Okay – everyone knows a business needs systems.  But what do you do when you have systems and they aren’t being followed?  Or when they are being blatantly ignored?

You go and find out why.  You ask.

There are many reasons why this might be happening.  Here are just seven.

1. The staff just don’t see the point
Sometimes a system is put in for the sake of the system and not much else, or the reason is that the outcome has never been explained properly.  I once saw a system of the way toilet paper was put on the holder.  It was important to the owner, but the staff thought it was way too .. um .. detailed!

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Most small business owners think they are running a business, but in fact have simply bought themselves a job, and try as they might, they cannot achieve the freedom they thought would be part of the deal.

The business is totally dependent on them being there, doing everything, have a finger in every pie, being the ‘go to’ person for every customer and every staff member.

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Working ON your business is all very well – but what if you don’t have the time? As coaches, the most common complaint we hear from people who want to grow their business is: “I know I need to do some work ON my business, but I just don’t have the time.” And believe me, we understand.

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When you manage people in a business your role is not about bossing or supervising. It’s about helping them be the best they can be.  When you do that, together with great underpinning systems, you will be a great manager and your business will hum.

Managing is really all about communication.  Here are some classic managing mistakes and solutions to address them.

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Procrastination comes in many forms and few of them, serve us well.  Much of the time we will look for other things to do in order to put off doing the things we don’t want to do, but ultimately have to be done.

I recognized my inner procrastinator many years ago when I found myself on my knees cleaning out the saucepan cupboard when I should have been writing term reports for 38 nine year olds.

So, here are a few of my main life rules for dealing with this pest.

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