In our initial developing business processes series post, I gave you an overview of BURG+CO.’s own process development journey. I covered some important topics like why our team thinks developing business processes is so important, some types of processes we’re working hard to develop and why we decided to tell everyone about our journey. In our second post, we talked about content and how we’re building processes for our content creation team, and our third post focused on our web development team and the processes they’re developing.
For our fourth post, I’m switching gears yet again. This time I’ll be talking to our Chief Operations Officer (COO), Haley Burgess, and we’ll be looking at some of the processes she has been developing for the operations side of our business.
Why is developing processes for the operations side of our business so critical?
I like to think about the departments in our company, content creation, web development, and search engine optimization (SEO), as gears that have to mesh well in order to work together for our clients. However, our operations department also plays a significant role in helping to keep all these gears turning. It is the grease keeping the gears turning smoothly, to extend the analogy.
Yet not having well-developed operations processes for a business like ours is like introducing grit into the grease. It keeps the gears of each department from turning as freely as they might or can cause them to grind to a halt. That’s why our team has made building robust operations processes a priority.
An operations processes development interview with Haley Burgess
Kelly: Hello there, Haley! Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions about the business processes you’ve been developing for our operations team.
Haley: No problem, Kelly. I’m really excited to talk with you about those processes.
Kelly: Fantastic! Let’s go ahead and get to the questions, then.
1.Why do you think it’s important for BURG+CO. to develop and revise its processes?
As a growing business, it’s important to develop and revise processes to make sure that they’re actually helping your company and not making things harder. Just because something works well for your team right now doesn’t mean that it will be the right way to do something even six months from now. Getting the processes down initially is the biggest hurdle, but once you have that initial framework down, it’s easier to go back and review and make sure that it still works for the company.
2. What business processes have you been working to document, develop or revise?
Currently, I have been documenting processes connected to our project management system, such as how we keep track of monthly assignments for our clients. In the past, I have written processes related to onboarding employees as well as preparing our team to work with new clients.
3. How will having documented, well-developed and up-to-date business processes in place help the employees who report to you?
Documented and up-to-date processes help our employees keep track of not only their projects but the steps that happen after the project leaves their hands. Essentially, our operations processes allow everyone in our business to see if any given client or internal project is on track at any point from beginning to end. These processes also give our team the ability to clearly identify the steps they need to take to complete a given project.
In addition, documenting our processes makes it much easier for us to review the current processes we’re using and update them as needed. And, of course, we have a process for updating our processes.
4. What is the best piece of advice you can give to someone who is considering developing new business processes or updating their current ones?
The best piece of advice I can give is to make sure you have a process for everything. Your business should even have a documented process for reviewing your processes, and this includes having a scheduled time to review your processes. Taking this step is vital to make sure nothing falls through the cracks and that everything is being done the best way possible for your company. Also, I encourage business leaders to keep an open mind and really listen when your people are telling you that something needs to change. I say “when” because it’s inevitable. Things can’t always stay the same, or growth never happens.
Kelly: Thank you so much for taking some time to answer these questions about developing business processes, Haley.
Haley: Absolutely, Kelly. I hope people who watch or read this interview find it helpful to their own business’s process development.
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