Talked another florist out of turning off her Dove today. How? I gave her a few triage tips and convinced her that turning off the machine to avoid the dOGs also prevented real florists from reaching her.
She was stopping every time the machine went off to deal with the incoming. Now I see why people get overwhelmed. I recommended she wait until she had a few of them to do. During a holiday rejecting each order as it arrives will eat up the whole day. Doing it in groups of three, five, ten, whatever is better time management.
I was thinking of writing an article for AFH prior to Mother's Day with some tips. Anyone have any good tips?
Here's mine:
1.) If possible, assign one staff member to triage and organize ins and outs.
2.) Make two piles: WO & WI - sort orders by delivery date, start with same day (02/11), next day (02/12), 02/13, 02/14, etc... (Once sorted, ignore new ones until next cycle.)
3.) Wire out same day and next day. Due to time zones...start with East Coast and work your way West.
4.) Make two piles of WI - orders to fill and orders to reject.
5.) Process orders to fill for same day and next day.
6.) Reject as needed.
7.) Move to 02/13 then repeat 3,4,5,6 - WO, process WIs to fill, reject WIs
8.) Move to 02/14 then repeat 3,4,5,6 - WO, process WIs to fill, reject WIs
9.) Double check all WOs and resend any rejects received.
10.) Start sorting new WIs/WOs received after first cycle.
Does this make sense? As someone who spends 6-8 hours a day during holidays managing WI/WO I have this down to a science. However, it is hard to explain to someone else.
Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.
She was stopping every time the machine went off to deal with the incoming. Now I see why people get overwhelmed. I recommended she wait until she had a few of them to do. During a holiday rejecting each order as it arrives will eat up the whole day. Doing it in groups of three, five, ten, whatever is better time management.
I was thinking of writing an article for AFH prior to Mother's Day with some tips. Anyone have any good tips?
Here's mine:
1.) If possible, assign one staff member to triage and organize ins and outs.
2.) Make two piles: WO & WI - sort orders by delivery date, start with same day (02/11), next day (02/12), 02/13, 02/14, etc... (Once sorted, ignore new ones until next cycle.)
3.) Wire out same day and next day. Due to time zones...start with East Coast and work your way West.
4.) Make two piles of WI - orders to fill and orders to reject.
5.) Process orders to fill for same day and next day.
6.) Reject as needed.
7.) Move to 02/13 then repeat 3,4,5,6 - WO, process WIs to fill, reject WIs
8.) Move to 02/14 then repeat 3,4,5,6 - WO, process WIs to fill, reject WIs
9.) Double check all WOs and resend any rejects received.
10.) Start sorting new WIs/WOs received after first cycle.
Does this make sense? As someone who spends 6-8 hours a day during holidays managing WI/WO I have this down to a science. However, it is hard to explain to someone else.
Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.
