Try my ‘Simplification Day’ process in your business

Every 3 – 6 months, my team and I –

1. Go through each business process one-by-one.
2. Ensure that process is properly written up (in terms of how to do it).
3. Talk through what steps are necessary, those that are unnecessary, which parts cause problems, what things get missed.
4. We then look for a way to simplify and remove elements from the process.
5. Finally, we update the documentation to match the new way of doing things.

By clearing the day of normal work and taking a single process at a time, we can look at things with fresh eyes.

You’ll find this even easier if you mix up the location – perhaps book a meeting room somewhere, or grab the corner of a coffee shop. Changing up the venue can help to put everyone in a different state of mind. It can promote more conversation and more collaboration and moves the team away from the noise of the daily work in order to concentrate on each process.

Try it and see how you get on!

If you’re not sure how long you need, put aside a couple of hours and go from there.