Systems-based Management is designed to put everyone in your company on the same page, regarding processes and procedures; thus, giving instant access to pertinent, job-related information, to all staff.
“We don’t need good systems… all we need are good people!”
That’s a quote from a business owner I wrote about in my book!
Let that quote digest, as I relate the following:
This past Friday, I was driving home on a freeway outside of Nashville to pick up my wife to go see a movie, when my cell phone rang. It was my former pastor. “Bill” sounded very excited and anxious to share about some new things that were going on in his life.
I had given my book “System Busters” to Bill several years ago, before he moved out west to be part of another ministry. Bill has always taken part-time jobs to supplement his income, because ministry doesn’t always pay well, monetarily. Recently, he has been involved with several companies that have asked for his help in improving their processes.
“I called to tell you again how much your book has impacted me and the work I’ve been doing,” Bill said. He wanted me to know how he had used many of the ideas I laid out about the systemization of business.
Bill had just left a planning meeting with the owner of a company that has over 300 employees. As a result, it has grown into a very complex organization over the past couple of decades. The owner is now very concerned about the company’s future and is desperately looking for answers.
Finding the Answers in Systems-based Management
The company’s top employee is retiring very soon and the owner realizes there is NO ONE else who knows the company’s processes and how they operate like THIS person—not even the owner himself. Bill said this owner’s way of running the company was “personnel-based rather than systems-based.”
He had strongly recommended that the owner implement written systems immediately, before this “top employee” leaves. Bill told me he was running into this scenario everywhere; consequently, doors are opening for him to help other companies get organized.
One of the reasons my friend Bill wants to help these businesses is that they are major contributors to all types of benevolent ministries. As a pastor, he has a heart for people, even us “selfish business owners” who (one man said) “didn’t build” our companies.
I recently wrote a blog titled, “When Your Business Systems Walk Out the Door.” It’s based on the idea that, when one person in a company seems to be THE ONE who knows all the answers, processes and other pertinent information, it makes them “irreplaceable.” Then, when he or she leaves the company for any reason, it puts the company in a precarious position.
My former pastor and friend, Bill, is a witness to that very thing. His call reminded me of the importance of establishing solid systems that will sustain a business. It’s important that, when key employees do retire, the systems won’t walk out the door with them.
Remember the quote I mentioned above: “We don’t need good systems, we just need good people?” Let me say again…
Systems are GREAT tools to help GOOD people do a GREAT job!
Can I get a witness? Great systems work!
Recent Comments