The Observation Advantage

Observing your employees in your company is one of the best ways to see what is happening in your company.  

No matter what kind of business you are operating, observing, asking questions, and getting your staff’s opinion and new perspectives from those doing the work is one of the best ways you can improve workflow, environment, and efficiency plus show your employees you respect their opinion.  

In all the businesses that I started and grew, I was a newbie to that industry. I learned through trial and error, by making mistakes, by failing, and by observing how the work is actually done.  

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I loved watching jobs in progress, I learned what was great and what didn’t work.  I could see their frustrations and difficulties so that we could come up with a plan together to find the best solutions possible. 

By observing the work, I also discovered how much time the task required. I discovered if the tools they were utilizing were the most effective for the task at hand and other ways I could support them.

I was in a business where I could not do the work, so I relied on my skillful employees to perform their best.  

I learned a surprising amount about how to best support them just by observing and talking. 

You will have an unique perspective on your operations when you leave your desk and visit the site where the job is done. This will help you identify areas that need to be improved for both your customers and employees.

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This is one of my strategies for managing a successful business that demonstrates your interest in and concern for your staff. You will gain a better understanding of what happens on the job site so that you can explain to your customers how the project will go knowing exactly what will happen at each stage.

Adopt this simple approach and do it as many times as you need to understand what you need to know.  Do “The Observation Advantage” at least twice a year going forward and see what you learn and how things improve.  

You will see things from a different perspective than your employees which might just be the missing piece you need to see.  

Before you start this new step, it is important  to explain it to your employees so they understand why you are watching them. They must understand that you are doing this to gain a better understanding of what their job entails and what they encounter on the job in order to facilitate their work.

This step will teach you more than you expect, so jump in and start the ball rolling on The Observation Advantage.