Welcome to Retail Renegades.
In every issue, I tear into 1 of the 10 biggest problems all retail leaders face:
- Delegation
- Priority order
- Building culture
- Self-confidence
- Speaking up
- Time management
- Actionable empathy
- Dealing with an overbearing boss
- Clear & consistent communication
- Streamlining processes - working smarter & saving time.
(If you want to smash all 10 of these AND master the fundamentals of running a kick-ass store, I'd love to have you in The Break Room.)
Time Management
How to do more with less.
Managing the workload becomes increasingly challenging as companies scale back payroll allocation and ask more of you.
Here's how you do it.
Alright. Here it is. I'm going to show you how to do more with less. I get this question often and I've been avoiding answering it because I don't want companies to think that this is a realistic ask. It's not.
Companies should be ashamed of themselves for stripping payroll away and not giving adequate raises, but they have no shame.
So, here goes.
Don't tell them I told you any of this.
Scheduling
When writing the schedule, over-schedule by 20 hours or so to cover for call-outs. When you're operating on a skeleton crew, and one person calls out, you are super ducked (know what I mean?)
Sometimes, one call-out means there's one person left on the floor. Or it means that the manager cannot do their job for the day so that they can become a cashier.
If your company lives in micro-manager heaven and will not let you over schedule even though you always fall in line with payroll, do this -
Ask your team who would like to be on standby to pick up shifts. This is OPTIONAL. Do not force anyone to do this. However, there are always a few people who live close by and are down for coming in at the last minute.
Compile a list of these people and communicate to the other leaders that they can contact them to pick up shifts. You'd be surprised how well this works. Some team members are all for it.
Remember - if they cannot pick up a shift when you hit them up, you say, "No worries. Thank you for letting me know. Enjoy the day, see you later." Don't ever guilt trip them or make them feel bad for not being able to come in. This whole setup is optional, yeah?
Prioritize
Make a list. Don't start doing stuff before you've thought it out - for real.
What do you have to absolutely, positively get done today? Do that first. Delegate that first. Make sure it gets done, then work your way down the list.
Ask for help from your teammates.
Whenever I've walked into a building and the opening manager was on the struggle bus, it's because they either didn't prioritize and were trying to do everything or didn't ask for help. Yep, again, they're trying to do everything. They end up running in circles, and the staff is confused.
Drop That List
If you get a rush or have customers who need help, go help them. I don't care what projects you're working on or if they're due today. Go talk to your customers and help them out.
You can fold denim and talk to people. You can do markdowns and make people feel welcome. It takes practice, but it's possible.
"Oh hey! What's going on?"
Greet them. Chit chat, yada yada. Then say,
"We're taking markdowns today, so you may see us rushing around but please give me a shout if you need anything. I'll be back to check on you in a minute. My name is Kit."
Ta-da!
Customers will be more patient if you talk to them like friends and let them know what's going on. People get mad when they're confused or feel ignored.
Trust Your Team
Your team is more capable than you may think. If you have something a sales associate can help with, have them help you.
- Mannequin changes
- Pin pad inspections
- Markdowns
The only trap here is that sometimes newer people have difficulty switching tasks and ignore customers to get the task done. Make sure you jump in and show them how it's done.
Schedule to Peak Hours
We're back to where we started with scheduling, which shows how important it is. Track your store's volume by hour. Keep the staff lean when your hours are slower and heavier when your busier hours come up.
You may think this is obvious advice, but I was overseeing a low-volume store, and they were scheduling two shipment people from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. The store didn't receive shipment until noon, so they were basically throwing away eight hours a day. There was no need for those team members to be in that early if there wasn't a floor set.
No one ever stopped to think about this; they just kept scheduling. What were those people doing in the morning? Did the store leader even know?
Talk to your team. Know what they're doing.
PS. If you want to learn how to write a fantastic schedule in 60 minutes, go here.
Don't Do Some Stuff. Oops.
Now, I'd never tell you to lie or be lazy. Never. Even when I chose not to do stuff at work, I was honest and told my bosses why it didn't get done.
But sometimes, when my sales associates were on a wild goose chase, looking for an online order, I'd tell them to cancel it. If you can't find it in under ten minutes, we don't have it.
Companies often penalize you for incomplete orders. Oh well. Take the "L". If you tried and it was sucking up too much of your day, cancel it.
You cannot do everything perfectly, no way, no how. Especially while your HQ slashes payroll, do not kill yourself trying or crush morale. It's not worth it. If your company gets on your case about it, start looking for another job.
I'm serious. Executives don't work 40+ hours a week in your building; you do. You know it better, and you need to protect your physical and mental health because they will not do it for you.
Mailbox
DM of the week.
Re: HQ cutting hours.
"It’s happened to me several times and each time is more terrifying than the year before."
Hence, the topic of this newsletter.
Level-Up
One thing you can do today to be a better leader.
Take a day off
Seriously. For real. Do it.
Set up your store for success and call out sick. You get sick days for a reason. Use them. I never used all my sick time, so every once in a while, I'd cover my shift the day before and call out. I told my team what I was doing so we wouldn't be short-handed.
Let your other managers do this, too.
Don't go wild—I once had a manager calling out a bunch of days at the end of the year to use up his time (eye roll). But every once in a while, you can take a day to rest and recharge.
You'll be a better leader if you do.
Calling All Retail Leaders! We Want You!
Check out my 14 day leadership summit for retail leaders, Decoding Leadership Styles. I'm working on the course modules right now, and this is going to be so much fun and help you create cohesive, supportive leadership teams!
I cannot wait for it to begin!
Find all the details here ⬇️ and put your name on the list for an invitation.
Space will be limited.
We start April 23rd.
Alright, have a kick-ass weekend!
Hit reply and let me know what you think of this newsletter. Good? Bad? Helpful? Do you have questions you want answered?
See you next time,
Kit
Looking for more ways to save time and run an awesome store? Let's go!
If you want to learn how to write an excellent schedule in 60 minutes, go here. This ten-minute read will save you time and make your store more money, even if you are new to leadership.
Got a store visit coming up? Want to know how to prepare? Go here.
I'll show you how to prep for a store visit and you won't have to work twelve-hour days.
Want to write impactful reviews that matter? Go here.
⭐️ Want ALL the HOW-TO nitty, gritty info?
Order my book today! The Retail Leader's Field Guide: How to Run a Kick-Ass Store Where Everyone Wants to Work will help leaders at all levels, even if they are new to leadership.
See you next time!
PS - You're a badass and you can do hard things.
PPS - Stay rad.