- Walk the site as a customer before you speak to anyone. Once you are in conversation you stop seeing it.
- Leave with no more than three actions, each with a named owner and a date.
- Start the next visit by checking the last visit s actions, or the whole exercise is theatre.
Arrive as a customer
The first ten minutes are the only ones where you can see the site the way a customer does. Park where they park, walk in the way they walk in, and wait to be acknowledged before announcing yourself.
Once you are recognised, the site changes around you and you lose that view until the next visit. Most audits waste it by starting with the office and the paperwork.
Three actions, not thirty observations
A visit that generates a long list of observations produces no change, because a site already at capacity cannot absorb thirty items and will absorb none.
Three actions, each with a name and a date, is the amount that actually gets done. Choosing which three is the real skill of the job, and it is a different skill from noticing things.
Open every visit by checking the previous visit s actions. Sites work out very quickly whether follow-up is real, and behave accordingly.
Coach in the moment, and say what good looks like
Feedback given three days later in an email is information. Feedback given on the floor, immediately, next to the thing being discussed, is coaching, and it is the part of the visit only a person can do.
Be specific about the standard rather than the failure. Saying what good looks like leaves someone able to act; saying what was wrong often just leaves them defensive.
Open the next visit with the last one s actions
The single change that makes visits matter is starting the next one by checking the previous actions. It takes five minutes and it establishes that follow-up happens.
Without it, sites learn that actions expire quietly and the visit becomes a performance to get through rather than a thing that changes the site.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a site visit take?
Two to four hours for a full visit at most formats. Shorter is possible when the site is strong and the purpose is coaching rather than assessment.
Should visits be announced?
Mix them. Announced visits test capability and are better for coaching. Unannounced ones test what actually happens.
What should I do if the manager is not there?
Do the walk anyway and share the findings with them directly afterwards. A site that only meets the standard when the manager is present is useful to know about.