Sign Company Owners and Managers: Structure Your Workweek

ALRIGHT Y’ALL, I’M gonna give you some information and I’m gonna give it to you quick. For two reasons:

1. My wife has dinner nearly ready, and
2. My editor, one Mr. Mark Kissling, is a taskmaster.

We all know this magazine arrives once a month, right? Once every 30 days. But Mark needs columns submitted what seems like every 17 days. (I mean, I haven’t spent the time doing the exact math, but I feel that something is askew in his calendar.)

So here I am writing to you, under unrealistic time constraints, while simultaneously making sure I’m done by the time Christy’s amazing focaccia bread is sitting on my plate. (Come to think of it, why am I doing this again?) Oh yeah, it’s because I’ve been in this grind for the last 40 years, and apparently, I have some information that may prove to be beneficial for others…

So there are two quick things I wanna talk about this month. After all these years in business, and 20-some years with my partner Rick Ream, we are still making changes and adapting how we do business. It’s a never-ending, always-evolving process, and if you’re not changing and growing on the regular, you’re not advancing — which is counterproductive to your success.

For years, Rick and I hadn’t left the shop for lunch. We’d bring some food, sometimes left untouched, while Media 1 becomes a ghost town from noon to 1:00. Then at 4:00 or so, we’d take off and grab some food and a beer; yet, we always continued working (thanks to SquareCoil, our sign-management software that allows us to be anywhere in the world and still have full access and control of our company.) But honestly, our routine had become monotonous, boring and less productive.

So we revamped our lunch/work schedule. Here’s how it looks now:

• Monday: We take a couple of employees to lunch, rotated weekly. This isn’t a time to review performance but a time to have a meal with our people.
• Tuesday: We bring our lunch, break out at 3:00, head to Rick’s house (two miles from the shop) and we spend two hours going over our financials, next moves and future goals.
• Wednesday: We bring our lunch, then kick out at 4:00 to grab a snack and a beer.
• Thursday: We take one client or vendor out to lunch, spending this time discussing future plans, appreciating our relationships with our clients and connecting outside of the office. After lunch, we go on pre-arranged surveys for new and existing clients. No more surveys scattered throughout our week, fragmenting our time. Just one day, when we handle them all, in one afternoon. Of course, exceptions can be made as needed.
• Friday: We bring our lunch, then kick out at 4:00 to grab a beer with our friends.

It’s only been three weeks so far but I gotta tell you, it’s already creating epic, sweeping changes — tangible results of a better-run company. Not only for the people we are spending time with, but for ourselves and the betterment of our lives.

I challenge you to make a more structured work week. I believe the benefits will be monumental. OMG, I cannot believe it. I’m already at my “word limit.” Guess the second quick thing I wanted to talk about will have to wait till next month. Good thing it’s only 17 days away…