Systemising your business can be a daunting and overwhelming task. In this video, I'm going to be sharing with you the simple way of documenting business systems and processes so that you can get back to focusing on your business. I'm going to make it super simple for you to get started documenting how you do things in your business, so you can start delegating more and get back to working on the business.
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Transcription:
Systemising your business can be a daunting and frankly overwhelming task. Behold the system for creating systems, I'm going to make it super simple for you to get started documenting how you do things in your business. So you can start delegating more and get back to working on the business. My name is Moriarty. And in this video, I'm going to be sharing with you the simple way of documenting business systems and processes so that you can get back to focusing on your business. Now, if you're new to this channel, we help small business owners with getting your tech and systems right so you can grow a more successful business. And we help businesses all over the world. No matter what stage of business you're at, whether you're a micro or solo entrepreneur, just starting hiring your first few people, or if you've got large organization with hundreds of employees, but we've got a strategy for you to help you with your technology, and your business systems to make sure that you can be more successful. So if you haven't already, hit the subscribe button. And if you like this video, be sure to give us a thumbs up when you're done. Now most business owners get started with the process of Systemising their business because they've been to a business seminar or a business coach who said start documenting things. And for me, this came from reading the E Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber, which is one of the quintessential books on building a more successful business. And that is to step out of the technician role as an entrepreneur and to step first into manager and then into the entrepreneur role where you're basically stood back from the business and the business is operating and running itself. Now, in order to do that, you need to build an online or a digital version of a standard operating procedures manual. And the old days people would do this on pen and paper, or they'd type them up and put it in the handbook and print it out and give it to their staff. But for most businesses now running remotely these days, you can do this online. And we've got many videos on how to use Google Sites to build an online intranet. But one of the most important things you need to know how to do is to actually document your systems and processes as you're going through that process of Systemising the business. And so henceforth, we have the system for writing systems. This is how to create really great business systems and business processes so that your team can follow them really easily. And you can effectively delegate tasks to other people in the business, which gets more off your plate as the entrepreneur. Now as we document business systems, we're going to identify five, nearly four, five different areas where you're going to actually have covered, and that is the What the Why the web, The Who, and the how. And these five areas are going to make sure that when you document the process, you don't have staff coming back to you with questions, asking how to actually get it done. So without further ado, let me take you through each different area that you need to have documented and how to create a really great business process. So first up, we're going to start with the what and that is, what is the result of this process? Once someone has run this process? Where do they actually need to get to at the end of the day. So let's say for example, it's a payroll processing system, or process. And what we're going to be doing is with that, we're going to be handing over for someone else to manage the payroll in your business, what we want to identify what is the result of this process. And so without example, it might be that the result of this process is that payroll is organized, and it is delivered on time and correctly to our team to make sure that our team get paid on time. Well, that's important, it's important that we make sure that the process is done correctly, because we want to make sure that our team are actually paid on time. And we want to make sure that we don't put the business at risk. And so that's why it's a good idea to identify the why Next up, it's important to know, why is it so important that this person during the process knows the process? What is the pain that they're going to be avoiding, as well as the pleasure of a good result? So for example, if we get our payroll done correctly, and we get it done on time as well, our staff are going to be happy. If we don't get it correct. Well, we might expose the business to risk by either underpaying or overpaying. And we're going to have unhappy staff if we don't get the pay, right. And so it's really important that we identify the why. Next up, let's talk about when so what are the trigger points that will alert us that someone needs to follow this system. Now there may be a time based trigger. So it might be okay, this happens every Thursday at 11am. Maybe we do our payroll every Thursday at 11am. Or it might actually be a event based trigger. So this happens every time there is an injury in the workplace. We're going to fill out the injury report and we're going to follow the injury report process. Or it might be every time we onboard a new customer. We're going to follow up the customer onboarding process. Okay, so once we've got the win identified, then we can also have a think about well, what is the deadline? When does this need to be done by in our example of payroll we may choose? Well if this starts at 11am on a Thursday, it must be completed by midday or it must be completed by 2pm. So the bank can can go out on time by Friday morning. Now making sure that you've got deadlines identified means that your team know when the right time is to complete. But also when it needs to be done by as well. Now, notice that we've already got through the what the why and the win. But we still haven't started going through step one, step two, step three of how to actually do the payroll. And the reason for that is we want to give our team all of this context around what the actual action steps up. The reason for that is, well, if you give this task to someone, and they didn't have the why they didn't know what the result was supposed to be, and they didn't know where they were getting to, well, they may get stuck on step two, and then come back to you and say, hey, you know what, I'm stuck. Can you help me? Whereas if you give someone a set of instructions, and they've got all of the context, what is the result that we're looking to get? Why is it so important? When does this need to happen? And by when does it need to happen? Well, your team are more likely going to go through the process. And if they get stuck anywhere, come back to and say, hey, you know what, I know what result we're trying to get here. And you know, I haven't quite got this perfect just yet, I got stuck on step number three. But I think if we modify that, or maybe I can do it this way, then I should be able to get to the result. And that's where you're going to have your team collaborating with you, and being a lot more engaged in the process. Okay, step number four to identify is the who, what is the job title of the person performing this task. Now, importantly, we're not going to use someone's name. So we're not going to put in the systems while Bob does this on Thursdays because Bob may change in the business. But also, we want to empower our team members with the responsibility of a job title. Now, for many small businesses, and particularly in the early stages, if you're in