Business processes and project management skills

Putting in place effective business processes is a key way of working smarter, not harder. And once the business processes have been implemented, it is beneficial to document your business procedures to save you time in the future.

This section includes a wide range of business processes articles covering topics such as project management skills and why projects fail, stock management and how to organise your paperwork.

It is good practice to regularly monitor your business processes to see where improvements or changes can be made to help things run more smoothly.

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Business processes articles

• Five ways to be more organised at work

  Wasting just ten minutes a day can set you back a whole working week by the end of the year. Here are five simple tips to help you use your time and space more wisely.

  • 17 February 10
  • Roz Howland
  • 9 Comments

• Business process review: Turning it outside-in

  Want to learn from companies like Apple and Google, who’ve been going from strength to strength despite the GFC? Do a business process review and start turning your business outside-in!

  • 22 January 10
  • Craig Reid
  • 5 Comments

• Get organised: What’s your organising style?

  Getting organised is not a ‘one size fits all’ solution. There are common fundamental principles, but individual differences must be taken into account. Here’s how to get organised by using the organising solution that will suit you best.

  • 06 November 09
  • Roz Howland
  • 6 Comments

• 

  How you do what you do – the importance of systems

  "It only takes one or two interactions with a customer before their expectations of you become firmly set. To earn their repeat business you must show that they can rely on your service." Robert Gerrish

• Tips to create standard business procedures

  The more soloists can create standard business procedures for what they do, the more efficient, productive and consistent they will be. Activities that can be proceduralised are often low cost and result in big payoffs.

  • 07 October 09
  • Megan Tough
  • 9 Comments

• Business procedures manual: The style guide

  We have read about the benefits of documenting the procedures we adhere to in our business. Michael Gerber has made a lot of money telling us we need them and Sam Leader extols the virtues of a business procedures manual, but where to start?

  • 30 September 09
  • Heather Smith
  • 10 Comments

• The value of project post mortems

  Where did things go wrong? Or right? Project post mortems are great, but only if they’re done right. Here’s how to carry out a review once the dust settles on your project.

  • 02 September 09
  • Greg Pritchard

• Creating a business procedures manual

  Processes. Love ‘em or loathe them, we can’t live without them. They are part of everything we do. But often we take our business processes for granted until disaster hits or we need to break free from our indispensible role as the boss.

  • 31 August 09
  • Craig Reid
  • 14 Comments

• Why we all need more structure and routine

  One of the challenges for many soloists is having too much freedom. When you work alone, no one notices when you don’t follow a structure or routine, tidy your desk or get your filing done. But productivity can nosedive if you’re not careful.

  • 17 August 09
  • Kate James
  • 8 Comments

• Top five organising tools for your office

  It’s vital as soloists to set up organising tools that suit your situation and working style. They do not have to be expensive nor overly fancy to do an excellent job of getting you organised and keeping you that way. Here are five of my favourites.

  • 07 August 09
  • Roz Howland
  • 4 Comments

• Five business processes that drive success

  Business processes are the flows of activities that get things done in your business. Once processes are identified and measured, you can automate, streamline and even redesign them in the best possible ways for your business.

  • 27 July 09
  • Stacey Barr
  • 12 Comments

• Project planning: 8 ways to kill your project

  There are actions I’ve seen which are guaranteed to kill your project’s chance of success. Here are eight ways projects get sabotaged, and project planning tips to prevent them.

  • 29 June 09
  • Greg Pritchard
  • 4 Comments

• The Big O – Being organised!

  Any improvements you make to your business processes will relate directly to your clientele numbers. Which of course relate directly to your balance sheet. It’s simple: being more organised equals more profit.

  • 26 June 09
  • Roz Howland
  • 10 Comments

• How to avoid false and misleading conduct

  Here’s a summary of section 53 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPA), which deals with false and misleading representations.

  • 29 April 09
  • Michael Terceiro
  • 3 Comments

• Are your business templates up to date?

  Like many soloists, I use templates. Mine are for things like invoices, coaching agreements and emails for new clients. Business templates create efficiency; however they also create opportunity for error.

  • 10 April 09
  • Linda Anderson
  • 7 Comments

• Misleading or deceptive conduct

  Did you know that you can fall foul of the law if you engage in misleading or deceptive conduct, or conduct that is likely to mislead or deceive?

  • 24 November 08
  • Michael Terceiro
  • 7 Comments

• Decluttering: Take it away!

  The FS gang attended a conference which attracted the finest minds working in the online industry. Naturally we were way out of our depth. Joking aside, one thing I took away has had a profound impact on how I work - the importance of decluttering.

  • 11 November 08
  • Sam Leader
  • 27 Comments

• Government initiatives for micro businesses

  The Small Business Summit in Brisbane provided an opportunity to hear what the Government is doing to help micro businesses.

