If I could do math, I might have gone into engineering. Process fascinates me. Think for a moment…how would you go about adding tons of sand to a beach?
The Big Boy
Beach renourishment has kept me enthralled over the past week or so. This controversial process fights beach erosion by dredging up sand and pumping it onto beaches and it’s happening where I live. Beach replenishment was recently the subject of a CBS news expose debunking it as a waste of tax dollars. The people who live in coastal communities, however, generally consider beach renourishment a costly but worthy use of local and federal tax dollars.
It’s done with dredging barges, lots of big ugly pipes, and huge earth moving machines. There’s nothing scenic about it, but it sure is interesting to watch. The barge pumps sand through miles of pipe. The pipe has valves to control the surge of sand slurry. It looks like lava flowing when it spews onto your beach. And then the beach grows before your eyes.
What Does Moving Sand Around Have to do With a Home Business?
Hey, I’m not overly political so I’m not weighing in on the benefits or lack thereof. I want to talk about how this fascinating process I’ve been watching relates to home business.
Those earth moving machines I mentioned? Precision teamwork. The crew I’ve been watching has two ‘small’ bull dozers, one ‘large’ bull dozer and one really big dozer that probably has a different name ‘cause all it does is move pipe around. It has a different ‘claw’ on the front in addition to being a huge, hulking machine. The boardwalk I stood on shook when this bully boy rumbled by with a load of pipe.
In the hands of a skilled operator, these powerful machines dance in and out of the waves. Teamwork. Each dozer does its part to grow the beach. There’s no supervisor standing in the midst of these behemoths directing traffic. Nope. No control tower radioing instructions to the pilots. Simply experienced people, skilled in the use of their tools, following an established process to get the task done.
Build a Team of Dozers for Your Home Business
Little Guys In the Surf
Do you have this kind of team available to you in your home business? Can you imagine that smooth-functioning team of dozers as your group of vendors and home business contractors?
Sand Slurry Overtaking Dozer? Nah!
No business is an island, to misquote an old standard. Every job that comes in to your business, regardless of the type of business you run, is going to involve at least two people and generally more.
Here is a brief list of what it takes to build an efficient team. You must:
- Provide the Vision.
- Communicate that vision to your contractors so clearly that they easily commit and ‘buy’ in.
- Hire people who will work well together.
- Encourage positive interactions between team players.
- Stay on top of potential people-problems like jealousy, cynicism, or defensive behavior.
- Lead. Let your team do the work you’ve hired them to do. Nothing kills team spirit faster than a team leader who micromanages.
Take advantage of the team concept in your home business. You don’t have the resources of a larger bricks – n– mortar business so make the best use of the resources you have. When your contractors and vendors know a little about what everyone else is doing, when you share the ‘big picture’, your team will begin to function as independently and yet in tandem as the group of big sand-moving dozers.
Oh, and don’t forget to schedule the beach party to celebrate the end of the project. I’ll bring the volley ball net.
Do you have any tricks that help your home business team be more efficient? Share in the comments below!
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