Processes Archives - Pamela Ayuso

Bring It All Together: How to Implement Processes in a Nutshell – Part 1

Pamela Ayuso July 29, 2019

Once a business grows to a certain level of success, it becomes an absolute necessity to organize daily tasks to avoid mistakes. Errors happen all the time, and inconsistencies can result in unhappy customers, tense employees, and unbudgeted costs.

The best way to organize these daily duties is to create and implement business processes. A process is a group of tasks that are performed within a business to obtain a specific objective—it is like a chain of events that guides a project from start to finish. By clearly outlining for yourself and your company what the main processes in your company are and how, ideally, they should work, you will gain greater efficiency.

The Value of a Little Patience When Automating Processes

Pamela Ayuso June 24, 2019

When implementing a new process in a company, it takes some time to find a new rhythm of work. Routines and habits must change, and the team has to adjust to the new way of doing things. It requires patience, and sometimes, in the middle of the transition, you may wonder whether it will ever work.

Once the implementation is completed successfully, though, it’s beautiful to see. The process you had been working on now operates independently without you having to do anything about it. The team, the systems, and the processes have all adapted, and the new way of doing things is the new normal.

How to Make Sure Processes are Always Up-to-Date

Pamela Ayuso September 3, 2018

If there is one constant in the office, it is that everything will change. Once processes have been developed within a company, they need to be reviewed recurrently to ensure they are still effective, relevant, and up-to-date. A new member may have recently joined the team, or perhaps a new system has been implemented which alters the workflow in the office.

We have developed a system for keeping our processes updated at my company, Celaque. It includes periodic reviews, ad hoc modifications, and self-reviews. The best way to make sure the entire body of processes is always updated is through a programmed annual or semi-annual review. Self-review procedures and taking the opportunity to correct processes when mistakes are found are both essential practices to ensure that processes are in the best shape possible.

What Happened During Our Year Implementing NetSuite

Pamela Ayuso July 2, 2018

In 2017 our firm embarked on the biggest system implementation yet: NetSuite, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. It took six very intense months to become operational, but the full implementation lasted a year because we had bugs and problems that needed to be resolved. Because NetSuite interacted with all the departments of the company, bringing the system online was going to affect everybody.

Prior to implementing NetSuite, we had a very basic accounting system; it only took care of fundamental transactions, such as bills and invoices, and it produced fixed customer statements, accounting reports, and financial statements. While it was a good system for a startup, we realized we had outgrown it.

4 Simple Steps to Fix Problems in Your Processes

Pamela Ayuso May 7, 2018

Even with processes up and running in your business, you will still sometimes run into problems. Perhaps a newsletter did not go out on the date it was supposed to, or a report has missing information. It is impossible to foresee and document every single possibility in your processes.

So, what do you do when you find a gap in the way something needs to be done? You have one of two choices: you can temporarily patch it up, or you can prevent the problem from ever happening again. It pays to take the time to figure out what happened and solve the issue for the future.

How to Properly Delegate Work to Your First Hire

Pamela Ayuso April 3, 2018

Sooner or later, your business will grow to the level where you alone can no longer get everything done. It is inevitable: to grow and stay on track with business demands, more help is required.

Hiring a firm’s first employee is a big change that is both positive and challenging. The new hire will not only take on part of the workload but will hopefully bring new skills and practices that weren’t previously available at the firm.

The goal is to train and set the new hire up to be as successful as possible.

Valuable Ideas from Google for Growth and Innovation: Part 1

Pamela Ayuso March 20, 2018

How Google Works by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg is a New York Times bestselling book published in 2014. From 2001 to 2011, Eric Schmidt was the CEO of Google, and Jonathan Rosenberg was the Senior Vice President of Products at Google and resigned in 2011. In the book, the authors share the lessons they learned in management as they and others built and grew this internet behemoth.

When I first read How Google Works, I was surprised by the many brilliant ideas for business strategy and organization in the book. Although following their example and implementing everything they propose would take tremendous attention and work, I think that just taking a few of their ideas could have a big impact on any business. I highly recommend reading the publication for anyone interested in learning some of Google’s secrets and backstories.

How to Effectively Keep Track of Everything You Have to Do

Pamela Ayuso March 13, 2018

Days are full of activity and go by in the blink of an eye. Between one thing and the next, it will show if ideas and work are not managed properly. We will miss a deadline, forget to call a big client back or drop the ball on an important assignment. Executing is key but so is following-up to ensure that everything that was needed to be done was done on time.

Fear not: there are ways to combat this. All that is necessary is developing a system to keep track of all your to-do list items and ensuring the system works to follow through on all these tasks.

The Benefits of Implementing Processes in Your Business

Pamela Ayuso March 6, 2018

Organizing the operations of a business into processes can be time-consuming and perhaps overwhelming. I did not realize just how much we do on a daily basis until I started cataloging everything. From the calls we make and the proposals we send out, to negotiations with suppliers and communication with accounting, everything we do includes different steps that need to be documented.

The investment, though, pays off: your firm will benefit immensely from implementing processes.

How to Improve and Grow Your Business with Effective Processes

Pamela Ayuso February 13, 2018

So many things to do, so little time: the demands of work can seem endless. There is a certain number of things that need to get done, and throughout the day, we go from one to the next. There never seems to be enough time, and it may seem sometimes impossible for things to get better.

There is, however, an alternative to merely surviving. To rise above the daily to-do list, you can set up processes for yourself, your employees, and your company. These same tasks that engulf a business can be organized into overall processes. The procedures that are designed for the firm will provide more organization, efficiency, and accountability for the work that needs to be accomplished every day.

Category: Processes