Process Breakdown Podcast (audio)

Looking for tips on how to be a great manager?

In this episode of the Process Breakdown Podcast Mamie Kanfer Stewart, an executive coach and entrepreneur shared tips on how to be a great manager, effective delegation, and how to build a team.

She talks about how she began down the road of entrepreneurship at the young age of 12, and how to run businesses more effectively using proper delegation steps, plus ways to make work more fun and efficient at the same time. 

Listen to this audio interview:

Listen to more expert interviews like this:

Key Resource List:

* The Modern Manager* Productive meetings with your Team* How to Be a Good Manager (13 Traits You Must Have)

Show Notes:

0:08 – Introduction

0:40 – The host, John Corcoran, sheds light on the episode’s guest, Mamie Kanfer Stewart, and talks about the best solution for documenting standard operating procedures, highlighting a 14-day free trial.

2:34 – Mamie talks about how she started her first business at age 12, and how it sent her down the entrepreneurial path.

3:55 – Mamie talks about how she learned to understand how building a team, managing people and including them in a process contributes to success.

4:55 – Mamie shares a couple of tips on how to delegate properly, some fears people have, and how to get past those fears.

7:44 – The guest speaker talks on how to properly oversee an employee without micromanaging or getting in the way of their work, and she gives steps for proper delegation.

9:26 – Mamie talks about the types of information one should have before they start to delegate, and how to make use of the SWIM framework.

13:05 – Mamie talks about monitoring a delegated activity while it’s going on, how to handle support, and the different support roles.

15:23 – The guest speaker highlights some of the mistakes people make trying to support after a delegation, and how to avoid them and simplify the process.

18:24 – Mamie talks about what it was like growing up as the daughter of an entrepreneur, and how it shapes her life now.

19:55 – Mamie tells the origin story of her family’s company, Purell, how it has blossomed through the years from its establishment, and the company’s vision.

22:08 – Mamie shares her fun number one productivity hack: Color Street nail polish strips.

23:16 – Mamie shares websites where people can get more information about her and her work.

Looking for actionable steps on how to grow a small business?

In this episode of the Process Breakdown Podcast Michael E. Gerber, a business thought-leader and best selling author reveals the steps to take to grow your small business so that it lasts longer, is successful, and easy to replicate.

He gives the example of how McDonald’s grew from a small business into a global empire, and how other small businesses can learn from their journey. He also talks about how he started down his own path, how he came about writing his first book, and his plans to impact economic development worldwide.

Listen to this audio interview:

Listen to more expert interviews like this:

Key Resource List:

* Radical U

Show Notes:

0:06 – Introduction

0:43 – Dr. Jeremy Weisz talks about past guests on the show.

0:53 – Dr. Weisz talks about the sponsor of the show, SweetProcess, and shares the best solution for documenting standard operating procedures, highlighting a 14-day free trial.

2:01 – The guest speaker, Michael E. Gerber, is introduced.

2:57 – Michael shares his opinion on why small businesses usually fail, and how most small businesses are a product of dissatisfaction, which is wrong.

4:24 – Michael talks about roles in a company, and also about how companies should understand what their goals are and work towards them.

8:05 – Michael talks about how our primary role as human beings is to create for good, and how we’re falling short of that.

9:05 – The guest speaker talks about steps the owner of a small business in the technician role in a company should take if they want to grow the company.

14:18 – Michael tells some of his favorite stories over the years of businesses, talking about books he’s written, the E-Myth library, and his goals and vision.

17:45 – He tells the story about Ken Goodrich, co-author of The E-Myth HVAC Contractor, how he took over and destroyed his father’s business, but after reading The E-Myth Revisited multiple times, rebuilt the company and sold it, and made career out of doing that. 

20:49 – Michael explains how McDonald’s became the most successful small business in the world by building and perfecting a prototype and replicating it until it was perfect.

24:10 – He tells a story about how his book, The E-Myth Attorney, came about.

27:25 – Gerber tells the number of Vertical books he has to get done, and how he goes about writing them, describing how each chapter in each book is exactly the same.

29:30 – He explains how people who complain that every Vertical book variant is exactly the same are missing the point. He also talks about the Eightfold Path.

