Discover The Importance Of Process In Reaching Business Objectives
It's always good to see a 20-something in business, especially one with such a good foundation to be successful in it. Over a cup of tea at Borders, Neil Conner of Conner Marketing and I discussed the importance of process in building a successful business. Here are some notes from that conversation.
Processes contribute to consistency in qualify, actions, and message. Humans want predictability, that's why fast food is so popular and brands can influence relationships.
Processes should be tied to individual personal objectives. When your employees see what they have to gain by following your guidelines, they are less likely to resist.
Make your process (how you do things) a habit with behavioral change. Seek to ingrain each step of the basic process into new employees, give them a foundation for future achievement.
Use outside training materials customized for your process. Don't reinvent the wheel when it comes to training, outside training lends credibility and saves you time, but must be tailored to your process.
Use group training to reinforce the process and demonstrate its benefits. Train in larger groups of team to reinforce behavior around the process. Highlight group achievements, benefits of following, and specific implementation of the process.
Select a recognition model that uses unique terms to symbolize achievement. While your process might be just like your competitors, use terms of recognition that represent clearly defined levels of achievement.
Processes make it easier to teach new people how to succeed. A clearly defined process helps new people acquire the knowledge they need to function with the rest of your organization.
Beware, while processes are good, they can lead to a blind following. If your process dictates every action from a how prospective, you're probably oppressing human creativity that could advance your business. Invest heavily in processes for acquiring new customer or employee, building new relationships with strategic partners, and retaining both customers and employees.
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