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How Multi Unit Managers Can Execute High Impact Unit Visits by Jim Sullivan Copyright 2010 Sullivision.com 

Last year we interviewed over 500 high-performing Multi-Unit Managers (MUMs) across 28 different chains and brands. While each one approached their business differently, they all had three things in common: 1) a clear sense of which units needed their attention and why,  2) daily coaching phone calls with each unit manager and 3) focused and purpose-driven store visits every week at every unit, no exceptions. Why? The unit is where the company meets the customer. 

Unfortunately, “average” MUMs are much less focused. They habitually drop in to their units with no plan, purpose or passion, bringing little more than a clipboard and a checklist, and then calling it “leadership.” These mis-guided area managers generically “inspect, correct and direct “during store visits in the name of efficiency, but what has really been accomplished? Time saved at the expense of time served? They overlook the fact that they are visiting people, not “stores.” They overvalue direction at the expense of development.  While they enhance their self-worth by critiquing and pointing out mistakes, they have lost a huge opportunity to teach their managers how to think because all they tell them is what to do. There is a better way. Here’s how the best MUMs plan and execute high impact unit visits. 

Before the Visit
The key to high impact visits is preparation. Always start with a written QBP--Quarterly Business Plan  (click to get our e-book version of the QBP if you don't already use one). Assess all relevant financial reports, and make daily phone calls to each store's General Manager. This should give you a daily snapshot of where the greatest needs lie and what type of coaching is necessary to improve the performance of each store. Remember: situational leadership (customized coaching for each store's people relevant to their needs) is the smart path for effectively developing next-level managers. Now you   should have clear insight into which units need your attention first.

• Review the QBP and notes from your last visit. What was covered then? What were the managers supposed to be working on in the meantime? Any outstanding issues? Review previous key learnings.
• Assess how the unit currently ranks performance-wise in your territory.
• Based on the unit’s performance, what should the focus of your visit be? Sales? Service? Training? Retention? Cleanliness? Marketing? Stay focused. Don’t try to cover everything, or you’ll end up covering nothing.
• Identify pre-work: what are the managers top three issues/concerns? What are your top three issues/concerns?
• Present the purpose of the visit to your GM and how it differs from previous visits.
• Ask yourself: 1) “What—specifically—am I intending to accomplish?”  2) “What does the Manager need from me?” and 3) “What should the team be doing differently as a result of my visit?”
• Set aside time for a one-on-one coaching session with the GM after the visit with no interruptions.
• The focus of every visit is not the “condition of the unit” but the development of the managers and team members.
• Download our popular High-Impact Unit Visit e-book to use as a checklist before, during and after your visit. This dynamic tool allows you to assess each store's systems, processes and people simultaneously while illuminating the specific areas of coaching necessary to get your people to the next level.

During the Visit

Once your pre-planning is complete and you know what you need to accomplish, you’re ready to conduct a high-impact visit. MUMs know that the key to effective store visits is to first understand cause and effect. In other words, your awareness should not center merely on what the operation “looks like” but what actions or inactions of the team and managers are causing it. You are in charge of developing problem-solvers not just pointing problems out. Spend your time teaching your managers how to think instead of merely “what to do.” Here are some basic do’s and don’ts that will insure a maximum impact visit: 

Store Visit DO’s…
•   Thoroughly pre-plan. See the operation from the guest’s perspective first, then the manager’s, then the MUMs perspective.

•     Assess the exterior of the building, first by yourself and then later with the GM or MOD (Manager On Duty)

•     Then assess the interior of the building,  first by yourself and then later with the GM or MOD

•    Use a checklist to assess facilities, people and operations, but don’t be merely “inspector” MUM.

•  Look for what’s being done right not just what’s wrong, and note it to discuss later.  

•   Assess staffing and schedule. Aces in their places? Staff appropriate to the level of business? Appearance and behavior up to brand standards?

•  Focus on what you came there to observe or assess, and don’t get sucked into working a position the whole time you're there. You’re there to learn and to coach, not quarterback.

•    Evolve from an “inspect-direct-correct” perspective to the coach-approach: Observe, Inquire, Develop. First, observe and note what’s going on with the people, product and facility, then patiently inquire with careful questioning to determine if the GM or MOD has the appropriate awareness to either resolve performance bottlenecks or enhance them. Now develop their ability to see what you see, through coaching and guidance.

•    Bring energy, don’t take it away. A leader is never "energy-neutral"; you are either giving energy or taking it away.

