Untangling the Anti-Process Movement: Process Schmocess

The anti-process movement aka “process schmocess” is alive and well, my loves. It even has its own page on Wikipedia. To an entrepreneur, the idea of being anti-process sounds like a great in principle, but it’s really hard to manage. Now, I totally understand why anyone would be process adverse. With all of the “hats” that you’re wearing, having a rigid checklist for exactly how you and your team has to approach any task seems like a “process in and of itself.”

In your personal life, when something spontaneous occurs, it feels amazing – like finding a $10 bill in the pocket of your jeans when you’re folding laundry. And when you make a magical discovery like this, you probably said to yourself, “wow, I should do laundry everyday!” – The good news is, you’re running a business, not doing laundry; so, you can manifest magical results that are repeatable and within your control,. Besides, who wants to run a business on luck?

Anti-Process Professional In A Process World: Where To Start?

Let’s take a look at a real life example of what it would be like to live in an anti-process world.

Today, you need to take your car to the shop for an oil change. Simple job, right? Now, in an anti-process world, the mechanic wouldn’t have a place for your to park your car or a standard waiting area. An anti-process mechanic will not know how much time it would take to do the job or how much the materials would cost. The mechanic also wouldn’t have a standard method to keep track of your appointment – they may not have the means to schedule you into a system at all.

Surely, you wouldn’t be impressed that they were anti-process. You’re trying to get a quick oil change, and now you have to wait for an indefinite period of time to pay an indefinite amount of money. It’s likely that you would leave promptly, disappointed with their lack of organization.

The notion that process is akin to “red tape”, unfairly insinuates that having any rules hinders speed of growth, ability to action, maintain fluidity when needed, and on an on.

How Anti-Process People Implement Basic Processes

Believe it or not, you don’t have to let your own aversion get in the way of your day-to-day success. There are many areas of your business where anti-process superheros welcome a little formality. So, let’s explore the importance in having some process in a few key business areas.

Feel free to read these aloud and really think about your answers:

1. How do you track and measure how much money you’ve made or spent?
2. How do you process invoices?
3. How do you track and measure your own productivity or that of your staff members?
4. How do you measure job satisfaction?
5. How do you track and measure know if your customers are having a positive – and consistent experience?

If you’re the kind of person that likes to be surprised perpetually, and you do approach the above activities differently way every time, congratulations, you are truly anti-process. If you don’t like surprises about how your business is -or isn’t – operating, you may not be anti-process after-all!

Process Checklist For Anti-Process Professionals

I know what you’re thinking. “Yay. Another checklist.” Hear me out on this one. The concept of approaching something using actions that are repeatable or reusing something which is successful requires some level of process in and of itself. The good news: having a process doesn’t mean you have to over-engineer something.

Here’s a process checklist to help you determine areas where you can tighten the ship, produce repeatable outcomes and deliver excellence:

Area to Address	Primary Consideration	Other Checklist Considerations
Delivering Products or Services	How do you kick-off and manage a project?	How do you forecast supply and demand for your products and services? What tools or methods do your teams use to collaborate – if at all – on delivering outcomes? How does operations or finance set up the back-office tracking of the new sales? (ie. updating systems, knowing when to bill the client or approve and pay staff or contractors?) What does “done” look like when you hand it off to the client for approval? *remember, if they collaborate at all, that in and of itself could be the “process”; you don’t have to determine what happens in this collaboration. Micromanagement = no bueno.
Finding and Retaining Customers	How do you target customers?	How do you weigh your sales pipeline? What do you do to align the customers’ needs to your areas of delivery? How do you track and measure client success? How do you track and implement client feedback for missed opportunities?
Finding and Retaining Staff	How do you establish a bench of talented people?	What do you use to determine when you need to staff up and down due to fluctuations in demand? How do you keep your staff informed about the business and feedback on their individual performance? How do you track, measure and reward staff for their performance? Which tools or methods do you use to train and support ongoing learning for new workers?

what’s Next?

I’d like to leave you with this thought, my friends: avoidance is a powerful thing; and yet, that which we avoid we attract. We want to be apart of your journey to success. Commit to producing consistent, repeatable results., and watch what happens. Show your customers that you really care about the quality and consistency of how you service them.

When you’re ready to discuss how to evaluate and implement the right amount of process for your business, contact us for a free consultation.