Yes, this actually happened. I once had a staff member shove a pea up his nose. While this was incredibly funny to me, it was not to him. He was convinced the pea would be sucked up into his brain causing him some sort of permanent damage. Now, I am no doctor but I am sure that it would be highly unlikely for a nasally ingested pea to travel to the brain.

After the offending pea had been snorted out it occurred to me that there should not have been enough time in the day to be poking produce in strange places. This was my failing as a manager. From that day on I had a prepared list of things to do when there was nothing to do. Do you have a list for your employees? Here are some suggestions.

Be nice to your customers
Call your customer base to check details are correct and to see how your product or service is suiting them. Encourage feedback, listen carefully then take some time to address any issues. Put simply, it’s a nice thing to do! You may even get a sale or two out of it.

Check your inventory
If you hold stock you should be doing this at least once a year at the very least. In quite times check out what you have and what may need to be moved out. If you do have slow moving items, develop a plan to move it out and mostly importantly, put that plan in action. Sitting on old stock is costly!

Organise
Get that massive abyss, also known as a filing cabinet, sorted. The same goes for desks, cupboards and storage areas.

Clean
I noticed a dust bunny the size of a feral cat in a store window last week. The staff were playing on their iPhones, which I am sure was not work related. I wanted to drop the “time to lean, time to clean” line but realised that would indicate that I was morphing into my mother. Don’t forget the stinky lunchroom fridge (also a hiding spot for snortable peas).