Friday, 11 June 2010 3:20 PM
Do you wish:
- your business could run more efficiently and effectively - and without you?
- you could reduce the number of 'single points of failure' in your business?
- you could increase the value of your business ?
- you could improve staff morale and retention?
Systemising your business can dramatically improve all aspects of your professional operations - from staff performance to the bottom line. It will also allow you to step away from the detail and minutiae of the day-to-day running of your business to focus on the bigger, more strategic picture. To achieve this, however, you need to commit to 'working on the business' as distinct from 'working in the business'.
Why systemise?
The benefits of systemising your business are vast. A systemised business will help with:
- becoming more systems dependent and less people dependent - reducing 'single points of failure' when key staff leave
- enabling decision making by your staff, and increasing your confidence in them
- bettering the work quality and consistency delivered
- reducing training time as new staff members are brought up to speed more quickly, and
- creating a more saleable business with the ability to deliver a streamlined and complete handover to a new owner, in turn creating a more valuable business.
How do we begin?
Before undertaking this exercise, you need to ask yourself some key questions:
1. Where are we now?
What are the key areas within your business operations? How do you ensure the work of your team meets your standards? How do new team members know what to do? Create a list of all the areas that need systems developed and documented, such as administrative tasks, HR and recruitment processes, sales systems, client service and even simple 'last person to leave' systems - everything needs to be evaluated for systemising.
2. Where do we want to go?
Take a moment to think about what you want these systems to look like. Do you need step-by-step documentation of procedures, or check-lists, or both? Who will use them? What business outcomes do you want to achieve with the systems? For example, will they provide greater efficiency? Greater accuracy? Better profit margins? Standardisation of practices? Knowing the desired outcome of each process will guide the development of content for your systems.
3. How will we get there?
Who will do the documenting? Will you do it yourself, will you delegate it, or will you outsource the job? Do you have all the resources and information you need? Who are the 'knowledge storehouses' in your business? By knowing the answers to these questions you can start to plan for the project and work through the exercise of mapping processes, assigning key roles and responsibilities to each process and capturing the necessary variations.
Train, measure and reassess
So you've systemised your business and documented all identified processes. Now you need to ensure your staff receive training in the new systems. While documented processes certainly allow for greater 'self-training', your team still needs to be given the tools to make these systems work for your business.
A common error made by businesses is to go through the systems documentation process and assume the job is done. Processes need to be reviewed regularly so systems can be modified, streamlined or completely overhauled as business requirements change. And there is always room for improvement.
Set review dates for your systems. You may choose to do a big annual review, or stagger regular, smaller reviews every few months. But you must commit to a process of continual improvement:
- Can the systems be made to be even more efficient?
- Are some systems now redundant?
- Is there a requirement for documenting new systems?
- Can we benchmark the performance of existing systems? How do we measure up against this? Do we need to establish new targets?
The six most expensive words are, "we've always done it that way." Don't let your business fall into this trap.
What's stopping you?
Now that you are across the fundamentals of systemising your business, do you understand the benefits? Do you know what you need to do? If you feel you need help with systemising your business, contact us. We have helped many businesses improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their operations. The quicker you take action, the quicker one of our business consultants can help your business become systemised and work like a well-oiled machine.
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