Small Business Processes – Business Process.

According to a recent report, more entrepreneurs than ever are opening small businesses in recent times. Early-stage entrepreneurial activity is the highest it’s been since 1999. It is also believed that most small businesses won’t survive, about one-third will be around for a decade though. Here is some guidance in developing a new way of looking at start-up businesses and making them successful.

Defining Processes

• The most important thing that team leaders can do after the team agrees on the process definition and steps is to write it down.
• Devote an hour to arguing about the activities and order of steps.
• Only when there is full agreement are the lines and arrows drawn in to signify the process flows.
• Brainstorming all the process activities first, writing each process step on a Post-it note and then having a team member place the Post-it notes in order on flipchart paper works as a good activity.

• Post-it notes can easily be moved around during this debating process.
• Fix them to operator machines, post them on the corporate intranet or place them in a loose-leaf binder on each officer’s desk.
• Put them where people do their work and make sure that they are accurate, concise and easily understandable.
• Get the process formally drawn up and make sure that they are made easily accessible to all who need them.

Identifying Requirements

• This step is critical as it identifies who the team needs to work with collaboratively to maximize business results.
• Each team needs to work out who the suppliers and customers of the process are.
• Every employee working in a process should serve either an internal customer or an external customer or both.
• If a process does not have a customer, then eliminate it as it has no useful purpose.
• Each team should then ask of their customers what it is they want from the process, in terms of quality, turnaround time, and so on.

• A purchasing team may require other departments, for example, to fill in all fields of the Purchase Order prior to submission.
• The team also needs to clarify what it is they need of their suppliers, both internal and external, to perform their process effectively and efficiently.

Standardized Mapping

• Standardize on mapping conventions and formatting of the maps.
• What you want is for anyone in the organization to be able to pick up a process map and understand instantly what it is they are seeing.
• You should need no more than six to keep the maps easy to read.
• Mapping symbols, page layout, flow direction, fonts, titling and so on, should be the same from one map to another.
• Keep the number of flowchart symbols to a minimum.

Constant Improvement

• If this is the first time that your organization is setting out to map its processes, be ready to receive a bonus.
• For every team the new shared understanding has uncovers many areas for improvement during the initial mapping process.
• Once your teams have completed mapping their key processes, turn them into continuous improvement teams.

• The primary objective of mapping business processes is to form a common understanding from which process improvements can be achieved.
• The initial act of defining processes brings new clarity of roles, objectives and activities.
• Not only do the documented maps serve as the agreed baseline for ongoing process improvement, they also make for excellent induction and training resources.

Managing Detail

• One picture can tell a thousand words.
• The magic of process maps lay in their seemingly simple visual presentation of complex ideas.
• Use clear referencing to link each sub-process with its associated macro process. Each process map should take up no more than one page, with its definition taking up just one other.
• If a map takes up more than one page, identify sub-processes within each process and show each sub-process on a separate page.
• Some process maps that flow on page after page after page. These do little more than confuse employees.
• Decide on the priority processes and concentrate on these. Processes from which you can gain quick wins are those that interface with external customers and suppliers and those that are currently providing you with your biggest headaches.
• Do not try to document everything that goes on in your organization.
• Now sit back and watch your business soar.

At HyperEffects, we pride ourselves in our ability to chart out a plan for individuals and businesses to get noticed and promote the brand, the individual and the idea that they support. Enrol yourself for our one-hour free consultation session today, to understand the benefits of the idea and see it grow in the new year!