Walk the Four Corners of your Business; Keeping a Pulse on What’s Happening
29 Jul
Having a full understanding and a real sense of what’s going on inside your company can only happen one way – if YOU take the time to deliberately ‘Walk the Four Corners’ (W4C).
Walk the Four Corners, or W4C, is a term that is coined by Kraig Kraimer, who preaches its importance for any business owner. As business owners or managers, our daily routines have us so busy that we fail to connect with our staff and customers the way we should.
That’s why, it’s important to schedule time with yourself to stroll through all four corners of your business, talk with staff and converse with customers for the sole purpose of finding out what’s going on inside your company. How does your staff really feel about the company they’re working for? What solutions to they have to the challenges your company may be facing? I wrote some time ago, about the fact that the best solutions can sometimes come from the most unlikely places. Do you take the time to talk with all your hourly staff, even the part-timer that you often miss?
How about your customers? When was the last time you made it a point to try and connect with a few customers in order to learn about your own company, its reputation in the community and what they think you should do differently?
W4C – it could be just the thing you need to solve your biggest dilemma and put your company on a roadmap to success.
Andy
A similar concept: Manage By Walking Around (MBWA)
Andy Buyting has been in the retail industry since he was six years old. Today, he applies his entrepreneurial know-how to Green Village Home & Garden, one of Canada's most successful specialty garden stores. Green Village Home & Garden is currently expanding into multiple locations throughout eastern Canada.
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W4C (or MBWA) is a good way to cross validate what your eyes and ears are telling you with what the hard merchandising data is telling you is going on, and vice versa. You can’t manage for a profit without keeping a close eye on both the merchandising and financial data that the business is generating, but W4C can add human flesh to the quantitative bones, as well as highlight issues that need to be explored within the stream of data.
I also believe that its a feel good activity for your staff, customers, and yourself. The best way to promote an open and fun culture is by taking visible actions. Actions speak louder then words. Its one thing to say “We have a fun working environment”, its another to actually do something about it. When you walk around and interact with your staff, you’re sending a positive message to them.