Many business owners are not only go-getters and entrepreneurs, but also perfectionists. They want their product to look just right on a shelf or their services to be presented exactly as they envisioned. This is one of the reasons so many perfectionists get into business: they see a product or service that could be so much better.
However, this perfectionism can get in the way of building functional systems. In a recent interview with Founder of PlaybookBuilder Jon LoDuca, he and Business Success Consulting Group CEO Adi Klevit discussed the challenge of building a system when you want everything to be just right.
For example, one of the most effective means of communication is video. Building video into your processes can help train your team much faster and more efficiently than a written word or even a picture-based presentation. However, it’s often the case that a CEO who has built their business on perfecting a particular aspect of their industry sees the idea of making a video and immediately thinks: “I can’t record a video right now. I need to hire a photographer and makeup artist, rent a studio, and build a script.”
Jon advises the perfection-minded CEO to just film the potentially imperfect video and build it into your process because your system will be much more helpful if you do this.
However, we know that telling someone “just do it” isn’t always effective.
So, we’ve provided a guide that the perfection-minded CEO can use when creating processes.
The Perfectionist’s Guide to Building Business Processes
Many business owners fail to document business processes because they feel they don’t have time to do so. This is unfortunate because, as Jon LoDuca said in the interview: “Businesses that have documented processes either get bought or grow rapidly. It’s the company reinventing the wheel every Monday morning that deals with chaos and complexity.”
If you’ve been dealing with chaos and complexity, it is time to build processes and make your company the efficient, perfectly smooth operation it could be. Below is a process you can use to begin building your business systems – even if they are imperfect to begin with.
1. Determine a goal for yourself as you build the system. For example: “To build the best process I can with the resources I have at my disposal.” Holding yourself to this goal is vital because you may feel the urge to stop and wait until you can book a video recording space or give the entire project just a few more editing passes – even though you and your team have already approved it.
2. Decide on a goal for your process-building project. An example is: “To build a hiring process that gets me the best hire available for the job opening.”
3. Set a launch date for the project, as well as a review date for future review and perfecting. Usually, we would say to build that review date into the project after it’s completed, but it can be comforting for any perfectionist to know that this version is 1.0. So, there will be other, more perfect versions as the systems get put into practice and evolve.
4. Set up a process-building team. You can hire a consultant to help you with this, or you may choose to use the resources you have at your immediate disposal.
5. Work with your existing subject matter expert to build the process (in the case of our example, that would include your recruiter and/or HR director).
6. Try explaining the process on video first, before writing it down. This can be done selfie-style, with your phone in front of you as you talk about the process.
This may make you cringe. But when you play the video back, instead of nitpicking your appearance or voice or hair or anything else, listen and watch for the passion you express. That is what you want to convey when training new or existing employees on this process.
7. Write out the process based on the video and send it to your subject matter expert for tweaking and suggestions.
8. If you need to, record a more scripted version. You can even set it up interview style with your subject matter expert so they can also impart vital knowledge to the viewer.
9. Finally, put the process together in a place like Playbook Builder or UseWhale.io to ensure that the system is easily accessible to your team.
10. Set the reminder for building the next iteration of this system.
11. Tackle the next system!
Perfectionism can be both a strength and a weakness. Remembering that you will iterate and build new versions will help you work toward systematizing your company.
If you need additional help along the way, lean on the experts! Get in touch with Business Success Consulting Group and schedule your free initial consultation to discuss the first step you can take toward a more organized business.
