Management
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You Don’t REALLY Need to Create a Lean Operation, Do You?
- August 12, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Management
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We hear a lot about lean manufacturing and lean principles these days, but it’s kind of a catchword. I’ve never been a big fan of buzzwords because they only complicate something that’s already simple, but I don’t think “lean” necessarily means anything special. For the most part, I’ve found you don’t need to be “lean”
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Why You Should Keep Marketing in an Economic Downturn
- August 5, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Innovation, Management
One of the biggest mistakes executives make during an economic downturn is to make cuts to their sales and marketing staff. Those are the two departments that actually make the money that your company runs on, which means there are fewer people helping you make money, which means you make less money. Sales have to
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How Do You Replenish a Decimated Workforce?
- July 22, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Management
With unemployment up and the economy facing some serious difficulties, many companies have furloughed or laid off their workforce, if only to protect their assets and hope for a recovery when they can bring those associates back. In the meantime, one of two things has happened: 1) the furloughed staff have been receiving unemployment for
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How Did We Handle Racism at Robroy
- June 3, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management
We never had to deal with too much racism during my time at Robroy, mostly because I made sure people knew that wasn’t allowed. One day, we had an incident where someone had scribbled someone’s name on a bathroom door, and calling them a racial slur. I certainly wasn’t going to stand for that or
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What Will the New Normal Look Like? Can We Return to What Was?
- May 27, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Management, Safety
People are talking about reopening the country and returning to work as if we can “return to normal.” Except we cannot return to what was. There’s a total shift in our country’s paradigm in working, playing, and socializing, especially because the coronavirus is still contagious and spreading. And unless and until there’s a miraculous discovery
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Your Return to Normalcy May Depend on How You Treated Your Associates
- May 20, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management
The last few months have been pretty rough, and many companies had to lay off associates or at least furlough them, just so they could collect unemployment for the 2+ months no one was working. But now that we’re reopening the country, the return to normalcy may be a little harder for some companies than
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Donna Waterstraat: The Increase of Women in Management Over the Years
- May 6, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Management
When I started working at Robroy, I stepped into a culture that was rooted firmly in the 1950s: predominantly white, predominantly male. It was people like Donna Waterstraat who were instrumental in not only changing the culture, she helped improve our productivity, pushed for more women in management, and make the organization very profitable. Here’s
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How Do You Quickly Pivot During a Crisis?
- April 25, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Management
When you think of an aircraft carrier, you tend to think of them as slow-moving, unwieldy vessels that are best suited to going in a straight line and needing half a day just to execute a turn. But you would be wrong! A Nimitz-class aircraft carrier can make a 180-degree turn in a matter of
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What Goes into a Contingency Plan For Your Operation?
- April 11, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Management
As we’re rolling into the coronavirus shutdown, and companies are working from home, or even furloughing workers until we can all go back to work, many companies are thinking about, dusting off, or even writing their contingency plan and disaster recovery plan. A disaster recovery plan is the (very large) document that tells you what
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My Four Non-Negotiables: #4 – Check Your Ego at the Front Door
- April 4, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management
Over the years, I have developed a management philosophy I call the Four Non-Negotiables. Over the last few weeks, I’ve shared what each of them are and what they mean. This final week is about Non-Negotiable #4, Check Your Ego at the Front Door Actually, the full title is “Check your ego at the front