Technology is the backbone of all business models these days. We all love the shiny, new thing to play with. But what if you don’t know how to use it? Or even worse, its actually slowing you down causing more work?
One of the first questions I ask a new client (who wants to grow their team exponentially), is:
In your business, what’s more important than the technology?
It might sound silly at first, but I have found that your process(es) will always trump technology – every time.
Technology compliments your business process. Not the other way around
Christian Payne
Technology will only take you so far; without a well defined, repeatable processes, your business can’t grow.
How do I document my process?
People tend to WAY over-complicate this, or they have in their mind this will require a huge “war and peace” effort. The truth is, it’s never that bad. Generally, I’ll use one of two methods to document a process:
| Flow Chart |  |
| Swim lane |  |
Flow charts
When we talk about process documenting, most people think of flow charts. They have a start & an end, with boxes describing what happens and decisions (yes / no) represented by diamonds. See the Wikipedia page on Flow Charts for more information
Swim Lanes
Swim Lanes have the added detail of either horizontal or vertical lines. These bars show who is responsible for the relevant task. Again, Wikipedia is a good source for further information.
Which should I use – Flow Charts or Swim Lanes?
Short version – it doesn’t matter, whatever you prefer.
Slightly longer version – have a think, what will make sense in 6 months time?
You’ve totally forgotten about it, moved on and now you want to update the content of an email, or change the subject line, or update your CRM. You pull out your notes, what makes sense? Use that one!
What happens if I don’t?
And this (to me) is probably the most interesting part of the conversation – what happens if you do nothing? What happens if you just do “business as usual”?
The answer – probably nothing!
That’s right. Probably nothing will change. Your business will be fine. Things will continue just as they always have.
But it won’t grow. Or at least, it won’t grow as fast as it could. When was the last time you went on a holiday? Yeah, you won’t be taking those any time soon either.
A healthy, growing & successful business is more important than the right technology. There has been a lot of talk about how to use automation and artificial intelligence for business process management, but what may be most needed is just an emphasis on good old-fashioned sound business practices like data analysis, routine maintenance, and organizational development. So while you might want to consider new technologies as they come out that will help automate some parts of your operations, don’t forget those tried-and-true techniques that have made businesses function well since time immemorial.
What do you think? Have I missed something?