Free Time with Jenny Blake

092: Train the System, Then the Person


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Stress, frustration, overwhelm: These are systems flags from your business asking for renewed attention on a bottleneck or inefficiency. In my case, it was repeating myself for the fourth time in as many months to different team members in answering the same small email-related process question. This is no one person’s fault (other than mine!). 


My aha moment: a strategy for training the system to get smarter first, then teaching the team how to better leverage that system, which makes their life and work easier and more frictionless too!


🌟 3 Key Takeaways:

  • Create a Manager Manual and separate Email Guide
  • Save links to email guide entries in TextExpander
  • Using filters in Gmail (or workflows in HelpScout): Automatically label incoming email messages with the short-link to the Email Guide process entry. Here’s what my v1 looks like.

  • 📝 Permission: Stop repeating yourself! That’s a sure sign that the business area is ripe for systems reinvention.


    ✅ Do (or Delegate) This Next: Start an Email Guide with your most common decisions and process questions.


    📘 Books Mentioned: Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business, Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One  


    🔗 Resources Mentioned

    • Shared Inbox CRM: HelpScout
    • Voice Messaging App: SpeakPipe
    • Transcription Software: Descript
    • Knowledge Base App: TextExpander
    • Project Management Software: Notion

    • Related Podcast Episodes: 086: The Cyrano Strategy for Delegating Important Comms


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      Free Time with Jenny BlakeBy Jenny Blake

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