As a community service, the Law Offices of Karen M. Riggio, LLC publishes a complimentary e-newsletter designed for business owners and independent contractors. Each month, we offer valuable tips and practical, real life answers to today’s common contract issues and collection problems. Feel free to e-mail us your suggestions for future articles.

It is a common situation. You realize that “little” corners are getting cut – forms are incomplete or missing, procedures are not being followed, there is confusion in the office about who is responsible for what. It is only a matter of time before there is a repercussion – a judgment that doesn’t go your way, employees or departments that don’t cooperate with each other, finger pointing and blaming when things go wrong with a customer.

The time to act is now

The good news is that the solution is not too hard or too overwhelming... and you are definitely not the first business to have these issues. However, you do need to act soon in order to control internal problems before disaster strikes. Here are a few important tips:

• Review any documentation regarding your procedures. No documentation? This is your first step. A procedure isn’t going to be consistently executed if it isn’t written down.



• Be sure that everyone is on the same page regarding their role and responsibilities. Talk with your employees. There maybe some disagreement about which employee or department is supposed to do which step. If so, this is your next step: Document the procedure to ensure that some one is responsible for each step in the process, and the department supervisor oversees the overall execution.



• Gain valuable feedback from your employees to make your business more effective. Most likely, they will have helpful suggestions on ways to improve your operations and customer relations. Revise your documentation to reflect the new changes in the process, and share it with everyone involved.



• Lastly, find a way to track the process, so you will not be surprised when there are future variations. If you find there are too many variations from the documented process; it is time to start your reevaluation process again.

Procedures and business processes change over time. To keep your operations running smoothly, they have to adjusted, documented and reviewed periodically. It will help everyone stay on the same page, and protect your organization when things don’t go as planned.

Guest Column by Kris Dahl Adler of Facilitated Planning LLC in Stamford.
She can be reached at 917-603-2224 or kris.adler@facilitatedplanning.com