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    • Action plan

    Identifying and overhauling outdated processes

    High effort

    High impact

    Poorly performing processes impact productivity and sap employee morale. It’s frustrating to work in an inefficient way or waste time doing unnecessary admin. Improving outdated processes – the things that are done that way simply because they’ve always been done that way – is an essential part of business growth.

    • We’ve designed our action plans to be completed in the order of steps laid out and explained why each step is important
    • Customising your action plan lets you set your own completion dates, assign tasks to others and get notifications
    • Helpful tools are provided for certain steps while a tracking metric at the end will help you determine the long-term success of your effort
    • A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available if you’d like to compete it offline
    What's involved? Ways to use this action plan Measuring impact
    1

    Implement one-to-ones with employees to discuss pain points with your current tools and processes

    Impact: medium

    Why will this help?

    Finding out which processes aren’t up to scratch can identify areas for improvement. Making employee-led changes will increase buy-in too.

    Conducting one-to-ones with employees

    Using a template for employee one-to-ones, like this one from Bristol University, will help to make sure each meeting is as effective as possible.
    2

    Choose one of the processes highlighted by employees and work backwards to figure out the root cause of the problem

    Impact: low

    Why will this help?

    Issues that crop up, like losing a client because of poor customer service, are often symptoms of an underlying problem. Figuring out the root cause, such as ineffective onboarding, makes sure you choose the right process to work on.

    Getting to the root cause of a problem

    If you’ve identified a problem in your business, it’s important to get to the root cause before you take action.
    3

    Calculate how much time team members are spending on tasks

    Impact: medium

    Why will this help?

    Knowing how much time employees are investing in different tasks is a great way to spot inefficiencies. What areas look oversized or unnecessary? It also gives you a chance to free up capacity and make sure people aren’t overworked.

    4

    Speak to another business owner to find out how they deal with a similar process and any additional digital tools or training that could help

    Impact: medium

    Why will this help?

    Learning from other leaders is a great way to broaden your perspective on how a process could work and find out what they’ve experimented with.

    5

    Test out a new process in your workplace for a three-month trial period and then speak to employees to find out whether it’s an improvement

    Impact: high

    Why will this help?

    Setting a test period and getting regular employee feedback will improve your chances of getting employee buy-in on any changes.

    What can I do with this Action Plan?

    Start this Action Plan

    Add some extra information to this plan and we’ll help you get it done.

    • We’ve designed our action plans to be completed in the order of steps laid out and explained why each step is important
    • Customising your action plan lets you set your own completion dates, assign tasks to others and get notifications
    • Helpful tools are provided for certain steps while a tracking metric at the end will help you determine the long-term success of your effort
    • A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available if you’d like to compete it offline

    Download and print

    Get a printable template for this Action Plan, fill it in with some target dates, and share it with your team. Pin it on the wall where everyone can see it.

    Get the printable Action Plan

    Learning Groups

    We also run Learning Groups on these topics where you can join other leaders tackling the same challenges.

    Find a Learning Group

    How will I know if my action plan is working?

    Staff satisfaction survey results

    Staff satisfaction surveys help gauge sentiment at regular intervals

    Why this metric?

    Whether gathered anonymously or not, staff satisfaction surveys help gauge the sentiment of your people as changes are made and impacts felt.

    How do I start tracking?

    Use an online survey to get feedback from members of staff three and six months after making changes to see what impact it has had.