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It’s an ugly job but it doesn’t have to be.
Creating work rules is fundamental to business success and can be
done without grief, confusion and resentment. It’s important to think of
rules as a way of clarifying your expectations. When people know what is
expected of them, their chances for success are much higher than if they are
constantly guessing what you want, how they can succeed and why things are
the way they are.
Whenever more than one person is involved, you can
count on differences of opinion because no two people think exactly alike.
Rules serve as foundation for your business practices and there are three
kinds of rules to consider:
Required.
There
are some rules that are required by law in every business. Examples of
important policies and rules you will need to address include: smoking,
sexual harassment, drugs and alcohol, work safety and paid family or medical
leave. Having these formally and clearly posted around the work place and
included in employee handbooks can prevent lawsuits and may be required by
law in some states.
Optional
but appropriate. These are the rules that are not required by law. They
communicate how you want your business to be run and what kind of behavior
you expect. For example, you may institute a policy or rule about answering
the phone, when it is appropriate to start cleaning the shop before closing
or how to handle requests for time off.
Overly
rigid. The key to rules is maintaining a balance. Businesses that try to
manage by dictatorship are no more effective than businesses that manage by
chance. For example, a company suddenly decides to institute a company-wide
shirt and tie or blouse and skirt policy. There are people who perform
manual labor and the majority of business is done without face-to-face
customer contact. This rule can breed resentment, frustration and a whole
lot of headaches.
It’s important to have a sound reason for your
rules and to communicate them to your employees. Rules provide an important
structure to all business activities but it’s important not to squelch
your team’s creativity, ingenuity and enthusiasm.
Here
is a checklist to
determine whether your rules are too rigid or just the right balance for
success:
·
Does the rule affect one group or employee
disproportionately to the rest of your team?
·
Is the policy truly necessary when considering the
work the person does?
·
Does this policy conflict with actual working
conditions?
·
Do
I have a sound business justification that I can clearly and easily
communicate?
·
Have I clearly outlined and identified when and how
the policy will be enforced?
·
Have there been occasions in the past where this rule
would have been useful?
·
Am I really willing to enforce this policy
consistently and earnestly?
·
Have I documented the policy clearly and thoroughly
and made sure every employee is aware of the changes?
·
Will it cost me more time, money and effort to
enforce the policy than what I chance to gain by having the rule?
·
Have I clearly thought out and communicated the
consequences for breaking this rule?
·
Are the consequences appropriate to the rule?
·
Do other businesses have similar policies and have
they been effective and useful?
There
are two important ways to avoid policy-making pitfalls:
-
Involve your team as much as possible. When they are involved in the process and have input, they
are much more likely to abide by the policies. This doesn’t mean
anarchy, it simply means you will have to be creative in finding ways
(meetings, suggestion boxes, informal lunches) for them to contribute
and provide feedback.
-
Make
sure there is a sound business justification for a rule.
When a person understands why something is the way it is, they are much
more likely to accept it.
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