How much of your week is spent doing the same things each day? If you’re like me, you’ll probably find that you spend a great deal of time on similar tasks week in and week out. Mapping out these repeatable things to do and turning them into business processes can be a game-changer for your business. Doing this will:

• Your days will be more efficient, and you will be in control of how you use your time and energy.
• With your processes mapped out, you can look for other ways to make each more streamlined and flexible.
• You can delegate most of these daily tasks to others so that you can focus on higher-level work. Cha-ching.
• Clearly defined business processes will allow you to scale as you grow, and this will NEVER happen if you keep doing things the same way.

The time you take now to map these out thoroughly will save you a great deal of time and energy later.

WHAT TASKS CAN YOU DOCUMENT?

Without thinking about it, you can probably name a few things you do each day that you can turn into your business processes. Go through your typical day and start to make a list.

An even better way to figure out exactly how you spend your time is to do a time audit. This involves detailing your time for several days so you can see where you’re actually spending it. You may find that you’re spending much more time than you thought on the same repetitive tasks that bring little results.

START YOUR PROCESS WITH AN END GOAL

Start each process by defining its end goal. What should happen when it’s finished? How does each one fit into your overall business goals and your weekly schedule? When you start with the end in mind and work your way backward, you can easily see what’s working or what’s not working to reach your goals. And you will begin to find that some tasks, even some that you thought were important and necessary, should be kicked to the curb for good.

BREAK DOWN TASKS INTO SIMPLE STEPS

Mapping out your tasks means breaking them down into simple steps. Identify each individual step and add in all the resources needed to do it. Create a simple flow chart that maps out the activity from beginning to end, which anyone can understand at a glance. The key is to keep it simple.

It should be easy to understand even for a 5th grader (yes, that simple). If you’re delegating the task, your employee or assistant should understand the why behind the task so that they can do it efficiently. Giving them some background will help them to be more invested in the overall process, and they will do an overall better job.

GET INPUT FROM OTHERS

Don’t map out your processes all alone. Get feedback from those you delegate to or anyone else involved. They may see a task from a different point of view and be able to contribute on how to make it even better. Once you have the process mapped, you should also get feedback from someone to make sure it’s understandable. Sometimes it’s easy to skip things that are second nature to you but may not be clear to someone on the outside. Remember, it must be simple.

TEST AND IMPROVE ON IT

Once you have your process mapped out, test it to ensure that every part of it is documented properly. Look for areas that the process could improve, such as removing bottlenecks or extra steps that don’t really help the end goal.

With your processes mapped, you’ll have a better understanding of how your business works, and it will be easier to control. Once you’re done, you can start streamlining and looking for ways to get everyday routines off your desk. This is when you’ll finally feel like your little business can grow.

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Here's to working SMART.