Penchuk.com

This is a continuation of the previous post.

That night at the hotel I was lying in bed thinking about the day. Not only did I love Splash Mountain (we did it 3 times), I was thinking about the show.  The script kept coming back to me and I thought, we really need something similar for our purposes.  I got up and jotted down a few ideas:  First meeting script, email announcement template, catalog naming conventions, basic permission sets, etc.  What I did was think about what were the repeatable tasks faced by team.

When I returned from Disney, I began working on a Word document called the Account Manager Manual.  I started adding anything that my team did to it whether or not I knew all of the info.  There were placeholders galore, but that was OK.  It was just a list of things that needed to be added.  My vision was each team member would have a copy that they could refer to at any time.   I searched the office and my email archives for content.  There were tons of emails that people had sent at one time or another that was trapped there in someone’s email.  Anything that fit the “repeatable” criteria was added.

Quickly the document grew to 20 pages.  Then 30.  It started to approach 50 pages and then I began to have problems with formatting.  If you’ve ever worked with Microsoft’s Styles features, you know what I’m talking about.  I quickly realized that I needed a better solution.  My first thought was Sharepoint, Microsoft’s intranet in a box solution.  I was never a big fan primarily because our search capabilities didn’t work.  So, finding anything was next to impossible.

After consulting with a few other people, the idea of a wiki was proposed.  After some research (thank you Wikipedia) I settled on MediaWiki, the same software that runs the aforementioned Wikipedia.  Our infrastructure guy installed it, gave me the admin login and said, go to town.  And I did.  I spent a few weeks converting everything I had accumulated.  I searched more email.  I played with ways to organize the site.  In due time, I had over 100 pages.  Then I started talking it up to people.

When people asked me a question, I jotted it down and made sure it was on the wiki.  If someone asked a question that I knew the answer was posted, I didn’t answer but referred them to the wiki.  I started sending emails saying, “so and so asked me about XYZ.  Did you know that the answer is on the wiki.  And, by the way, you can also learn ABC while there”.  A few people got tired of me constantly saying, “Did you check the wiki?” but my goal was to embed it into the culture of the company. It took time, but eventually everyone knew about it and I knew I won when I heard someone else say, “Did you check the wiki?”

When I left, there were close to 1,000 pages of information.  Uses of it spread from reference material to schedule planning, project management, FAQs, capturing ideas, using it for newsletters, and more.  Our sales staff was using it as a repository for RFP responses.  The content development team used it to schedule their upcoming workload.  Product management used it to create release plans.  Client services used it as a checklist for emergency response to application downtime.  The uses continued to grow.

I learned that you could collaborate with others very easily.  Everyone could have the same document with all updates at the same time.  Information was publicly available.  I learned that you could communicate very effectively through the tool.  Posting information was easy and literally anyone could do it.

A simple script for a Disney show inspired me to implement an infrastructure where colleagues could share information, document processes, write newsletters, capture business critical procedures and catalog knowledge that had previously been in someone’s head.  Personally, I’m proud to have added something significant that helped not just me, but just about every user within the company.

Back in December, 2006, the family took a trip to Disney World that caused me to re-examine how we did things at the office.  “How?”, you may be asking yourself.  Let me start with the problems I saw with the account management function at RegEd.

There were a few main problems.  First, there was very little consistency across the team members.  It’s not that things were necessarily being done wrong, but some folks did things better than others.  Their clients received better service than others.  I wanted to ensure a uniformity of superior service across all clients.  Secondly, lots of information and know-how was stuck in people’s heads and not easily accessible.  This caused less experienced account managers (AMs) to ask lots of questions of the more senior AMs, causing a major time suck for those folks.  Finally, it became clear that senior AMs became a crutch for the more novice group.  Improving service meant accelerating the transition from a new AM to a senior AM.  We never had the time or budget to do expansive trainings even though we all knew it was necessary.

Let’s go back to Disney.  When you arrive at the park before the gates open, everyone mills around a rather small area waiting.  Every morning at 8:45, they kick off a small show where Mickey, Minnie and others arrive on a train to get the crowd jazzed.  There’s an emcee that kicks off the show before they arrive.  Ben was three and a half at the time and he was too short to see over the audience.  I took him to the back of the crowd near a raised flower bed.  He was able to stand on the wall and see the festivities.  I was wedged into an odd corner next to the wall and a chainlink fence.

As the show started, I noticed that there were two people in suits (odd for Disney tourists) on the other side of the fence.  One of them was carrying a 3-ring binder and had it opened in his hands.  Being the nosy sort that I am, I looked down and saw “8:47 AM – Mickey and train enter stage left”.  Then I checked my phone (I don’t wear a watch anymore) and saw it flip to 8:47 AM.  And you’ll never guess what happened next!  Mickey, et al, arrived by train.  As I read beyond that, I saw all of the lines that I would hear in the next few seconds.  “Welcome to the happiest place on Earth!”  “What have you been doing, Mickey?”  “Donald, are you ready to open the park?”

