Bob Clements International Management Boot Camp is underway in Kansas City this week. Here are some highlights — and thinking points — from the kick-off session.

1. How would you describe a bad manager?

For instance, are they a poor communicator? Erratic in their leadership? Or, maybe they don’t trust their staff. Then, the next question in: Are you a bad manager? Be honest in your self-evaluation and commit to making some changes this week.

2. What is the highest priority of a manager?

Think in terms of three areas:

• Develop processes.
• Hire the right people and coach them to excellence.
• Measure, monitor and adjust your dealership’s performance using key reports from your dealership management system.

3. Service Process Basics

“Repeatability creates profitability and the more you repeat an action the better you become at performing it,” says Bob Clements.

Best Practices with Bob Clements is a series brought to you by Yanmar.

More from Bob Clements

Yanmar — Don’t settle for less when you can have more. For example, Yanmar makes all its compact tractors’ major drivetrain components – the Yanmar engine, transmission, and axles — in-house. Because they’re made to work perfectly together, you and your customers get a hardworking machine with more usable horsepower, less power loss, and a smoother, more comfortable ride. Yanmar’s tractors are designed to work as hard as you do for a lifetime. Strengthen your dealership with Yanmar today: AgMarketing@yanmar.com or call 770-877-9894.

Management of your service department should include these processes:

• Check-in
• Staging
• Diagnosis of the issue
• Separating work orders for the parts department
• Parts department work orders
• Parts staging for technicians
• Equipment brought into shop for service
• Customer is called for follow-up

Processes help your employees do a better job and most want to do a good job. “90% of employees want to do the right thing, but sometimes they are put into impossible situations,” Clements says.

4. Create a Job Analysis

A job analysis helps you identify the abilities and motivators a person needs to be effective in the position that you can’t see in a job description, resume or application.

Who is involved in dong the analysis?

• One person who knows the job
• The supervisor of the person doing the job
• Someone who has performed the job

How do you do a job analysis? Ask each of these people to list the three main functions of the job. Then, have them come together, share their lists and then agree on the three main functions of the job.