Maintaining Quality, Maintaining your Vision

You have now been working for a while on your pet project. You started nurturing it as a parent would for her/his baby. Now the baby is growing up, and you feel the need to make it independent. You feel the urge to withdraw your constant guidance and now maybe expand your horizons. 

But never forget one thing.

NEVER COMPROMISE ON THE QUALITY!

No matter what industry you are in- whether it was business for you, or a hobby, or anything else for that matter, people came to you because they associated your work with a certain quality. You poured your heart and soul into your work, and the people who came to you were the ones who could understand that at some basic level. So now even when you try to distance yourself somewhat, make sure that you leave your work in able hands.

Here are some pointers on what all you need to look out for:

1) The most important of all points- never lose yourself. Never forget why you got into the project in the first place. While you have to keep working to improve yourself and your work, never forget the basic premise of why it all started- your basic value system.

2) From day one, try to find that one person, or group of people, who you would like to groom to take over from you. A month from now, a year from now, two years from now, it doesn't matter. Make sure that you have a basic compatibility in terms of the value structure with which you work, so that even if your customers don't find you, they do not miss you. 

3) Ensure that the team in place knows fully well what your expectations from them are. There should be no ambiguities (as far as practically possible) in defining the work structure.

4) Choose your affiliate partners carefully. Remember that no matter what your project, you can hardly ever expect to do everything alone. So never compromise on the quality of the product or service that you are offering. If  you are a photographer, don't go for the cheap camera to save a few bucks. If you are a school, don't compromise on the content of the education. If you are a coffee shop, don't compromise on the coffee brand you purchase (unless of course you are producing it inhouse, in which case, don't compromise on the other materials which you would need). It's like, if you are in the construction business, then even though you would try to finalize the lowest bidder in the tender, you wouldn't want to do it at the cost of the quality of work, else you would potentially land in trouble in the long run.

5) Even when you delegate control, make periodic checks. This way, your team is also on their toes to ensure constant quality.

6) Even while making periodic checks, remember to keep expressing your confidence in your team. Remember to appreciate the good effort, the good outcomes, while helping them address any concern areas. Remember that you are still a part of the team, and at the end of the day, the onus of quality rests with you.

While there are many people who only look for mass products no matter the quality, always remember that you yourself set your own standards, and it is important to always strive to improve on your own work. Never go lax. Your work is what defines you...

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