Category Archives: Strategic Management

FORGET WALDO. WHERE’S MY FILE?

FORGET WALDO.  WHERE’S MY FILE?

weedAlmost everyone in the world either owns or has access to a computer or maybe several. People being people, they generally allow the number of files in their systems to grow organically.  That is, they create files of many types and many topics, then just drop them into the computer’s main memory.  Eventually they get enough files that they create a folder and move some of the files into it.  When the collection of files in the main directory or this secondary folder grows big enough again to be annoying they create more folders and move more files.  The problem with this is that it becomes more and more difficult to find anything in all the other files while at the same time becoming more difficult to fix the problem.  Think about this, if a person creates an average of one (1) file a day that is 365 files a year.  If you are a heavy computer user or just keep lots of files (like pictures) you could have many more than that.  How are you going to find one particular file out of the 1,000+ files in memory?  If you have let your foldering system grow organically then it is probably not systematically organized to allow you to easily find any specific file.  This is like a garden where the plants were added randomly and then let to go to weed.  The flower you want is there, hidden in the weeds.  Maybe you even planted the garden with a specific pattern but that is no longer visible due to the weeds in the garden.  What can you do?

Unlike the garden just ripping out the weeds will probably not work with your computer. Actually, a good cleaning once in a while is probably a good thing and would probably increase your computers responsiveness but most people do not like to mass delete files.  So back to the question – If we are going to hoard our files how do we make sure we can find them afterward?  The answer is to set up a good filing system before you start adding files and to design it to allow for growth and expansion in both expected and unexpected areas.  That is the easy part.  The hard part is…sticking to the plan and “fanatically” placing files in the correct folder as the files are created rather than moving them after.  It also helps if you adopt a file name convention or format and use it as files are created.  For instance if you start every file name with the date created in YYMMDD format all the files in every folder will automatically sort by oldest to newest by date created.  It does not matter what the standard format is, just that you have one and stick to it.

In the windows environment the files will automatically default into one of four libraries – Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos. Each of these libraries will need its own filing system but they do not need to be the same in each library.  Be creative and design a system that works for you.  You’re the one using it so you are the only person that needs to approve it.

For the moment, let’s concentrate on the Document Library. You need to think about how you plan to use the computer. First question – are you the only user?  If not then create separate folders for each anticipated user (Mom, Dad, Child, etc.).  Any files a person creates goes into their folder and if a new person is added, just set up a new folder set for them.  Admittedly the vast majority are a one person per computer situation but with everyone linking their computers together in an autoshare format this may not be such a bad idea anyway.

Second question – will this computer be used by you for both work and personal usage?  If yes then split your folder again by creating two new folders – WORK & PERSONAL.

For this example let’s go to the PERSONAL folder. Now we need to think about how our life is organized.  For example, I am heavily involved in two different professional organizations.  In my personal folder is a sub-folder for each of organization 1 and 2.  It does not matter who the organizations are or how many.  Just create a folder for each one.  The important thing is that I have now isolated all files relating to each organization into a specific area away from all other non-related files.  I can hear one question in your mind now – If these are professional organizations shouldn’t they be in the work folder?  The answer is that it does not matter.  I choose to put them in my PERSONAL folder because my involvement in these organizations transcends my work so I consider them personal not work.  You NEED to set it up however you want in order to make it easier for YOU to use the system.

Similarly, what other information nodes would make sense in your life? Create a folder for each one of them.  In my case, I also write for magazines and other outlets so I have a separate folder for ARTICLES.  All my writing is in that folder with a separate folder for each outlet and within them separate folders for each article written or in progress.  Within these folders are the files with all my research, drafts and final articles plus any other information related to that specific article.  If information or research is applicable to more than one article I duplicate it into each folder.  Again, it is your choice whether you want to duplicate files for the sake of the filing system.  I have tried a couple of different setups but this is the one that works for me.  You need to find what works for you.

Going back to my Organization 1 folder – Within that I have a number of subfolders. One of those is named BOD (Board of Directors) and within that is a series of folders for each directorate.  Mostly this is because, over the years, I have held most of the positions, but also because it is an easy way to sort files sent to me by other board members.  Within each of these separate positional files I have different subfolders that make sense within that specific position.  For example, the Presidents folder is subfoldered by year but none of the others are.  Each of them has a different set of subfolders depending on how each directorate is organized.

I am not going to go any further on the example because I think you probably have the idea by now. Just a couple of additional points:

  • Did I know what files would be in these folders when I set it up? Of course not but they seemed like a pretty good bet based on what files I had from earlier computers.
  • Have I had to add new folders to the basic setup? Absolutely. Both major folder nodes and many subfolders over the years. Life changes and our computer usage does as well. Any foldering system is a living system just like the garden I mentioned earlier. Sometimes you have to prune the garden, sometimes you have to add to the garden and sometimes you have to move things in the garden. With a proper foldering system it is easy to find files and delete or move them in groups rather than individually.
  • Doesn’t it take a long time to navigate through the foldering systems? Yes it can. What I have done is identify major nodes and set up Shortcuts to each of these nodes on my desktop. For instance, if I need to go to the BOD folders I click on the shortcut for them and it opens a window already In the BOD folder. From there I just click on the actual Directorate folder I want and there I am in just 2 clicks.
  • My desk is the poster child for messy. What make you think I would want to use an extensive foldering system in my computer when I won’t use one for paper files? Most people with messy desks are visual or vertical filers. There is a system there, just not one that anyone else can use. If someone asks a person with a messy desk for a specific paper file the odds are that they can just reach straight into the pile and fish it out first try. Unfortunately this method does NOT translate into electronic files as you cannot control the pile setup if everything is in one folder. This makes a formal system critical if you want to easily find a specific file
  • Can and should this foldering system be applied elsewhere? You can apply this type of setup anywhere, even with paper files but the one place you should really consider applying it is in your email system. If you think people hoard electronic files, take a look at most people’s inbox.

