Last month’s blog introduced the concept of “The Creator or Maintainer”and the need to strike the right balance between these 2 types of tasks. Following on from this, we’d like to invite you to take our fun quiz to see where you sit on the bell curve!
Just answer the questions as openly and honestly as you can and view the answer guide below then take corrective action as required..
Question 1 Business Vision – “Do you feel that you have created a business vision which…”
a. Revolves around the day to day management of detail
b. Is regularly shared with your staff and progress reviewed
c. Is discussed throughout the course of the year and changed as and when required
d. Isn’t that what you get from Specsavers?
Question 2 Planning – “How frequently do you plan and review your marketing budget”
a. Daily – daily
b. Annually – monthly
c. Annually – quarterly
d. The only thing I am planning for is a lottery win or my retirement…whichever comes first!
Question 3 Processes – “Are there clearly defined processes in place within your organisation?”
a. Yes – these are scrutinised and reviewed daily and warnings sent to those that deviate from the norm!
b. Yes – these are reviewed and updated monthly
c. Yes – these are discussed and revised at least twice a year
d. Isn’t a process how you make Ammonia?
Question 4 Management – “Do you believe that your role in your business is…”
a. To manage the minutia of detail yourself on an hourly basis
b. To delegate and review all the business processes weekly, managing KPI’s
c. To delegate some of the day to day functions and receive a weekly report to manage KPI’s
d. Coming up with ideas is all I do… let number crunchers deal with the detail!
Question 5 Creativity – “Are you..”
a. so ensconced with the small stuff that the future well being of your company is being neglected
b. setting aside time to think about the future of your business
c brainstorming ideas with colleagues regularly
d. forever moving from one eureka moment to the next?
Answers
Answer 1 point for each question and then see where you are on the Maintain – Create Continuum
Mainly a – You clearly have maintenance at the top of your agenda and deserve the Golden Spanner award. The likelihood is you will be obsessed with control, detail and sometimes portray sales prevention traits. Are you sure that you should have any high-level involvement with the marketing team?
Mainly b, c – Congratulations – you are a well-balanced, all-rounder combining the skills needed to ensure that good marketing is done. You understand “cause and effect” and are past masters at citing Newton’s 3rd Law!
Mainly d – you are highly creative but unmanaged will create a mess akin to the circus elephants having just left town! You need to work closely with maintenance folk but this will probably lead to pistols at dawn, so align yourself with experts in Newton’s Third Law to ensure your marketing ideas do not get unnoticed!