Store Visit DON’Ts…

•   Rush through the store visit. Be patient, teach, and connect with all team members, not just the manager, don’t hurry because you're a poor time manager.

•   Just tell managers what’s “wrong,” ask questions to determine if they truly understand what the problem is, if they know how to fix it, and most importantly, if they know how to prevent it from happening again. Spend the time teaching managers how to think not merely what to do.

•   Go to your “happy place” and start working a favorite old line position to show the crew you’ve “still got it.” Train, rather than do. Research shows that GMs hate it when MUMs visit only to work a position rather than develop learning.

•   Compete with managers for team member affection. When you visit the unit treat the managers like the stars, and refrain from the “when I was a GM” stories as much as possible.

•   Just coach the GM. Teach everyone something new on each visit, especially the junior managers. Spread energy and knowledge and you reduce turnover.

•    Overlook the importance of great hiring and scheduling. Teach your GMs how to manage the schedule so they manage success. Make certain they have their aces in their places and make it a privilege for someone to earn a place on their team. 

There are dozens of additional strategies to consider when executing high-impact unit visits, but space limitations prevent further discussion here. So read Chapter 6 in our best-selling book Multi Unit Leadership: The 7 Stages of Building High-Performing Partnerships & Teams (available at Amazon.com or Sullivision.com) and download all the other free articles and podcasts here on this page focused on enhancing Multi-Unit leadership. 

Jim Sullivan speaks to Multi-Unit Leaders at conferences worldwide. To learn more about the multi-unit leadership seminars, check out the left side of this page. 
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Lead Better in Challenging Times:Resources for Multi Unit Managers and Franchisees!

The content in this section is aimed exclusively at multi-unit managers, franchisees and multi-unit operators. It’s based on our best-selling book and audiobook called Multi Unit Leadership: The 7 Stages of Building High-Performing Partnerships & Teams. Here’s some of the tools you’ll find on this page:

• Our FREE Leadership Assessment (click on link below )
• Free Quarterly Business Plan (see right hand column)
• Free downloadable MUM Podcasts (located at our Podcasts Page)
• Free High-Impact Restaurant Visit Planner (see right hand column)
• Overview of our new 2009 MUM Industry Survey
• Access to Multi U: our dynamic new E-learning course for Multi-Unit Leaders (click on link below)
• FREE demo preview of the Multi U e-learning course (see below)

Click on the topics below to download 6 free articles and forms exclusively for Multi-Unit Leaders: 

Stages of multi-unit leader supervision,
Creative time management tactics
Pre-shift meeting planning template
Sample weekly planner form for Multi-Unit Leaders
How to Conduct High-Impact unit visits
2009 MUM Research Yields New Insight on Training

Click Here for your FREE Multi Unit Leadership Assessment.

Click HERE to sign up for or login to our best-selling Multi U e-learning course. It's self-paced, so you can start and stop when you need to, and return when you're ready. Made up of 9 interactive and fun modules that detail the best practices of over 500 high-Performing Multi-Unit Leaders. (All you need is your credit card!)

 To get a sense of what Multi U looks and feels like, just Click HERE to see the FREE 10 Minute DEMO of the Multi U e-learning course
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Click HERE to download the most Frequently Asked Questions about our popular Multi U e-learning course

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Getting Things Done by David Allenis the best book we’ve ever read on Time Management. Click HERE to learn more. 

 Thought for the month:A bend in the road is not necessarily the end of the road unless you fail to make the turn.
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FREE ARTICLE ARCHIVE for Multi-Unit Managers:

--Good ideas are always welcome in a challenging environment, so download this free article by Jim Sullivan that discusses Pricing and Partnership: Smart Ways to Lead inTough Times

--SAVE TIME with OUTLOOK by easily coordinating your monthly schedule with your region's unit managers. This free download will show you quick and effective shortcuts to see and share multiple calendars in Outlook so you can organize your managers' schedules with your own at a glance. Plus learn 7 other quick tips and tricks to make Outlook more efficient for multi-unit managers. In PDF format: Click HERE
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Sullivision 2010 Multi Unit Manager Research Project  Overview:

Here’s an executive overview of what our 2010 Multiunit Leader survey  of over 450 foodservice and retail multi-unit managers reveals:

--There are approximately 100,000 foodservice and retail multi-unit managers working in North America’s 900,000-plus units/stores. 

--Effective leadership competencies are specific to an organization. This explains why some leaders exceed in one company but fail in another.

