I’m a process guy — and I make no apologies for it. 

Clear, defined processes are one of the most overlooked ways to grow a business. 
In order to grow, business leaders need time to think strategically. To free up that time, they need to delegate. And delegating isn’t possible without a process. 

Much more than just an “ops thing”, there are processes in every part of your business, from paying invoices in finance to organizing events in marketing. 

Being able to recognize, document, and optimize processes is what sets a business up to scale. 

Ready To Grow 

Rather than getting into the habit of doing something that works for now, thinking about the process behind a task encourages you to take a step back and ask whether it will still work when there are double, triple, ten times the number of customers. 

With a process-first approach, when you get that sudden uptick in sales, there’s no missing out while you figure out stock issues or change systems to manage demand. You’re ready. 
Clear, defined, optimized processes are what make a business scalable. 

Accountability 

Process isn’t just about what needs doing, it’s about being 100% clear on who is responsible for doing it. 

It’s about performance, making sure nothing slips through the cracks. 
And it’s also about having clarity over your team’s workload and how it’s distributed between individual team members. 

Documenting a process means you don’t overlook that small but crucial task someone in your team always takes care of. 

Everyone’s responsibilities and contributions are recognized. 
 
Flexing Your Resources 

Well-documented processes also give you more flexibility and options when it comes to managing your resources. 

If someone’s off sick or leaves the business, there’s a blueprint on where to start. 
It also opens up different ways of resourcing a team’s workload, allowing you to delegate processes that don’t have to be done by a certain person. 

When we were swamped with work at Meyer Dunlap, we set ourselves the goal of outsourcing 70% of each person’s role. For our team, that allowed them to really focus on the remaining 30%. For the business, it gave us more time to do the thinking, allowing us to grow. 
 
Get It On (Digital) Paper

One study estimated that only 4% of companies consistently document their processes, and a Forrester report found that 97% of organizations hadn’t captured their processes digitally. 
I was part of that majority at Meyer Dunlap. I used to think that if everything was working well, you didn’t need a process. It was my co-owner who actually wrote out our first process and convinced me of the value. 

The way you document a process matters. 

Rather than using fancy programs with a learning curve, make it as easy as possible to document processes by using Microsoft Word or Google docs — whatever you already know and use. 
Without a clear process, delegation isn’t possible. That’s why it’s something we work through with every single client as part of our 4D™ process. 
 
Process Is A Process

Like almost all things in business, processes need to grow and change. 

Challenges and opportunities change. Technology changes. Your clients and the market changes.

 
It’s not about waiting until something’s broken to re-engineer it. It’s about proactively looking again to see where there are opportunities to simplify or improve a process. 

Even process itself, is a process. 

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