Establishing and implementing effective business systems is our specialty here at Business Success Consulting Group. Our consultants work with your teams to document processes and procedures and ensure those systems are used throughout your company. We take a look at the macro and micro levels of your business, gaining a thorough knowledge of the whole company and then diving into each department to ensure that every step in each process works within the context of your entire company.
Creating holistic business systems to support business growth takes a lot of time and adjustment. Each process and procedure is dynamic and will change as your company adds new products, implements different software, and hires new roles.
Business owners in every industry find that establishing and implementing systems is vital for scaling as business takes an upward trajectory. We want to help business owners grow and scale. That’s why we are providing an overview for setting up a business system that you can use immediately.
Overview for Setting Up a Business System
Creating processes and procedures for your company is a vital step as you work to grow and scale. Here is an outline that you can use as you work toward creating an effective system in your business:
1. Decide which department you’d first like to systematize
Taking on the systematization of your entire company can feel like a massive challenge. The first thing to do is break down systematization into steps. Try choosing one department that you think needs to be organized and start there.
2. Establish a vision for the business system
Decide what you are hoping to accomplish at the outset. This will help you focus as you and your team build out the system.
3. Talk with the key players in the department
Unless you are a sole proprietorship, you aren’t running your company on your own. That means you have a team to help you with the systematization of this department. Share your vision with your team and find out how the implementation of business systems could help them in their daily work. You may find that some team members feel this is “just another thing to do.” That’s why it is vital to engage them early on and discuss the benefits of systematization.
4. Decide how you’d like to ensure the system is accessible
Choosing how your systems will be available will affect the way you systematize. You may want to use a specific kind of software - or you may want to place the processes and procedures on the company intranet. Deciding this now will allow you and your team to think through things like:
- Will video, audio, and photos be part of the system?
- How will the system be accessed?
- What layout communicates the step-by-step nature while still providing all necessary information?
- Do we have storage for the amount of data we’d like to include in the system?
5. Establish the department goal(s)
Now it’s time to get down to actual systematization. The first step is to establish the overall goal or goals this department needs to accomplish. For example, product manufacturing may aim to manufacture products at a set standard within a set time period.
Knowing the goal will allow you to think through steps for accomplishing it - and it will provide valuable insight into what to do when the goal is not executed. In the case of manufacturing, for example, you will not only need systems for creating the product, but you will also need quality monitoring systems and systems for disposing or recycling defective products.
6. Map out the broad steps to achieving the goal(s)
Now that you have established your goal or goals, you can map out the steps it takes to accomplish them. Your team will likely know these steps if your business is already a going concern, though you may be surprised at where key players disagree. This is a great time to get the whole team to agree on how work should get done.
7. Drill down
After you understand the broad steps, it’s time to drill down. What does it take to accomplish those general steps? This is the part of systematization that can feel tedious, but it’s genuinely vital. Your team needs to be on the same page to provide a consistent, smooth experience for customers. Additionally, getting the whole department on the same page improves efficiency and makes each employee’s job easier.
8. Document
The steps established above need to be followed. Write down, video, take photos and create audio to help your team follow the various steps. Keep in mind that these steps should be documented in a way that a new employee can follow.
9. Test
Before full implementation, be sure to test the systems. Do a dummy run and see what bugs come up. You may have skipped a step in your documentation, or an unforeseen problem may arise. This is your chance to ensure that every aspect of the system works in the greater context of your company.
10. Revise
Revise your system to fix any bug or missed step.
11. Implement
Now it’s time to get the team to use these new processes and procedures. Get the whole team on board with implementation. Have them study the system and do their own dummy runs. Make sure new employees in the department read through and run through the systems you’ve established. If the systematization was a team effort, implementation is usually pretty straightforward.
12. Revisit the systems every six months or so
You will want to move onto other departments, but be sure to revisit the already established systems every six months or so and verify that they are still working. If you’ve implemented new software or added a new product, they may need revision.
Establishing business systems is vital for creating consistency for clients, building employee confidence, and providing excellent products or services. If you are ready to build business systems into your company, use this overview to get started or contact our team. We are here to help you establish your systems and support your company as it grows and scales.
