“Investing in management means building communication systems, business processes, feedback, and routines that let you scale the business and team as efficiently as possible.”
– WE Deming
Sodwana Bay is a relatively short distance from Eswatini, and every ever so often we would shoot down for a scuba diving weekend. Regardless of the festivities of the night before, we would be up at the crack of dawn to make the most of the early morning conditions. In preparing for the dive, I would try and always follow the same routine to ensure that all my diving gear is present and properly assembled.
It is quite embarrassing to get to 2-mile reef and find your diving weights or fins left behind on the beach. And potentially life-threatening to get to 15 metres underwater and be suddenly unable to breathe. So I developed a system to help me stay safe and make the most of my dive
There is usually a best way of performing most recurring tasks. It pays to take the time to delve into and develop the processes for the important activities in your business. Discipline is required to follow the steps, to develop the muscle memory, so that following the process comes naturally. Even when the pressure is on. As the saying goes, the only shortcut is doing it right the first time.
There are two important principles to apply when developing business processes for your organisation. First, concentrate on documenting the important processes associated with the key activities in your business, those that will make a real difference in serving customers or improving the bottom line. Describe it in enough detail so that a novice could follow the steps with relative ease. And involve the role players so that they buy into the solution and will follow the process without trying to derail it.
Further, commit to continuous improvement. We advocate applying best practices, not sheep mentality, to blindly follow the rules. Encourage critical thinking and experimenting in order to improve, accepting that mistakes will happen along the way. Appreciate that learning through errors leads to improvement.
So say the bosses
It was also Deming who said that we should focus on our processes, not the outcome of our processes. In today’s society, instant gratification has become the norm and CEO’s are rewarded for achieving short-term goals regardless of the longer-term impact or measures taken.
The better strategy is to work on perfecting the process so that the results can be predictable and sustainable. Quality relies on consistency. The outcome may initially not be as desired while you perfect the process, but you need to trust the process. The Deming cycle illustrated here is Plan – Do – Study – Act.
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries follows a similar methodology. Build – Measure – Learn until you find the best solution, be that product or process. The ideology works in reverse though. Decide what you want to learn or improve, identify measurements that will assist in achieving this, and then build a process to deliver this.
Various references in 90 Rules for Entrepreneurs support this notion; finding the recipe, scaling through systems, but at the same time beware of overcomplicating matters and promoting red tape.
The Sologix solution
We have developed a process at Sologix to help you refine your business. First, we establish the optimal organisational structure to best perform your key activities. Clear roles and responsibilities are attached to each position. The profile of the ideal employee to perform the duties assigned is identified, and either appointed or developed internally. Finally, we make sure they know what is expected of them with clear job descriptions, and well-documented operating procedures.
The role of management remains to plan, organise, lead and control. Equip your employees with the required skills and tools. Hold the incumbents accountable to perform their tasks effectively and efficiently. Regularly measure and display key performance indicators to track performance, and celebrate and reward success.
Our business coaching techniques make use of the GrowthWheel tools to deal with this in a proven and pragmatic way. Join an online course or contact us for personal business coaching by sending us an email here.
