By John Carroll
Carroll on Work

Is there anything that gets the coach of a competitive sports team more frustrated than the failure of his or her athletes to do well in that sport’s fundamental functions?

I’d hazard a guess that it tops the frustrations list well ahead of poor officiating and the many other irritations, annoyances and disappointments that coach faces. Asked once how he planned to win over an upcoming opponent, legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi is said to have responded, “We will win by being excellent at the basics—blocking and tackling.”

So too, in business, is there a more maddening piece of feedback than that of a leader’s team members not functioning well in business basics? What do such failures include? Take this quiz to see how well you’re doing when it comes to the basics in your business. Simply put a Y for yes or N for no as your response for each of the following questions:

• Is anyone in your organization attempting to sell without preparing for the sale and knowing little or nothing about the prospective customer/client?

• Does anyone answer the telephone without courteously thanking the caller for contacting you today?

• Do you ever fail to confirm an order by phone, e-mail, fax or in person to be sure you’re crystal clear on exactly what the customer/client wants and needs?

• Does anyone forget to double check addresses and phone numbers on shipping to prevent the delays that come with partial or unsupplied contact information?

• Is there ever a meeting without an agenda provided in advance that spells out objectives, agenda items and start/stop times?

• Do you delegate without asking the person receiving the delegation to feed it back to ensure clarity of the request?

• Do you accept a return or issue a refund without learning the cause of the customer’s/client’s dissatisfaction?

• Do you allow an associate to leave your organization without conducting an exit interview that can generate valuable insights to leaders and team members?

• Are you or anyone in key roles unfamiliar with specific points of compliance that are critical to your company?

• Do you or those in responsible roles ever fail to institute and ensure compliance in those critical areas?

• Is there ever anything anywhere in your organization (an activity, an area, an environment) that could be considered unsafe or unsanitary to anyone?

• Is there ever the occurrence of behavior that betrays disrespect for anyone inside or outside your organization?

• Does any leader (you or those around you not know where you need to be in your organization’s critical measures (or fails to communicate that information to those responsible for making it happen) by agreed-upon milestones throughout the year?

• Does anyone fail to communicate basic expectations for associate dress codes and acceptable behavior both interpersonally and technologically and other pertinent company values?

• Do you or anyone select and add new associates hurriedly, without thorough consideration of their background, how well they fit the teams where they would serve and whether they possess the proper attitudes and interpersonal skills to get along with the right people and be effective in their projected roles?

So, how did you fare? With the number of yes answers in hand, check this quick legend for your own business back-to-basics report card:

0-2 “Yes” responses: Excellent! No organization is perfect, yet yours appears to be taking the pursuit of perfection and zero defects seriously. Now is not the time to lean back and rest. Keep up the good work and build on your successes as you continue to head toward zero.

3-6 “Yes” responses: You are doing well, despite the fact that you’re likely disappointing people inside or outside your organization. Create systems just as you have for the basics in which you’re solid and allow them to drop this score even lower when you retake this quiz in a month or two.

7-12 “Yes” responses: You’re likely running in crisis management mode regularly. You are lacking the systems that allow you to handle key roles and responsibilities effectively and proactively. It’s time to ask for help and invest in systems for those basics at which you consistently fall short.

13 or more “Yes” responses: You are teetering perilously on the edge of organizational survival with one foot tied behind your back. If this many of the questions are true for your organization, it’s a wonder that you’re functioning at all.

Would you like to give this quiz a bit more impact? Distribute it to your team members or throughout the organization and ask everyone to complete and return it to you. Be sure in your request for responses that you guarantee both anonymity and zero possibility of reprisals, i.e., no shooting the messenger. You could gain some interesting insights that provide you with corrective action initiatives in the short term that pay off well into the longer term.

John Carroll is an entrepreneur, consultant, author and president of Unlimited Performance, Inc. based in Mount Pleasant. E-mail him at jcarroll@uperform.com.

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