Like your computer, your business needs an operating system to organize the way the business functions.
Want to increase your business's chance of survival? Set your business up like a franchise with a system (set of processes) followed by all.
A business operating system (BOS) is a structure to manage your meetings, metrics and priorities, processes and procedures, and create clarity around roles and responsibilities. It establishes a way of doing business with your people and your market. And it increases clarity with everyone in your organization when you share the system with your team.
A BOS is a place to keep those to-do's that you've committed to other team members. It's a place to keep your organization chart, roles and responsibilities and conduct performance reviews. It's also a place to keep your company business plan and department plans. By having all this in place and your vision shared with others, and processes followed by all, communication between your senior leaders, managers, and employees is greatly improved.
Businesses that have a stable operating system in place seem to run better. Companies that do not have an operating system feel out of control – they seem to struggle with accountability and clarity around expectations – and the same problems seem to reoccur. These companies have many inefficiencies, and there are times when chaos is everywhere.
How have operating systems helped businesses?
Business operating systems (BOS) help leaders establish measures of success that let employees know if they are having a good day/week/month/quarter. Operating systems, like playbooks, establish precise processes for how things get done at your company – like hiring, onboarding, performance reviews, or firing OR submitting estimates, proposals, signing contracts, and processing collections.
A sound operating system includes a system of quarterly and annual meetings where strategic thinking and execution planning are organized and recorded. Within the BOS, you'll define your vision for and record your 3-year, 1-year and 90-day goals and priorities. You'll keep track in a scoreboard that measures – leading and lagging indicators – how you are doing. Like a baseball stadium scoreboard, you can share visibility with those who need visibility to the metrics (measures).
Of course, it will also be a place to run and track your weekly meetings and To Do's. The purpose of this is three-fold:
- To stay focused (moving the company forward on accomplishing your quarterly goals and priorities)
- Review and share feedback from clients/customers and team members so that you can improve the employee and customer experience
- Make decisions (identify issues, brainstorm, troubleshoot) and solve them
The Benefits of a Business Operating System
Still not convinced?
A BOS will highlight the most critical functions in your business that improve and practically ensure profitability. A BOS facilitates consistency throughout the organization so that new hires have the training and documentation on the procedures they are to follow. When everyone knows how to do their job, work gets done faster and cheaper, eliminating wasted effort. With clear measurables by position and employee, individuals see if they are productive and successful. Finally, you boost employee retention when employees know they are being successful and doing their work right.
How to Tell If Your Company Needs an Operating System
- If the experience at your company is chaotic…
- If your company has a sizeable staff turnover…
- If you or key people at your company cannot go away on a 2-week relaxing vacation…
- If you are frequently remarking about the lack of accountability among your team members…
- If you are experiencing falling profits with increasing sales…
- If there are a lot of ‘got-a-minute' interruptions in your day…
- If there are many communication breakdowns during the day…
- If you are operating blindly without a budget…
Then you need a Business Operating System. No exceptions.
I've been coaching business owners, leaders and their teams in the landscape industry to increase profitability, productivity, and performance since 2005. I've installed business operating systems into growing companies that allow these companies to grow their businesses faster, smarter, and better. Contact me today to get started!