The Process and Outputs Come First

Summary

• Look at Your Processes Before You Look at Your People 
• Better Processes are the Best Solution
• Building Better Processes

Resources

• How to do an Accounting Workflow Analysis & Make Improvements
• Accounting Workflow Automation (With Actionable Steps)
• What is Workflow in Accounting? Do You Really Need One?

Look at Your Processes Before You Look at Your People

Today, the founder and CEO of Jetpack Workflow, David Cristello is reflecting on a quote from Marcus Lemonis, host of the reality TV show The Profit. In the show, Marcus would go into small businesses and assess the three P’s: People, Process, and Product.

He’d determine where the biggest issues were and help the owners make corrections. 

Typically, the people (staff) were great, and when they weren’t, it was obvious they needed to go. If this were the case, he’d advise the owners to get rid of them quickly so the rest of your team can perform at a higher level. 

From there, he would assess how to get their products (which were also usually great) out of the door. This led him to a philosophy that resonates with David and many firm owners: “Look at processes before you look at the people.” 

Oftentimes, confusion and lack of growth within your staff isn’t a result of the people, but a byproduct of a bad process. It leads your staff to a lot of wasted time trying to figure out what needs to be done, on top of all of the other work they are trying to complete. Eventually, burnout is the result.

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Better Processes are the Best Solution

Typically, when firm owners have a problem they look for a person to fix it, whether it be getting rid of someone you think is causing the issue or hiring a new person to fill a need you think you’re lacking.  

In some instances, this may work. However, it’s a short-term solution for a bigger issue and in many cases, causes more issues to arise. Instead of putting a bandaid over the problem, fix it with a better process. 

“A great process is like rocket fuel to the firm.” 

Instead of thinking about the person, think about your processes. How has the process led to a place where people are getting burnt out and confused or stepping on each other’s toes? Can you see areas where the process may be the problem?

Taking this route puts your business in a better position. Fixing the process rather than the people is a more scalable approach and creates redundancy. As people do leave, you’ll know what is expected and can focus less on the activity and more on producing the outputs.

Building Better Processes

To build better processes, David suggests thinking about the output first. 

Layout the stages, steps, and people involved to get you to your outputs. As you come across issues, diagnose the process first, not the people. You designed the engine, which means you have the freedom to rework it and tweak it as necessary—use this to your advantage. 

Yes, you will have to work with people issues as they come up; morale, communication, collaboration, growth, and compensation included. However, don’t spend all of your time there. 

Instead, focus on your processes. This is where you de-risk and leverage your firm. You’ll see a much better return and a more successful firm overall. 

If you want to rework your processes to get better results, but don’t know where to start, head over to Jetpack Workflow! We’ve put together 32 workflow templates to help you get your processes on track. 

Also, be sure to listen to David’s full podcast above where he goes more in-depth about building processes and improving your firm!