The Importance of Having a Process

PROCESS POEMS are poems that make the process of writing the original poem more important than the intended product. These poems lend themselves as living demonstrations rather than explanations.

Which made us think of our approach to process.

Can we observe and appreciate the current events and hurtles in our business and enjoy designing a process that speaks to our culture and needs - a process that will enlighten us about our growth challenges as much as guide us forward on our journey.

The reality is that the-day -to-day work can bog us down at times. For example, what happens when the executive team can’t agree on the core business practices or priority of tasks and execution?

You may have started a project that provided valuable results, and you’d like to continue this practice on a regular basis. Do you take on this new project on your own and add to your already heavy workload? Do you delegate to your team? How do you manage the results and expectations going forward?

You need a process. A set of rules and guidelines to help you communicate the goals to your team and hold everyone accountable to deliver consistently. You may think that process is significant and perhaps redundant for your small business. You may already be using some general strategies in your business, but consider the importance of establishing procedures if you are serious about growth and a healthy work environment.

The importance of business processes.

• Offers Healthy Communication: An execution plan will help keep the team on track even when distractions or disagreements arise. Referring back to the process can alleviate pressure from personal preferences vs the overall intention.

• Improve Efficiency: Once the steps are clearly mapped out, time management and productivity are more efficient.

• Reduce Risk: A process lays out the most efficient way to manage the tasks which considers future shortcomings and reduce risks and long term expenses (ex: time/payroll)

• Part of Growth Strategy: The flexibility to pass on the process to new team members as the business grows.

• Option to Automate: After repeated results and monitoring, there may come a time to adopt new technology and automate a process down the line.

An effective business process can provide structure to your company and give you the support you need to grow successfully.

You’ll find that business processes increase agility within your company, simplifying change management.

With process documentation in place, it’s far easier to make and communicate a process change and to ensure that everyone is immediately following it.

Setting processes is a process in itself. It may take some time to identify the goals and plan, but that's part of the crucial steps in developing an efficient process. Give yourself and your team the time needed to strategize and implement slowly.