It may have been awhile since you’ve seen one, but you should be familiar with the concept of an anonymous suggestion or comment box. We even built one within the app (well not anonymous at least) so you could leave suggestions to better our free inventory software. Restaurants, stores and other customer driven businesses used to have them in the lobby. Innocuous looking wooden boxes or metal bins or even glass jars where anyone who was so compelled could fill out a slip of paper with a comment, complaint or suggestion for the staff. More often that not, patrons used these missives to voice complaints that they didn’t feel comfortable delivering in person. For this reason, these repositories took on a bit of a negative connotation. Listening to our customers has improved our free inventory software by light years since we went live. Don't be afraid of feedback, embrace it. It's the way you get better!
Adding a suggestion box to your small business can be a very positive way to improve your processes. As we’ve mentioned in previous posts about divergent thinking, employees often hesitate to voice an idea that seems “out there.” No one wants to be regarded with scorn for suggesting something that others deem “crazy” or unworkable. Providing an anonymous suggestion box takes away that fear. When employees can be more uninhibited with their suggestions they may go way off course with their ideas, but that in turn could start you down the right path to process improvement. It is the very anonymity that makes the suggestion box work. Posting or e-mailing suggestions ties an employee to the idea and may hinder their creativity.
Often the comment boxes of old had a preprinted card that requested some information when comments were left. This was to help the business identify who might have helped you when you visited their business or what time of day you were in. Similarly, you could post problems or questions that you would like for employees to focus their suggestions on solving. For instance, if costs are going up and you need to find a new area to save money pose the question to your employees. They just might surprise with their ingenious ways to cut costs without cutting corners. For example, while someone might be hesitant to raise their hand in a staff meeting and suggest that you do away with free coffee in the breakroom, several people might honestly think that is the best idea. If they all write it down the stick it in the box you’ll be presented with a possible solution and no one has to live with the stigma of being the one that nixed their gratis caffeine fix. Taking away the social pressure that can be tied to voicing ideas can open the floodgates to creative thinking and that can lead to process improvements that save your small business time and money.
Here’s another great idea for you. If you need inventory management support, look no further. Stockpile is free inventory software that can save you time and money by improving the way that you think about, manage and track inventory. Try it today!