It was just a simple script, but it was something more to me.  What I saw was a well organized client experience.  Every day, every single guest would see exactly the same show with the exact same experience.  All of a sudden it occurred to me that we weren’t doing that.   Our first meeting with a new client was different each time.  When a client asked a question about setting up their annual program, there was nothing to guarantee that the answers would be the same.  When AMs set up permissions, assigned products, etc., it wasn’t always done the same way.  We needed a script of our own.

To be continued…

Today is the day of my 2nd Krispy Kreme Challenge.  If you’re a “challenger” the goal is to run from the clock tower at NC State to the Krispy Kreme on Peace Street, eat a dozen original glazed (2,400 calories) and run back in under 1 hour.  If you’re a “casual” runner like me, you have the same goal but you get to pick how many donuts you eat.  I’m guessing that I’ll eat about six.  Last year I ate four.  The big thing for me is to finish in under 1 hour.  Last year I made it in about 1:05 and I was a little disappointed.  I’m in better shape this time around.  I’ll post my time later.

Here’s the route.  It’s actually 2.25 miles each way, not the two that is often quoted.

UPDATE:  I had 6 glazed donuts and finished in 56 minutes 10 seconds.  I probably could have eaten at least 2 more and been OK.

Before I lost my job, I had been saying, “I’m choosing not to participate in the recession.”  It was working out OK for a while, but it seems to have caught up with me.  Now that I have a lot of free time on my hands, I’ve had the opportunity to do more thinking.  One item that’s been in the news a lot lately has been the “stimulus package” being touted by the Obama administration.  Should we do it or not?  I decided to take a critical business perspective by reviewing the White House’s cheat sheet.

First, what’s the goal of a stimulus?  My interpretation is the immediate creation of jobs to halt the tide of rising unemployment.  With that goal in mind, here are the cheat sheet bullet points (taken verbatim from here).  The italics are from the document, plain type is mine.

• Creating or saving 111,300 jobs over the next two years. Jobs created will be in a range of industries from clean energy to health care, with over 90% in the private sector. The document doesn’t say how this would be accomplished.  If someone came to me with a new product idea and said, this will sell 100,000 units, yet they didn’t provide any evidence or back up, I would have politely asked them for more information.  This strikes me as an empty promise.  I’m not saying it’s not possible, but, to borrow a phrase, “where’s the beef?”
• Providing a making work pay tax cut of up to $1,000 for 3,230,000 workers and their families. The plan will make a down payment on the President’s Making Work Pay tax cut for 95% of workers and their families, designed to pay out immediately into workers’ paychecks. This has the potential to be stimulative.  Anytime you put more money into people’s pockets, they’re more likely to spend it.  That said, it’s not a ton of money and it’s “up to $1,000″ which means not everyone will get that much.  It’s not even a month’s mortgage payment for most middle class families.  But, a little is better than nothing.  At least it’s immediate.  This should be done.
• Making 118,000 families eligible for a new American Opportunity Tax Credit to make college affordable. By creating a new $2,500 partially refundable tax credit for four years of college, this plan will give 3.8 million families nationwide – and 118,000 families in North Carolina – new assistance to put college within their reach. This is only stimulative if you fall into a particular category.  Basically, if you have kids in college and you’re paying for it, you’ll get a break.  By the administration’s own figures, it will be stimulative for  3.7% of NC families (118,000 / 3,230,000).  If the goal of “stimulus” is to jump start economic activity, and therefore increase employment, in the short term, this certainly won’t do it.  The refundable tax credit wouldn’t arrive until taxes are filed in 2010.  This certainly is a worthy concept, it just won’t provide an economic boost when it’s most needed.
• Offering an additional $100 per month in unemployment insurance benefits to 604,000 workers in North Carolina who have lost their jobs in this recession, and providing extended unemployment benefits to an additional 128,000 laid-off workers. Here’s something that would have a direct positive effect on me.  As someone who has lost his job in this recession, certainly I wouldn’t be opposed to this, would I?  Actually, yes.  Here’s why.  If I have another $100 each month from unemployment, I’m going to buy a few things that I need.  I’m not buying a new car.  I’m not going on vacation.  I’m not buying new clothes.  I’m not replacing plants in my yard.  I’m going to watch those pennies very carefully and only spend what I really have to spend.  My consumption won’t significantly increase.  In other words, this won’t have a stimulative effect.  Having another $100 while out of work will not cause one new job to be created.  It’s a nice gesture, but I’d rather the money went to someone that would use that money to create a job.
• Providing funding sufficient to modernize at least 263 schools in North Carolina so our children have the labs, classrooms and libraries they need to compete in the 21st century economy. It’s hard to argue against things like classrooms and libraries because they are feel good items.  The question at hand is, “Is this stimulative?”  Well, it will create jobs in engineering and construction.  But when?  By the time the decision is made on which schools will get this funding, which firms will do the work, the purchase of materials is made, the new people are hired, etc., we’re looking at 6-9-12 months or longer down the road.  Frankly, that’s too late.  One might also argue that since the construction industry is so slow right now, this may simply take the place of home construction.  In other words, will this spending crowd out private construction?  I don’t know but it’s clear this isn’t stimulative in the short-term.