--Average industry tenure for MUM is 5.9 years. 

--Average number of units that MUMs oversee is 9. 

--67% of MUMs are male  

--MUMs are collectively responsible for purchase decisions in excess of $800 million annually.

--The key challenges our MUM research subjects cited (in order of most frequent mention) are:

1. The Economy
2. Time management
3. Customer patronage and loyalty
4. Staffing/ bench strength/ turnover.
5. Fluctuating pricing
6. Geography: too many stores across too wide a market.
7. Focus: shifting priorities from above, paperwork and data overload.
8. Ability to execute effective store visits. (see article above)
9. Learning how to better coach and train their associates.
10. Marketing (Limited Time Offers, Promotions, etcetera).
11. Energy.
12. Work-Life-Family balance.
13. Personal development, training, “re-charging.” 

--The MUMs with the most profitable units visit each one at least weekly. 

--Most MUMs surveyed (91%) felt their company’s tools and on-going training/orientation resources for their position are “below average” or “inadequate”.

--MUMs received less annual training than hourly crew in 2009:

1. QSR hourly associates receive an average of 2 days of job-related training annually.
2. Full-service restaurant servers receive an average of 4.5 days of job-related training.
3. Unit managers receive an average of 6.5 days of job-related training.
4. Multi-Unit Managers receive an average of ONE-HALF day of job-related training annually. 

Multiunit Leadership-in-a-Box kit is now available! This brand new off-the-shelf training program is customizable for your brand and ready to teach to your team right out of the box. It's a classroom course that shows unit managers and multiunit franchisees how to be better leaders and build more profitable stores across markets. It has everything your trainers need to immediately teach, motivate and inspire. It includes 275-slide Power Point decks, Leader's Guides, Learner's Workbooks, DVDs and even an online orientation course that trains the trainers how to teach the course. It's one-time price is a bargain; no hidden "leasing" or licensing fees. Compare to the cost of a seminar or "generic" university-style leadership course. Click HERE to learn more and see samples.
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Six NEW articles on Multi-Unit Leadership have just been posted in the center column of this page under Jim's MUL blog (below) about High-Impact Unit Visits.
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Brand New Multi-Unit Leadership DVD Available Now! This dynamic hour-long studio program by author Jim Sullivan will take you on a deeper dive of the 7 leadership stages he details in his best-selling book. Only $119 plus shipping...save $30!Click HEREto buy, browse, shop and save
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Getting Things Done by David Allen--the best book we've ever read on Time Management--is now available in our online store  for only $16 plus shipping. It's 268 pages of creative and practical ways to put more hours in your week and more  productivity in your schedule. As seen in our best-selling book on Multi-Unit Leadership.
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Free MUM Templates and Value-Priced Multiunit Leader E-Books!

If you've read our best-selling book on Multi-Unit Leadership, we refer often to our free online Quarterly Business Plan (QBP) template and High Impact Unit Visit template. We offer two short versions of each FREE template: 1) FOODSERVICE version specific to restaurants and 2) RETAIL version for all other businesses. To get your free short version QBP and High-Impact Visit templates just send an email to: INFO@SULLIVISION.COM and tell us if you want the Free Quarterly Business Plan template or High-Impact Unit Visit Checklist or BOTH. Please specify whether you'd like the foodservice or retail versions. We'll reply to your email address with the forms in PDF format attached. Thanks!

*We also offer much more detailed versions of each form in downloadable ebook format. To instantly get the FULL expanded e-book versions of the Quarterly Business Plan (19 pages) and High-Impact Restaurant Visit Checklist (9 pages) either separately or together at a great price (only $10.98 for BOTH), click HERE

* To get a FREE sample of our Multi-Unit Manager weekly planner, (excerpted from our Multi-Unit Leadership Log) click HERE.  

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Smart Thoughts for Multiunit Leaders

Don't presume that what got you here is enough to get you to the next level. To be a better leader, be a better learner.

Hire noticeably better people each time you hire. Make hiring right and retaining high-performers the Most Important Thing.

Hire tough and manage easy. Otherwise your only choice is to hire easy and manage tough.

Don’t lower your standards to fill a position. You will always pay for it later. Ever seen a great team in a bad store?

Do unto others as they would have you do unto them. Don’t just ask managers or employees “What do you need from me?” ask them “What are you trying to do?” and help them accomplish it. Be positive and have fun.
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Leadership Quotes of the Quarter: