Whether you have systematized your business or are still developing processes, you can utilize the process feedback loop to grow your company.
What is a process feedback loop? In a recent interview, Business Success Consulting Group CEO Adi Klevit and President of Historic Agency, Mark Miller discussed the answer to this question, along with how to create the feedback loop. We will provide a breakdown here.
A process feedback loop is the system you create to review and improve processes. Here is a brief breakdown of what needs to be done to build this loop:
1. Come up with a bright idea.
2. Define the process to implement this idea.
3. Try it out and see if the process works.
4. If it does, perfect it by reviewing the process regularly to determine what is working and what is not, and modify it accordingly.
5. If the process does not work, revisit the bright idea. You may need a new one, or you may need to change your implementation strategy. Either way, you need feedback to determine the next steps.
The above is a very bare-bones breakdown of the process feedback loop. Find out more below.
How to Use the Process Feedback Loop to Grow Your Business
As we noted above, processes change both during development and over time. This means that you need to set up a feedback loop and continue to improve your processes.
Here is the basic “how-to:”
1. Carve out time to perform a retrospective and review the process.
The very first step is to build a retrospective meeting into your schedule. This may seem simple, but if you aren’t routinely performing these reviews, you likely don’t have them on your calendar. So, carve out the time in advance for everyone involved so that you can continue to improve your business systems.
2. Perform the retro.
Sit down with your team and evaluate what went right and what went wrong. Determine why specific aspects were beneficial and why other actions failed so that you can modify the process to include any missing pieces.
3. Document and modify the process to fix the issues.
After your team reviews and evaluates the process, ensure the modifications are documented, and the new/revised process is implemented.
4. Use the modified process again - and continue to do regular retrospectives to ensure all is operating smoothly.
It’s time to put your new process into action! Utilize and review it to discover what went well and what didn’t, and make any additional modifications.
Business systems are dynamic, and if they are not regularly modified, they will fall out of use. Can you imagine following the same accounting process you had going five years ago? The software alone has been updated since then.
Think Like A Formula One Driver
In the interview, Mark made a fantastic comparison between businesses and formula one racers. After a race, the driver will spend three to five hours debriefing so that they can make improvements to the car and their technique before the next race. They know that to stay competitive, they must make these changes - as the competition will also be making changes.
Drivers spend more time reviewing systems and processes than they spend on the actual race. They study what worked and didn't, how to fix things, and what needs to be implemented. This improves the outcome every time.
Thinking like a Formula One driver will help you create processes and improve them to build a better outcome in your company.
Are you ready to build processes and procedures, set up review systems, and support continued business growth? Contact Business Success Consulting Group today. We are the process experts.
