Organize your business so you can do your job

During the early phase of business development or re-engineering, your brainpower and sweat equity should go into the design and creation of your business model and business systems -- not into micromanaging.

Spend time developing systems and performance standards early so that you can lead later on. Simplify these systems so you can be as effective as possible, not only for efficiency.

Design an overall business template, one that encompasses all aspects of your business. Set goals, expectations, and standards for each of these areas as you develop them. Define and organize the work to be done rather than micromanaging the employees. The more you systematize your business, the less everyone will rely on you for day-to-day questions and assistance. You will minimize those nagging "got a minute?" interruptions from your employees. Also, the system you develop takes your place so you can step out of the trenches and function as CEO. Replace yourself with the system!

Your mission is to plan and design the system and then let your employees work the system -- develop the recipe and then let the employees do the cooking. Get out of the hot kitchen. Your employees should understand their roles and function within and according to the system. Once defined and documented, processes, policies and practices should be followed carefully. As a business owner, your role is to measure and monitor the processes and systems that you have in place.

With help from employees and your business advisers, identify and document all the processes, procedures and policies. You want to get frank feedback at this stage to ensure that you have an effective business model laid out first before you start documenting your business system. Use this feedback to develop more effective and streamlined operations. Start with customers' perceived needs and work backward, redesigning your business so that it consistently and predictably fulfills the promises made to a customer during the selling process. Be sure all your back-office processes (accounting, finance, HR, technology, administration, etc.) are in alignment to effectively support the operations of the company. Design or repair any processes that are missing or faulty.

Routine work should be fully systematized, and only exceptions should be dealt with on an ad-hoc or improvised basis. Make sure your staff understands what constitutes an exception. Additionally, staff should understand that some procedures are guidelines rather than cold, hard rules that have to be followed or else. A system should eliminate arbitrary work and discretion. Your employees must have the discipline to follow the system and also have the freedom and authority to handle the exceptions that do not fit neatly into the system. As a rule of thumb, 80 percent to 90 percent of the issues that arise should be covered by systems you have developed.

Continually refine and update your systems to handle more problems, working toward 90 percent and higher. Before you develop a new procedure to handle a problem or issue, make sure that this is not a one-time occurrence. That is very ineffective and adds unnecessary complexity to your business. Because most potential problems and crises have been properly anticipated and converted into routine processes, "fire drills" will become a thing of the past.

Once your system is fully documented and your employees are running the system, you need to let go, trust the system and your team, and step away from the day-to-day workflow. With this approach, 12-hour days no longer need to be the norm. Once you allow the integrated system to run, the system itself and your employees will do the necessary work to fulfill promises made to your customers. You will not have to work as hard or as long. With effective systems, ordinary employees (properly trained) can achieve consistently extraordinary results.

The system is your solution to more freedom, fulfillment and profits. Again, plan and develop the system and let others operate the system. It is also the key to selling your business for more money when you are ready.

John S. Benjamin owns The Growth Coach in Greeley. For more information, questions or comments, go to www.front rangecoaching.com, e-mail j.benjamin@thegrowthcoach.com or call (970) 346-0101.