A nifty conversion by Doc in the movie "Back to the Future" turned this car into a time machine. Think about converting how you work so you can create time for yourself!
You’ve got the people and they work on all aspects of your business. But things keep falling over, unless you’re there to make sure they stay up.
How do you get away? What can you leave behind to drive things in your absence, so you get time back and can create time for yourself?
You need something to get your people, process and technology to work together, without fail, while you’re not there.
Hoping everyone will do the right thing is pointless. State clearly how you want things done in your SOPs.
Document your SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures)
Why do it?
SOP’s – become your machine, to keep the spinning plates up
How do I do it?
- think of them as a list of rules - how do you want things done?
- must be written down - for you to be sure what you want and to be delegated properly
- clarity over beauty – just get them down and worry about formatting later
- use initial burst with a typist - brainstorming with someone else to get you going
- then set time weekly to document rules - until you have enough
- something almost perfect is better than nothing - waiting for perfection will stop you delegating
What's a nice example?
- Tim Ferriss's processing rules (link)
What does a good procedure look like? 5 Levels of Maturity
- level 1) does the job – instructions to do the job
- level 2) to standard – checklist, forms, descriptions, colours detail the standard
- level 3) low risk – pitfalls designed out
- level 4) low-cost – cut steps out or automate
- level 5) delight customer – build loyalty
How do I put them in place?
- share - a walkthrough or training
- monitor - review in meetings, reporting and audits
- improve - if things aren’t working, change them