How to create the right effective systems in place in your business
A system is defined as an organized framework or method. It can be a set of procedures that determine how something is done.
Why do you need effective systems for your business?
The right systems allow your business to run better. It will be more efficient, productive, and profitable. When you get the right systems in place, your business will require less direct supervision, allowing your business to work for you. This frees up your time to focus on the things that really matter.
Benefits
There are lots of benefits to setting up systems for your business. Below are five of the top benefits you’ll get when you create business systems:
- Systems can increase customer satisfaction.
When your business has the right systems in place, you can consistently offer a certain level of care to your customers. Chick-fil-a is famous for polite and efficient employees who say “my pleasure” in response to thanks. Their fast service and surprisingly efficient drive-thru are possible because they have systems in place.
- Systems can create consistent results.
Systems allow your business to do the same thing the exact same way each time it’s done. Systems are like recipes. When using a recipe, you know that combining the same ingredients in a certain way will produce the same result each time.
Systems do the same thing for your business. When you have the right systems in place, you can ensure that the same actions will be taken to produce consistent results.
- Systems can make employees (including yourself) more effective.
Systems are important for informing employees exactly how their job should be done. This also allows employees to do their job better and faster. It will result in an overall improvement in employee effectiveness. And satisfaction.
When it comes time to scale your business, the right systems will help you hire and train employees.
- Systems reduce costs.
When tasks take less time, the cost to provide a product or service is decreased. Saved time is always saved money, even when the time is your own. Systems also allow each employee to do more work, leading to higher productivity and profitability.
- Systems can help you solve problems.
When running a business, problems are inevitable. However, systems can help you determine a course of action. These systems can help you get your business back on track after setbacks.
The Key is SIMPLICITY
With that said, you’ll save the most time when your systems are simple. You should always be looking for ways to simplify processes while retaining the same quality in your business.
As you hire, you want information about your systems that will help train new employees. However, you want to make sure your training materials are simple enough that new employees can learn and implement them quickly. Overly complex systems, when unnecessary, will be counterproductive.
Your Commitment to Business Systems
As the CEO of a business, it’s your responsibility to create, sustain, and improve systems in your business.
At every step in your business, you should be creating systems that help your business run with less of your time and energy. While your initial systems will be used to save your time, they may eventually be used to free up time for hired employees.
As your business grows, you’re also responsible for sustaining systems within your company. It won’t help your business if you create systems that no one is using. Everyone should be trained to use your business’ systems. They should know why that system is in place and how it saves them time.
Not all systems will work for all time. You should feel empowered to make changes to systems that aren’t producing desired results. When you hire employees, make sure they feel empowered to voice concerns about systems that are no longer relevant to your business.
There’s an old story about a woman who was cooking a ham for a holiday meal. Her mom was in the kitchen chatting while the woman cut off both ends of the ham before putting it in the oven. Puzzled, the woman’s mother asked, “Why did you do that?”
The woman replied, “That’s how you always did it growing up” The woman’s mother laughed and said, “That’s because it didn’t fit in the pan otherwise!” Make sure your business isn’t doing things just because that’s how they’ve always been done. When you use systems only because they’ve been used before, you may be unnecessarily cutting off the ends of your ham (so to speak).
Conclusion
Take time to consider the systems you have in place to run your business. Are there things you can implement to make things easier for you and your employees? Make sure that you’re building systems that will allow your business to grow. Even if the only person you’re managing is yourself, systems will allow you to do more with your business.
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