Replicating the Magic—over and over again

I am currently consulting with two very different organizations that have similar agendas. One is a restaurant, the other a statewide nonprofit. Both are classic examples of how processes-once proven and documented-can be used successfully again and again.

You can call this approach “The Franchise Model,” even if the organizations aren't franchising in any way, shape or form. Think of McDonald's old concept. The company devised a system to start a location, a system to run a location, and a system to constantly update a location. There is nothing particularly high-tech about these systems, they're mostly on paper. But, they set the framework for how things will work and they support the never-wavering delivery of consistent goods and services. The “quality” of the goods and services may not be particularly high. It's the quality of the process and the consistency of the product that breeds success-the customer always knows what to expect. The fact is that each site is fairly similar in quality from one to the next, with only an occasional exception.

So what does a nonprofit and a fledgling restaurant chain have in common? The desire to support consistent implementation of their organization.

The nonprofit has hundreds of chapters throughout the state of Texas. Volunteers lead the chapters, rotating out every one or two years (depending on what they can stand). Training hundreds of new chapter leaders every year is completely cost prohibitive. So is receiving hundreds of calls to support those leaders on a regular basis.

The restaurant has one smooth-running location that is making money. The owners have a desire to open up more locations. The General Manager fears that multiple locations will result in a reduction in quality-he'll have to be in two places at once to teach and mentor staff, and to make sure each location maintains its look and feel. How will the staff implement his vision of how the food and drinks look and feel?

The nonprofit will solve the problem by creating an operations handbook. They actually have most of the information compiled, but it's impossible to find anything. We will exponentially improve the usability of the document by cutting down the number of pages (tighter writing; use of decision tables), and devising a comprehensive document structure (table of contents, index, logical division of information). Finally, when it's all said and done, we will automate the document and place it on a CD, complete with keyword search. We'll give users a choice of paper, disk or both-meeting the needs of the technologically advanced volunteers, while still addressing those that want a book to hold onto.

The restaurant will also create an operations manual, but with a difference. This will be a paper document, also impeccably organized. Tabs will separate food prep, accounting, bar set-up, customer service, open and close procedures, etc., along with daily checklists for maintaining stock and a clean environment. The book will be printed on sturdy paper that resists the destructive forces of the kitchen. The manager will be able to separate the book, so the kitchen and bar staff can have their own references. Much of the kitchen staff is only semi-literate, so pictures and numbers will be used to show “how-to” information, and the sequence of the processes. Kitchen and bar staff will also have photographic examples of food and drink presentation, so the products look good every time.

If you can't be two (or more) places at once, perhaps your influence can be. It doesn't take a time machine or a worm-hole in the space-time continuum. Get what's in your brain-your vision, your processes, and your rules-into a reference-able form. Train your people how to implement, and train them how to look up what they forget. Consistency will abound-life and profits will be good.

© 2003 M. A. “Ryan” Yuhas
InterDimension Strategies Inc.