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Revisiting Your Systems

Posted on 08. Sep, 2009 by bradsemp in Brad's B.S.

The process of making your business and life operate more effectively via the use of systems is ongoing. It isn’t simply a matter of devising a plan, implementing it and letting the approach become a permanent “law”. If you want systems to do more for you, it’s important to regularly revisit, revise and revamp them.

That’s because most of us aren’t going to be lucky enough to strike gold on our first attempt at devising any system. We can bring a wealth of experience and tremendous insight to the process of putting a plan together, but rarely will you find that your first effort is the best possible approach to use.

At the same time, it doesn’t make a great deal of sense to put systems into operation if you’re just going to change them day after day. That puts you in no better place than someone who tackles situations with ad hoc solutions and guesswork.

So, you need to find that “happy place” between the two poles. You can’t let every new system run indefinitely on autopilot and you must stop short of compulsively tweaking elements of your systems to the point where you’re never really discovering what’s working and what’s falling short of your objectives.

As you’d probably guess, there’s a systematic way of revisiting your systems! Now, before you get too worried that we’re about to jump right down into some infinitely regressive rabbit hole, you need to know that the “systems evaluation system” will vary based on the individual and that, in the end, it’s primarily guided by a fairly simple objective (which provides for enough flexibility to make it all work): You need to review your systems after they’ve been used enough times that you feel comfortable reaching a conclusion about them.

In some cases, you might have a good feel for problems after one test-run. In other cases, you might want to watch a process repeat itself hundreds or more times before considering adjustments. When you’ve gone through enough events that you feel you can accurately assess a system’s workability, you can roll up your sleeves and dig into the review.

You should revisit your systems by working through their individual stages one by one, noting what seems to be performing and what needs improvement. Then, you can use your knowledge and experience with the system to determine potential positive changes.

What comes next? Put the system back into operation and let it go! If you revisit your systems regularly with a commitment to improve them, you’ll soon find that they’re

Tags: Brad Semp, business process automation, business process mapping, devising any system, document workflow, flowchart, implementing systems, process workflow, systematic thinkingbuilding systems rewards, systems