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I am the owner/ceo of a small company (30 employees) in a high-tech market (warehouse automation).

Besides the work, people need to do all kinds of "other" things. Think of, for example:

  • Being aware of cybersecurity threats
  • Being aware of complaints
  • Do all the necessary administration work (hours, declarations, etc)
  • Make sure to communicate correctly and professionally
  • Being aware of possible process or work improvements
  • Keep their calendar up-to-date

Of course, for all these things separately, I can run a campaign and have the awareness heightened for some time but it almost always wears off again.

Do you have any ideas on how I could keep all these things top of mind, without having to have topical presentations every month or so?

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    all of these are just work except the first one, which is a habit Commented May 10, 2023 at 10:50
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    And what does "be aware of complaints" actually mean? Surely if there are complaints there should be a process of handling them, including determining what remedial action is required. Are you just suggesting that all complaints go into some folder somewhere, and all staff are required to read them. And that's handling complaints? Commented May 10, 2023 at 11:43
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    @BartFriederichs Then if you have run the company for 10 years, it would be good to understand what complexities have arisen? How do you currently address the things you mention? Why does that approach no longer work well? Commented May 10, 2023 at 12:03
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    @HappyIdiot Personal Assistant, not Public Address Commented May 11, 2023 at 6:48
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    Are you allowing employees to do all these things "on the clock"? For the first and fourth items, are you paying them to attend suitable training? Commented May 11, 2023 at 20:48

7 Answers 7

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Do you have any ideas on how I could keep all these things top of mind, without having to have topical presentations every month or so?

I'm guessing you have important things that are kept "top of mind", like project milestones, sales numbers, cash flow, hiring, etc.? How are these kept "top of mind"?

Likely, you have regular meetings to talk about them. Weekly, or monthly, you probably go over the relevant indicators for everything you consider important.

Including these kinds of "other" things in your regular discussions, will keep them "top of mind". If you aren't doing so, you are signaling that they aren't as important, and so it's reasonable that folks concentrate their attentions elsewhere.

Basically, people will keep the important things top of mind. You just need to convince them that these are important.

Note: Even the fact that you call them "other" things is a signal that they are distinct from the real work. Think about what kinds of signals you are sending to the company, how they might be received, and how people will respond to those signals.

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    salesforce.com/content/dam/blogs/us/Mar2016/awesomemanager.jpg Commented May 10, 2023 at 11:30
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    Thanks a lot, this will help (and it is actually so simple I should have thought of it myself ;-)). Commented May 10, 2023 at 11:58
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    @BartFriederichs Anything that you want to be on employee's priority list has to be spelled out, measured in performance ratings, and have incentives. Everything else will slide off their priority list. Commented May 10, 2023 at 17:34
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    @DavidR And if everything is "important", then NOTHING is important. Don't make the mistake of making a priority list that's excessive, because then it's just a list and the priority drops off, and the stuff that isn't on the list will just disappear. I suspect the limit is around 5-8, but I don't have sources on hand to back that up. Commented May 11, 2023 at 1:09
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    I would like to maybe add one thing: The point about "cyber security". I'd recommend to actually have an expert in that field and having him chime in with consulting and audits. You cannot expect everybody to be always up-to-date with the state of the art and aware when their main focus is other things (and possibly under pressure to finish). Commented May 12, 2023 at 8:49
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Middle management

Ensuring that these things get done properly is generally the job of a line manager/supervisor/team lead/etc. It is unclear what your current organizational structure is, but if you're trying to maintain that personally for 30 employees, that's generally above the ratio which one can maintain effectively, and it makes sense to explicitly delegate some responsibility for supervising the behavior of others.

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    This. It’s pretty much middle management’s job to remind people to fill in their timesheets, request their vacations in time, forward customer complaints to the correct employee and so on. Commented May 11, 2023 at 8:14
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    You should probably research "span of control", a Manager can generally only handle about 10 reports efficiently. Commented May 11, 2023 at 19:34
  • +1 My answer would be to enforce the requirements. However, I think you're answer is the first step. If you're employees are not following requirements, you should apply clear directions and outcomes. If the staff is large enough, you need help. Commented May 12, 2023 at 5:31
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You spelled your question incorrectly :). It should have read:

How do I implement quality-related processes in my company?

There is no single all-covering answer (because it is too big). However, here are some hints:

  • hire one or more quality engineers; their first task will be to define "quality"; you will be involved, of course; also, maybe you want / need certifications;
  • hire a few more managers. One person running the company and managing 30 people is too much for one person;
  • do not do everything at once, chaotically; first define what you want to do, then decide how you want to do it, then do follow the plan gradually.

Additionally, you need organization in that company (re-read the "hire managers" part again). The way I understand your description, everyone is expected to do everything - good recipe, but for disaster.


