Managing With 'Critical Dates'

Post date: Sep 08, 2011 5:59:9 PM

The SMCP 'Critical Dates' system is deceptively simple, but one of the most powerful 'overall' management tools in the system.  Each 'critical date' includes one 'comment', and is associated with an order and a person; each date can be 'pending' or 'resolved'.

It works much like a 'tickler': typically you'll list the 'pending' critical dates for which you are responsible for the day, or week.  As you resolve each issue, you check it off as 'resolved' and it no longer appears in the list - or if you need to update the comment, or set the Follow Up date back, you do that. Critical dates can be assigned to other people (the 'Responsibility'), and listed in several different ways.

For an individual salesperson, project manager, or administrator, the Critical Dates function is a simple and global way to keep all your 'TO-DO's organized and appropriately focused.  You might have a critical date for 'Submit shop drawings' or one for 'Order doors', one for 'Check on shop drawings', and so on.

For managers, on the other hand, this is also an excellent tool for staying in touch with what your people have on their plate, and how they're keeping up.  Because each date is associated with a person and an order, you can quickly get a snapshot of just what's happening on any particular order by looking at the critical dates for that order.  When you do so, you'll get a structured list of the tasks that have been done and those that remain for THAT ORDER, showing, for each, the person handling it, and the next date it's due to be checked.  You can easily re-assign tasks by simply changing the 'Responsible' person on the entry.  

And it's NOT just for Project Management:

Except for personnel and general accounting responsibilities, almost everything done in your office is associated with particular jobs (or 'sales orders').  The order number, then, becomes a useful focal point for information: typically it's the most available piece of data you have when you want answers.  And since the Critical Dates system keys on order numbers, it naturally organizes most of that volatile information in your company if you use it consistently.

For example: some people use it for tracking and reminding them of pending Preventive Maintenance services for their customers.  Any kind of regular task: a required follow-up, or after installation field check should be recorded as a critical date.  Some managers use it as a way to assign tasks to various people: using the 'Assigned by' feature, they can then check to see the status of all the critical dates they've delegated.  It's really a very simple, but pretty universal 'TO-DO' system.

To get the most value out of this tool, give some thought to where and how this universal 'tickler' system could be used to focus people and areas of your business.  And please let us know when you have new ideas.