7.3 HOW TO KEEP EVERY AREA OF YOUR BUSINESS IN CONTROL

What to do about …

Daily

Weekly

Monthly

Annually

Employees at the workplace

Make sure employees are at work and doing their jobs.

Have a meeting with the employees. Agree on missions to do and follow up.

Pay salaries on time. Ask key employees to report on how they are doing.

Discuss job performance, promotions, training plans, job descriptions and the number of employees.

The workplace environment

Be available if there are any problems or emergencies.

Make sure the workplace is equipped with everything to get the job done.

Pay utility bills, do minor repairs, organise all paperwork.

Consider expansion, relocation and other big plans.

Business relationships

Be available to resolve any problems with business relationships. Be open for finding new business relationships at all times.

Plan for meetings with existing and new customers, contractors and other business people.

Follow up to make sure that what was promised has been done. Review that contracts are up to date.

Update contacts with people, including authorities, customers and contractors. Send a seasonal greeting.

Keeping records

Put all receipts, letters and other documents in a place where they can be found.

File all receipts, letters and other documents in an organised and safe location.

Write monthly reports, such as a financial statement, in order to follow up on how the business is doing.

Write annual reports as required, such as a financial statement for taxation.

Planning

Write a daily to-do list of about six items. Move undone items to the next day.

Plan for activities during each coming week. Keep a list of to-do items. Follow up on past to-do items.

Review the past month: what was planned and achieved. Plan for what to achieve during the coming month, including how to solve problems.

Update the operational plan for the coming year, listing big missions and steps for how to achieve them. Make a budget for the coming year.

Organising

Be ready to take charge if there is a serious problem or emergency. Get someone to help with urgent missions or if there are missions that are nobody’s responsibility.

List all to-do missions. Make sure that someone is responsible for every mission that needs to be done. Put a timeline for each mission. Include follow-up on past items.

Review the past month to see if all missions got done. If someone has too much work, find ways to help.

Plan for responsibilities and job descriptions to achieve what is written in the operational plan. Take a full inventory of all property.