Helping small business owners develop extraordinary businesses that really work for their customers, their employees, themselves and their families

Watch for a Sense of Urgency

A sense of urgency is a very valuable trait for employees and vendors.

A sense of urgency means the individual has a burning compulsion to complete assignments or deliver merchandise quickly.

You know when you give an employee or a vendor with a sense of urgency an assignment or order, they are “antsy” and won’t rest until it’s DONE. They HATE having a backlog.

With employees like this, I know I will have the completed assignment on my desk or a list of questions to complete the assignment in short order.

Clients and customers view speed as an indication of quality. They worry about delays for receiving what they are seeking as quickly as possible. They also want to “stop the clock” for accumulating more charges when they are billed for time.

There can be a downside for individuals with a sense of urgency. In their hurry, they can shortcut the process and not pay attention to necessary details. The job still has to be done right. Management guru Peter Drucker distinguished efficiency (doing things quickly) from effectiveness (doing the right things.) That means the supervisor has to be especially diligent when reviewing work done urgently.

One time, when I was retained by a business to represent them for an IRS audit, I discovered the person who prepared a corporate income tax return, who had a reputation as a “speed demon” for preparing business income tax returns, had taken some shortcuts when adjusting the taxpayer’s accounts, which was embarrassing to explain to the IRS agent. The taxpayer appreciated having a low fee for the tax return preparation, but was disappointed to have issues discovered during the IRS audit.

When you have an employee or a vendor that has a sense of urgency and also pays attention to details, you have a real treasure.

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Helping small business owners develop extraordinary businesses that really work for their customers, their employees, themselves and their families