Realize Your Business

Author: Geri Schneider Winters

Everyone says you need to document your business processes some how. There are many ways you can do this, including use cases, process maps, and mind maps. The big difficulty many people have is not the tools, but getting started. How do you know what to document? How do you get the information? I work with a lot of people to document their business processes, and here are some things I do:

Determine what your business activities are

Get in the habit of writing notes about what you do all day long. This does not have to be time consuming. I do it once an hour, or whenever I finish a task and start a new one. Just make a note in a calendar or time management program or on a piece of paper. I like to put it in my PDA calendar, because that is very convenient for me. Write something like – “3 -4 pm Wrote Newsletter Article and posted it to autoresponder.” This does not tell you in detail what you are doing, but it will provide you a list of the activities you do all day long in your business. Try this for a week, then at the end of the week, make a list of the things you have done for your business. Each thing on that list can be documented as a business process.

You will probably need to do this for longer than a week, because there are cycles in a business – some things you do daily, some weekly, some monthly, and some yearly. If you ever think you will want to do consulting or mentoring, then get in the habit now of writing a note about everything you did and how long it took. You will need that when billing customers for your time.

Write how you do each activity

Once you have a list of the things you do, then you can write notes about how you do those things. Look at one thing on the list and write some notes about how you do it. I like to do this while I am doing the activity (if that is possible) because then I will write all the steps of what I do.

If you are not sure how you do the activity, or you are having trouble writing the information, then enlist the help of a friend, family member, or business partner to find this information. The easiest approach is for you to demonstrate what you do while the other person takes notes on how you do it. Alternatively, another person can interview you, and you can describe what you do to them while they take notes.

When I work with people to determine what they do, my preference is to sit with the person and have him or her show me what he or she does. My second choice is an interview. My third choice is to make a guess about how the process works, send that guess to the person, and ask them to make corrections.

You will get the most accurate information if you (or someone else) write notes while the activity is being done.

Make a manual

Now that you have the activity written, you can review your notes to see if that is the best way to do the job. You might want to make changes because there is a better way. Once you are happy with the process, then you can make a page for a manual. This might be just text, or you can take the written notes and put them into another form you like, such as use cases, process maps, flow charts, or mind maps. You might add screen shots to help explain the process.

This manual is something you can use for yourself for tasks that are not common. I frequently forget exactly how to do some things because I only do them once or twice a year. My notes from the previous year save me a lot of time. You can also use the manual to train someone to do those activities the way you want them done.

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Now it is your turn.

If you are not recording how you spend your time, find a way to make this easy for you to do, and start doing it immediately.

Once you have at least a week’s worth of business activities, make a list of all the things you do for the business.

Once you have a list of the business activities you do, start making notes about how you do them.

Over time, you will create a manual of operations that you can use for yourself or any employees you hire.

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* Article used with permission from Wyyzzk, Inc.’s Realize Your Business website at http://www.realizeyourbusiness.com This website of reports and tips contains information to help you succeed as the Owner/Manager of a small business.

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