So, should we do it?  There were 5 bullets specific to North Carolina.  One of the five would have short-term stimulus and that would only provide “up to $1,000″ for families.  I would say that this stimulus effort is a waste of time and money.

What would a proper stimulus look like?  How about rewards for creating jobs?  Offer a tax cut to every company that creates a new job.  You hire someone, you get 25% of their salary in tax reduction.  It needs to be substantial to provide the incentive to reduce unemployment.  Now, someone that costs $50,000 in salary can be hired for $37,500.  Again, the goal is to create jobs immediately.  Put the appropriate incentives in place, it will happen.

My wife disagrees but I am orderly and organized.  One way I stay organized is by making lists.  I even put little squares next to items so that when I’m done, I can check it off. Why?  I don’t know.  Maybe it’s the satisfaction one gets from the physical act of checking that box? What  I do know is that checklists work and I’ve put them to use.

Let me give you a few examples.

1. Personal lists – I’m headed out the door at 11:15 today and already have my checklist ready to go.  Bank, post office, teeball sign up (for Ben, not me), Office Depot.  Without the list, I KNOW that I will forget something.  The mind forgets, the piece of paper doesn’t.  Unless, of course, you forget the paper.  Since it’s under my car key, I know I won’t.  When I get home from my meeting, everything on my list will have been completed. While out, if anything else comes to mind, it will be added to the list or another list I carry with me at all times.
2. Quality checklist - In fall 2007, I was given responsibility for the implementation department at RegEd.  The team was made up of great individuals that wanted to do their absolute best for clients.  However, the team was struggling to provide superior service because of a spotty history of doing small, simple things incorrectly.  Emails told clients to log in to a test site and see our work.  Often, the login didn’t work.  Or perhaps we’d implement something and as soon as the client would review, they’d catch a really simple error.  Not a huge deal but we were bothering clients and wasting their time.  Added up, these things can lead to client dissatisfaction and a poor service reputation.On my watch, I wanted to ensure superior service, so with the new job, I implemented a process that required my team to use checklists.  The idea was formed from this amazing article in the New Yorker.  The gist of it is that a doctor realized that through the use of a simple checklist, hundreds of lives could be saved.  Basically, doctors and nurses were doing something really easy (putting in IVs and other tubes), but were making embarrassingly simple mistakes.  By forcing them to complete a checklist along the way, the rate of incidents dropped dramatically.  I thought, why can’t we do that?The implementation checklist was born.  Now, every implementation goes through a process in which there are multiple checklists automatically assigned through a process workflow.  Is the login active?  Are there any foreign characters displayed in the application?  Is the workflow routing correct?  And so on.

   The end result was the number of avoidable mistakes dwindled to almost non-existent.  My first few months in the job, a week would not go by without at least one, if not more, emails from clients saying, “my login doesn’t work” or “I didn’t get a completion email” or something similar.  When I left RegEd, it had been months since that happened.  Post-implementation surveys told me that we were doing a much improved job.

3. Monthly checklists - Since I was making my team use checklists, I decided to do the same.  My monthly schedule was hectic since I had so many responsibilities.  I coordinated with 3 teams to send monthly newsletters.  I handled revenue recognition.  Weekly, I checked the team’s accuracy stats.  The post-implementation survey had to be sent and compiled.  And more.  Basically, a laundry list of items had to be completed on a recurring basis.  To ensure all tasks were completed on a timely basis, I created a personal monthly checklist.  At the beginning of each month, I printed it out and put it on my desk.  It was organized by day of the month and what had to happen each day.  On the 1st, send monthly status to senior management and send product management newsletter.  Day 2, send metrics stats to my boss.  Day 5, start planning implementation newsletter.  This list really helped me stay on top of how I was doing each month.  I never forgot anything because it was on the list and I knew if I was ahead or behind based on what was crossed off (no little boxes on this printout, unfortunately).

Let’s review.  Checklists rock.  End of review.  Anything that can document what has to be done so that things don’t get missed, is OK in my book.  They really work.