This holiday season, once again, people left running newsagencies while owners are away have had to work out who to speak to if something goes wrong. I got a call from a staff member left in charge seeking help with a stationery order. They called me because my card was on the wall next to the phone. Another call, at 5:45am Friday morning, was from someone wanting help connecting to the internet in the newsagency – they had no idea who their ISP was and only called me because they knew of a computer connection.
A well organised owner would provide people running their business in their absence with a contact list and simple guidance of businesses to contact for what.
Leaving staff to work out what to do for themselves is asking for trouble, it is poor management.
Did you sort out the problems for them?
If you did, it’s a good result.
Using suppliers to solve problems sounds like good management.
No, the internet to the business was down, it was an ISP problem. Calling the wrong person at an unrelated supplier is not good management.