  • 10 November 08
  • Heather Smith
  • 6 Comments

• The importance of using checklists

  It amazes me how many times I come away from a life experience with something valuable to my business. In many cases, the gems are as simple as they are surprising. Here’s one about using checklists that I was reminded of a couple of weeks ago.

  • 04 November 08
  • Robert Gerrish
  • 23 Comments

• Filing paperwork: What’s your style?

  If you spend more than three minutes trying to find any document, you’re wasting valuable time and impeding your productivity. Paper will never leave our lives completely so you need to work out which system for filing paperwork works for you.

  • 30 July 08
  • Lissanne Oliver
  • 10 Comments

• Project management processes: A simple guide

  If you get flustered at the thought of managing a project, these simple tips will help. I've seen the largest projects start with the project managment processes below, and one to five person projects run with nothing more!

  • 23 June 08
  • Greg Pritchard
  • 2 Comments

• Business systems: How they save your sanity!

  A challenge for any solo business owner is how to get others to help run the business, so that it doesn’t completely take over your life. You can look over everybody’s shoulder all of the time or you can invest in business systems to free yourself.

  • 28 April 08
  • Sue Hirst
  • 7 Comments

• Practical tips for a paperless office

  Is a paperless office for a soloists a practical reality? In my article Small business record keeping: Dealing with the shoebox Marc Fraser from Melbourne raised the possibility of maintaining financial source documents electronically.

  • 18 April 08
  • Heather Smith
  • 12 Comments

• How NOT to be organised

  Working as a Professional Organiser, I’ve seen first hand the most common mistakes that undo our ability to be organised. There are many traps for young players.

  • 26 March 08
  • Lissanne Oliver
  • 11 Comments

• Benefits of a good work-in-progress system

  A successfully managed work-in-progress system for your solo business can help you improve profitability, cashflow and customer satisifaction.

  • 24 March 08
  • Sue Hirst
  • 2 Comments

• Taking stock of your stock management

  Stock needs to be available for sale when your customer is ready to buy. But because it sucks up cash to have it waiting to be sold, it is good stock management to keep stock on the shelf for the shortest possible time.

  • 21 January 08
  • Sue Hirst
  • 5 Comments

• How to organise your paperwork

  Are you struggling to manage the paper in your work day? Learn a super fast way to sort and organise your paperwork with the four Fs – finish it, forward it, file it or flick it.

  • 09 January 08
  • Lissanne Oliver
  • 8 Comments

• Project management: Why projects fail

  As soloists, our work is often project-based. Have you ever wondered why some projects go smoothly and others seem plagued with problems? Here are five reasons why projects can fail and how with good project management these problems can be avoided.

  • 07 January 08
  • Zern Liew
  • 15 Comments

• 

  Why you should document procedures

  Mastering the art of performing a new business process, such as using a new software program, is something we can be proud of. It is also something we should write down. Here are the reasons it is beneficial to document procedures.

  • 28 November 07
  • Mark Moore
  • 13 Comments

• Why you need a business procedures manual

  If you’re ever intending to take extended leave from your work, step sideways into a different role or simply escape one set of tasks to concentrate on another, then read on to find out why you need a business procedures manual.

  • 13 November 07
  • Sam Leader
  • 28 Comments

• Successful business strategies: Is faster better?

  It seems to me that everywhere I look someone is trying to persuade us to accomplish things more quickly. Doubtless there are successful business strategies and products that can help us be more efficient, but is faster always better?

  • 06 November 07
  • Robert Gerrish
  • 11 Comments

• The importance of setting boundaries

  Many soloists fall into the trap of saying yes to business that they should really be saying no to. To avoid this happening, you need to understand the importance of setting boundaries in your business.

  • 05 October 07
  • Linda Anderson
  • 7 Comments

• How to make the most of September

  Spring is a time of new life, and that’s exactly what we can do with September. Now is the perfect time to reassess your business and do some of the things you have been putting off all year. Now is the time for action!

  • 03 September 07
  • Karen Morath
  • 7 Comments

• How social capital is good for business

  When social capital, or generosity, is a foundation of your business strategy, it provides huge benefits. It helps build strong relationships with your community and customers, plus when it comes to PR, it beats expensive advertising.

  • 17 August 07
  • Zern Liew
  • 4 Comments

• Australian copyright law: How to protect your work

  What would you do if you discovered your work had been reproduced without your permission? Here we look at the basics of Australian copyright law, including how to protect your work and what work can't be protected.

  • 31 May 06
  • Melissa Norfolk
  • 5 Comments

• Slimy business practices

  Many of us engage in certain business practices because, well, that’s what businesses do, even when these business practices leave us feeling creepy and oily.

  • 02 December 05
  • Paul J. Morris
  • 8 Comments