Teamwork Made Real

The entirety of the book, From Problems to Profits: Madson Management System, supports teamwork in staffed businesses. We suggest you read From Problems to Profits from the viewpoint of how it addresses and supports teamwork. In this brief article we will review new enhancements to the Madson Management System. They relate to supporting your groomer wage system and teamwork.

When systems fail there is only one source, the management of the business. Management naturally makes errors on occasion.

Many of them surface from a lack of communication between management and staff, even between staff working in separate departments. It is management’s reaction to their None (of the businesses we inter viewed) adver tise for new customers. Yes, I did say none adver tise, at all. Only one had a Facebook page but not for her business. She only has a personal page.

mistakes that indicates whether the business will pass or fail. Never make friends with chronic problems; address them immediately and adjust operations. Explain the situation with the employees. Ask for their feedback.

Groomers Are Artists

Obviously pet groomers are not clerks, salespersons, data keypunchers, cashiers and a long list of other common types of employees.

Groomers are artists. Distraction doesn’t help any artist. They tend to enjoy mental cocoons deeply connected to the art and safety of pets on their tables.

Every assignment is a new piece of work. They create excitement. How many other jobs create smiles, wags and high energy reunions between pets and their owners?

You cannot associate pet groomers with any other common job out there today. They are unique. For this reason they deserve and thrive on consistent feedback from their co-workers and employers. It makes a world of difference.

Teamwork amongst artists is a challenge. It is never more so than in operations where management is not present, and there are two or more commission only pet groomers basically running the show. In these environments none of them want to train and supervise assistants. We hired many groomers over the years from these types of operations and once they experienced a business operating with The Madson Management System fully in place, it was a relief. No wonder our groomers extended their employment to an average of eight plus years.

When a new customer walks in the grab begins. Perhaps three or more groomers vie for a new client according to unwritten rules, it’s all for none, none for all. New groomers generally get the leftovers, day after day. Many groomer help wanted ads proclaim employers are not looking for job candidates known for drama. They are not the majority but their numbers are noticeable. Artists may be prone to drama. It is up to the directors to manage the drama of artists, or workdays will be unpleasant. Understand the nature of pet groomers if you are to manage them well.

Teamwork Attributes

Not all pet groomers can lead a grooming team. The most common problems lie with lead pet groomers. If they do not feel confident in their employment why would they want to train and supervise assistants? By putting on lead pet groomers on salary backed by a job agreement, they felt

more confident in their employment status. It did not hurt that in our state at the time employee termination required plenty of good reason. California is anything but a right to work state.

Fairness

Fairness is often absent in grooming operations. Senior pet groomers may be allowed to pick the cream of the crop of new customers. We never allowed our clients to choose groomers, and our groomers didn’t choose pet owners. The bond was with the coach of the team, the owner manager and the clientele.

The owner manager promised to return pets to customer satisfaction. The pet owners loved the freedom from having to make decisions that could negatively affect their pets. Who better than the owner manager or hired manager to fulfill the promise and leave pet owners worry free?

At the core of grooming assignments in our business was the concept, “Time -in, Time-out.” The next pet to groom was always the one with the earliest

time out. No favoritism, no empire building, no tricks.

After determining the next pet to groom based on earliest time out, the team leader also qualifies who is best to groom the next pet based on time out. Is the pet bather new and in training under the Bathing Department Supervisor? Is the Assistant Pet Groomer qualified to do the finish work under supervision?

Managers can quickly make these decisions. Also the flow of the day can sometimes target a pet bather inadvertently with a series of difficult bathing assignments. The Manager or Bathing Department Supervisor get involved and spread the difficult assignments out among the staff while keeping the time out flow in order.

Opportunities for Advancement

Every day our staff knew there were opportunities for advancement. We posted our career path model on the employee bulletin board, also referred to as the Information Center in From Problems to Profits. We used “The Wheel” and stood behind it in our operations. Every time there was an

open position we made our best attempt to promote from within. Give hope to your staff for advancement to support their teamwork. members regardless of their departments.

Wheels collapse when spokes are lost. The same is true with teams. Each team

Using the Wheel at Staff Meetings

Too many staff meetings feel like management is just talking at employees. That manner is acceptable to start staff meetings but the floor must be opened to discussion. Management needs to know what is on the mind of every staff member.

We suggest using The Wheel at staff meetings. There is a copy at the end of this article. We didn’t use common organization charts based on hierarchical structures with management always on top over all other employees, and supervisors over all other non-management positions. Invariably these types of charts lock Pet Bather positions at the bottom.

Teamwork is poorly communicated with hierarchical structures. The Wheel format has no top or bottom. Everyone is connected to others. The spokes between job positions imply the connections between all team

member is a supportive spoke in “the wheel of the grooming operation.” At staff meetings have a copy of The Wheel illustration on display. Open a period of discussion between departments. Start with one department and ask them to follow the spokes of their job positions across the wheel to positions in other departments.

Ask them how their jobs have been affected recently by other departments. You may notice that the attendees have sorted themselves by departments in your audience.

You need positive discussion between departments in staff meetings. You may need to prime the pump to get them going. For example, ask the pet groomers how they have been affected by the bathing department lately. Perhaps a groomer will say the stretchdrying has been poor as evidenced by frequent curly cuffs. Allow the bathing department to respond. Resolve the issue with your lead.

Next, the bathing department may comment. Service orders taken by receptionists may have been hard to read, or incomplete. Bring it to a resolve. Keep discussions going without temper tantrums and anger, you are the coach. Listen to what they are even not saying.

If you do this correctly all of the employees will realize how vulnerable they are to the work of others. Teamwork is subject to decay but when it is valued by the staff lead by an aware coach, it is the best method of operation. Employees tend to stay hired longer, and drama becomes a thing of the past.

We suggest you keep a copy of The Wheel illustration with your Career Path posting year round as a visual reinforcement of your commitment to teamwork. ◄