the launch stage, or the startup stage, and you're literally just getting started well, you may be someone who is, you know, not really that interested in getting roles to your team members, because maybe everyone is everything inside the business, right. Whereas when you give your team members a actual official job title, like maybe a project manager, or a customer consultant, or a sales professional, or a business development manager, you know, whatever title you choose for that person, it's more likely that they are actually going to rise to the responsibility of embodying that. So it's a great way of empowering your team by giving them an official job role, even if you think they're silly as an entrepreneur, which I totally personally understand that giving a team members a job role means that they're more likely to take on the responsibility of that role. Now, I love using this for performance management, because when I was directly managing staff, what I would do is I'd sit them down, and I'd say, Hey, you look, you did something that was outside of what a project manager should be expected to do. All this is outside of what a sales professional would be expected to do. And I would use those roles for performance management and ensuring that the team are actually kept in check with that. So if that's useful for you, great. Also, obviously, the additional benefit of this is when someone moves or changes in the business, well, you don't have to go through and change every one of your systems because Bob isn't doing this. And now Mary is doing this. So it's going to make your life easier as well. Finally, we come to step number five, and that is the house. So finally, we're going to get to the actual how is this business process done? So number one is like how is it completed? What are the implementation steps? Step one, step two, step three. And this is kind of like the recipe for how to get this done. So in our example of payroll, well, it would be okay, well, first up, you load up the timesheets, and then you you know, you grab all of the banking details for everyone, and you punch that into your accounting software, and maybe out it spits a bank file. So you're gonna have your steps 12345, how to actually get this process done. Now, number two, you're going to develop an Audit Checklist, so someone can actually check that their work has been done correctly. Now, in the example of payroll, what I used to do when I was doing payroll for our business, many, many years ago, was I would always have a little check for myself. And what I would do was when the payroll was ready to be released from the bank, I would check the final amount. And I would double check that that amount matched what was in the actual payroll file in our accounting software. And so inside that software, I would just double check to make sure what was going out of the bank account is exactly the same as what was in the software. And the other thing that I would do is I would check whether or not the payroll was plus or minus 10%, or within 10%, of what the last pay run was. So whether that was week ago, or a fortnight ago, I wanted to make sure that there weren't any kind of wild fluctuations higher or lower on the payroll, just to make sure that things were pretty close. So think about how can someone develop an audit checklist to make sure things have been done correctly. And just like a pilot who's flying a plane, you're going to have checklists to make sure that things are all correct. Before you start or finish a process. Remember that you want to make it easy for your team to actually check their work. And when they're checking their own work, it means that you don't have to check their work for them. And one of the biggest fears that business owners have with actually delegating tasks is are my team going to do it as well as I do? Are they going to do it as good as I'm doing this and this is a way of you making sure that your team are checking that they're doing the right kind of job. Now the third thing you want to have in your house is actually showing the task being completed. So whether that's using a screencasting software to record your computer, or actually using a video camera and You can even just use an iPhone for this, if you've got an outside type business, that's absolutely fine. And what I would recommend you do is take screenshots and maybe even annotate them with arrows, and basically show exactly what a great result needs to look like, but also show the steps 12345 on how to actually complete the job. Now we have a customer who did this as an example, they were a gym. And what they did was they took a photo of their reception area when it was all clean and tight. And they basically said, Well, this is an example of what it should look like as the result. Once you've got the reception area tidy. Here is a little bowl with gifts for customers. Here's what benched looks like when it's nice and clean and tidy. And then they went all around the gym and did the same thing for each process. And their business is what the squat rack looks like when all the weights have been put away is what the bathrooms look like when they're clean, you know, when the carpets tidy, this is what it should look like. And basically all of those things were documented. So when their manager came into the gym to actually do their job and do the end of day clean, or they knew exactly what the end result should look like. And then they were able to work just straight from there. Okay, so we've identified five elements to write the perfect system, the system for writing systems, and that is the What the Why the when the who, and finally, the How now, if you get all of these things, right, well, you're going to have a great documented business system, and your team are going to be able to follow along easily. Now I do need to give some credit for this. I didn't come up with this myself. This was actually taught to me by someone by the name of Stuart Cook, who's the previous CEO of Zambrero, very successful, quick service Mexican fast food chain inside Australia. But I'm pretty sure that Stewart learned from Jack de Llosa, who founded the entourage. And I'm pretty sure he learned it from Dale Beaumont, who's the founder of business blueprint, who is also one of our partners. And so wherever this came from, I'm not sure who the official original author was, I don't want to thank those gentlemen, for teaching this framework to me, and I'm sharing along with you. Hopefully you do great things with it. So let me know in the comments if this has been useful for you and in your business. If you do have any questions, drop them right below this video, we'll do our best to answer them. Give us a thumbs up if you liked the content. If you want to see more like this, hit the subscribe button in our channel. And I look forward to seeing you in the next video. If you're a business owner, and you are using Google workspace inside your business, or we've got a great offer for you, just by transferring your billing to us doesn't cost you any extra. But you get a bunch of amazing perks from our team at it genius. So click on the link below to transfer your account to us. You get access to a free account check a little audit of your account, and a bunch of amazing professionally created training videos for you and your team to get the most out of your investment in Google workspace. If you're a small business owner, stick around our channel, check out the other playlists that we've got for each different stage of business. And if you haven't already checked out our growth roadmap. Well that's the explanation of what technology you should be focusing on based on the level of business that you're at, and based on your business journey. If you're interested, stick around for more. We've got plenty more from where this video is at and I look forward to seeing you in the next one. Cheers.
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