Stop wasting time

Marty Grunder

There are tons of things we landscapers do that waste time and hence money. Good time management shouldn’t take much time. Here are my top 10:   
 

1. Hitting reply all to emails. People frequently hit “reply all” to say “thanks,” “great,” “way to go” and so on. If you don’t have anything to add that everyone must know, then don’t hit reply all. We get enough emails that don’t impact our lives, don’t add to it. Estimated weekly time saved by not hitting “reply all” and reading all those “reply all” emails: 3 hours.

2. Going to the bank. If you are still going to the bank, or sending someone to the bank with the deposit, STOP! A scanner can sit in your office and eliminate the need to take the time for trips to the bank and you’ll get your money in your account faster. Win-win there. Estimated time savings per week: 2 hours.

3. Loading and unloading tools on trucks. Think about how much time you waste by doing this, not to mention the accountability issues associated with lost tools. Your trucks and trailers should have boxes and everything they need, with the exception of your large pieces of equipment, should be on the truck.

Yes, this costs more to set up but, in the long run, you’ll more than pay for those boxes. For a photo of Grunder Landscaping boxes, go to my website, www.MartyGrunder.com. Estimated time saved per week: 2.5 hours.  

4. Not measuring the job when you are on the sales call. I have done this, still do it and I need to stop. I know it costs my company less money to take an hour right then and measure things. You know it, too.

So, what are we waiting for? You won’t have to go out there again or pay an associate to do the measuring, not to mention you’ll get back to your client faster and make more sales. Estimated time savings per week: 1.5 hours.
 

5. Not having a schedule board. You must have one. If you don’t, you are wasting time. You should know when every single job you have sold is going to be done. At our company, my managers do not go home until they know exactly what we are doing the next day with a high level of detail.

We know the people, the equipment and so on. Years ago, we had a well-known production/financial consultant to the green industry come in to help us. He commented the night before that he “couldn’t wait to see our morning circus.” That was an insult to us. And we were happy to have him eat crow and say, “Wow, there’s no morning circus here.” Estimated time savings per week: At least 5 man hours per crew in your company.

6. Not doing a to-do list. This old trick is the greatest process to follow if you want to get more done. I’m not even going to talk about it. Just do one. Estimated weekly time savings: 10 man hours.

7. Having a personal calendar and a business calendar. Don’t do this! Time is time and it’s a waste to not look at everything on one calendar. Estimated weekly time savings: 1 hour.

8. Not having work orders. Like a schedule board, work orders are necessary. When your teams know exactly what they need for a job and how to do it, you are improving your chances greatly for making more money. When you put your work orders together, pretend you won’t be available at all when the work is done. If you do that, you’ll see what you need to do. Estimated weekly time savings: 5 man hours per crew.

9. Small talk. Give your people time to get their socializing out of the way. Have lunches, do some things after work and, once in a while, let them have a coffee and donuts in the morning. Frame it by saying, “Listen, we all know we have a lot of work to do and we have to be productive. Today, sit down; we’re paying you to have a donut and a coffee. We know you work hard for us and you deserve this. In 15 minutes we’ll get to work.”

Then at the end of the 15 minutes, let your team know what that meeting just cost the company and tell them how important it is to be productive and limit small talk. However, make sure you continue to give your people time so they know you value them and know you can’t “go at it” 100 percent all the time. Estimated time savings weekly: Varies, plus you get donuts.

10. Cell Phones. Can’t live with them, can’t live without them. Stay focused, set a good example with how you use your phone. Estimated times savings: you tell me!

There are all types of ways to save time and money in our small businesses. It all starts with your setting the tone for your team. The above will make you a ton of money if you follow them – I can promise you that.