In this episode of the Process Breakdown Podcast, Josh Fonger, a consultant, coach, author, and CEO of consulting firm Work the System Enterprises discusses how to use his “Work the System” methodology to improve businesses and increase productivity. He achieves this by using fun and easy working procedures to guide the operations of businesses by separating and making sure each piece is fine-tuned. He speaks on systems being able to provide the stability, resilience, and rigidity of a business that is necessary.

He tells a beautiful story about the Wearable Tattoo company and the sad story about a large fertilizing company that had massive dysfunction due to a lack of standardized procedures. He also talks about key procedures that can help save a lot of money over a long period of time.

Listen to this audio interview:

Listen to more expert interviews like this:

Key Resource List: 

* Work the System

Show Notes: 

0:10 – Introduction

1:45 – Dr. Weisz shares the best solution for documenting standard operating procedures. Highlights SweetProcess and their 14-day free trial. 

1:54 – Introduction of today’s guest, Josh Fonger, CEO of consulting firm Work the System Enterprises. 

3:21 – Mr. Fonger expatiates on the Work the System ideal and process of work.  

5:23 – The guest speaker starts to talk about the Work the System methodology and its formation by his partner Sam Carpenter. 

6:39 – Mr. Fonger goes into detailed explanations about the components of the Work the System methodology and the steps involved. 

10:25 – Mr. Fonger outlines again the four operating principles such as guidelines for decision making for your team, and how to write procedures and work beliefs. 

14:10 – The guest speaker makes it clear that bad things will happen in a business, how to  plan on people leaving, and how to use systems to provide stability and rigidity in business. 

16:16 – Here the speaker makes reference to the start up company, Wearable Tattoo, and how the system helped improve their productivity. The business broke one million dollars the first year. 

18:06 – Mr. Fonger also makes an example of an already established fertilizer company that had major systemic dysfunction due to the lack of standardized procedures.   

20:04 – The speaker makes reference to a parts factory he was working with in Michigan and how systematic procedures improved its efficiency and saved time and money. 

24:03 – Mr. Fonger talks about the “making timesheet.” He also talks about ways to delegate and remove clutter from your life. 

25:48 – “The results are in the accumulation of the systems and strategy, and if you aren’t gonna stick with it,

In this episode of the Process Breakdown Podcast Mark Graban, a consultant, author, and speaker with an international following shares the ways many companies misinterpret the data captured for representing their growth and improvement. 

Mr. Graban talks broadly on the methods you can use to avoid measuring vanity metrics, and how to efficiently measure and represent your business’s growth using effective problem-solving methods. He gives examples from his work in the health sector on how he used his methodologies to improve the overall quality of care, ER wait time, and patient safety, while also reducing costs and improving the workplace experience.

Listen to this audio interview:

Listen to more expert interviews like this:

Key Resource List:

* LeanBlog.org* Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More* MarkGraban.com

Show Notes:

0:10 – Introduction

0:53 – Dr. Jeremy Weisz shares the best solution for documenting standard operating procedures (SOPs), making it easy and efficient with SweetProcess and their 14-day free trial.

1:47 – Introduces the guest speaker, Mark Graban, who is a successful consultant, published author, professional speaker, and blogger. 

3:22 – The guest speaker tells a real-life story about the worst way companies react to their growth metrics when they start measuring it.

5:58 – Mr. Graban shares a simple but effective method that will help you get off the rollercoaster that comes with measuring business success.

10:37 – Mr. Graban shares what you shouldn’t be doing when it comes to calculating data and metrics.

12:37 – The guest speaker tells you the best thing to think about when measuring success.

14:36 – An example of an organization Mr. Graban has worked with using his methods and the results they got.

19:29 – How the guest helps organizations to identify inefficiencies using various problem-solving methods.

17:20 – Here the guest shares, as another example, his thoughts on ER wait times and how to really measure and improve it.

31:59 – One thing you should always have in mind when you start measuring data to help represent your business’s growth.

35:29 – Outro

Guest profile:

Mark Graban specializes in working with executives and frontline employees to help them improve their company’s problem-solving methods and skills. He is also a best-selling author and co-author of several management books.

On this episode of the Process Breakdown Podcast, David Allen, who is the world-renowned author of the Getting Things Done (GTD®) books series talks in-depth on how he created systems to increase his productivity: by using these systems to clear his mind and arrange things he needed to do in an order of highest priority to lowest, and by doing this, accomplishing more tasks with ease and improving efficiency.

