Map it Out

This is so spot on it hurts Chris. I look at my businesses as a conglomeration of systems, like Legos for building a business. I’ve mindmapped out all aspects you mention for many of the systems I have in place, so that they can be both repeatable, scalable, and teachable. So to answer my maps look like step-by-step directions on efficiently getting from point A to point B, and knowing what B looks like when you get there.

You nailed it. Made me think about a talk I had with Patrick Stokes about how he ran Budweiser with all it tentacles. He mapped it out.

Chris,
I stopped by early this morning, but wanted to think about this a little more. I think you know I worked in the banking industry for many years. Banks are famous for creating Standard Opertation Procedure manuals. I am sure they are all on-line now, but in the old days they were leather bound binders that you could keep up to date by replacing, removing, or adding new pages. Almost daily updates would come to the branches in the inter-office envelopes. Remember them? Ok, the point of this story is that at one time in my career I was a “floating” loan officer, which meant that if another loan officer became ill, was fired, went on vacation I would fill in for them. So one day I get a call to report to a branch in Santa Monica, CA. I arrive and settle in and within an hour a gentleman came to my desk and asked if his airplane loan was ready. I must have turned white. Car loans, home equities, personal loans, boat loans…those I knew, but an airplane loan? It turned out he had applied for the loan a month or so ago and the fact that the loan was not ready was part of the reason that the loan officer had “taken a leave”. That loan officer didn’t know how to do an airplane loan (they are pretty complicated – with title searches, etc,) and when I opened a file drawer I discovered there were about six airplane loans pending. (The office was directly across the street from the Santa Monica Airport.) The only thing for me to do was to explain to the customer that I would get right on it and I retrieved the SOP volume that dealt with airplane loans and started following step by step instructions. Within a few weeks all the airplane loans had been completed successfully.
You see it is not enough that you make the map, partners, employees, team members have to be willing to read the map and also be willing to engage in improving the map. For years I was a Business Systems Analyst. The most important part of that job is to listen and make the map, but remember that a map must consider alternate routes to mitigate downtime. But again…you can draw the map using whatever software or pencil and paper that you want, if it is not shared and read it won’t make help.
One last thought, a business plan is the first map. Many people can have great ideas, but they have trouble articulating the business plan. Very hard to get buy-in when you cannot articulate your plan.

Well, have a great weekend whereve you are.
Judy

Hi Chris.
It sounds like the process you are describing relates absolutely (or very closely at least) to how Scott Berkun has laid out his approach to Project Management. Each of those businesses you’re hard at work on is in effect a different project – requiring management.

I’m not so sure I’d compare the process of streamlining these businesses (and making them successful and/or models for others to replicate) to franchising however. While humans are required to make any business work, a lot of what I think makes your businesses successful is stripped out if the goal is to define a process don’t you think? This is actually one of the reasons why I’m consistently starring your items for later….I’m just not sure what you’re up to, or what kind of juicy tidbit you’re going to come up with, so I read to find out. You are all over the map and I love you for it.

Knowing a formal process is being applied takes (can take) away from the magic. People dig surprises. There’s no doubt we might all do a little better if there was a rhyme or reason to everything we went about doing in the course of a day/week/month/year…but where’s the fun in that?

Maybe I’m bias cuz I’m not the planning type (lazy? if u say so), or cuz unlike you I’m not neck deep in a gazillion ventures needing and starving for direction and attention, but I’m just not all that bent out of shape about the process bit. Be good, do good, and make good things happen (another Berkun ref), and u should be just fine.

Excellent post as per yuge. Compelled to my first post…
Bonne nuit.

This is great stuff Chris. As someone who is more “creative” in my thinking, this will help me organize and structure my company’s projects.
Really, really helpful.

I couldnt agree more. I know most people think they are just for IT processes or consider them red tape but flow charts have served me very well. Visio is a great tool and easy to use when creating flowcharts. I find the visual flow much easier to follow than a set of instructions. You can easily use a flow chart as a checklist as well. I probably crossed the line when my family moved into our new home about 5 years ago when I pulled out the flowcharts I had created for the packing and moving but I guarantee if they hadnt revolted on me and refused to follow them the move would have gone much smoother and we wouldnt still have “Stuff” still in boxes from that move that should have obviously been donated or thrown out. :)

One comment that I have not seen covered here or in the comments is the concept of LEVELS of process maps. When I teach process mapping (one of my FAVE courses to teach, BTW), the thing I correct most on folks’ first attempt (the one we do in-class) is that they are trying to map different granularity of tasks onto the same process map. Instead, try to think of it this way:

Top level process maps give you the 10,000 ft picture of “How I Do My Job”:
I get a call; I write a quote; if they like what I said, they hire me; I perform my magic; they pay me.

A level down from that may be a process map entitled “Write a Quote” and entails all the things you build into your quote: daily rate, terms and conditions, basis for the quote, etc.

A level down again may be “Daily Rate” which could have things like differentiation for profit vs. non-profit; or size of company; or busyness of your industry (beachfront cottages in summer vs in winter); etc.

Where the confusion comes in is when someone tries to put all the detail of “Daily Rate” in the “How I Do My Job” flowchart… it bogs down the 10K view and mucks up the big picture with details that don’t belong in that level of flow.

My advice to newbies? Try and keep things at comparable levels of detail within your process map(s). Sometimes you might find yourself writing two or three simultaneously (as described above) – which is fine. Just remember that all things go on the same level – big picture, major processes, sub-processes, down to task level – and you’ll be fine!

Hi Chris,

A few requests wrapped in questions :

I’ve noticed a a few themes here. It seems that we are doing allot of telling here ( yes, no ? ) Are we not swaying this ship towards the side of theary and not towards the side of Harries Widgets?
Would live to see your version of the Apprentices and or Borgan’s Mission : Back to Work !

Also, sometimes enemies can be our best friends, They serve reality cold, get to know me … Your friends and associates can’t because of the emotional webs we weave / no one like a buzz kill…

Finally, the old salty sail remark, nice college boy, but lets see you apply it in real time !

The Janitor aka KRAD.

Sadly I’ve had to learn this the hard way but thankfully I’ve learned and now plot the course as I blaze a trail (since doing so is the only way anyone else can follow).