Every business has weaknesses. Over time, those weaknesses, if not addressed, can cost you time and money. After having consulted with over 100 businesses across the country, we have identified 5 signs that your business’s systems are weak. Do you have any of these symptoms?
#1 Not Successfully Delegating
Do you feel like you delegate, but ultimately end up doing everything yourself? This means you haven’t given the person you delegated to enough information to be successful. Ensure that you clearly communicate your expectations so that the person you are delegating to understands exactly what they need to accomplish. By improving communications you can reduce the number of questions you have to answer later in the process, and can be confident that the task will be completed as expected.
Try outlining what your employee does every day, every week and every month. This can give them a clear expectation of what you need from them. With clear expectations, you have to check back to make sure they are getting things done, but this is the first step to successful delegation.
#2 Not Successfully Hiring
Hiring amazing people is one of the biggest challenges faced by businesses today. Do you feel like you have hired and hired, and can’t seem to find the right person? Maybe you need to look at things a little closer to home. It may be worth evaluating your hiring process to see if there are weaknesses in your process. Are you considering whether a candidate is not only qualified, but also a good fit for the position? Are you giving potential hires the opportunity to ask questions as well so they have a proper understanding of your business? Once you have identified the weaknesses in your hiring process, you can take measures to improve them.
Additionally, consider looking closely at how you are engaging, empowering, and training your employees. Consider finding help designing a hiring and training system if this is a problem within your organization. At the end of the day, remember that skills can be taught, but things like attitude and character are something an individual develops over time. Sometimes finding the best person and training them to be the best employee is your best bet for success.
#3 Putting Out Fires
If you are constantly being pulled away from your important work to address an emergency, this is a sign of systems weakness. A great business system should address and help you avoid fires by utilizing best practices. Without proper training, even the most qualified employee won’t be able to perform tasks as expected. Improving your training process will benefit your workflow, as well as boost employee satisfaction. Most of the time fires are caused by lack of training. Consider how you can offer better training to empower your team.
Training can come in many different forms. It could be a compilation of screen shot videos on how to use your company software. We recommend jing or snagit by techsmith.com. It can also be done old school operations manual style, where you write out the step by step of any given process. Whatever you choose to do, take the time to create the training your team needs. It will pay you back in dividends.
#4 Feeling Frazzled or Overworked
If you are doing everything, it’s time to delegate. Your capacity is limited. You can only grow by delegating. By using proper delegation and time management skills, you can improve your workflow, and prevent burnout. When your business systems are up to par, you can delegate with confidence knowing that your entire business doesn’t depend on you alone.
By now, we hope you’re seeing a pattern. Successful businesses are run by successful delegaters. The better you are at relying on your team, the more you can do to steer the direction of the company and reach your goals. Louisa May Alcott said, “It takes two flints to make a fire.” Without a team you’re just not making a spark.
#5 Leads or Clients Falling Through the Cracks
Do you have a system designed to walk each person through the sales process? If you’re managing your leads in your head and think it’s not affecting your business, you’re wrong. Unless you have a system for tracking each lead, I can guarantee you’re leaving money on the table. Take the time to develop a business system that ensures all of your leads are followed up on, and none of your clients are falling through the cracks.
There is lots of software out there that can help you with track your sales. The key is finding one you will use. A system is only as good as how well you implement it. Two of our favorites that you should check out are insightly, and Client Tether.
By addressing these 5 flaws in your business systems, you can rest assured that your workflow will improve, and productivity will increase. To schedule a free 15 minute strategy session with one of our consultants, call us today at 801-472-6947.