Don't forget what you don't remember

Mark Wright • 2 October 2019
Since the back end of last week I've been on the road; up and down the country and side to side. As a result of my travel blog writing time has been at a premium; that being said, this week rather than write an article I wanted to share with you some thoughts from a piece I read whilst on the road. 

Due to work commitments I wasn't able to attend this year's Propel's Operations Directors Conference held in September so when Ann Elliott published her notes from the conference in a recent Propel 'Opinions' newsletter I found the insight both informative and reflectionary.

I've spent my career in Operations and over those 20 years (plus!) it is easy for some of those experiences from my early formative years to slip through the cracks of one's long term memory; however what never leaves you are those learnings both old and new that form the cornerstones of your approach, culture and beliefs throughout the ensuing years. 

It was reflective for me to see many of those learnings made Ann's review of the speakers she listened to at the conference while others are a reminder of those nuggets of wisdom that have stood the test of time in operations, leadership, management and business:

– 95% performance from the ops team isn’t enough, you wouldn’t accept this from the rest of your business

– If you’re an operator, never walk past anything that isn’t perfect

– No excuses. Be accountable. Be personally responsible

– When things aren’t going right, call it out quickly

– Have honest conversations, really honest

– A great operator manages people, product, process, place, performance and profit

– You won’t improve your profit by looking at your PNL

– The PNL isn’t what you do, it’s the result of what you do

– Your PNL is just a scoreboard

– Lose the ego and chill out

– Decide what only you can do, give what you “should” do to someone else

– Just get on with it, by the time it’s brilliant enough the moment will have passed

– Get out of your own way

– Allow yourself to be vulnerable, you don’t have all the answers

– Many of the best things I’ve implemented have come from the team, not me

– Innovation drives growth

– It’s not the big fish that eats the small fish but the fast fish that eats the slow fish

– Find your thing and bring everyone with you

– Be persistent. Be relentless. Be congruent. Listen

– Tailor your conversation to your audience

– There will be a fight for talent

– Make it easy for talent to find you
– A high-performing team isn’t just a group of people who work well together, it’s a group of people who trust each other

– General managers are the most important employees in the business

– Develop careers, not jobs

– Your team is your internal customer

– Focus on your team and let your team focus on the guest

– Celebrate individuality

– Focus on recruitment, incredible inductions, pay, and having great leaders

– Help your team be the best version it can be

– Encourage mastery. Constantly improve and learn

– The circle of success is team experience, guest experience, great business processes

– Give autonomy, it helps retention

– Great operations are about simplicity

– Check the cellar, it’s a real indication of attention to detail. Toilets are the customer-facing cellar

– Start with “why?”

– What’s your common purpose?

– Create a compelling offer to help you recruit

– Develop an organisation with a purpose beyond just making money

– We are not a pub business that develops people, we are a people business that develops pubs”

– Build a culture of consistency

– Ask the questions people don’t want to be asked

– How soon is now? Speed of service is a baseline

– Your brand is only as good as the guest’s last visit

– We sell time. Time with friends and family is the most precious thing of all

– Anyone can copy your product but sales and service superiority can’t be copied

– Have food that makes people stop talking when it’s put on the table

– Make it easy for guests to spend money with you when they want to by sorting out the barriers

– Get into your restaurants and your competitors. Watch how others are served, not you

Phew! There are a lot of great points there that Ann captured. I'm interested to know which of these really speak to you and how you relate them to your approach to work....and life.

See you at the bar....

Mark


Ann Elliott is chief executive of Elliotts, the leading integrated marketing agency in the hospitality and leisure sector.

www.elliottsagency.com