I have a confession. I made a mistake. A pretty big one actually. It’s hard for me to admit this but I thought you might be able to learn from my experience. In a nut shell, I made a bad hiring decision. We followed all the steps, we had a great process, but I got snowed.
Turns out the person we brought on board just wasn’t the right fit for the company. Even though we did everything right, she just wasn’t “the one”. I was kicking myself for the decision I made.
Her true colors and skills (or lack of skills) became clear very quickly because of the systems and safeties we had in place to monitor, train and check-in with the new person.
But in the middle of pulling my hair out, I realized something. Although I’d made a bad decision, there were actually a lot of things I’d done right. I realized my mistake quickly and in 2 weeks had let go of the wrong person and hired the right one. I knew in days – not months that she wasn’t going to work. This alone saved me a ton of money. Not to mention the frustration. Think about it, how many times have you put up and paid a team member who just wasn’t doing a great job?
All in all, next time you make a mistake look at ways you can change your systems to ensure you don’t make the same error. And remember to also look at what you did right.
Enjoy this week’s article.
Take care,
Beth
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“Working with Beth Schneider has been phenomenal. When I met Beth, I was setting my own appointments and doing my own data entry. I was doing grunt work and I had no time to work on the growth strategies for my business. Beth helped me set up systems and an mazing team and my sales figures rose dramatically. At my last Women’s Small Business Expo, I had a well trained team of 10 people to manage the conference and I didn’t feel like I wanted to faint at the end of the day. I help people get corporate sponsors and have even started my own agency because I had the time and resources to implement the growth strategies I learned from Process Prodigy. I would recommend Beth Schneider to anyone who wants to make the leap from solo-preneur to CEO. She is one of the greatest gifts to walk this earth.”
Linda Hollander
www.WealthyBagLady.com
Systemizing Your Business: When A System Prompts A New System
Thoughts from Sandye Linnetz, Systems Coach and Goddess
You’re reading this, so I think it’s pretty fair to assume that you understand the value of systems and that you may actually have a one or two important ones WRITTEN DOWN and in place for your company. Even, and perhaps, ESPECIALLY if you’re a true systems aficionado – and you have notebooks and manuals full of systems for everything and everyone in your company – this blog’s for you! Note: If you have systems that are working, and aren’t written down, you do not get credit for Systems Creation 101, but this information will still be helpful for you. Read on…
Here’s a reality check. You have created a system – let’s say it’s a system for invoicing. No invoice = no payment. That’s a problem, so making sure that invoices get sent out is paramount. In your invoicing system (as is true for all systems) there MUST be checks and balances or your money is going to flow directly through the holes and cracks you’ve left uncovered. If the production department closes a job and sends that information to billing, but billing “doesn’t get the info” …
If billing gets the info and sends a draft to the sales rep for approval – but the rep “never gets the draft”… If the sales rep gets it and signs off on the invoice and lets it sit on a desk for weeks or sends it right on to billing where it is issued but not mailed… Are you seeing where we’re going here? Without checks and balances your money ends up in La La Land with no way out. Your system is only as good as the problems it handles or forestalls.
Noticing that there are “holes” in your systems, recognizing where they are and being able to accurately identify what is slipping through the cracks and where it’s all going, can make the difference between thinking about time off and taking that Caribbean Cruise you’ve dreamed about. It is not enough to simply create a system and ask people to use it. It has to work, and work effectively. Consider doing a periodic systems review to assess how well your system is working. This is where you gather evidence to determine if process-tweaking is required. Is anything (like, oh… money) falling through the cracks in your systems?
Seriously, THE MONEY IS IN THE SYSTEM… somewhere. Find the cracks… patch ‘em… and get “back to business”.
Closing the Loop
· Create Forms for gathering and keeping information
· Use Check Lists as a way to track what has been done
· Institute the use of Logs for tracking dates and times
Finding the holes in your system will enable you to plug them up and naturally move you in the direction of creating either an addendum to your current way of doing things (like a log or a checklist) or even a whole new system to address a newly discovered V.I.I. (very important
issue). If you can fill in those holes BEFORE there’s a problem, someone will probably erect a statue of you in a local park and name a street after you. Or, at the least, you’ll make and keep more money!
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© 2010 Beth Schneider, Process Prodigy, Inc.
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Beth Schneider, President of Process Prodigy Inc., www.processprodigy.com, along with her team of highly sought after operations consultants, reveal the insider secrets billion-dollar corporations pay thousands of dollars for. Specializing in process creation, Process Prodigy
