the customer’s neighbors during and after install,” suggests Frank Murch, Signs for San Diego (Oceanside, CA). “The customer is the best reference.”
DO LESS, MORE. Do What’s Important
7 The secret to success? As summed up by The 4-Hour Workweek life guru Tim Ferriss: Do what’s important — and not much else. “Everyone asks, ‘Why is it so impossible to get everything done?’ But the answer is stunningly easy: You’re doing too many things,” he says. “Doing something well does not make it important. I think this is one of the most common problems with a lot of time-management or productivity advice; they focus on how to do things quickly. The vast majority of things that people do quickly should not be done at all.”
Ultimately, you’re judged on what you do best, so you’re always better off doing fewer things, but doing those things better. So if your to-do list is insurmountable, try actively curating over carelessly rushing or quietly quitting.
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