Would you pour coffee on your toast? Issue #023

Today I want to talk about business processes. They are always there, but most of the time we are not aware that we follow a process. Preparing your breakfast is a process, you do it automatically, but still - it's a process, you had learned it at some stage, and - you wouldn't pour the coffee onto your toast - or would you?

Do we need processes in our business?

Yes, we do, to prevent costly mistakes, to save some time, and to standardise tasks.

When we do things, most of the time we just do them, without thinking much of it. It's routine, and it's in our heads.

And then comes the time when you can't do the jobs in your business and you need to have someone else do them - and then - what?

How can you explain to someone else what you are doing and why you are doing it the way you do it?

That's when business processes come in handy. At the basics, they cover the main steps and tasks for a specific process, written down, and accessible to the staff members you chose.

Once written down, they usually become clearer and quite often you discover that a step or task is really obsolete or could be done differently.

The Why

Without business processes, you would run your business like in a hamster wheel. Doing, doing, no matter what, just to be exhausted at the end of the day.

Business processes give you the certainty that you do the different tasks in a defined and streamlined way, no more time wasted, no more why? what? when?

You work on certain tasks and they come easily to you because you've done them a thousand times. From time to time you struggle a bit, it seems there is something not quite as streamlined as it could be but - you've done it always that way, so why change?

Sometimes talking to someone and clarifying why you do things a certain way, gives you a fresh view of your workflow, and you then understand that refining helps improve the overall picture.

Talk to me – I can help you with that!