Startups often begin as a company with a person that does stuff. Then we hire people. Then there are other people doing stuff - and we all need to be on the same page with how we do the stuff we do, when we do it, and why. Then we document them. This becomes like code that runs the company, or at least the parts that aren't code.
As a company grows, it is important to ensure that its processes are scalable and can support the increased size and complexity of the business. This can be a challenge, as it is important to find a balance between having too much process, which can be bureaucratic and slow down decision-making, and too little process, which can lead to chaos and inefficiency. Add layers of bureacracy too early, and products may never get released - too late and we may be mired in disfunction.
There are a few key things to keep in mind when building processes for a growing company:
Start with the end in mind. Before you start building any processes, it is important to have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve. What are the goals of the process? What are the desired outcomes? Once you have a clear understanding of the desired outcomes, you can start to develop processes that will help you achieve them.
Keep it simple. The more complex a process is, the more difficult it will be to implement and maintain. It is important to keep processes as simple as possible, while still achieving the desired outcomes.
Be flexible. As a company grows, its needs will change. It is important to build processes that are flexible enough to adapt to these changes. This may mean regularly reviewing and updating processes to ensure that they are still meeting the needs of the business.
Involve employees. Employees are the ones who will be using the processes, so it is important to get their input when designing and implementing them. This will help to ensure that the processes are user-friendly and effective.
Use technology. Technology can be a great way to automate processes and make them more efficient. There are a number of different software tools available that can help with this.
By following these tips, you can help to build processes that are scalable and can support the growth of your company. Here are some additional tips for building processes for a growing company:
Start with a pilot program. Before you roll out a new process to the entire company, it is a good idea to start with a pilot program. This will allow you to test the process and make sure that it is working as intended before you make it mandatory for everyone.
Get buy-in from management. It is important to get buy-in from management before you start implementing new processes. This will help to ensure that the processes are supported and that there is no resistance from employees.
Communicate effectively. It is important to communicate effectively with employees about new processes. This will help to ensure that they understand the changes and that they are able to adapt to them.
Provide training. If employees are not familiar with new processes, it is important to provide them with training. This will help them to learn how to use the processes effectively.
Monitor and measure the results. It is important to monitor and measure the results of new processes. This will help you to determine whether the processes are meeting their goals and whether they are worth the time and effort.
Processes evolve over time. Extra steps make them take longer and those that become more used than expected have a greater impact from those steps as the organization evolves. Consider the paper Destruction and Creation by the great military strategist John Boyd. In the paper he notes that processes often become mired in their own bureacracy and grow to meet the needs of too many, thus they make us less efficient and he argues they should be destroyed and begun anew. That's a bit more dangeous of a way to go about continual improvement of processes than what most should employ.
The process should only be complicated enough to preserve the fidelity of the task. Any extra steps should be removed once we understand why they were added in the first place and the impact of removal. If we added a step to a process to save from wasting half an hour, which then adds dozens or hundreds of new hours, then let's get rid of it and just say sorry when we waste a little time here and there. In other words, frequency and complexity can impact the long-term implications and by understanding them we can then fine tune without losing the institutional knowledge that may only existing with the standard operating procedures that make up a given process.
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