Is documenting your processes your nemesis?

If you are anything like me, then TOTALLY they are likely always on your to-do list.  Ever moving from week to week.  But as of now, NO MORE!

I am personally challenging you in Episode 63 of this week’s Feed U Podcast to tackle one process in your business.  Why you may ask?  Because, simply, it is THE only way you will be able to scale and grow.

That’s a pretty bold statement, Alisa.  Whatchya got to back that up?  I could give you lots of facts and figures, but the reality is this.  If you don’t write down the things that you do in your business, there is NO WAY you can give them to someone else that you hire to be on your team.  If you don’t know what you are going to give them, then how can you hire them? It’s a hamster wheel and I TOTALLY get it.  Which is why I’m taking the same challenge myself.

In Episode 63 I dive into the hamster wheel a little deeper.  Give it a listen.

Here’s what I learned when documenting my podcast process (which is a RIDICULOUS amount of 28 steps by the way).  You can get all the details by tuning in here to listen to the entire episode.

How to start Process-ize-ing your business:

1. Choose one process to focus on.

Choose the process that takes the most time and that will free up your day.  Look at it and ask yourself, do I even like doing this task?  If the answer is no, then you need to outsource that bad boy IMMEDIATELY.  In fact, there may be components of your business that you REALLY liked in the beginning, but they don’t bring you joy anymore.  I totally have a little bit of that going on in my business right now.  So, my answer is I need to find someone for my team that would LOVE to do those tasks.  I give some other examples here.  One last requirement for the process you pick, it needs to be something that you repeat regularly.  So no “one-off” tasks, because seriously, how is that going to help you out long-term?

2.  Start writing down the steps.

Yep, this is where the good times start.  (Kidding) This is the NOT fun part of process-ize-ing. But it is necessary.  The best way to document that process while you are completing it.  Trust me, it can be difficult. Especially if the process is stretched out over a long period of time like website design and build. But, when you write it down you will realize why it is taking up so much time.  You will also become aware of the possibility that it can be simplified and most importantly how quickly you can give it to someone else.  I talk more about that here. Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be perfect and that you have to start somewhere. 

3.  Ask yourself which of the steps in the process are a must.
Is there a way to simplify the process?  If so, open up a new document and start simplifying the process.  Next, you need to test your new process and make sure that you didn’t eliminate something critical and that the process still works.  A great way to test this is to ask someone on your team or in your circle to read through the process and question them on the ease of implementation.  Keeping the process down to simple steps will work best, even if there are many steps.  Complicated steps lend themselves to confusion and confusion leads to errors.

4.  Are there steps that can be automated.

A great way to simplify a process is to take pieces and automate them.  I give the example of recording an intro and an outro for the podcast that I can then edit in for each episode.  I create this once for each quarter and then it’s done.  It eliminates a lot of extra recording and editing.  Better yet, record the outro and outsource the editing to someone else. Learn more about that in the episode here.  The idea is to create systems that save you time.

Lastly, I walk you through the idea of creating a thought bubble to get started in the episode, here are the steps I cover:

1. Write out an overview of the different processes in your business.  I use the example of clouds

2. Choose one bubble (area) that you will create a process for.

3. Write out the process.

4. Implement the process making note of any of the changes you make along the way.

5. Test the process and changes.

6. Revise the process as needed.

7. Simplify the process to as few steps as possible.

Which process are you going to document and outsource in your business? 

Come and tell me on the Facebook Page where I talk all things online business growth, specifically sales funnels, branding and WordPress.

Listen to the entire episode here:

Download Episode Transcript

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