I'm working with a client to streamline some of his business processes. Employees are relying on individuals rather than on the process to complete a task. That doesn't sound like a problem. But what happens if an individual leaves the company? Is the process strong enough and streamlined enough to allow business to continue as usual?
Even solo-preneurs or independent professionals use processes within their business. Think about how you bring on a new client or send invoices. Each one of those is an individual process. As you expand and bring in help, or outsource, it's important to have processes written down.
It takes a few minutes to write the process down, including all of the little details that are obvious to you. The payoff is that you have a reference for any employee or outsourced personnel you bring on to help with the business.
If the process looks complicated on paper you might want to take a look at redesigning that process. It is not as hard as it sounds. There are usually small things you can do that will help to streamline the steps you take.
Think about where you might have the same person do more than one task, or where one task could be eliminated or combined with another. Is there a way to track what is happening so you don't lose sight of where you or your employees are in the process?
Ask yourself what the process looks like from the customers' perspective. Answering that question may help you identify ways to streamline the process for them and for you.
How do you get buy-in from your employees when making process changes? Ask them how they might like to see the process change. Assure them that changing the process won't lead to letting people go or reducing responsibilities.
When the employees give you their suggestions act on them. You don't have to utilize all of them but give each one careful consideration. The individuals going through the process often have out of the box ideas you may not have thought of.
As solo-preneurs we don't always consider the fact that someone may need to step in and help us out at some point. If you have your processes written down it's easy for them to keep the work flowing even if you are not able to for some reason.
Streamlining and documenting your processes can take time and energy but the payoffs are well worth the work.