#written procedures

     You are a smart person. You know how to prepare for a sales call, how to invoice your clients, how to prioritize your time. You've developed a set of skills that you apply routinely to accomplish the myriad tasks required to keep your business running. 

Is it better to follow a written procedure or to function from memory? Here are three top reasons to have written procedures.

Consistency

It's safer and easier to accomplish a task with a checklist (a very simple procedure) than without one. By following the same procedure every time, you will be able to maintain consistent quality and prevent errors. That's why airline pilots and brain surgeons use them. You'll also share the advantage that pilots and surgeons have--freeing your brain for higher level work. 

Scalability

Imagine completely running out of capacity. You cannot take on another project or client, but you want to grow. It will be time to delegate some of your work. Delegation is far easier, less distracting, and more likely to succeed starting from a set of already written and battle-tested procedures. Without procedures, assigning tasks to new helpers is frustrating and often fails.

Improvement

Once your procedures are written, you can review and improve them without having to use your brain capacity to recall every single step. The extra perspective you gain from just looking over the written instructions allows you to see new possibilities. 

Try this:

Identify an important task that doesn't have a written procedure.

Make a simple checklist from the required steps.

Use the checklist over the span of one week -- actually checking the steps as you perform them.

Next week, ask yourself: "How can I improve this process?"

If you find you have difficulty sitting still long enough to write down your common business practices, hire an assistant to follow you around and have them write down everything you do. Put it aside for a week or two and meet with your assistant to go over the list. You may find that there are activities that you are engaging in that can be delegated to someone else once the process for it is written down. Continue to hone the information until you are ready to give it to someone else to follow. Ask for feedback to make sure that what you wrote is understood by someone who is following your instructions.

The perspective you gain by abstracting your work into procedures will help you to develop a deeper understanding of your business and of its possibilities.

Are you currently facing business challenges? The first step to addressing your issue is to create a crystal clear description of your specific situation. Then you’ll be able to see your options and involve others in solving the problem. My Discovery Guide will help you create your crystal clear description. Download your free copy now.