Do you work with people who do what they say? How hard is it to do business with them? Conversely, do you work with people who do not do what they say? How hard is it to work with them?
Stephen M.R. Covey – son of the renowned time management guru Stephen R. Covey who authored The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – has written the book: The Speed of Trust. In it, he argues that being able to trust a vendor, contractor or even an employee accelerates the processes of business.
I’m sure you have vendors that you can give a vague problem on a unit to solve, and then not give that matter another thought until the vendor comes back with a solution. That vendor’s bill gets a cursory look, because you trust them, so you can process the paperwork without much time or effort.
The Other Type
You also may have a vendor that screws up a parts shipment and, after you call to ask where the needed part is, tells you that he shipped it but, mysteriously, he can’t find the paperwork to prove it. Eventually, he tells you that the darn UPS driver didn’t pick up the package even though it was sitting in plain sight.
Another vendor calls you days before the part is to be delivered and says they screwed up and the part will not be available. He adds that he doesn’t know when that part will be in, but when it does come in, he’ll overnight it to you at his expense. He adds that he is sorry and that you can cancel the order with no penalty.
Doing what you say provides a huge savings in time, effort and mental worry. This is a powerful idea and it was something we all know, but in my case, never put into words. Now, doing what you say has a bigger and more encompassing context.
A Framework
I’m working at Reliabilityweb.com, a publisher and thought leader in the reliability of physical assets. The organization has authored Uptime Elements – a framework to talk about and pursue physical assets reliability. Once someone learns the fundamentals of Uptime Elements, they can sit for the Certified Reliability Leader exam and get certified (www.maintenance.org).
The goal of the framework is to create reliability leaders that can intelligently discuss the essential importance of reliability to anyone in the organization. In fact, several large organizations are bringing “the word” not only to maintenance but operations, purchasing and warehousing as well as others.
Do it Well
One of the Uptime Elements is integrity, defined as doing what you say you are going to do to the best of your ability. Further, if you fail to do what you said you’d do – and this is critical, you “clean up the mess” as soon as possible, as well as apologize.
Imagine the speed of business if integrity was the rule rather than the exception. For example, a driver tells you: “Yes, my unit is breaking down (or getting bad mpg) because I’ve been in a hurry and have been running it hard. Sorry.”
We are not discussing morals or right and wrong, just the ability to get business done.
This use of integrity allows you to assume the person on the phone, Internet or across your desk will do what they promise. Working with people who do what they promise to the best of their ability are gems. Keep them close and don’t let anything happen to them.
Here is the $64,000 question: How much integrity does maintenance have? Can your customers rest assure that you will do what you promised to the best of your ability, and if you can’t, will you clean it up?
Do you have their interests at heart and will you give them notice well in advance when things are not going well?
These are important matters to think about.
Joel Levitt is director of projects for Reliabilityweb.com’s Reliability Leadership Institute. Reliabilityweb.com provides the latest reliability and uptime maintenance news and educational information. He remains president of Springfield Resources (www.maintenancetraining.com), a management consulting firm.
