5 Easy Steps to Controlling a Process

If you are experiencing any hiccups within a system or procedure, it may be time to offer it some “tender loving care.” Even if you’re unsure if a process is going smoothly, you can review all systems and procedures on a routine basis to make sure that everything is working smoothly and under control. These steps will help you resolve a problem within a process – and provide you the guidance to give your systems a regular check-up to ensure that they are properly controlled.

Define

Define the system and define the problem.

If you are experiencing any current issues, defining the issue and defining the system will help you assess the root cause. You can’t fix something if you don’t know what it is and where its coming from.

You can create objective goals for a resolution when you are clear on the issue itself, and this clarity will also help you keep a strong pulse on controlling the process.

Measure

Measure the steps that work toward the potential achievement of the business’s goal or task. Make sure the system is broken down step-by-step so that your staff can follow it well.

You can do this by narrowing the focus, and measuring the progress with small action steps.

Analyze

Analyze how the implementation of those action steps is going. What is the purpose of this system and is it fulfilling its purpose efficiently & at a satisfactory level? Is anyone getting bottlenecked anywhere? Is there a procedure we can improve to avoid bottlenecking?

This is also a great opportunity to inadvertently educate your employees to analyze, think and create their own solutions to their own problems when they arise.

Sometimes you must educate them to see the right solution, but other times you must change their vision so that they have a new outlook to find the solution on their own. Once they change their outlook, they can become part of the answer to their problem’s solution.

You can analyze in this step if the problem may not just be stemming from a system, but from a misconstrued vision.

Improve

Now that you see the problem clearly and have measured how the system is supposed to run, you know from your analysis what may need to be adjusted. When you’re improving a process or correcting a mindset, remember to react positively in conflict resolution and constructively in problem solving. Keep your goals in mind and come to a solution together. Always keep the clients’ best interests in mind since this fosters growth for the business, and gives your staff direction on how to orient the solution to the problem.

There will always be opportunities for you & your staff to improve behaviors, further discipline, learn more efficient procedures, and keep pushing through to the next level. Any improvement is a win for the business – not a loss…this mindset in the leadership position will help encourage your staff through an improvement on skill set, systems, products, service, and more.

Control

To maintain a firm foundation in your business, everything should stand on controlled systems and procedures before anything else can be built.

Once these are established, they must be maintained – or the foundation could shift. You can maintain control by being proactive in any and every part of the business so that items are taken care of immediately and efficiently. Keep good training and coaching in place to continuously improve your game. Tune in to the culture of your business to make sure that everyone shares the same mindset and pursues the same goals. Enact a strong level of discipline and hard work, and holds fast to the systems and procedures that keep the business moving forward.

This will not only help you control your position in your line of work….but will also help launch your business to the next level!

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