David Allen also talks about how he began his career as a consultant, how he remodeled and improved businesses using the systems he has created.

Listen to this audio interview:

Listen to more expert interviews like this:

Key Resource List:

Getting Things Done (GTD®)

Show Notes:

1:53 – Dr. Weisz introduces David Allen, world-renowned for his GTD (Getting Things Done) system and books. 

3:02 – Mr. Allen begins to talk about his past, how he got into consulting, and how he was influenced by his mentor. 

5:40 – Mr. Allen talks about the techniques he used for himself and his clients to produce good results, and how he was recruited to design a training program. 

8:50 – Mr. Allen talks about the usefulness of what he calls the “mind sweep.” 

13:40 – Here Mr. Allen points out the key to getting things done. 

15:09 – Mr. Allen points out how most people work, but they haven’t defined the art of work. 

16:01- The speaker, Mr. Allen, explains how most of his consulting turned into coaching, and how he was brought in for hands-on training. 

18:40 – Mr. Allen contrasts most businesses against what he has in his mind as what it should be, as chaotic, stating, “Everybody is in chaos, and the better you are, the more interesting and sublime the chaos is.” 

19:45 – “The more sophisticated and mature people are, the more subtle and sublime the chaos is internally.” 

20:53 – Mr. Allen gives an in-depth definition of the phrase “expand more.” 

23:25 – Mr. Allen points out how people trying to use their heads as their main office are doing it wrong. 

27:43 – The speaker talks about the steps involved in attention-capturing and decision-making. 

28:44 – Mr. Allen explains how a parent uses the GTD book to motivate his child to clean his room. 

31:00 – Mr. Allen refers to the GTD systems as an eternal model, explaining how and why. 

47:00 – Mr. Allen makes it clear to get a good grip on what reality really is, how much money one really has, and how life is always a challenge.  48:40 – Mr. Allen points out what the true essence of Getting Things Done is. 

Guest profile:

Introduction

With over 2,000 different processes in his business operations, Adam Radulovic, CEO of XL.net, soon realized that being efficient in business was not about having too many processes. In the face of what he described as a “massive garage worth of processes,” it was difficult for employees to understand what was working and what was not working. Overwhelmed by it all, they could not even use most of the processes. The time, resources, and efforts spent in creating them were a waste. The need for an effective workflow management system was long overdue. Adam explains how the organization got rid of the clutter and streamlined their processes by using SweetProcess. Before we dive into it, let us have an overview of the organization.

Adam Radulovic CEO

About XL.net

XL.net is an IT company committed to helping businesses, especially small and medium-sized ones, succeed by leveraging technology.

An average organization understands the impact of technology in the modern business landscape, but it often lacks the technical know-how to make it happen. This is where XL.net comes in. With a team of expert IT personnel and years of experience under their belts, they create a practical approach in managing the technology needs of businesses from start to finish. Working closely with organizations, they investigate the problem, plan a resolution strategy, and maintain it through regular check-ins for optimal performance.

Based in the United States, the company currently has 30 full-time employees.

Listen to the audio interview:

Listen to more customer stories and interviews like this:

The Moment of Truth

As a system-oriented tech company, XL.net had systems in its organization. In a bid to have a process for every task executed, they created 2,500 processes within their business. The result they expected from these were different from what they got. It was counterproductive. Rather than being efficient, employees were thrown into a state of confusion as they struggled to separate the useful processes from the fluff. Radulovic quickly realized they were in over their heads:

“For probably the last eight or nine years, we’ve been doing a decent job of documenting our processes, procedures which we called work instructions previously and policies. And over the years, we got to a point where we now have close to 2,500 different processes, procedures, and policies. And the management of them became extremely difficult.”

One thing was apparent: their goal of efficiency was futile. They had the motivation to do things right, but they lacked the right system to actualize it. They needed a system that could streamline their processes in the shortest way possible.

How a Client Introduced the Organization to SweetProcess

XL.net discovered SweetProcess in an unconventional way. Although they were aware of the operational gap in their business, they did not know of an effective system that could c...

