By establishing general standards expected from every member of your Deliverables Team (internal and external), your Deliverables Team Members will agree to follow important criterion, benchmarks and model behaviors which you all agree are necessary to project a consistency, competence and submission to regulatory compliance, confidentiality and other sensitive issues important to any business.

Distinguishing individual standards from general standards

Each individual Deliverables Team Member's responsibilities are (or soon will be) documented on The Go-To Grid™ and all The Best Way™ processes naming their individual role (EXAMPLE: Administrative Manager) or their name. By contrast, general standards are those standards of behavior and performance expected from all Deliverables Team Members.
 

General standards are not only for Deliverables Team Members

There are times when certain vendors may become an extension of your business.  Their performance reflects upon you and your reputation and, therefore, these "general standards" apply.

For example, you may have one or more of the following you routinely recommend to your Ideal Clients:

• Real Estate Brokers and Licensed Appraisers
• Mortgage Brokers
• Intellectual Property Attorneys
• Business Valuation Specialists
• Vehicle Purchasing Consultants

The list may be longer or shorter but, if utilized often, you would be wise to gain their agreement to follow certain processes, documented utilizing The Best Way™, as well as their agreement to follow those general standards which might apply to them.
 

Reviewing and updating your business's general standards

 
You should consider gathering your existing Deliverables Team Members to discuss, subject to the Trusted Advisor’s approval, all the important quantity, quality and behavior standards for which every Deliverables Team Member (internal and external) should responsible.

The Foundation of the Business General Standards (example below) is built upon the mission of your business, which includes specifically how you help your clients and the goals of your business.

The mission of our business is to:

1. Help our Ideal Clients:

Bullet 1:

Bullet 2:

Bullet 3:

Bullet 4:

Bullet 5:

2. Create a business which is:

Bullet 1:

Bullet 2:

Bullet 3:

In Support of our Mission are General Standards for Behavior and Performance (examples):

Note: The General Standards for Behavior and Performance process outlined in Module 8 contains over thirty processes; the following are a few examples.

1. All work will be orchestrated and documented
2. All work will be quantified
3. Work Schedule: All internal Deliverables Team Members will request and obtain a work schedule from their assigned leader
4. Team members performing the work will be asked for input prior to any work process revision or change to The Best Way™ of a previously approved process
5. Regulatory compliance is a high priority for all Deliverables Team Members 
6. Every Deliverables Team Member will seek to achieve the highest possible degree of standardization in the work performed

It is vital that each Deliverables Team Member thoroughly understand and agree to the terms of your Business General Standards. Note: Although the Business General Standards is a formal agreement of performance standards, it is not to be misconstrued as an employment agreement. Rather, it is a formal agreement to deliver quality services to which they agree to be held accountable.