Operations & Systems
The same job should not turn out differently depending on who does it that day.
Most small businesses can do excellent work. What is harder is doing it the same way on a busy Saturday, in a second branch, or with a new person. This session is about making one recurring process visible: how it runs today, where it slips, and what a clear, repeatable version would look like.
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Growth multiplies whatever your process already is, including its weak points.
A business running on effort and memory can look fine at ten orders a day and fall apart at thirty. Mistakes that were absorbed by the owner's attention start reaching customers. New staff learn by watching whoever is nearby, and each learns a slightly different method.
A repeatable operation does not mean rigid or bureaucratic. It means the important steps are agreed, written and visible, so people can use their judgement on the exceptions rather than reinventing the routine every time.
What the session covers
34 topics across 7 areas. Seven parts, from choosing a process to keeping it alive.
Choosing the ProcessOne process, not the whole business.5
- Orders, deliveries, billing, onboarding, repairs, collections
- Picking one that repeats often and causes trouble
- Where it starts and where it ends
- Who is involved at each step
- What the customer sees at the end
A process that is mapped is better than three that are planned.
Mapping How It Really RunsDraw what happens, not what should happen.5
Illustration (hypothetical): a small tailoring unit maps the journey from taking measurements to delivery and finds that the delivery date is promised verbally at the counter and never reaches the cutting table.
- Walking the process with the people who do it
- Steps, handoffs, waits and decisions
- Drawing it on paper or a whiteboard
- Where information is passed on by phone, message or memory
- Differences between how two people do the same step
Finding the Weak PointsDelays, errors and rework.5
- Where work waits for a person or a decision
- Where the same task is done twice
- Which mistakes keep coming back, and where they start
- What gets handled by the owner because nobody else knows
- Choosing the one or two points that matter most
Writing the Standard ProcedurePlain, short and followed.5
- Purpose, trigger, steps, owner and finished state
- Numbered steps, in the order they happen
- What counts as done correctly
- Forms, templates and sample files attached
- Language the team actually speaks
If nobody reads the procedure, it is a poster. Keep it short enough to be used.
Roles and ResponsibilityWho does what, and who decides.5
- One named owner for each process
- Separating the doer from the checker where it matters
- Backups for absence
- What each role may decide without asking
- Writing it where everyone can see it
Measuring Whether It ImprovesOne number is enough to begin.4
- Time taken, errors found, complaints, rework
- Writing down the starting figure before changing anything
- A simple weekly tally
- Not measuring what nobody will act on
Keeping It AliveA procedure nobody updates is wrong within months.5
- A review date on the document
- Collecting corrections from the people using it
- Version and date on every copy
- Training a new person with the procedure rather than with shadowing alone
- When to leave a step flexible
What participants leave with
- A process map of one real process, in their own words
- A first written procedure ready to try with the team
- A simple template for roles and checks
- One measure and a tally sheet to track it
- A review date and a list of who gives feedback
What this session is not
- A certification in quality systems or process standards
- Software, ERP or automation selection
- A claim that writing procedures fixes people problems by itself
- Advice specific to any one industry's regulations
How the session runs
A working session in which each participant picks one process from their own business. A practitioner shows a process being mapped on a hypothetical example, then participants map their own, mark the weak points, and draft the first version of a procedure. Pairs read each other's drafts and mark anything unclear. The last part is planning a trial with the team and a review date.
What your students leave with
- One recurring process mapped as it actually runs today
- The points where it delays, repeats or goes wrong, marked on the map
- A first standard operating procedure written in plain language
- Clear roles for each step: who does it, who checks it, who decides
- One measure to watch so they know whether the process is improving
- A habit of reviewing the procedure on a fixed date
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Map one process, fix one weak point, write down the better way.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.