Aces in Their Places: Empowering Your Team to Succeed

Some of you may be aware that my career started in the service industry. I started as a host and worked my way up through the ranks (IYKYK), and to become a service manager. Throughout that time, I learned not only the leadership skills needed to communicate with 20-40 people at a time, but also the profound importance of identifying individual strengths and weaknesses. For example, I have had a great food runner who started as a horrible server, or a host showing far more critical thinking depth than the expo, who ran a 25-minute ticket time and window full of food.

An example for reference would be having a charismatic photographer as a customer service person. Sure, they are good with people, but not in the sense of being a reactive or proactive force that they can be when behind a camera and inspiring the people who are in front of the lens. People who can fill multiple roles still have one or two main strengths in which they are significantly better than their other talents. Expecting someone to learn everything or have the passion to do a role because there is a need is unrealistic. As a business owner, consider the responsibilities you need to know, including editing software, workflow solutions, e-commerce platforms, managing a business, and being a motivator... do I need to go on?

Understanding what production needs to do to fulfill ID cards would help your sales representative/admin empathize with how important it is not only to have accurate information, but also to receive it as soon as possible. It would also benefit production to understand that customer service isn't just sitting in front of a computer, telling people what to do. It's empathizing when someone is having a bad day, and customer service just happens to be on the other side, being able to listen and not take it too personally. Do you think that if you put that customer service representative in a production role, they could go into your software, upload/create service items, confirm image attributes and data fields, and then create/send renders to print? The answer is no, but I believe I am making my point that understanding the fundamentals of departments, their roles, and responsibilities is important.  

Having people in the wrong place doesn't mean they are bad at their job; it means that you, as a business owner, have the crucial responsibility of identifying their role in your company. Getting into owning your own studio isn't just about working for yourself; it's about how you're going to create a business that supports you and others' livelihoods. Starting this can be daunting and leave you with a lot more questions than you had. Let me help -> schedule a call here.