Avoiding Workplace Infernos: Building a Culture of Awareness

Are you always in damage control mode? It's time to stop managing problems and start preventing them. Listen to 'The Water Trough' with Ed Drozda, The Small Business Doctor as we talk workplace awareness and effective fire management. Your business will thank you! #BusinessGrowth #SmallBiz 

Episode Transcript

Ed Drozda (00:10):
Welcome to the Water Trough where we can't make you
drink, but we will make youthink.
My name is Ed Drozda, The SmallBusiness Doctor, and I'm really
excited you chose to join mehere as we discuss topics that
are important for small businessfolks just like you.
If you're looking for ideas,inspiration, and possibility,
you've come to the right place.
Join us as we take steps to helpyou create the healthy business
that you've all.
Always wanted.

(00:43):
Hi folks, this is Ed Drozda, TheSmall Business Doctor, and I
wanna welcome you back to TheWater Trough.
Today I wanna talk aboutworkplace fires.
Oh, I'm not referring tophysical fires where the
building is burning down orphysical damage has been done.
I'm talking about the sorts ofevents that have an impact on
the integrity, upon thesustainability of our business.

(01:05):
Little episodes such asmiscommunication, workplace
conflict.
Things that are capable ofcausing disruptions within a
business or that can actuallyhave a deleterious impact on the
survivability of our business.
These are the types of fires I'mtalking about, and they can
range anywhere from smolderingembers to raging infernos.

(01:29):
Have you ever asked yourself orheard somebody else say I spend
too much time putting out fires.
Ah, are your fires burning outtacontrol?
Do they tend to recur?
If you answered yes to any ofthese questions, you're spending
too much time in damage control.
First and foremost, we have tohave the ability to identify
that a fire exists.

(01:51):
What type of workplace fires areyou dealing with?
Is it conflict,miscommunication, poor
communication, lack ofunderstanding?
Is it a communication issuebetween customer and the
business itself.
Another question you might poseis, how do you manage these

(02:12):
fires?
Or said another way, what typeof extinguishers do you have The
number of folks that arespreading and mismanaging their
fires is quite substantial.
If you are one of them, considerthis, the cost is exorbitant,
not to mention a waste of time.

(02:33):
You don't have to be dealingwith these things, at least at
an accelerated level.
You can be more preemptive andprevent damage from getting
outta control.
Here's a couple steps toconsider.
The first of these, identify thereal fires and extinguish them
at the source.

(02:53):
You have to know what you'redealing with in order to provide
effective management.
Let's take for example, acommunication issue between
yourself and your staff.
Now, the symptoms are prettyobvious.
People aren't getting thingsdone, they're not following
directions.

(03:14):
They may be indifferent andthings of that sort.
Knowing that symptoms such asthis suggest a communication
issue should be a signal to youthat you've gotta take some
action.
Okay?
It is a real fire.
Perhaps just a smoldering ember,but it will turn into a raging

(03:36):
inferno when that level ofmiscommunication or
discommunication gets to be sogreat that people actually stop
working effectively.
So you have to be able to sensewhat is going on.
You have to identify the thingsthat really need your attention,

(03:57):
and then you have to find theactual source, in this case, the
miscommunication.
Let's say it began with you.
You've taken a rather aloofapproach to the way that you
disseminate requests for thingsto get done.
Assuming that people know whatto do and understand what you're
asking for, well, you may justhave to go back and reconsider

(04:19):
that that has to be done in adifferent way.
You want also to be able toidentify and dispatch the false
alarms.
You have better things to dothan to waste your time on
things that aren't reallyproblems at all.
Going back again to thecommunication issue, let's say
you find two people who arebickering over some rather
nonsensical thing.

(04:40):
Now there may be an underlyingreason, that's giving rise to a
nonsensical topic, becomingimportant, but then again it may
just be one of those situationswhere people are in fact being
nonsensical.
Identify and dispatch thosefalse alarms.
Don't waste your time on them,okay?
Because you're gonna have enoughreal fire alarms that you're

(05:03):
gonna have to deal with.
And while you're busily tryingto manage a false alarm, a real
fire may develop and grow.
And finally most important ofall, prevent fires from starting
whenever possible.
Now, you're probably saying,well I can't possibly know
everything that is out there,everything that might happen.

(05:25):
I can't possibly assesseverything in advance, and
that's not quite what I'mtalking about.
What I'm saying is build aculture of awareness in your
organization.
Make it a commitment and achallenge for yourself and for
your employees to carefullyobserve the goings on in the

(05:49):
workspace.
Take steps to identify thosethings that have the potential
to turn in to major businessissues.
I'm not talking rocket sciencehere.
I'm not talking something thatis complicated, nor am I talking
about something that is verytime consuming.

(06:10):
It is a matter of awareness.
If something doesn't seem quiteright, take steps immediately to
address it.
That's it.
Take steps to address it.
Bring it to the attention ofsomeone who's more appropriate
if need be.
But by all means, don't ignorethose little signals, those
little sparks that could lead toa tremendous workplace fire.

(06:35):
This is Ed Drozda, The SmallBusiness Doctor, and as always,
I'm wishing you a very healthybusiness and hoping that your
fire extinguishers arefunctional, but that you don't
need too much of them.
I'll see you next time at TheWater Trough.