Business systems are valuable from the very first day you start a business. However, many business owners only begin to create formal systems when they are struggling to grow their business and discover the need to delegate or to create a more consistent customer experience.
In either case, systems create structure, reduce guesswork, and supports delivering consistent results. They can quell, or wholly prevent, the chaos that often comes with growth. Well-built systems support quality hiring, reduce training time, and remove the bottleneck of relying on a founder’s personal knowledge. Whether you are in the startup phase or preparing to expand into new markets, systems give you the structure needed to scale confidently and sustainably.
How to Build Business Systems
Step 1: Establish a central location for all systems
Choose where your processes will live. Here are some options:
- Cloud drive
- Project management tool,
- Process documentation platform
- Company intranet.
Your business systems should not live in a dusty binder on top of a filing cabinet in the HR office. Instead, they should be in an accessible, centralized location so that all team members can find and use the most up-to-date procedures.
Step 2: Involve your team
Before documenting any processes, get team buy-in.
Don’t just explain why systems matter, engage the team, and find out what they are struggling with. Share how they can utilize systems to ease their workload. It might be that your most productive team members can use systems to train an assistant, or your software development team can automate the most repetitive tasks to make employees’ lives a little easier.
Step 3: Schedule time for documentation
System documentation takes time. It’s not something that can be done whenever a team member has a spare moment; instead, it must be deliberately scheduled. Add dedicated documentation time to your and your team’s calendars. You will need to participate, and you need your team member’s help to make this process as quick and complete as possible.
Step 4: Choose the best format
Not every process will look the same. Use step-by-step lists, annotated screenshots, screen recordings, videos, illustrations, or workflow diagrams. Whichever format best communicates the workflow and instructions is the right one to use.
Step 5: Document the most vital processes first
Start with the issues that cause the most “fires” in your organization. Alternatively, you can also choose situations that most depend on owner knowledge. Write a list of the most recent fires that you’ve had to put out or areas where you’ve had to step in, and tackle those processes first.
Solving these disruptive problems can give your team the breathing room they need to document additional business systems.
Step 6: Tackle the rest of your business processes
Every company has its own priorities. But the most common process documentation priority list goes:
- Anywhere that is on fire.
- Areas where owners must step in or where there is an “all hands on deck” mentality.
- Anything that could be automated.
- Areas that directly bring in income (like sales) or are customer-facing (like production and customer service).
- Hiring/training.
- Anything else.
Write or record each process clearly and concisely. Document every step and include explanations as needed, but don’t get too overblown on the explanations. The goal is to ensure employees can quickly follow or reference a procedure while they are in the midst of performing a task.
Step 7: Test and refine with the team
A process is only helpful if it works in real-world conditions. Have team members run through the documented steps exactly as written. Gather feedback, identify gaps, and refine until the process is both accurate and easy to follow. This step ensures usability and increases adoption.
Step 8: Finalize and publish processes
Once the processes are refined and ready for use, make sure they are published, and any employees who will be using them have access. Additionally, ensure HR has access to process documentation they can use during training and onboarding.
Step 9: Schedule regular process reviews
Your systems must evolve with your business. To ensure this happens and the processes remain in use, add a quarterly review to your calendar. This will allow you and your team to build processes that stay relevant, reflect new tools or offerings, and incorporate employee feedback.
Step 10: Ensure company-wide adoption
Ensure processes are used companywide by taking a top-down approach to implementation. Start by ensuring management, CSuite, and team leads use the documented processes and set a good example for the rest of the employees.
Documented processes increase consistency, improve performance, and support scalable growth. If you’re ready to streamline your operation, get in touch with the Business Success Consulting Group team. Click here to schedule your free initial consultation.
