A question that business owners often ask me when it comes to building systems in their business for the first time is, "How do you know what to create a system for, or what document? Where do I start?
Well, an easy way to look at it is anything that is done more than once a year in your business needs a system and process around it and it needs to be documented.
Ideally, all of these processes will go into what's called an operations manual with checklists that describe every single process in detail. Why? Because then it becomes reliable, verifiable, predictable and consistent (which are the keys to not only keeping things running smoothly but also scaling your business and getting you out of the day-to-day operations). It can be used for onboarding, training, delegating, or for getting you out of doing it while you can still trust that it's going to get done. That gives you back an enormous amount of time and energy.
The principle I really want you to get before you become worried is that you are not the one to create or to run the operations manual. You don't have to do it.
If you've resisted systems and operations, manuals and processes in the past, know that everything does needs to be documented. But YOU don't have to be the one to do it. When a business owner hears that everything must be documented in excruciating detail, she often becomes overwhelmed and says things such as, “There's not enough time for me to work on money-generating activities! How am I going to find time for this?”
Again, YOU are not the one to document it. You just need to create the shell of it. You're just going to define the processes that need to be documented. (We will show you how, if you like.) Then it’s each team member's job to document as they do it. The key is that you initiate the parts that are yours, but your team does the documenting.
Get your team on board with documenting your systems for you. Some are wired to do it and love to create order from chaos, but not everybody on your team wants to do your system documentation for you. So you're going to need to sell the idea of documenting it to them. You do that by sharing the vision of what your business will look like when everything is process-driven. Not the vision of how much time you'll have off, but the vision of how you can all grow and how it benefits them.
Next, give them every tool necessary to feel like it’s not just in your best interest, but in theirs also. When you all get on board with your vision of being a process-driven business where everything is documented and followed by all, everything will change. Your business will scale, your income will grow and everyone will have more time to enjoy their lives, knowing that very little will fall through the cracks. It’s infinitely worth it.
Feeling resistance in involving your team to do this? Ask yourself the following questions:
- What specific hesitation or obstacle do you have around involving your team to help you document your operations manual?
- What is the solution to overcoming this hesitation or obstacle?
If you aren’t sure where to start the documentation process, or about asking your team to take time off from their other tasks to do this, we’re here to help. Let’s get you out of the day-to-day in your business so you have your freedom back. Book a complimentary exploratory session with us so we can help you map out a plan, answer your questions and see if we might be a good fit for scaling your business.
