The Complete Guide To Simplify A Process

Your small business can get complicated very quickly.  Reviewing and setting up processes will help you get your business back in shape more quickly before it gets out of hand. Today, we’re discussing ways to take action and simplify a process in your business so it works more effectively for you. Whether you are a solopreneur or have a few employees, streamlining your systems will save you money and make room for additional clients (Affiliate Link). Read more below if you want to get more customers, take action, and simplify your processes using these easy-to-follow steps.

How to simplify a procedure in a small business

First, let’s determine what needs to be changed.

Create a list of processes that you need to review to help streamline your business.

These processes can be internal administrative or external processes completed daily, weekly, or monthly.

For internal business processes, review your daily tasks and determine the time required to complete them.

Focus on the tasks that take several hours.  These are the ones that you will be able to improve upon immediately in the process. Outline the tasks specifically for each method to determine which one takes the longest time.  Then, work on revising the job that takes the most time. If other people are involved in the process, have them review the steps with you to see if it makes sense to revise that part.

Send out a survey to clients for direction on simplifying a process.

For external client-based procedures that directly impact customers, consider sending out a detailed survey to ask them which strategy you should revise first, based on their feedback on what needs improvement.

Give the customers no more than a week to do the survey. Feel free to send the survey to the client a few days later to ensure they have seen it. If you send them at least two emails about a survey, they are more likely to take the questionnaire. Just watch not to bombard them with spammy messages.

Now that you know which process you want to work on, you need to determine when to implement the changes.

Make a list of times in your week that will allow you the time to simplify your business.

Pick a day that is less busy for you and allows you to finish a few hours of review. Friday afternoon and Sunday evenings work well. Adding these recurring block-out times to your calendar will help you stay focused and get the improvement done quickly.

Now, it’s time to write out the process if you don’t have it.

Remember to include every single step. It may sound silly, but it helps determine where the process starts breaking down. Here’s an example to describe each step: Make three copies for John Doe, Bill Smith, and Karen Samuel. Don’t worry if you feel the list of tasks is too long.  The goal is to reduce the task steps by at least 25%; more is even better. The more tasks you have written down, the more transparent it is.

With the procedures spelled out in front of you, you can see what steps are redundant and wasteful. Go even further and ask yourself these questions:

1. Is the person who is responsible for this task the right person?
2. Does the person in this role possess the necessary skills to perform it effectively?
3. Who could help you do these tasks more efficiently?
4. Is there an app or device that will help you simplify this task?
5. Are there smaller steps that need to be written down on a checklist (Affiliate Link)? Does the list need to be updated if you already have a checklist (Affiliate Link)?

Now, write down the answers for that process on a separate piece of paper.

I prefer rewriting the procedure to incorporate the necessary changes and eliminate unnecessary steps.  Ask a coworker or significant other to be your sounding board if this feels overwhelming. Vocalizing the steps and the new modifications helps you see if the steps flow smoothly from one to the other.

Now, how do your tasks look in your written document?

It’s time to use the checklist (Affiliate Link) to see if you can simplify the process. Test it to see if it saved you time and money. How did it go? Please share your questions and comments below, and I will respond as soon as possible.

If you feel overwhelmed, please don’t hesitate to visit my Virtual Admin Services or Procedure Evaluations and Refinement Services to learn more about my services.

Looking for more information on this topic? If you need more information on this process, feel free to visit these posts below:

How to create change in the workplace

Improving Business Processes

Please note that these are affiliate links through Amazon, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn affiliate fees if you decide to make a purchase.