How to Develop Systems and Processes

Dec 2, 2022 | Listen

How to Develop Systems and Processes

If running your business feels like you’re in a hamster wheel, you might find it challenging to cultivate growth.

When you’re bogged down by admin-related to-do’s, serving customers, managing your people, and more, you’re missing out on opportunities that can boost sales – and your business.

This is where systems and processes come into play, and having them in place can help you achieve sustainable expansion across your entire operations.

But how do you go about developing systems and processes? And how do you set them up to ensure the success of your business?

In today’s episode, our guest Jordan Schanda King gives us her insights on the importance of SOPs in your business, whatever the size.



Timestamps for this week’s episode

  • 02:06 Why should your business have systems and processes in place and what happens when it doesn’t?

  • 04:49 How do you create SOPs? Are there specific tests and formats one must follow?

  • 20:25 Who is the best person to create these SOPs? Should it be the business owner, team members immersed in the actual work, or an outsourced operations team?

  • 22:32 How often should you go back and revisit your SOPs?

  • 26:52 What is the next actionable step to take this week to get started on creating SOPs for their business?

Why should your business have systems and processes in place?

Systems and processes help you save time, keep how things are done in your business consistently, and identify opportunities to optimize, which can lead to growth and drive revenues.

A system does not have to be complicated. It saves time, makes things more consistent in how things are done in your business and identifies opportunities. How to develop SOPs in your business

How do you create SOPs? Are there specific tests and formats one must follow?

Creating SOPs depends on the exact type you are developing.

You can create SOPs in a manual, so it is detailed and exact, with every step noted down and pictures to go with it.

However, you can also create SOPs in other formats, such as a checklist, video, or a combination of different forms.

It goes back to the objective and purpose of the particular SOP you are working on because an SOP that you create to train or onboard someone or to show them how to do something for the very first time is going to look very different than an SOP used in an ongoing basis for something like quality control for example.

“In a perfect world, we would have all of our SOPs before we scale or grow or bring people on to our team. But in real life it doesn’t happen that way – and that’s okay.” – Jordan Schanda King

Who is the best person to create these SOPs?

This will depend on the particular business, but a lot of times, the actual creation or development becomes a facilitated process between the following:

  • the person creating the SOPs (the operations manager, for example)
  • the business owner
  • the subject matter expert, or whoever’s doing the actual task.
Efficiency is important. But effectiveness is also important. How to develop SOPs in your business

How often should you go back and revisit your SOPs?

Developing your systems and processes must be in a usable format. If they are functional – and they are being used – you won’t have to think about going back to audit or fix them to make sure that they’re still accurate because you’re using them in real-time.

You can immediately update the process if you come up with a better or more efficient way to do something. That’s how they will evolve and change in real-time.

“You don’t want to create a (systems and processes) manual that nobody ever looks at. You want these to be living, functional documents that people are in ,all the time,.” – Jordan Schanda King

Actionable Step

The easiest thing to do is to start documenting how you do certain tasks in real time.

Make a list of SOPs, such as onboarding new hires, cybersecurity protocols and purchasing protocols for example, you think you need to create, pick one, and document that in real time when you do it.

You can either record your screen as you’re doing it or maybe you need to get on a call with a colleague or team member who can talk it out with you or who can ask you questions about the process. These are the two best ways to get started without it getting overwhelming.

And then you can transcribe what you come up with into a checklist or have them turn it into a checklist or more.


Summary

  • Systems and processes keep a business productive, efficient, and consistent which can lead to growth and drive revenues.
  • When creating SOPs, consider the main objective or why you need to develop them at all.
  • The best people to create your company’s SOPs are the business owner, the one actually doing the work, and the person plotting out the SOP.
  • If your processes are in usable formats, you’ll be able to make changes almost immediately and in real-time.
  • Observe and document how you do certain tasks in real-time and either record your screen or speak to a colleague or team member who can evaluate.

Transcript

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About guest – Jordan Schanda King

Contract COO and Founder

Easy Scaling

Jordan is a serial entrepreneur and expert in business optimization. She runs a Contract COO + Team agency specializing in full operations management for coaches and service providers. With an all-female team of VAs, Copywriters, Marketers, Social Media Managers, and Tech Gurus, they help female founders scale without burning out so they can build a sustainable business they love.

After learning the hard way how to run a business that she loves (while also growing her family), Jordan is excited to share her expertise with other women on this entrepreneurial journey.

Website – https://www.easyscaling.com/

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-schanda-king

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jordanschandakin/

Email: hello@easyscaling.com

Other Resources Mentioned in the Episode:

Tom Ferriss | The 4-Hour Workweek – https://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Workweek-Escape-Live-Anywhere/dp/0307465357


About host – Kathy Svetina

Kathy Svetina is a Fractional CFO for growing small businesses with $10M+ in annual revenue.

Clients hire her when they’re unsure about what’s going on in their finances, are stressed out by making financial decisions, or need to structure their finances to keep up with their growth.

She solves their nagging money mysteries and builds a financial structure with a tailored financial strategy. That way they can grow in a financially healthy and sustainable way.

Kathy is based in Chicago, IL and works with clients all over the US.

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