The importance of business procedures

Procedure documentation can make or break your business. Taking the time to write your procedures down from day one can save you so much time after launching your endeavor. It might take some time to sort out how to perfect the processes and rules that operate your day-to-day operation, but take some time to jot down notes in the meantime. It’s like writing down your family’s favorite recipes for someone else to use. 

This is especially important for times of rapid growth or scaling. Not having a documented procedure can leave your employees in the dark… or even worse confused and unproductive. This could result in a huge loss of revenue as the focus is shifted on putting out fires instead of activity that generates revenue. 

Here are some steps to document procedures: 

• Identify the baseline of your operation and clarify how you use this in your business. It could be software or a series of steps to complete a task, but there’s something that runs your operation daily. Name it. 
• Identify what needs to go into your business and what is the result of that activity. For example, does someone need to check and respond to general inquiries in a mailbox every morning in order to generate new leads? This is identifying inputs and outputs. 
• Identify things that need to get done in order to complete daily tasks. This is a great way to set a guide of daily tasks that should be completed daily. This is identifying activities. 
• Identify how those activities should get completed and document the workflow. 
• Identify who will complete the tasks and assign responsibilities. 

Your businesses’ processes and procedures will remain fluid throughout its existence. It’s important to review these on a regular basis and make changes, as needed. 

Comments