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.

Want to keep up to date with all our new business processes and project management skills articles? Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter, sent to over 14,000 loyal readers each Tuesday, and receive four valuable bonus reports to download instantly.

(Never sold, displayed or given away)

Business processes articles

• Working Smarter

  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.

  • Published 30 July 08
  • Lissanne Oliver
  • 9 Comments

• Working Smarter

  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!

  • Published 23 June 08
  • Greg Pritchard
  • 2 Comments

• Working Smarter

  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.

  • Published 28 April 08
  • Sue Hirst
  • 7 Comments

• Working Smarter

  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.

  • Published 18 April 08
  • Heather Smith
  • 11 Comments

• Working Smarter

  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.

  • Published 26 March 08
  • Lissanne Oliver
  • 11 Comments

• Working Smarter

  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.

  • Published 24 March 08
  • Sue Hirst
  • 2 Comments

• Working Smarter

  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.

  • Published 21 January 08
  • Sue Hirst
  • 4 Comments

• Working Smarter

  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.

  • Published 09 January 08
  • Lissanne Oliver
  • 8 Comments

• Working Smarter

  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.

  • Published 07 January 08
  • Zern Liew
  • 7 Comments

• Working Smarter

  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.

  • Mark Moore
  • 11 Comments

• Working Smarter

  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.

  • Published 05 October 07
  • Linda Anderson
  • 7 Comments

• Working Smarter

  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!

  • Published 03 September 07
  • Karen Morath
  • 7 Comments

• Working Smarter

  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.

  • Published 17 August 07
  • Zern Liew
  • 1 Comment

• Working Smarter

  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.

  • Published 31 May 06
  • Melissa Norfolk
  • 5 Comments

• Working Smarter

  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.

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