Building business processes is always challenging, but applying fundamental business principles shared in a recent Systems Simplified podcast episode can make it less difficult. Adi Klevit, CEO of Business Successs Consulting Group, spoke with Kyle McDowell, best-selling author of Begin With WE, about Kyle's fundamental business principles. During their discussion, they found that utilizing these principles when building your company and creating processes and procedures will make the processes:
a. More effective.
b. More likely to be followed by the whole team.
c. A cohesive part of company culture.
d. Efficiency engines for your business.
Read on to discover these principles and how to apply them to process-building.
Read on to discover these principles and how to apply them to process-building.
Apply These Fundamental Business Principles When Building Processes
Kyle and Adi discussed the ten principles that Kyle recommends entrepreneurs follow when building a business. Here are the principles, along with how to utilize them as you build your business and your business systems.
1. Always do the right thing.
Keeping your integrity as a business owner means you will do right by your clients and employees. Striving to do the right thing, no matter what supports a collaborative and positive company culture. The type of culture that ensures employees will pull together and build well-thought-out systems to support a better and more efficient workplace.
2. Lead by example.
As a leader, you should lead by example. Of course, there will be areas in which you are not an expert, but even there, you can lead by example by operating with integrity and grace and learning from subject matter experts.
Another way you can lead by example is by doing your own process documentation and following existing processes and procedures. When your team sees that you are following the processes, they will be more encouraged to do this themselves.
3. Follow through.
Many business owners will follow through on client commitments but fail when it comes to internal commitments to their team. This is how they lose vital staff at critical times. But, if you follow through with every promise you have made - both to clients and your team, then you can count on your team becoming even more dedicated to you and your business. The same goes for following through on process building and compliance.
By successfully following through with your commitments, you set an excellent example for the rest of your team and create a culture of accountability.
4. Take action - even if you might make a mistake.
No one likes making mistakes. But, you can lose out by being frozen in place or failing to pivot because you are afraid of making a mistake. So, what do you do?
Take action!
Even if it might be a mistake, take action, learn from that mistake, and adapt as needed. This is something that Adi advises when it comes to documenting processes. Many business owners want to build the perfect process, but they aren't sure what that is. Adi advises business owners to take action and document the existing process. From there, they can review and revise the process until it gets as close to ideal as possible.
5. Learn from your mistakes.
Both you and your team should learn from the mistakes you make and build on that information so you can take different, more effective action. Your team can even build a process around learning from mistakes, making it a team activity and creating an environment that provides learning opportunities. A company culture of learning and growing stems from making mistakes, feeling safe enough to communicate about them, learning as a team, and moving on from there.
6. Pick each other up.
Another way to learn from mistakes is to support team members as they make a mistake or need additional help. This is another area where a good process can assist your team in treating one another fairly. For example, set up a process where someone can ask for additional support or where they automatically qualify for time away to learn or recharge. These are just a couple of ideas for how you can utilize processes to empower your team to support one another.
7. As a leader, propel the team to new heights.
There are many ways to propel your team to new heights. You can support continuing education or build processes for sending team members to conventions or increasing their level of certification. You can set aside one-on-one time with mentors to assist employees in their personal growth. You can systemize prioritizing internal over external hiring.
Prioritizing your team's well-being, education, and growth is a great way to retain a dedicated staff while doing step #1 above.
8. Measure yourself by outcomes, not activity.
How many companies have you worked at that build a culture around how many hours a team member stays at work rather than what they have done?
This is a great way to punish efficiency.
Instead, ensure that metrics and performance measurements show outcomes - not activity. If your lead salesperson beat their sales quota this year, their annual review should not even mention the vacation they took in August. Instead, focus on what they and your team can produce in the future, and find ways to increase their efficiency so they do not have to work more hours to get it all done.
9. Challenge one another.
You need to be challenged just as your team needs to be challenged. Make space and create systems for challenging one another while also new solutions for common problems. Embracing challenges can be difficult, but it may also help you dominate a niche or market your company has struggled in. So, embrace the challenge and support it within your business systems.
10. Obsess over details.
Put care into everything you do. This applies to you and your entire team and goes along with all of the above points. As a leader, you cannot let the perfect get in the way of the good, but you can continue to evaluate and improve imperfections. This applies to business processes, products, relationships, and more. Iterating and focusing on building a better company is something for which both your customers and staff will thank you.
Building a business is never simple. However, if you follow the above ten principles as your build your company, develop your processes, and create the company culture, you will find that your company can get as close to your ideal as is possible in your industry.
Are you ready to document and iterate your business processes? Get advice from the experts. Contact the Business Success Consulting Group team for a free initial evaluation.
