Some of the most powerful management concepts are also the most simple. Here is a "blinding flash of the obvious" for your consideration:

The odds are that you are living with behavior today that results directly from some long-forgotten incident involving a member of your staff who left your employ years ago. You see, every time you chew out one of your crew, you add a new "rule" to your company's unwritten code of conduct.

Nobody likes to be yelled at, so when it happens, you create a very uncomfortable situation. Since you can count on people to avoid pain, the word will travel fast. Not only will there be an impact on all your current staff, but as new people are hired, your veteran workers will tell them, "Oh yes, and make sure you never . . ." and they won't. But what was the story behind the flare-up that started this paranoia? It could have been a simple misunderstanding, it may have been a harmless difference of opinion or an isolated incident. Perhaps you were just under stress and overreacted. In the end, the exact circumstances really don't matter. You blew your top about something and the "rule" resulting from that upset will continue to be passed along.

This new "rule" will never show up in your operations manual and it is unlikely that any of your staff will ever discuss it with you. (After all, you are the one who so clearly expressed your disapproval, so it is obvious how you feel about it!) Still, the fallout from the incident will influence everyone's behavior for years. So be careful what you say and how you say it. Be alert for rumors and potential misunderstandings. If you even suspect that something is being taken out of context, address it immediately. If you make a mess, clean it up. If you make a mistake, do what you would want your staff to do if one of them made a mistake - apologize, learn from it and move on.

Hi everyone! I'm trying to get the cleanliness of my store back into shape and we have run into a snag. There is a thick black sticky gunk on the floors under all the equipment. I can probably guess what the stuff is but we have tried everything short of replacing the tiles to get this stuff up. Anyone out there know a good way to make the sticky gunk go away? Thanks!

Let's make this very simple (my benefitto , not yours).

My restaurant sells hamburgers for 6.00

It cost me 2.00 for each hamburger. I have a 33% food cost.

Last month I sold 3 hamburgers. My sales were 18.00

I also gave an employee a 1/2 price hamburger for 3.00.

Now, I am figuring my food costs for the month. I spent 8.00 on food.

What number do I use for my sales?