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Systemise Your Business and Make it a Turnkey Operation
By bpjames | December 21, 2009
A large part of business success is being able to manage high levels of activity on a daily basis with consistency and efficiency whilst maintaining quality standards. In order to achieve these aims you want robust systems in place for all you key operating areas. For example these might include marketing, finance, people and risk management. A systemised business also has greater intrinsic value to any potential purchaser of your business.
By being more systems reliant rather than people reliant you are able to manage standards of performance and complete projects on time and within budget. Your people of course need to be valued and recognised however if they are trained to use your systems you are able to manage tasks more consistently. Your staff will be more productive and you are able to manage staff turnover more effectively with robust systems in place.
The majority of regular tasks and activities can be systemised by viewing them as inter-related projects. For example invoicing, credit control, marketing campaigns, staff recruitment and development are just some of the multitude of elements you can form into an efficient system. Here are some of the key elements you want to consider for all your major projects:
- Ascertain a business case
- Have clear objectives
- Plan timings, cost control and quality factors
- Determine and manage resource requirements
- Ensure a customer focus
- Measure and evaluate outcomes objectively
- Refine and review the process
There are a myriad of different directions you can take and numerous markets you can pursue as part of your business development. Have clear guiding principles. Consider the reasons you are undertaking particular tasks and projects. How well do they link to your strategic goals and do they represent a high enough priority to warrant your energies and resources? What will be the key deliverables and how will you receive a return on your investment of time and money? Remember you can always undertake a trial to test the feasibility of your plans.
Your objectives should be as specific as possible with defined deadline dates and clear timings. The usual SMART criteria apply. That is how they will be measured and how achievable and realistic they are.
In order to manage your projects on a minute-by-minute basis you will need a clear understanding of the critical path tasks to be carried out. Think about when the earliest task starts. When does the latest task end and when does each of the intermediate tasks start and end. The use of tools such as Gantt charts can be very helpful. A Gantt chart is simply a bar chart listing each task with start and end times shown graphically. How do the tasks relate to each other and in what sequence must they take place?
Consider all the resource requirements. This includes timescales, accurate costing and people resources. What skills will be needed to achieve quality standards and are those skills available in-house? Will you need to retrain staff our outsource some of the project elements? Adopt learning rather than a blaming culture. If something is not operating well there are only two reasons for it not working. They are: Either the system is flawed or the system is being operated incorrectly. The first is a function of refinement and the second is a training need.
Think carefully about how any project will enhance your customer base, customer satisfaction levels, likely referrals, your company image or brand. Where possible involve your customers and other stakeholders in the process. Gather feedback and manage expectations with care.
Agree a regular review process for longer term projects. How are you going to keep the project and those involved on track and maintain momentum? Make sure you monitor everything so it can be measured at each stage with milestones and so tasks can be evaluated and refined.
Brian.
Topics: Systemisation |
December 21st, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I must say this is a great article i enjoyed reading it keep the good work
January 20th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Thank you very much for that splendid article