Hitting Big Goals Starts with Small Wins

You and your team have come up with your Critical Number™: the one metric that represents a weakness or vulnerability that, if not addressed and corrected, will negatively impact the overall performance and long-term security of the business. But now what? How do you successfully start making things happen and impacting that number? With targeted day-to-day improvements that add up to long-term success.

MiniGames™are an engaging, short-term activity designed to pursue an opportunity or correct a weakness within a company. They bring a laser focus to those everyday, small wins that put us that much closer to the big win and help drive short-term performance metrics that contribute to a year-end revenue goal or Critical Number.

Take this example from Get in the Game. By focusing on something as simple as spoons, the chain reaction resulted in a $1 million impact in revenue in just one year at Kerbey Lane Cafe:

"Kerbey Lane Café in Austin, Texas, is renowned for making awesome pancakes and killer queso. Opening the books made a big impact on a young associate team leader named Matt, a millennial with plenty of ink on his arms and metal in his ears. He discovered that the restaurant he worked at lost some 150 spoons every week. He knew, because he counted them. Every. Single. Spoon.

"He took ownership of line items like bread, dairy, and smallwares. He discovered that there was no “par” or standard for things like plates and silverware. So, he set standards, kept inventory, and learned. What really stuck out to him were spoons. He learned that the spoons they were losing cost only five dollars a dozen, so it wouldn’t seem like a big deal to the average employee. But not to Matt. He understood that every dollar spent made an impact. He calculated that six hundred spoons a month is fifty dozen a year, or about $3,000. But they had seven restaurants in Austin. That was an unnecessary cost of $21,000 a year!

"So, he figured out a process he could teach the six other restaurants to save this waste. There was even a theme of “No Spoon Left Behind.” He understood, as did the other stores, that seemingly small things had an impact far beyond the savings. At a profitability of ten cents, the Kerbey Lane Café team would have to sell $210,000 in pancakes in order to offset just the lost spoons! Other teams focused on things like bacon, sodas, and paper products, resulting in a revenue “offset” impact of over $1 million in the first year."

 

If you're looking for this kind of impact, think of how everyday behavioral changes could create cost savings or added revenue in your organization. Remember, hitting big goals starts with small wins, and MiniGames can be a great tool to bring a laser focus to small, everyday progress that put us that much closer to the big win.

MiniGames are designed to affect a change, reinforce business training, build teamwork, and develop a winning attitude—all of which lead to success for both your company and your people.  Learn more about initiating change and creating impact with MiniGames in the resources below:

• The Fundamentals of a MiniGame
• Getting the Most Bang Out of Your MiniGames with Outstanding Rewards
• One MiniGame, 4 Players, $100K Return

• 3 Efficiency MiniGame Ideas & Examples From the 2019 All-Stars