The communication world is increasingly complicated. Not only is the phone book dying, but so are land lines. Mobile is no longer a buzz word, it’s a way of life and every enterprise manager running multiple locations knows it. The benefits of managed business phone services are also clear. The logical next step is to find an enterprise phone solution for your CIO, and completely centralize your phone management procedures.
As first time enterprise managers, CIOs and executives are faced with the daunting task of effectively managing multiple business locations. Getting used to managing high level tasks over multiple locations is tough, with or without the help of an enterprise VoIP system.
With that in mind, we have created a list of the top 3 tips that enterprise managers use to effectively manage multiple business locations.
Make Communication the Highest Priority
Yes, it’s true that 26% of employees think that email is a major productively killer 1, and that’s exactly why the way in which you communicate with employees is just as important as how often you do.
Take the time to learn how your teams are already communicating. Most Americans spend 26 minutes texting everyday and millennials prefer texting for mass messaging. This is something you can leverage to communicate to teams across multiple locations 2.
It turns out that 35% of work stress is directly related to your boss3. Figure out how to communicate effectively while managing multiple business locations, and you will reduce stress, increase productivity, and increase profits. Simple.
The importance of communication is demonstrated in the Enterprise phone system case study.
Create Well Defined SOPs
The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is your bible. This is the guide that you and all your teams will fall back on time and time again. You should remember that the SOP you put together is not only a tool for your team to use, but for yourself as well. This is your training guide, your confidence maker, and the document you will fall back on when you want to optimize each business location.
All good SOP documents used in managing multiple business locations by CIOs and executives include these 4 topics:
- Weekly Reports
- Create a template for weekly reports and make sure that your teams are following up. Reports, with screenshots included, should be pulled directly from the CRM or Salesforce apps you use, which will foster a sense of transparency. You are only as effective as the information you have at your fingertips.
- Chain of Command
- The chain of command should be well-defined and linear! A chain of command is not a mind map of command, it is linear, one direction from top to bottom and back. Remove any unnecessary forms of communication and ensure that communication is following a simple step-by-step process. This is especially helpful when managing multiple business locations in different states. If you are not available, then who can employees go to next?
- Fire Extinguishing
- Enterprise managers are fire fighters. There’s always a new problem to deal with and at times it can seem like we spend more time dealing with issues than talking about what’s working. Be sure to have a clear set of steps, if only for yourself, so that as fires start, you know exactly how to deal with them.
- Training Sessions
- Good training prevents future issues. Your SOP should be an integral part of all new hire training so much so that it’s included in new hire packets. But it doesn’t end there. You should understand the new hire training policy at all locations you manage so you can ensure that quality is maintained and consistent as quantity increases.
Hiring
You cannot be a part of the standard hiring process for each position while managing multiple business locations, but you can directly influence the hiring of managers directly under you. Think of the chain of command as well. Hire good managers, who in turn will hire good decision makers and create a cohesive team.
Company culture is as important as company mission.4 Happy employees are more productive; no big surprise there, right?5 But it’s worth mentioning and should be constantly kept in mind. Employees who feel like they fit in will do better for you, plain and simple.
Sources:
[1]: Entrepreneur – 5 Facts About Communication in the Workplace You Need to Know[2]: Forbes – Phone Calls, Texts Or Email? Here’s How Millennials Prefer To Communicate
[3]: Forbes – Workplace Trend: Stress Is On The Rise
[4]: The Balance Careers – Understanding Company Culture
[5]: Fortune – Study: Being happy at work really makes you more productive
