Can you Conduct?

The art of ‘managing’ has become more and more challenging within the retail environment. So how do you know when you are getting it right?

The dictionary states that a Manager is:

One who handles, controls, or directs, especially:

a. One who directs a business or other enterprise.

b. One who controls resources and expenditures, as of a household.

c. One who is in charge of the training and performance of an athlete or a team.The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source www.dictionary.reference.com/browse/manager

So – it would seem initially very simple – right?

Unfortunately today’s modern retail Manager has many challenges and with many staffing budgets being slashed to the bare minimum to save on costs, it has become more and more critical that the team that you DO have is deployed in the best way. The key word for me in the above description would be ‘to direct’, as this is the task that ‘some’ retailers seem to be so poor at.

The art of Helicopter Management is one that is often spoken about and the best interpretation of this would to imagine you are conducting a large orchestra and have to be aware of every instrument or, more relevantly, aware of what every member of your team are doing at any given time.

Most Customers will be aware if a store is being ‘well managed’ almost immediately they walk through your door – even if this almost an ‘unconscious’ awareness’. This manifests itself in a well run store, in many ways. From the Customers perspective, there won’t be long queues at the till point as the ‘conductor’ will have ensured as many as possible will be open. Customers will find that staff will be available at the Fitting Room as the ‘maestro’ will have scheduled the correct volume of staff and will be ever ready to move the team around the sales floor, as required.

Being ready and aware enough to move your staff around the sales floor, as needed, is key to ‘Conducting’ your team and is the base for the smooth running of any store. This also means that as the Manager – you need to be ON the shop floor in order to manage it!

The below map shows the areas you should ALWAYS be ‘conducting’ and should give you some food for thought about how you can better plan your team to always be there for the Customer to deliver the best service that you possibly can!

I am reminded of walking into a large and busy store on Oxford Street and being instantly conscious of several things...


The Store Manager was ON the sales floor and was clearly ‘in charge’ of everything that was going on. I instantly knew that she was the Manager as she had a huge presence on the sales floor. Her staff were being clearly ‘directed’ or ‘conducted’ and she had a great talent of quickly spotting areas of the store that were either under staffed or getting busier and then reacting immediately. The result of this was that the shop was being run as efficiently and professionally as it could be. A great example of someone ‘conducting their orchestra’!

So ask yourself ‘Can you conduct’? And if you think you can – ask yourself whether you are a ‘Maestro’ or merely a Conductor without a clue?