Performance Remapping

At the start of this year, I wanted to make changes to the way we manage DrivenByQ. As we have grown, the way we have done things in the past has not worked so well in recent times. Key decisions about our future have been harder to reach and things have felt like a chore sometimes. Our team was slowly becoming fragmented too.

The first step we took in January was to implement a monthly management meeting. The initial get together covered a lot of outstanding issues. Effectively all we did was go over old ground. The second meeting however was better, the agenda was smaller, the discussion more creative and the outlook optimistic.

As we complete the first quarter of 2013, a new team dynamic is developing. In the last week we reached decisions about a new web site and implementing an intricate software update. The big difference is how much discussion we have had as a team, the depth of understanding everyone has and how quick we reach decisions.

Last year, I worked on many projects alone and repeatedly tried to gain financial agreement at a late stage. It proved frustrating when a lengthy process of questions broke out and no decision was reached. This year however, we are being decisive, moving fast, being increasingly responsive and rediscovering real agility!

Invested Interest

Week three of our new Duty Manager System and it has become challenging. The reason for this is two-fold. First, we had three fewer drivers to call on (due to holidays and career changes) and our Duty Manager was another driver off the road. Secondly, we have been unusually busy for this time of year.

 

Maybe the conclusion of projects before the Easter break spurred people on to travel but either way we are up a full fifty per cent on this time last year (and last year was a record). In some ways it makes me feel deeply satisfied when reflecting on the strategies we implemented in recent years.

 

I was once told “Always chase the money”. It was advice I disregarded immediately because my philosophy is different. Instead I prefer to focus on the long-term. Rather than considering a customer as a route to earn money one day, I think of a passenger as an investment in a pension fund.

 

It takes persistent contributions for a pension to develop wealth but over time it grows. Many great businesses started from humble beginnings like our own and I’m sure most owners endure financial sacrifice along the way but when things come good it only serves to make the taste of success all the more sweet.

Critical Mass

Two weeks in to our new Duty Manager system, it has to be said, so far so good. The last week has been exceptionally valuable to me personally. I managed to complete projects and tasks from my ‘to do’ list and start seeking new challenges.

What I also found after a complete week off the road is I came back to driving feeling rejuvenated. In terms of planning for the future of DrivenByQ I also feel a new energy and motivation that has been missing for a while.

Implementing the new system is a calculated risk as it adds to overheads - something we have always tried to avoid. It seems the timing however is just right as it gives us the resources we need to grow bigger and increase turnover.

On reflection, we recognised a change was needed but I didn’t realise it would be so dramatic in such a short space of time. Now we have made the change and feel so confident about it, I wonder what else we will achieve.

24. The Magic Number

Over the last year I have been acutely aware that DrivenByQ has grown but our responses and response times to customer enquiries have not been what they once were. Neither have we improved our service - simply because of being too busy.

For a long-time our Duty Manager role has been slotted in between driving jobs with a different manager on each day of the week. This has made it disruptive when trying to develop our business because we have not committed resources efficiently enough.

After two months of discussion and planning, this week we implemented a new system where one of the company owners spends a week off the road being the full-time Duty Manager. For the first time in our history this is also now a paid position.

Apart from the discipline required when working from home, the first week seems to have gone well. We managed to reduce maximum response times from 24 hours to less than 24 minutes within office hours and immediately had positive feedback.