Can Your Stone Shop Work Without You?

October 5, 2006

   It wasn’t very long before the two kitchens a month became three. Then a builder really needed him to do a fourth. “Well, OK, I can do that with a little more help,” Jim said. So he bought a rail saw and made his part-time helper a full-time helper and sawyer.
   Four months later, that same builder started a small subdivision and had two more kitchens for him to do that month. But Jim already had four jobs on the schedule. He couldn’t turn them down because someone else would get the business; how was he going to get six kitchens fabricated and installed in one month?
   He’s tried to answer that question countless times in the last four years. And to answer it, Jim acquired more and more resources; eight employees, a 3,000 ft² shop, a big truck (with a big payment) and a bridge saw.
   Unfortunately, that’s not all. He has more stress, more frustration, and more headaches. Despite all his hired help, he is working harder and longer hours than ever before trying to be everywhere at once, and trying valiantly to keep it all under control.
   Instead of making a better living and being free, he can’t get away and doesn’t have time to figure out why he’s not making any money. If he manages to sneak away from the shop, it’s only for a couple of hours at a time – and he has to keep his cell phone on because someone is always asking him a question. It’s the customer wanting the bid or wanting to know why the cooktop doesn’t fit, or the sawyer asking about the slabs for the next job, or someone trying to find the templates.
   Jim’s asking questions, too. “What do you mean the joint color doesn’t match? Why didn’t the sawyer catch that before it was cut?” And probably another issue he must resolve.
   It never ends. And, because of it, he can’t get away. If he does, everything stops. And if it stops, the jobs don’t get done and he can’t get paid. And if Jim doesn’t get paid, the stone supplier, the leasing company and Ford Credit won’t get paid either. Ah, the benefits of owning a business.
   But Jim doesn’t own a business. His business owns him.
   Jim’s story is all too true for many small-fabrication-shop owners. It was definitely true for me. And if you can’t leave your business for at least a week at a time without your cell phone, it’s true for you.
   What’s the difference between owning and being owned? For Jim, being owned means he must be present and available at all times to keep all the loose ends together so jobs get done, customers remain happy, and he gets paid.
   On the other hand, if Jim owned his business, it would mean his staff could consistently make the customer happy and make him money, even if he’s out of the shop and unavailable.
   So how can Jim – or any of you – take control and start owning his business? By committing wholeheartedly to the development, documentation, and implementation of written step-by-step procedures for every facet of his organization.
   This process, in building a framework of clear expectations for employees, is called Operations Development. It’s how an employee, like Jim’s sawyer, will eventually know what his tasks are, when he needs to to them, and how to accomplish them.
   Here’s how it works:
   Development – Jim, having done the work himself at one time, has very clear expectations on how he wants things done. But because he hasn’t made those expectations clear to his employees, things aren’t getting done his way.
   That’s why he and his customers are upset half the time. He tells the customer one thing (how he would do it), and they get something else (how his employees think they should do it), so he’s constantly putting out fires.
   Development is deciding exactly how and when he wants the task to get done, and by whom – thereby creating the order necessary to produce consistent results in his business.
   Jim is bombarded by questions in every area of his business, but the most headaches and unpredictable results come in sawing. And that’s where he’s going to start the development process.
   So he’s not answering a ton of questions (or dealing with a ton of problems) he is going to determine exactly how it gets done. He’s going to write it down.
   Documenting – Jim is taking the order he has created in his mind regarding this specific operation, and literally writing it in a step-by-step form for his employee to follow.
   We’ll call it the Order of Operations (OOO), where Jim not only makes it clear how he wants it done, but how well it gets done. And by doing this, he is removing most of the questions his sawyer has about cutting the customer’s countertops.
   The OOO has five simple components:
   a.) The result you want that operation to achieve;
   b.) The position/person you want doing the work;
   c.) A brief summary of that person’s area of responsibility;
   d.) The step-by-step procedure, dictating the extent to which you want the task done; and
   e.) An agreement the employee signs prior to accepting the position.
   Writing down the procedure the way he wants it followed is key, since it would be impossible for Jim or his employees to remember every detail for every positions all the time.
   Notice that it all starts with the result. The second and third points clearly state who is responsible for achieving that result. The fourth point notes operational details and how well the job is done, and the last point makes it clear that the employee understands all the other points and agrees to perform them.
   Implementing – Remember that, by developing and documenting, Jim is creating the order. By implementing, he’s imposing that order on his operation and sawyer.
   Implementing the OOO for a shop position is actually handing the employee the written step-by-step procedures that detail how to perform the tasks, and getting the employee’s agreement to follow it. But, because old habits die hard, Jim is going to augment the new procedure with a checklist that the employee fills out every time he performs the task. With it, Jim can reasonably expect that the sawing will get done how he wants it done – not the way his sawyer thinks it should get done. The things that were in question before and requiring his attention are now much clearer, and his sawyer is causing everyone fewer headaches.
   While Operations Development sounds almost too simple, it isn’t easy. But it’s Jim’s only hope of really owning his business. As he clearly defines the results for each position, assigns responsibilities to his staff, and provides the procedures and checklists necessary to achieve those results, he will start to see that his business can – and will – function smoothly in his absence.
   This process of imposing order on Jim’s company will also begin to reduce the stress, frustration and headaches that used to consume him … and give him the time to do things he wanted to do back when he started the business.
   Eventually, Jim’ll even have the time to meet you for lunch to tell you how he did it – unless, of course, you’re too busy taking calls from your sawyer.
   Aaron Crowley is the founder and president of FabricatorsFriend.com and a prominent stone shop in Portland, Ore. He can be reached at aaroncgc@verizon.net.