Business owners must delegate tasks to grow their companies. Building processes is the most effective way to delegate. Business systems are used in every company, from successful hotel chains to thriving SEO companies. These documented processes and procedures help business owners delegate, support effective training, and help company owners create consistency for employees and customers alike.
In a recent conversation, Adi Klevit of Business Success Consulting Group and Niki Fielding, CEO of Digital Brand Expressions, discussed the process-building principles that allowed Niki to delegate and grow her business. We have documented five of the strategies she shares in this interview below. Be sure to listen to their entire conversation to learn more.
Why Business Processes are Vital to Delegation
Creating or documenting company processes is an essential part of delegation for many reasons, including:
- Systems ensure that every employee is doing tasks the same way.
- Processes are used to train internal promotions and external hires, which makes delegation a breeze.
- Reducing the routine tasks of a CSuite executive or lead employee provides them with the time they need to be effective leaders.
- Established business systems allow for greater business expansion.
- Processes and procedures reduce employee mistakes.
With that framework established, you can see why following the five strategies below will help your business.
Five Strategies for Building Processes that Support Delegation
1. Understand the ultimate goal of process building.
Determining why you are delegating tasks will help you decide which processes to build first and how to present these processes. In the interview, Niki shared that in her early days of business, she built processes, delegated tasks, and then felt like she had to act as a coach.
Now, she makes sure to provide additional support and even some background/education resources within the process for those who need it so that the work can be fully “owned” by the person who is responsible for it.
2. Work with others to build guidelines and frameworks
The goal of delegating is getting other team members to own a role fully. To do this, Niki works with her team to build SOPs that make the most sense for the job. Because other people are doing the work, she has created guidelines and frameworks for creating SOPs, and then she makes sure other team members run all SOPs. In doing so, she is ensuring that every aspect of the procedures is covered by those who will use them.
3. Question why things are done that way.
Often, when building a new process for a new service, one is cobbling it together from other existing systems. This is a quick way to build a system, but it also opens one to flawed thinking.
As you build a new process, ask, “Why is it done this way?”
In the interview, Niki shared a story about three generations of women cooking a ham together. The youngest chopped off the end of the ham, and the mother says, “Good, that’s how we have always done it.” Then, the grandmother looks at both of them and says, “I used to chop off the end of the ham because my roasting pan was too small to fit the whole thing.”
The lesson is that sometimes one does something because “we have always done it that way” without questioning “why.” And the “why” may be completely outdated. So, ask the question!
4. Observe how others are doing things.
When initially building a business as an entrepreneur, you create a company from scratch. Well, not entirely from scratch, right? Often, you’ve seen how others have done something and either have a better idea, feel you can accomplish a better product more efficiently, or have a passion for the job and want to work for yourself.
No matter what, you often use inspiration from others as an initial guidepost for building your business.
Don’t lose that urge to learn from others once you have built the company! Continue to observe what others do, improve on it, and use their strategies as a guidepost. This will help you get buy-in to your business processes and make your processes and procedures even more effective.
5. Build processes for your team – not for you.
The purpose of building processes and procedures is so that you can delegate the work. Don’t build the processes in a way that makes the most sense for you – build them in a way that makes the most sense for your team.
This means you cannot rely on your knowledge and experience to make particular decisions during the business system. Instead, you need to lay out the decisions you would make or conclusions you would come to and explain why as part of the business system. You may also need to include background and additional links to educational materials to help others in your company come to a knowledgeable conclusion. All of this will benefit your business and empower your employees.
Did this article inspire you to build better business systems? Are you ready to start but don’t have the time to create the most effective processes and procedures for your company?
We’ve got you covered! Contact Business Success Consulting Group today to get started.