Introduction

Working in the fast-paced industry of online marketing, General Manager and COO of New Media Retailer, Francesca Halberg, struggled with keeping up with the latest trends and communicating with all her employees. After spending several hours creating business procedures, the information would become obsolete in about a week, making their entire efforts a total waste. Tired of always playing catch up and the communication disconnect between employees, she and her team opted for a workflow management software solution. Read along as she shares her experience of how SweetProcess saved the day. First, let us know more about the organization.

Francesca Halberg General Manager and COO

About New Media Retailer

New Media Retailer is an online solutions company catering to small and medium-sized businesses. Using promotional tools for online marketing, they give these businesses exposure to their target audience, especially in the area of local search engine optimization (SEO). They also help businesses to manage their websites, social media, email marketing, and e-commerce stores, giving them a competitive edge.

For over 10 years New Media Retailer has had a grasp of the online business environment. By offering their expert services to businesses in their online marketing activities, these businesses get to focus on what they do best. It currently has an employee capacity of 25.

Listen to the audio interview:

Listen to more customer stories and interviews like this:

The biggest challenges the organization battled with

Digital technology is ever-evolving. Online businesses scramble to keep up with new developments to stay relevant. After spending several hours documenting business processes and tagging them to a binder with print outs for every employee, New Media Retailer would realize that their efforts had become obsolete in a week or thereabouts due to new updates. This was always frustrating, states Halberg:

“It felt defeating, honestly. It took probably about 15 hours for us to get the binder to a point where we felt comfortable even rolling it out. And then, just how quickly things change in our industry, and all of a sudden, one week will go by, and we’d very quickly have several processes that were already out of date.”

There was also a huge knowledge gap between their in-office and remote employees. The employees at the office had access to certain information by virtue of being physically present—a luxury the remote employees did not have.

All these problems became more visible when the organization’s remote base grew bigger. It was clear that the problem needed to be fixed if they wanted to move forward.

How New Media Retailer resolved their business challenges with SweetProcess

Doing business today is highly competitive. Like going to battle without armor, many organizations set out with little or no preparation to beat the competition.

Introduction

Coming on board as the practice manager at 3rd Arm Admin, Candice Burgess’s role was to enhance the organization’s operations by fine-tuning its payroll and business administration services. Staff members grappled with running payrolls successfully by the due dates as a result of clogs in the manual processes they were working with. The need to improve these processes was visible to everyone. So, when they found a system that met that need, there was no hesitation to grab it. Burgess gives us insights into the before and after in regard to using SweetProcess in their organization. First, let us take a look at the organization for better understanding.

Candice Burgess Practice Manager

About 3rd Arm Admin

3rd Arm Admin offers business administration services such as bookkeeping, payroll, and virtual administration solutions to businesses in New Zealand. It simplifies complex administrative tasks, giving organizations clarity and control over their financial activities.

Working with seasoned professionals, the company takes care of all the cumbersome bookkeeping and payroll activities, enabling businesses to focus on their core duties and goals without distractions from these areas.

With a current staff capacity of seven, the organization’s values include client commitment, respect, excellence, integrity, and fun.

Listen to the audio interview:

Listen to more customer stories and interviews like this:

The Struggle to be Efficient on All Fronts

Fulfilling payroll orders requires accuracy and timeliness to get payments across to receiving parties. It is important that the transactions are successful at the right time regardless of any circumstances. Using manual tools like Microsoft Word and Excel sheets to document processes made it difficult for the company to keep up with the demands of the job, including unforeseen circumstances. Take absentee employees, for instance: there was not much that could be done when persons in charge of running certain payrolls were indisposed. How do you explain that to customers?

Burgess told us that “All the processes that were put in place were just all written up by each person who was doing them. And we just used Microsoft Word or Excel to write up all our processes, and things would just get on a server or on a hard drive for people to access…. And just keeping things up to date wasn’t always easy.”

Signing up for SweetProcess out of Necessity

According to Candice, signing up for SweetProcess was born out of a need to implement a better system in their organization. They found SweetProcess from a Google search about systems and processes. Intrigued by its uses and features, they signed up for a free trial, and that was all the convincing they needed.

