Focus Outward

Questions of the week: I have already started creating documentation and a checklist; people still need to ask me questions, so how can I avoid my dependency? What are the benefits of having systems? Why should I even care about systems? What's in it for me?

I write this article based on the insight of my conversation with my team in our monthly 1-on-1 call. I speak with each one of my team members. This article is a compilation of a whole week's takeaway. You can subscribe to the?Building our Team ?newsletter (1800+ subscribers)

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I have already started creating documentation and a checklist; people still need to ask me questions, so how can I avoid my dependency?

To begin with, the flow of systems, at least in terms of structure, the very bottom part would be a step about that could be a couple of steps which becomes a task, then there could be documentation around it and checklists.?

It means you have a procedure or process document above it, which leads up to a system or subsystem, and on top of it, it's the whole system.?

So if you see that as a hierarchy, just creating the documentation, firstly, What type of documentation you are creating and if only creating the task steps processed, For a task and some checklist. It is a part of the whole system, but they are not the entire system; they are not connected, and if you are the bottleneck or more dependent on you.?

That means the connection between those steps or between those procedures. What comes first or second? Is there any handover missing?

Let me share an example of it.?

One example is making Indian-style tea. So you have all ingredients tea powder, sugar, milk, water, stove, and utensils to make one. So there are Indian ingredients. There is this procedure, so you create a step-by-step procedure to prepare tea. Now, as soon as you delegate it to someone, let's say in your house, you delegate tea making.?

But imagine if there is no gas or tea powder is not available. Then the person doesn't know where to get the tea powder from because they are new to your house. So then you will be dependent whenever you are called. That means there is some missing information. And in this case, in this simple example of tea preparation, there can be a prep procedure or prep documentation where you first check if all the items are there or not.?

And it could also have decision-making documentation, in case, if there are some items not available; for example, if there is less milk, we can still prepare it. But if there is no tea powder, Tea cannot be made. In that case, what is the alternative they can choose? The person makes lemon juice.?

Now the reason for preparing tea is to serve the guest who comes to our house. You can opt for lemon juice will do, and now you can imagine your task and the guests as a client.?

If either you are a bottleneck because the requirement is unclear or the requirement was not documented properly; there were some missing steps which, you know, but the person you have delegated doesn't know. So there are missing things, and there are different methods to connect those dots.?

What are the benefits of having systems?

The answer can turn up into a book.

The simple answer is to make more and work less. More quality, value, time, ideas, effectiveness, profits, calm, excitement, impact, joy and much more?

I will give you 20 benefits for us at 73bit.com, which came to mind first.?

1) To guarantee clients will always get predictable results every time.

2) Clients will increase their trust in us to provide value

3) Clients will get answers from us in under an hour every time.

4) To remove rework from the work we do

5) To reduce the price of producing software for the clients in exchange for more value

6) Clients will start referring us more actively to friends and family?

7) Clients will start treating us more like a partner than a supplier or vendors

8) To only work with clients to whom we are a best fit and vice-versa?

9) To reduce communication time to less than 10% for the entire team

10) To automate more than 50% of 73bit's operations

11) To have more time spent doing your best work

12) To work less and earn more profits?

13) To stop doing repeated mundane work

14) To stop remembering steps, configuration, formulas, code, dates, followups etc

15) To attract more new clients

16) To have a product roadmap for six months and release it on time.

17) So that each client gets the same experience and is satisfied with it.

18) To spend less energy on ineffective work and meetings

19) To delete time-wasting activities from business-as-usual work

20) So that new team members will come up to speed within 2-3 months

Why should I even care about systems? What's in it for me?

One of the significant benefits of the system is that we will move far away from micro logging time.?

Are you in Shock? Yes, you read it right.?

You will no longer need to log time in minutes or hours. It sounds counterintuitive. You will create so much value that it won't matter how you spent your 1 hour last Thursday.?

Let me paint a future where this is practical and pragmatic in reality. The system's power will enable us to conduct business at 73bit.com in an entirely new paradigm. More than 50% of our efforts will result in profitable business, and thus give us more time and money to invest back in the system.?

It will become a self-sustaining flywheel model. There will be the growth of systems, money and time. It will help us grow with quality, innovation and service vs reduce work, effort and mistakes. One feeds to the other, and we will keep levelling up.??

We will stop worrying about our daily deadlines and move towards monthly goals. We will have the luxury of time to experiment, which is officially allowed to make up to 3 failures. For us, failure will have a new meaning which is learning. That means we will learn to create 10X value for our clients, which means we can charge them 2X, resulting in customer delight.?

Thus attracting more clients, and the license fee, including the yearly bonuses, will cover our annual expense of salary and fixed costs. We can move our costing from hourly billing to fix-price.?

We will be logging time on a half-day, daily or weekly basis. That means no micro-management and an easy-to-fill time sheet. A timesheet will be used only for measuring innovation and time boxing. You will feel freedom and calmness at work with no pressure whatsoever.?

We may take time to reach there, but it is 100% possible. Do you want to be a part of our journey?