Finding Our Direction

Managing people and processes can be like playing pinball. Leaders at the helm of a small business may bounce from issue to issue without a predetermined direction, crafting a randomized pathway each time.

At Dasher, we have found that operations run much more efficiently and effectively when managers have a set direction for each ball. In this way, we handle situations with uniformity, clarity, and fairness. Production is enhanced, profits maximized, and, ultimately, dreams fulfilled.

We avoid pinball management, in part, by employing two trademarked systems that help craft a consistent, unified response to everyday operations and the ever-present challenges all businesses face.

We have internalized the popular Entrepreneurial Operating System, or EOS®(www.eosworldwide.com) and the Vistage® management system (www.vistage.com), an innovative way for small businesses to operate more efficiently.

Helping Tools

The EOS® process involves simple concepts and practical tools. It promises no magic bullets, just real-world, time-tested solutions. Created by an engineer, Gino Wickman, the EOS®system reflects Wickman’s clear, linear way of thinking that dispels clouds of doubt and dissolves storms.

Following EOS®, which has been in operation for more than 16 years and has tools used by more than 80,000 companies, we look at six critical business components:

1. Vision, A view of the desired future that is shared by all.
2. Data, to keep a running scorecard and track measurables.
3. Process, which is documented and followed by all.
4. People, whose position must match their skillset, so they excel.
5. Issues, that are faced quickly and resolved constructively.
6. Traction, to include goals (rocks) and meetings to track progress.

As owners and leaders, we at Dasher work with implementers to educate the staff on the EOS® process and its fundamental building blocks, so we are not all flailing. We have operationalized its guidance for three years, with its tools helping us deal with problems we may encounter with people, profits, sales, and time management. EOS ® has helped us find, hire, retain the right people for the right seats, and keep them motivated and share in a united vision.

We have also tailored the EOS® system to our own management style, crafting a “Dasher-ized” version that includes a heavy dose of “trauma-informed” leadership.

As a company that hires and trains many economically fragile team members, our management style recognizes the diverse and often-challenging backgrounds of our team members with compassion and can better address their understandable reactions to stressful situations.

Help from Other Like Us

Also, many members of our executive team attend Vistage®, an executive coaching operation. My fellow Vistage attendees hail from a large daycare operation, a construction company, a senior living community, and other diverse operations in my cohort. Although the group represents many different fields, our challenges are remarkably similar, and our shared experiences are uniquely instructive.

The Vistage® system brings in high-powered speakers, and my colleagues have become like my own personal board of directors, providing advice, and sharing their own experiences.

It was through Vistage® that Dasher connected with EOS®.

Dasher’s executive coaches help with the many situations and struggles that occur day to day, offering not only advice but accountability.

One of the most common questions I hear when issues arise is this: “What did you do about it?”  As a manager, it is tempting to ignore a problem and avoid confrontation. But sometimes, we need to hold uncomfortable conversations. Issues cannot be left to simmer. Confronting them constructively is part of our management repertoire. My coach’s questions hold us all accountable and trigger action over inertia.

I recall the old saying, “You cannot steer a parked bus.” We need to be on the move, moving forward, and not just stagnate.

In this process, conflict can be constructive. Getting over the humps is what makes a company successful. When we step up to play the pinball machine, our responses control every ball. We ensure our team members are traveling on a pathway that keeps everyone motivated and together.

The buttons we push and our responses to the steel marbles hurtling our way allow our team and our clients to live happier, healthier lives.

Dasher is a data-driven, customer contact services operation with a focus on communicating complex messages to diverse populations. Specific capabilities include face-to-face communications provided by our field teams, customer engagement strategies provided by our call center and member engagement staff, and secure, complex, variable mailing services provided by our production team. Dasher is an experienced Minority, Women and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (MWDBE) with a bestselling book, “The Talent Pool,” and is certified by AICPA with the SOC2^SM Type2 data certification and validation.