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Hey, retail leaders! It’s December 15th. You still alive? I know you are! These last ten days before Christmas, we are skating. All the planning and prepping are done, and it’s now just controlled chaos. Know that wherever you are, I’m cheering you on. Take your breaks & stay hydrated. Welcome to Retail Renegades. In every issue, I tear into 1 of the 10 biggest problems all retail leaders face:
(If you want to smash all 10 of these AND master the fundamentals of running a kick-ass store, I’d love to have you in The Break Room.) Time Management – time man·age·ment Planning and controlling time spent on specific activities – especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity. This week, I want to help you SAVE TIME by sharing some of my best practices for time management. There are so many benefits to time management – I know, you know – but working in retail can be overwhelming. As soon as you walk through the door, a tidal wave is chasing you down before you even have time to think. I got you. Here are five ways you can lean into time management. These tips can lead to massive personal growth! I hope this will motivate you to make it part of your everyday leadership practice. Let’s go! 1.Mindset Time management begins before you walk into the store. Every day before I walked into work, I’d sit in my car for like five minutes. I’d think about what I had planned for the day, who I was working with, and any conversations I wanted to have. After that, I’d gather my stuff out of the car and walk into work a bit early – 5-10 minutes. These few minutes give your mind and body time to adjust to the new environment. When you’re on the sales floor, you need to be sharp. Giving yourself a few extra moments to get ready may help. 2. Make lists After you have your stuff put away in the office, your store keys at the ready, and your walkie on – check your emails & store communication. Start a list. Every day, I’d grab a scratch piece of paper and write down what needed to be done. I’d keep it in my pocket all day and cross things off or add to it. Delegate whatever you can to your support leaders. 3. Block off time for deep thinking It’s not always possible to carve out office time. Some companies don’t see it as necessary, which is to their detriment. If you can, block off an hour or two every week to write a great schedule. This time for planning will put you way ahead. A well-written schedule will pay you back – you have no idea! It will save you time every day. Protect that office time/deep thinking time. Another leader should be running the floor. Turn off your phone. Put it away. Work on what’s in front of you. That’s it. Much of what we do in stores needs a time benchmark. For example, it should take you 30 minutes to process a box of shipment. Communicate these goals to your team. If Henry comes into work on shipment and you say, “Hi Henry, please work on shipment for the next four hours.” He probably will, but he may do it on his own sweet time. Vs. If you tell him, “We got 20 boxes of shipment today. Start with the t-shirts. At 30 minutes a box, you should be able to get through 8 boxes in four hours. Some of these aren’t too full, so you can realistically do 10. If you can get through 15 boxes, you’re a hero!” Follow up with him an hour in and see how he’s doing. 5. Delegate Much of what we do as store leaders can be delegated. I used to have my Lead Sales associates help newer cashiers. If it’s not confidential or complex – teach it to someone else. Then, the next time it comes up, the other person can take it and run. Thanks for being here! Hit reply and let me know what you think of this newsletter. Good? Bad? Helpful? Do you have questions you want answered? Let me know. See you next time. Stay rad, Kit Looking for more resources to level up your leadership?
If you buy both right now, you’ll score 20% off! Buy one and you’ll have the option to add the other in the checkout screen. 🤓 ⭐️ Need a gift for yourself or for one of your leaders? Order my book today! The Retail Leader’s Field Guide: How to Run a Kick-Ass Store Where Everyone Wants to Work will help leaders at all levels, even if they are new to leadership. See you next time! PS – You’re a bad ass and you can do hard things. |