The Covid-19 pandemic is undoubtedly causing tough times for many people. However, it has also given business owners the opportunity to reprioritise or rethink decisions that were previously right but are no longer tenable, and to shift their focus to continue driving success. The pandemic has also brought about a different way of doing things for many business owners and they are having to quickly respond to these changes. Consumers have changed expectations, businesses are having to diversify or change the way they operate. Business systemisation could be essential for your business during the pandemic.
Here are the top 3 reasons to systemise your business in a pandemic;
- Reduce Key Person Dependency: businesses know too well the unnecessary stress caused when a key staff member is unexpectedly out sick, injured or just isn’t available. During the pandemic, this could be more of a problem, but can also be an ongoing problem for business owners regardless. Relying on key staff members can cause projects to grind to a halt, work can pile up and there can also be delays in the customer experience. By systemising a business, two people will be always trained in how to do a particular task. Therefore, if someone is out unexpectedly, the second in command can still do payroll or deal with a customer complaint or fix the boiler or whatever needs to be done, simply by following the documented procedure which they have been trained up in. This reduces what’s known as “Key Person Dependency” and gives business owners greater peace of mind knowing that all the knowledge isn’t stored in one employee’s head, or the owners head. It is well documented and anyone trained in it can pick up the slack.
- Keep all employees accountable in an efficient and transparent way: accountability is key in general, but particularly in a pandemic. Businesses now have more things to do, to check, to clean, prepare etc. particularly in sectors such as hospitality and retail. Employees therefore have more things to remember and do. But what if there is a day, where they forget to do something really important or they do not take the care to do something properly! You might already have some kind of “open checklist” but it might not be running with maximum efficiency and transparent accountability. Systemising with my fool proof checklist ensures employees sign off that all the steps were completed correctly, with a signature. This encourages people to ensure its completed properly and also if something isn’t done correctly, the person responsible is visible to the Manager. Very quickly with this level of accountability, the business will be streamlined for maximum efficiency and transparent accountability.
- Free up time to work strategically on your business: the pandemic has not only sucked more time from business owners to deal with problems, challenges and changes but is also offering opportunities to innovate and grow. Many consumers have changed expectations, businesses are having to diversify their offering, and some have had to change the way they operate. If you’re a business owner that is sucked up in the day to day operations of your business, you will find very little time to work on your business and you could be not leveraging growth opportunities. This is where business systemisation comes in. You can systemise your business to such an extent that it runs without you, freeing up the time to work on your business strategically. Imagine having spare time each week to develop new ideas that could grow your business, without having to use any of your spare personal time?
If you are a business owner who would like to discuss Business Mentoring and Business Systemisation, book a Discovery Call here and we can also check if you are eligible for complimentary mentoring from your Local Enterprise Office.
