In dealing with the day to day stresses of your business, it’s normal to feel like you should just hunker down and start attacking your to-do list with laser beam precision. In fact, that is often what we are trained to do. The problem with operating in this mode (where many of us live daily) is your to-do list is often comprised of tactical items and not strategic ones. In essence, you’re on the ground, wading through the weeds – hacking at whatever lies before you without even realising why you are in the weeds in the first place.
I think some of us have gotten so used to weed whacking, that we don’t know any other way. At the end of a long day, we wonder why we are working so hard, with so little to show for it. There is a way out of the overgrowth and onto a clear path. That way is strategy before tactics: implementing a systematic approach to your business.
A system is defined as:
1) a set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network; a complex whole.
2) a set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized scheme or method.
What this basically says is that a system is an organised method for getting something done using certain principles and procedures. It also means these principles and procedures work together as part of a larger mechanism: in the case of biology, an organism and in the working world, your business.
The human body is a great analogy, especially since we all have one. It is comprised of many sub-systems: skeletal, muscular, nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory, etc. Each of these sub-systems work together through a series of processes to keep your body operating optimally.
Your business is also a larger mechanism comprised of sub-systems called departments: executive, accounting, sales & marketing, customer service, operations, purchasing, information technology, etc. The difference between a business and a body; however, is the body operates on inherent processes which are automatic to it. This is not the case for a business, where the processes must be created. This is why implementing systems is critical to keeping your business healthy.
How to implement a system in your business
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there”. ~ Lewis Carroll
First order of business: The Strategic Plan
This is where most of us run into trouble. We don’t take time to think about our strategy or to even ponder our why. We either started without an end goal in mind or we lost sight of it along the way. Most of us wouldn’t just hop in our cars and start off driving without an idea about where we are headed, yet we do so daily with our businesses and then wonder why we end up somewhere we’d rather not be.
Start of your system implementation by creating the following documents with your strategy and people in mind.
1) The Primary Directive – what is your mission, why do you exist, what is your reason for being. When you are done with this you should know what you want to accomplish as an organisation, who your ideal customer is and be able to clearly articulate your Talking Logo.
2) Operating Philosophy – these are the principles you stand on. This is to be used internally as a guide to how you operate and how you make decisions, based on what you believe about the world.
3) Manifesto – these are statements which reflect what your organisation believes about the world and allows you to connect with others who believe what you believe.
When implementing a system in your business, make sure the system reflects the overall strategy of your business as well as the people who make up the organisation. The system you implement has to make sense and it has to work for you.
Next week we will discuss more about implementing a system and the basic components that make up a system: strategy, financials, communication, processes, projects, quality, measurement & control, and managing change.