Have You Updated Your Processes?

Your team is only as strong as the weakest link.

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I know you've heard it before. I sure have.

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For a while, I had a hard time with this idea. I had a great team. Everyone loved what they were doing and showed up in their zone of genius each day.

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Then one day, it hit me. My weakest link wasn't a person, it was a PROCESS. Actually multiple?processes.

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Processes can make or break your team, and they can make or break your?culture. Ultimately, they can make or break your business.

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As we are entering?the final quarter of 2022, now is the perfect time to clean up your processes for 2023.

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Here are 5 steps we use to review and update our business processes to start the new year on the right track:

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1. A Quick Process Audit - Ask yourself the following questions.

• Which processes are documented?
• Of the process documented, how many do we use?
• What processes do we need to document?

2. Ask your team. You are the captain of the ship, but they do a lot of the work! Ask your team members what they do every day or every week that feels hard. Ask them for ideas that could make things easier. It's easy to get stuck in the day-to-day, in a routine, and not think about ways to get better. Take time to talk with them about what could improve.?

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3. Now dig into the processes you have documented. Is this process efficient? Is it costing us too much?time? Are there areas that could be delegated differently to utilize everyone's time better?

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Don't spend too long on this, make time to spend 5 minutes on each process. Hold on. I know what you're thinking - I have way too many documented processes to do this. Be smart about it. Pull out the top 20 most used processes within your company to look for areas for improvement. Always start with the processes that are most valuable and the ones that if broken, will show up in a big way.

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4. Document 5 new processes. Don't recreate the wheel, you're already doing these things in the business. Write them down. Draw them out. Shoot a video to walk through the steps. Don't overthink it. But, before you move on, ask yourself if what you documented is efficient. Are there areas for improvement? Follow the process in Step 2 each time you create a new process to ensure you're growing efficiently!

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5. CELEBRATE! Purposefully focusing on processes is not an easy thing to do. If you make it through all 5 steps, do something special for your team and yourself. Get pedicures, bring a cake into the office, and take a Friday afternoon off.?Take some time to reward yourself.

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WHEW! It's a process to make your processes better, isn't it??

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If you're having a difficult time understanding how to find and improve your business's "weakest link", click HERE to schedule a strategy call today!