Organizing your business can seem complicated at the outset. After all, your company has many moving parts, and taking time to organize can feel like slowing down or pausing production.
Recently, Business Success Consulting Group CEO Adi Klevit interviewed the CEO of Art Steps, Hilary Key. In this discussion, Hilary shared a vital insight that most company owners know in their hearts but have difficulty implementing. That is:
“When a company is organized, it grows….Money is not attracted to messes.”
This philosophy has allowed Hilary to create simple systems inspired by The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. In the article below, we share the simple steps she and her staff always follow, along with how she gets staff buy-in for systematization.
Using systems to help new hires and support existing employees
Every position in Hilary’s business has three things:
1. A job description
2. A support document
3. A checklist
This is based on the idea of stewardship delegation found in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
The idea is to trust the people you hire to be responsible for their work, while giving them support and guidance as needed. The responsibility piece is covered by providing a thorough job description and following a strict onboarding process so that new hires understand what is expected of them.
Then, support is provided through the support document and the checklist. The checklist can be synced with an individual’s calendar, and they can edit and add things to both documents as they learn their role and understand how they can accomplish tasks more efficiently or as new duties fall under their purview.
Providing both the support and the ability to let people get on with their jobs requires a robust onboarding system and organized support documents and checklists. That may sound like a lot of work, but most of the work can be done by people who previously held the position. Below is how Hilary gets buy-in from employees to organize.
How to get your team to document everything
Documentation can feel like “yet another thing to do” and become a burden. However, the way Hilary and her team frame it, documentation is a kindness you are doing for another.
She presents it as providing resources for others who will need to hold down the position if the current employee gets sick, wants to take a vacation, or has an unforeseen situation come up. Acknowledging that each employee is doing vital work but also needs support if they have to be absent encourages the team to keep their support documents and checklists up-to-date.
Additionally, leadership has already bought into the “document everything” culture. The leaders in her company also update their checklists and support documents during meetings or when something new arises. They are vocal about this and talk to their team to share what’s been updated. This allows leadership also to take that sick day or well-deserved vacation, which means everyone in the company has a “support one another” mindset.
At the end of the day, an organized company has a firm base from which it can grow. Additionally, it is a more attractive place to work for those at the top of their field. So, making documentation and organization part of the culture goes far in business expansion.
Find out more about how business processes can benefit your company. Contact Business Success Consulting Group today.