Burgess stated that “There wasn’t much convincing. We liked the ease of how it was easily used. It was just an easy step-by-step thing. As soon as we started testing it,

Introduction

Taking a new position at Mudd Advertising six years ago, Senior Advisor of Digital Technology and Performance Dave Meindl did not have any system on the ground to work with—not even paperwork documentation. He had no idea how procedures were executed within the organization. Left to his fate, he was determined to make things work. With existing knowledge of the importance of standard operating procedures in a business, one of the first items on his list was to create a system in order to make his team more efficient. In search of an effective workflow management software, he discovered SweetProcess. He speaks to us about the positive strides made by using the system. Before going further, let us have an overview of the organization.

Dave Meindl Senior Advisor of Digital Technology and Performance.

About Mudd Advertising

Mudd Advertising is a top advertising agency in the United States, specializing in the automotive industry. For over 30 years, the company has worked directly with dealers across the country, servicing no fewer than 3,000 accounts annually.

With an array of experts on its team, the organization offers full marketing services in the areas of direct mail marketing, digital marketing, production services, and database management. Thriving on the “gung-ho” philosophy, Mudd Advertising takes pride in its work, aiming for excellence and celebrating its wins.

Headquartered in Cedar Falls, Iowa, the company has earned a reputation as a leading automotive advertising provider in the country, with over 150 employees on its payroll.

Listen to the audio interview:

Listen to more customer stories and interviews like this:

Discovering the Biggest Pain Point

Coming into the organization to head its digital activities, Dave had a big responsibility to fulfill. But with no existing system in place, their business processes were far from organized. Allowing things to continue on that path, according to him, would be chaotic. First, he needed to understand how things were done and why they were done that way. Dave would spend a lot of time putting the pieces together to figure this out:

“They had no system for keeping track of how things were done. I’m assuming it just sort of happened by word of mouth or something. As soon as I got there and saw that there was no way to keep track of these processes, I immediately said we needed to solve this problem otherwise there’s going to be complete chaos.”

Systems help to lay a solid foundation for success. When built strongly, they make an organization easily adapt to change, be it in the hiring of new employees or withstanding unprecedented situations.  

Signing Up for SweetProcess with Optimism

As much as Dave recognized the need for a system to be in place, he was also aware of the financial implications. With a fairly small budget at his disposal, cost was a major factor to consider in getting a solution without compr...

Introduction

As director of operations at Network Doctor, Joel Mizrahi’s topmost priority was crystal clear: to give their customers peace of mind. However, achieving that was a tall order. He and his team had trouble accessing vital information needed to resolve customer support issues. So much time was wasted looking for information on how to fix the problems, which elongated the resolution time, often to the customer’s detriment. In order to improve the impact of customer satisfaction on their business, Joel sought a centralized system to document and streamline their business processes. He tells us about the transformation in this case study. He is joined by the company’s director of service delivery, Cenon Hipolito. First, let us give you a brief overview of their organization to better understand their journey.

Joel Mizrahi Director of Operations.

Cenon Hipolito Director of Service Delivery

About Network Doctor

Network Doctor is a support service company that offers technology solutions to both small and medium businesses, helping them to leverage technology to fine-tune their operations and maximize productivity. Its services include rapid-response support and advanced IT consulting executed by an expert team of IT personnel.

Working closely with businesses, the organization caters to their technology needs, giving them adequate time to focus on their business operations. It adopts a proactive strategy in tackling tech-related issues heads on, leaving no blind-spots unattended to. With 57 employees currently under its belt, Network Doctor offers its services in various capacities, including full-time and project-based engagements.

Listen to the audio interview:

Listen to more customer stories and interviews like this:

Fulfilling an Uphill Task

Due to the nature of their business, Network Doctor deals with its customers on a highly-priced virtue—trust. Their customers entrust their technology operations in Network Doctor’ hands so they can focus on the frontlines of their businesses. Joel explains this, saying:

“Our company basically gives our customers peace of mind. We are handling their technology, ensuring that their business runs. By handling their technology and making sure their tech is running smoothly, we are basically allowing them to run their business which is what they want to focus on. They don’t want to focus on technology.” 

However, when dealing with a diverse group of clients, a one-size-fits-all approach did not cut it. They had to create different procedures to suit the particular needs of each client. Due to ineffective documentation, the best processes they could come up with were complicated, no thanks to the Word documents and ticketing system they were using.

“The biggest challenge that I feel that we had was because we have a wide array of clients, there are different procedures, there are different things that some of our clients prefer us to do. It’s a matter of getting those procedures correct ...