Stinky company? Clean it!

Life works in a mysterious way. The fact that we have accepted it and we live in it, it doesn’t mean that we have understood how it works. 
Take this example, in order to clean something, you must make dirty something else. On the other hand, you can make everything dirty without to have to clean anything. The opposite can’t happen. Is always impossible.  

When you run a company, what you actually do is managing people, either is only yourself or hundreds of employees divided in departments or teams.
These people, like all of us, are composed not only of clean but also of dirty elements, a huge range of stinky feelings, manners, mentalities, behaviours, thoughts, perceptions, that we carry with us every day and in whatever we do, we leave our stinks and stains.
As managers, we make a huge mistake. We focus mostly on our core objectives and we forget to take care of the “hygiene” of our company.
On top we add our own dirt and we let the whole organisation get used to it while the dirt is accumulating and eventually becomes vital.
All this filth, once it gets out of control, will leave stains to our products and services and the client will always see it or smell it. The mentality of the corporation passes to the products and services and the clients can always feel this.
“Dirty" products “smell" and the customers always lean automatically towards “clean” products, whether the product is eatable or not.

So don’t let your company get really dirty. Spend some serious time periodically to clean things up. 
How?

1) Talk periodically to all of your employees
Have you ever confessed to a priest? Well if you did, you would notice that the first thing that he always asks is if you believe in God.
That’s the most important thing for him because if you don’t there is no meaning to proceed further. The whole process would be meaningless. 
The same applies to our company. That’s the first question that every employee should answer:
Do they believe in the company and in whatever this company stands for.
Do they believe that company's success is also a personal success for them.
Do they know your company’s creed? 
Ask them how they feel, if they like what they do, what problems do they have.
If they share their problems with you, don’t just listen, try to do something about them.
What is the source of the problem?
Does it come from themselves or does it come from another bigger one within the organisation?
Ask them about their mistakes. What do they think that they did wrong and why? Is there something that they miss? Extra training or education could be helpful?
Now ask the magic question: What would you change in our company? 
Maybe the most important question of all. You are a manager, they are the executives which means that they are the ones who get things literally done so they have a more tangible feeling of the business.
They always have a more objective and more actual perception of the real business and their feedback should always be of extreme consideration.
Try to collect this information from each one of your employees. In this way you will be able to get a whole actual image of the business and you will be able to improve your processes and get things done more efficiently with whatever this means. 

Now do never forget that you priest has also sins and he needs also to confess. Ask the same questions to your self. Write them down and give an answer to each one of them. By doing so you will discover problems that you didn’t even know that existed before.

2) Get rid of stupidity
It is impossible to protect something from stupidity and that’s because stupid people are extremely capable and actually invincible.
Spot them and get rid of them. You don’t need this microbe in your organisation.

If you get surrounded by feelings about how many kids these people have or what social problems they have, think that you company is not a social institution but a business which provides lot more other kids with their home and their food daily. 
Lean your good feelings towards those employees that really deserve it. Think of their kids and yours.

One thing here though that you should be really careful: 
Try to define stupidity correctly! I would personally think first how stupid I am myself before I claim someone else to be stupid.  What is the benchmark?
Be careful and fair! We are all stupid to some other person. All without exceptions. Who’s right and why?

3) Yes, you are also wrong!! Get over it!
The worst managers I ever met were those that couldn’t accept the idea that they were wrong. Some people believe that they are born to be right and that being wrong is a shame. Like someone was beating them when they were kids for being wrong.
(I have to admit though that these people are really creative. I mean they invent so silly ways to prove that they are right that some times are really amazing). 
Don’t be one of them!!!  Being wrong is ok.
See the good part of it and be happy about it because if you are wrong it means that someone else was right and you finally together found the correct way.
Your objective as a manager is to find the correct way and solutions to the problems that the company faces and not to be right. So you did it!!
If you insist in trying to prove that you are right while you know that you are wrong, you only make things around you dirtier. Clean vey well this part of yours.
See a shrink if necessary!

Oh, and before you start to blame all the others around you except of yourself for every single issue, please read again the point number 2 and quit!
See? Miracles happen. You were hired in that company once. Start to believe in another miracle and look for another job.

4) Say NO!!!
People always ask and always want more. The problem is that that there are some few of them who constantly ask.
Saying yes all the time can cause a lot of frustration to those who never or rarely ask.
A kind “No” sets limits and limits are necessary inside a company. 

However don’t forget to say “No" not only to your inferiors but also to your superiors. As  a  leader you are the voice of your team. Stand for them and refuse to accept directions that would disappoint them.
Read again the point no 3 though and be wise.
You must be really right if you say no here and you have to be able to prove it. Don’t say no just to refuse, win it! Argue and prove that no was the right decision.
Make sure it was after this!

5) Eliminate Gossip and whining!
How???
Start from yourself and without exceptions. 
I saw and heard managers discussing about their employees with other employees in the corner of the company.
How can this manager eliminate these deadly and contagious microbes if he is the first carrier and sneezes in front of others’ noses. 

Show no tolerance in gossiping and whining and be the example. 
Let your employees know that criticising is not accepted. Putting labels to colleagues can only be harmful for the company.
There will always be something that we don’t like to the others and this is wonderful. If you need to match perfectly with someone else in order to be able to cooperate with, it is a sign of big weakness.
A powerful manager should be able to treat each person differently and adopt himself in each case in order to make his people to want to do what he asked and not to just do what he asked. 

6) Clean behind the sofa.
Try to keep each single corner shiny as much as possible. Not only the points that the "mother-in-law can see", but also behind the sofa and under the bed.
As a manager you have also the role of the host, try always to make sure that your invitees feel comfortable, clean and happy.  
In every company there are these hidden little spots. The dirt that nobody sees but everybody knows that is there.
Move the furnitures, find it and clean it.
Only you know these points since they are different in each company. They have to be cleaned cause they can be vital.
Do not underestimate them. Eventually they will cause damages. Prevent them.
Think again of your role. You are a manager and that’s what you are paid for. To keep your space clean and make sure that things will get done efficiently. 

I always believed that one of the toughest jobs in the world is to manage a restaurant.
Think of it.
You have so many different kinds of food in your menu that you should be able to offer in any moment.
This means that you should always have fresh ingredients for all of these options and to be able to predict what you will need to buy for each single day.
You also have to make sure that the client is cozy and comfortable and that the quality of your products will be always high and always the same, no matter date, hour or any other circumstance.
You have to constantly seek for restless people who are polite and willing to serve your clients properly, people who think of this job as a temporary one on most of the times and quit often even without warning. 
On top you have to make really sure that every single point on your restaurant is extremely clean.
A small stain could be disastrous for your company especially these days where yelp is affecting so much the customer behaviour. 
Customers could forgive a food with bad taste. They would probably blame themselves for making a bad choice and they would remind themselves to choose something else next time. They would never forgive a dirty plate or glass though. 

Let’s learn from the restaurants and try to keep our company “clean” in every way as much as possible. 

What about you? How do you keep your company "clean"?

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Alexandros Finomenos' background includes extensive familiarity with business development, mobile strategies, communication and IT, generating, developing and implementing successful solutions for major clients. His strongest asset is the 
ability to understand the market needs and to transform them in business models, always in combination with the most modern available technology, while his great business vision is to be able to offer these skills with care and dedication to the market by idealizing, defining, designing and implementing mobile strategies.