I hope this posting has encouraged you to stop and think about your current system and how it can be improved. The ability to find a file quickly and easily really does cut down on your stress levels.

HOW TO BUILD A BETTER CUSTOMER

behaviourIn my last post (What Defines A “Bad” Customer?) I made the points that the primary measure most organizations use for their customers is Profitability and that customer behaviour can negatively impact profitability.  In this post I want to look at some of the traits of a “Good Customer” and how we can influence them.  I am going to ignore profitability since everyone is already thinking about that one.  I’m sure you all remember the catch line from “Field of Dreams” – Build it and they will come.  Let’s modify that to “Build happy customers and the profits will come” and move on to other traits.

I would like to propose three “Good Customer” traits in addition to profitability – Loyalty, Effectiveness, and Willingness to Partner.

I think most people would agree that there is far less brand loyalty now then there was in years gone by.  The problem is that it is expensive to be constantly replacing customers so how do we encourage loyalty in our customers? If you ask people why companies switch suppliers most would say because of lower prices, because of bad service or product, or because of a process change.  While these are undoubtedly major reasons, over the years I have seen many reports on the reasons companies change suppliers.  They do not always agree with each other but the largest category in most of these reports was “Other”.  This Other category tends to get overlooked as it is a combination of many little reasons and most organizations prefer to concentrate on big reasons so they get  a good return on their effort.  Instead of looking at the specific reasons it would be far better to concentrate on what all these reasons have in common.  David Moseby & Michael Weissman in their book The Paradox of Excellence make the point that Quality, Price and Service by themselves are not enough to maintain loyalty.  You need to be communicating regularly with the customer and ensuring they are aware of all the good things you do for them.  Sure, someone may have a cheaper price but will they also provide this or that specific value add.  Communications is critical to maintain a loyal customer.

Effectiveness, at first glance, may seem like a strange trait to be looking for but if you stop and think about it, you are already using that as a measure of your suppliers.  When we pick our suppliers we want to know that they will do what they agree to and that they will still be there tomorrow to provide the service or product we want.  It is the same with customers, we want them to still be there in the future to buy our service or product and the more effective they are the more competitive they will be.  The more competitive they are, the more of their product they will sell and (hopefully) the more of our product they will buy from us.  So not only do we want our customers to be effective, we should be doing everything we can to make them more effective.  Can we shorten our lead times?  Can we integrate our systems better with their systems? Do we have any training available such Lean Six Sigma that we can share with them?  And how do we encourage all this?  Well first we need to understand the customer as best we can.  This means talking to them, not just through the sales force but at as many different levels as we can.  Set up reciprocal visits between engineers, or purchasing or logistics…  You never know where the next great idea will come from. Communications is critical to maintaining effectiveness, both in your organization and in your customers.

Over the years what companies have competed on has changed, from quality, to cost, to service, to value. For the last several years people have been suggesting that most companies now compete based on who has the most effective supply chain.  The assumption is that an effective supply chain will have the lowest cost, best service and the fewest problems which allows you to be more competitive than your competition.  The problem is that most organizations are only looking in one direction – backwards at their own supply chain.  They also need to look forward to their customers and on through to the ultimate consumer.  Unless you are selling to the ultimate consumer you are part of someone else’s Supply Chain and as pointed out earlier, the more product a customer sells, the more product you can sell to them.  This means that it is in your best interest to pay as much attention to the supply chain above you as to the supply chain below you.  But what makes an effective supply chain?  Companies  working together to find and improve any constraints or issues in the movement of product and information through the supply chain.  This means partnering together, possibly setting up joint teams to map and review adjoining processes.  (Can you say Kaizen?)  If companies are not willing to work together as partners in a Supply Chain they will always be at a disadvantage to other chains that can and will work together.  So how do we encourage this willingness to partner?  Communications is critical to both understanding the needs, wants, & desires of your customers and to working together effectively as partners in process improvement.

If we look back over this posting, what do we see?   There is one common element to encouraging Loyalty, Effectiveness, and Willingness to Partner.  This common element is… Communications.  So how do we build a better customer?  In order to improve at all levels and in all the interactions we need to communicate effectively with them…at all levels and in all interactions in order to build a better customer.

If you would like to discuss how to measure the true cost of your customers’ behaviour I would be more than happy to meet with you and to explore this in more detail.  Please feel free to contact me at edwhite@jadetrilliumconsulting.com to discuss how a Customer Value Survey can help your organization.

If you would like to read more about this topic check out the other posting on my website – http://jadetrilliumconsulting.com

Hope you enjoyed this posting.  Talk to your friends and co-workers about their experience and thoughts about customer value, especially what it means for your organization.   And, as always,I would love to hear back on your (and their) thoughts.  Just fill in the comment box below along with your contact information to let me know what you think.