The only way your business can grow is if you delegate tasks to others to free up your time to focus on the big picture. But doing this is easier said than done. How do you provide all of the knowledge you have on a variety of tasks to someone else?
Why Create Procedures?
Documentation is the first step. Write procedures on how to do tasks you’d like to take off your plate.
Procedures are beneficial for a number of reasons:
- Allow you to train remote team members easily
- Provide assistance after a training session
- Reduce work errors when written effectively
- Lower employee turnover training costs
- Increase your overall business value
Getting into the habit of documenting tasks is the hardest part. It takes time upfront to write procedures. You need to first overcome the mental hurdle that you’re wasting your time by creating procedures.
Yes it’s true, you could do the task yourself and it would be done faster. But then your business can only grow as much as you yourself can handle.
Every house needs a strong foundation. Without one, every new story will come crashing down. Who wants to work at or purchase a business with a faulty foundation?
Writing Procedures
Start with a plan before you jump into creating procedures.
- Select the tasks you would like to delegate to others.
- Choose a location to store your procedures that is easily accessible to others such as Google Docs. There are also software solutions such as SweetProcess that can be of use to your organization.
- Consider security when writing procedures. Don’t save sensitive information such as passwords directly in your documents unless it’s saved in a secure space.
Write a procedure as if the person you were training was sitting next to you. Include screenshots and step-by-step instructions. Being overly detailed will only help when you are not there to answer questions.
Remember—a solid foundation takes time to build. Keep this in mind as you write your procedures.
Improving Procedures
Once your procedures are created, put them to the test. Allow your team members to improve upon your procedures. If they come across something that is missing, give them the freedom to update the procedure. When they find a more productive way to complete a task make sure they know you welcome their ideas.
There are usually many ways to do any given task. Procedures shouldn’t hinder your team’s growth or productivity. Communicating their purpose to your team from the start will help make them a positive tool you can build on for years to come.