The easiest way to design the processes from scratch is something like this:

  • make the list of all activities that you have and all activities that you want to have;
  • group these activities based on how similar they are: engineering, sales, marketing, cleaning, ...
  • explain (in a document) what you already do;
  • add information how things should improve (what has to be done additionally);
  • over a few iterations, improve these documents; please remember to involve your people for reviewing and feedback, even for brainstorming;
  • organize the people in teams according to the second step above;
  • hand over to each group their specific document; organize a few training sessions on how to apply the new processes;
  • improve the processes any time it is needed;
  • include the "following the process" as a point in the yearly evaluation - to provide extra motivation to people to actually care about the processes.
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    @Gantendo: How is "no managers at all" a solution for perfection? There are no managers - according to the "tone" of the question - besides the CEO. Just a kind reminder: the science of management was developed for a very good reason - to help CEOs and company owners manage their companies. Commented May 10, 2023 at 11:12
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    @Gantendo: from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management : "It is the science of managing resources of the business." Now please provide a resource supporting your claim, please. Commented May 10, 2023 at 11:16
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    @Gantendo: How can any quality engineer know what is in your own mind? If you have something to say, please say it so I can understand. Please expand on your statement, this is not a site for riddles. Commented May 10, 2023 at 11:20
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    I do not manage all these people myself. I have a management layer, where each manager has a team of 4-8 people under them. My question is mainly about what tools we could use (as a management team) to give these process-related tasks more priority. Commented May 10, 2023 at 11:56
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    @BartFriederichs: define processes, and the processes will dictate the tools. I will add some info to the answer. Commented May 10, 2023 at 12:17
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In order to keep a large number of complicated things at the top of the minds of the workers performing the tasks, you have two options:

  1. Employ very experienced workers who have been with you for a very long time and are very habituated to your company's practices (which of course, cannot be dynamic under this option).

  2. Divide the labour up between workers, so that the clerk who fills in timesheets for everyone has timesheets at the top of his mind, and the clerk who communicates outside the organisation for everyone has diplomacy the top of their mind, and these clerks are not the same two people.

It's also worth noting that effective management is partly about designing methods, systems, and divisions of labour that reduce the complexity of any one task, so that the workplace resembles a well-functioning ship where some are rowing with oars, others are hauling ropes, some are keeping watch, and so on, rather than resembling a modern music video where there seems to be only one kind of labour doing everything, the dancers who are all running, spinning, and twirling in much the same way as one another.

Certainly what you list as "other things", with things as diverse as cybersecurity, could seem to form a job role in its own right, and I assume your staff actually have core jobs that are demanding and which compete for their skill and attention.

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If you want somebody to do something in a specific way, you as a boss make it measurable, and then measure if they do it as you want, and take action if not.

Note that this may be considered annoying and will take time from other work, but if it is important enough to you it may be worth it.

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"All the other things" is too broad to answer specifically. I'm going to focus on security, but the same general principles apply to all other business processes:

If you feel people need reminding, you schedule periodic reminders. Or aperiodic reminders. Many large companies have a process that periodically sends phishing emails to their own employees, for example, and requires that anyone who responds to them take a refresher security course. Many also require a yearly refresher.

If you feel people know but aren't complying, you make very clear that compliance is a condition of employment, and that being sloppy about it can cost them their next raise, their next promotion... or their job.

You put business processes in place to discourage/prevent folks doing the wrong thing, and make it easy for them to do the right thing.

If you can't do all of that yourself, you hire the people necessary to make sure it happens.

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I'm reading between the lines here, and it appears that while you may have some technical knowledge, you lack experience and understanding on how to run a business when it comes to the non-technical aspects.

The good news is that this is not uncommon. There are numerous consultancy companies that will actually assist you in running the human resources side of the company. Some will even provide full-time or part-time human resources services.

Because running a business is a non-trivial thing, rather than consult SE for ideas, you really should be engaging with experts that can give you the skills and resources required to help you find your feet.

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    Hiring expensive external consultants to fulfill management roles is a waste of money. And it won't fix the problem. Commented May 10, 2023 at 11:55
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    @Gantendo They are asking a lot of questions that should be handled by a human resources manager. Either they didn't hire a good human resources manager, or they wish to do those task themselves, which again, in either case, they need a consultancy firm to assist them. Commented May 10, 2023 at 12:00
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    *notion. Attacking the OP and then me because you misread the situation and gave bad advice is a bit childish. Plants have been watered. Commented May 10, 2023 at 12:16
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    @Gantendo Ahh sorry mate. I've had a rough day. I don't think I misread the situation, but I shouldn't have attacked you. Commented May 10, 2023 at 12:19
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    No worries we love you. Commented May 10, 2023 at 12:19

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