On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy describes the contents of the automotive pandora’s box when it comes to all of the crazy chaos we run into. The difference here is that we have actually found some ways to attempt to minimize the chaos. People pay us to handle the chaos, and how well you handle the chaos can determine how much you are actually worth. So Uncle Jimmy came up with both a list and an anti-list for when it comes to dealing with the daily chaos of the automotive industry.

 Also, “customers are the sperm-donors for the birth of chaos”- Uncle Jimmy

How to and how not to avoid chaos:

Take Ownership: this applies to everyone in the building. Be the person who solves the problem instead of someone who hands it off. The Service Advisor takes ownership of the customer and finding out information that could aid in the diagnosis and repair, while the technician takes ownership for the repair and never the two shall meet. 

• -OR- Refuse to take ownership of anything 

Clearly Communicate

• -OR- Be as vague as humanly possible

Power Through: when people bring you chaos, grab it by the throat and use your skills to dispatch it.

• -OR-Complain through it: because after all- “F*** that car!”

Work Through Lunch (once in a while): even if you’re just going to mop up some waiters, sometimes working through lunch gives you some easy hours. 

• -OR- Go to lunch whenever you feel like for as long as you want, especially when you see a bunch of waiters. 

Pay Attention to the Details: you can prevent chaos in the future. When you get a leaking oil pan on video during an oil service and then the car comes back a week later with a spun rod bearing- thats an expensive “I told you so”

• -OR- F*** the details, that person has a problem- odds are they wont buy an expensive fix so why bother. 

Complain, but offer the solution

• -OR- Complain just for complaining’s sake

Do Proper Diagnosis: doing proper diagnosis means finding out what the problem actually is. Sometimes things are a slam dunk, sometimes they’re not. But getting to the root cause of the problem is always going to cut down on the chaos. 

• -OR- Shotgun diagnosis: this is going to cause more chaos than you will ever know. The parts cannon gets expensive in a hurry and nothing can cause more chaos than getting it wrong multiple times. 

Use your senses: you can see and hear chaos coming. When you see a service advisor, a customer or a service manager- you know they would love to slice you off some of the chaos. If the car has a problem and you can see it or hear it. When you identify a problem you can solve it and remove the chaotic element from the situation. 

• -OR- Completely ignore the problems that you see and hear. This usually just results in more chaos

Say “No”, or “I'll try, but I'm not making any promises.” This comes down to the idea of under promising and over delivering- because when they have a hard deadline and something doesn't go as planned, the chaos is multiplied across the board from customer down to you. 

• -OR- No, but a lot more rude. 

Have a plan for doing your job, and own your job. There are some people who are just there. In this case, the job owns them. Having a plan will cut down on the chaos because whatever chaos comes through the door you will be prepared to handle it, because you know what you’re doing. This is when you own the job. 

• -OR- Wander Aimlessly and let  the job own you.