I’m excited to talk about business processes because I have over 15 years of experience as a technical project manager while working in Corporate America. The importance of having business processes in place is vital because they help create an organized environment. Having an organized environment can help you be more successful.
So what can be considered a business process? Good Question! According to Wikipedia.org, a business process is “a collection of interrelated tasks, which accomplish a particular goal”. In other words, it’s when you pre-determine which tasks work well together to create a seamless way to achieve what you want to do in your business.
In my business, I have many business processes in place that help me to create a seamless environment. During my business makeover, I have been able to refine my processes and become more efficient. Below is an example of a refined business process.
- Old way (calendar): receive appointment request, then open calendar & review to see open slots, determine where the appointment could be placed then notify the appointee about the time and date
- New way (calendar): receive appointment request, forward to my Business Coordinator, who schedules on my Google calendar (which automatically updates my Outlook calendar) & notifies appointee about upcoming appointment
- Advantage: by allowing my Business Coordinator to manage my calendar it frees me from worrying about how to arrange things and also it allows me to dedicate more time to my clients
By me implementing this simple business process improvement, it put time back onto my calendar that I could invest in other areas of my business. One practice that is also good for business owners is to set aside time occasionally to review your processes to see if they can be improved.
Do you have business processes that you need to refine? Have you recently refined your business processes and have a success story? Please feel free to share.
