My number one piece of advice when it comes to capturing, clarifying, and improving your business processes is to start now.

Running your business from memory is not sustainable!

Processes are like recipes. Getting to the desired outcome requires including the right level of detail.

Clear and efficient processes don't just happen, and they don't happen overnight.

Have you ever wondered why some processes work so well and others fail? Perhaps your process isn’t clear enough.

Whether your business is a non-profit or for profit, and whether your talent is supporting other businesses behind the scenes, serving up the best coffee, or shaping the leaders of tomorrow, your best work happens when you focus on your joy.

I recently gave a presentation to a group of small business owners in Seattle about how documenting operations and other aspects of their business can help them run more efficiently.

“I’m in much better shape than I thought I was!”

The process of documenting your processes is actually pretty simple. Unfortunately, simple isn’t always easy. But, the right approach will make it much easier than you think.

But what does it mean to document? What exactly is documentation? I’ve found the term can be confusing. When I tell people that I help businesses document their operations, I’m often met with a blank stare. Sometimes people think I’m referring to writing official documents that relate to the government or some kind of regulation. Or, they think I’m writing employee policy manuals, something an HR consultant is more likely to do.

When you start a business, it all starts in your head. You have an idea, fuel it with passion, and then make it real. In the early days of running your business, creating documentation is usually low priority. Accumulated knowledge stays in your head while you figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Having the knowledge you need to get the outcome you want can make all the difference.

Stepping away from your business offers a fresh perspective and the relaxed state of mind for gaining valuable insights.

I’m fortunate to live near Narrative Coffee – the perfect place to imbibe a hot beverage, in a comfortable setting, on a dreary January day. Narrative not only offers great coffee, a delicious selection of uncommon herbal teas, and cookies baked fresh on site, they offer consistently great customer service.

Great service includes a way for their customers to bypass the line at the main counter, get their coffee fast, and go.

Meet the Honor Bar.

The goal is not perfection and the solution is not cookie-cutter. The goal is knowing what you want to accomplish, honoring your individuality, and moving forward along your path. Success is not gained in finding the person or persons who will tell you what to do, but rather enlisting support from those who will help move you towards your goals, using their unique set of knowledge, skills, and expertise that compliments your unique set of knowledge, skills, and expertise.

Remember the last time you were driving and one of those pesky warning lights showed up when it was most inconvenient? Or, you were trying to figure out how to turn on the lights for that rental car? After a futile attempt to figure it out through trial and error, you probably looked in the glove box, pulled out the owner’s manual, and found the information you needed.

Once you decide to create a personalized business operations manual to run your business more efficiently, you need to answer a very important question: will you write it yourself or have someone else do it? And, if someone else, who is the best person to delegate to?

Bill Marler’s post on a recent botulism outbreak emphasizes the need for clear operations protocol. An operations manual could have spelled out rules for record keeping, dispenser instructions, and safe temperature management.

Of course, the staff still need to read the manual and follow it, but it’s more likely they will, if the manual exists.