Creativity does not work for P&L

Systematizing processes is fundamental to eliminate “It was not possible” speech from a routine, but it requires a good dose of patience from the manager

by Marcelo Rezende

In my house, we organize weekend schedules on Fridays. If we want to take the boys to skate and go to the movies later, we have to know what time we will wake up, where we will have breakfast and which movie session we will watch. This organization does not spoil any change of plans if we decide to exploit other activities, but it serves as guidance so any doubts regarding ‘what to do’ or ‘where to go’ do not consume a precious part of our Saturdays.

Just like when I do on these days, when I’m working as CEO and country manager, the final business hours are dedicated to make a list of the next day’s priorities, so everyone can arrive at the offices on the next day with a clear idea of what will – and, above all – what needs to happen.

Organization begins with big corporate themes, such as payables and receivables, sales forecast, inventories and purchase schedules. These bigger items are highly programmable and the best option is to create a plan with monthly schedule in advance. When you create a fixed schedule to pass and evaluate activities weekly, the commitments for subsequent days become clearer to the staff. This eliminates the “it was not possible” possibility – if everyone knows that on Wednesday, at 8:00AM, there will be a meeting to present the balance sheet, there is no reason for this material not to be prepared in advance. When it comes to Profits and Losses (P&L), you cannot be creative. Creativity is very good for other departments, such as sales and marketing.

Thus, a good part of "unforeseen events" are taken out of the way. I also tell my staff not to waste time with unnecessary things: if takes three paragraphs to explain an idea via email, talk in person. No formalities needed: a 15-minute chat solves this issue very easily.

Scheduling meetings is another strategy to optimize your agenda. I use all my times for meetings, with little or no gap between them, in order to save time. It works as a real production line. However, it takes a good management in order not to turn this tactic into unavailability. In order to keep the open door policy, I usually reserve two hours of the day to talk with employees and deal with unforeseen events – and seize the opportunities that invariably come in our way.

Having this kind of organization makes me demand of myself an attribute that does not fit into meetings and 3-paragraph emails: patience. Patience to work with styles which are different from mine, and add balance to organization’s management. At the end of the day, this system is only valid if it adds values to the company. This is beyond any method.

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