I know that process can sometimes be written off as boring or bureaucratic. In fact, many of my clients lack processes when they begin working with me.
I’m here to tell you that process is actually a secret weapon for you and your business. As Isidore Sharp, founder of the Four Seasons, said, “We must systemize the predictable so we can humanize the exceptional.”
Documenting your core processes is like creating a roadmap for success. It provides clarity and consistency by defining the systematic steps and procedures that drive desired outcomes.
By systemizing processes, you free up time and energy to focus on innovation and growth. It streamlines your operations, enhances your productivity, and enables seamless scalability as your organization grows along the way.
For example, consider a customer onboarding process. By documenting each stage from initial contact to final implementation, you create a standardized approach.
This ensures a consistent and positive experience for every customer, regardless of who is handling that onboarding. It sounds amazing, right? And difficult and boring…
But it’s not! When you focus on the vital 20% and document your processes efficiently, you capture the core activities that generate the majority of your desired outcomes.
This approach maximizes the effectiveness of your documentation efforts, and it allows your team to work more efficiently toward achieving your organizational goals. Document the 20% of things that you would die on the hill for. The things you want done 100% of the time, every time.
What people tend to do is over-document. You don’t need to do that. We want a simplified approach. Think of a table of contents toward an SOP (standard operating procedure) manual. Just the table of contents, those things that you would take someone to task for if they did not do them because they’d be doing it their way, not our way, meaning the company way.
So how do you go about documenting these? Well, we have an entire book on it, but you start by identifying the key processes that have the most significant impact on your organization’s success. These are the processes that directly contribute to your core objectives and the outcomes. Within each key process, you identify the essential steps that yield the most significant results.
Focus on critical activities – the 20% – that drive efficiency, quality, and customer satisfaction. Streamline and simplify the process by eliminating unnecessary steps or any redundancies.
Next, you’re going to document the critical steps concisely and provide clear instructions. You’re going to use straightforward language that’s easily understandable by any team member.
You want to avoid unnecessary jargon, acronyms, complex terms, anything that could really be confusing. If you have to use certain terminology, provide an explanation. Visual aids are helpful as well. Flow charts, diagrams, scripts – all these kinds of things make it easier for team members to understand and follow it. These visuals support learning because they really give you a picture of what’s happening and provide a clear overview of the process flow.
Last, make sure you keep all documented processes easily accessible and consistently updated. It’s helpful to review your processes with frequency, quarterly at least, if you’re not using them within a team.
Even more importantly, you have to revisit the documentation to ensure it remains accurate. And you have to bundle it into a package. What many people neglect is they have them all over on their intranet, and they don’t bundle them into a package that’s called the “ABC Company Way,” where “ABC” is your company name.
Putting in the work to document your processes really pays off. In fact, it helped one of my EOS® clients sell their business for high multiples to a PE firm that would never have looked at them…
When they started with me, I said to them, “Gino has told me over and over again, himself, that the way you scale and build a great business is to document your processes. Be fanatical about simplifying them.”
So you have to document them, then simplify them, and then get them followed by all. When you can do that, think of it as your franchise prototype or your business model. When you have that, you are now unnecessary…
Even though you’re the secret sauce, you won’t be as necessary to them because they can follow along with your documentation for your company’s way of doing things.
It’s like a recipe card to help them see you are not the secret ingredient. They can replicate and maintain certain things. All the customization can be left off this document. It can live within a team or department. Imagine stapling yourself to an order and flowing through your company…
What is that white-glove treatment from the moment of conversation to delivery of your products or services? That’s what the processes put into action.
So this particular client came back to me when Gino was in town. She walked right up to him and she said, “I didn’t believe Sue fully when she said it, but I trusted her in the process. And that’s why the private equity firm that ended up buying our business said, ‘We usually don’t take on companies your size, but you’re so well maintained and your processes are so well documented that you’re like the prettiest girl at the prom.’”
They ended up selling that business for great multiples. Processes helped them sell. They don’t have to wonder what you do and they don’t have to make it up and keep you around to get that work done. Remember, documenting your processes is not about creating red tape or stifling creativity…
The goal is to systemize, not bureaucratize. It is about empowering your team, promoting efficiency, and maintaining consistency. It’s about being consistently excellent by eliminating bottlenecks and inefficiencies. Well-documented processes actually enhance productivity, increase capacity, and create a foundation for continuous improvement within your company.
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