5 Checklists To Help You Run A Better Business

Checklists are basically visual tools that help ensure what needs to be accomplished gets accomplished. In a small business, they can be very powerful in terms of ensuring important tasks are articulated and completed on time. When used with operational processes and procedures, checklists can promote standardized work performance to help reduce variances; thus, reducing errors and costs leading to an increase in profits. Put the following checklists into practice and see how much more you accomplish in your small business: 1. The ‘To-Do’ Checklist The most familiar and widely use checklist is the simple to-do list. Each day’s tasks are written on a planner, a notepad, or a computer sticky note. As each task is completed and checked off, it becomes a visible reminder that a needed task was accomplished. Any uncompleted tasks start the next day’s list. 2. The ‘Procedure Verification’ Checklist In almost any business, there are certain procedures that should be followed. At an operational level, a procedure verification checklist can verify that the required, step-by-step procedures are followed and accomplished. As an example, this type of checklist can be used to detail a manufacturing process, showing office sequence of paperwork, shipping of inventory, etc. As steps are completed, they can be checked off (even time stamped if necessary) to indicate their completion. This visual verification helps prevent errors of omission or identifies errors that can be corrected immediately. 3. The ‘Troubleshooting’ Checklist Invariably, something in a business will go wrong from time to time. When this happens, a troubleshooting checklist can be created and used to investigate what happened based on prior experience with similar problems. Using this type of systematic approach, a problem-solving person or team can find answers more quickly than they would with a more disorganized approach. The list can be prepared by an experienced employee and used by that individual, or provided to another employee in charge of analyzing and correcting the problem. 4. The ‘Readiness’ Checklist A readiness checklist ensures prerequisites are completed before certain tasks begin. As an example, IT teams can use this checklist to ensure all requirements–site, materials, training, and people–are ready and available before scheduling computer installations. Another example might be having HR personnel use the checklist to onboard new employees, making sure all required paperwork is completed before allowing them to start work. Readiness checklists, as the name implies, ensures that necessary components of a task are in place prior to implementation of that particular task. 5. The ‘Coordinating Management’ Checklist At a higher level, checklists can help coordinate activities among various departments. For example, a manager can use a checklist to track customer requirements for a specialized product order, progress involving multiple departments moving within an office facility, or milestones reached regarding a major business change. This type of checklist can vary in the number of details included and managers involved, but it can also show the degree of completion of each area of a project, leading to 100 percent completion of the overall project. A Case for Checklists Checklists, whether simple or complex, are great tools to improve effectiveness and efficiency. They help get important tasks accomplished to improve business performance. Although there are a multitude of checklists, it is important to utilize the checklist that will prove to be the most beneficial for your business. The idea is to improve operations with timely accomplishments rather than create more work, waste time, or reduce efficiency. Checklists work…try them.

4 Reasons You Should Think Like An Ant

Imagine what you could accomplish if you never quit and always did all that you could do.
Jim Rohn


When was the last time you saw ants reach an obstacle and give up with their heads down and head back to the ant hole to relax? Never.

Here’s another question. How much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for winter? All that it possibly can.

Imagine what you could accomplish if you never quit and always did all that you could do.

I think everybody should study ants and their philosophy—it’s simple, but it’s powerful:

1. Ants never quit.

That's a good philosophy. If ants are headed somewhere and you try to stop them; they'll look for another way. They'll climb over, they'll climb under and they'll climb around. They keep looking for another way. What a neat philosophy, to never quit looking for a way to get where you're supposed to go.

2. Ants think winter all summer.

That's an important perspective. You can't be so naive as to think summer will last forever. So ants are gathering their winter food in the middle of summer.

An ancient story says, "Don't build your house on the sand in the summer." Why do we need that advice? Because it’s important to be realistic. In the summer, you've got to think storm. Think ahead.

3. Ants think summer all winter.

That is so important. During the winter, ants remind themselves, "This won't last long; we'll soon be out of here." And the first warm day, the ants are out. If it turns cold again, they'll dive back down, but then they come out the first warm day. They can't wait to get out.

4. Ants think “all-you-possibly-can.”

How much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for the winter? All he possibly can. Ants don't have quotas or "good enough" philosophies. They don't gather a certain amount and then head back to the hole to hang out. If an ant can do more, it does. What an incredible philosophy, the "all-you-possibly-can" philosophy.

Never give up, look ahead, stay positive and do all you can.

Time Out: How To Make More Time For Yourself

Streamline your email.

You can accomplish more and thus save yourself time if when you work you actually are more productive. In the new book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, author Cal Newport suggests sharpening your ability to do productive work rather than wasting your time on busy work.

One major time suck is email. You might have noticed that some email threads seem to go back and forth needlessly–a classic example is when participants are deciding when to meet. Instead of the back and forth, Newport suggests offering three possible times and saying that someone’s choice will serve as their confirmation.

I also love his method for responding to emails which can reduce the number of incoming emails further. If you are part of a group that needlessly uses Reply All, stop it. Send an email to the group leader or participants and ask that this practice stop. A simple, “There’s no need to reply all to this email,” should stop it.

It’s up to you to define what you think is needless otherwise people are sucking your time away from you.

Streamline your work.

What do you find yourself doing more than once? For example, I’m often asked to provide my bio in different word counts. After the second request, I realized that I needed to have multiple bios: a 25-word, a 50-word, a 100-word, and a longer bio. I created a folder that has all the different bios in it with bio titles searchable by word count for quick access.

Proposals and their contents can also be streamlined. There is certain information that will be regularly inserted into every proposal, even if you are trying to customize your proposals. This regularly used information is what you should create and keep in a separate file and have readily available.

You should also create a template to use for creating proposals. That way you aren’t needlessly formatting documents.

Even more important is thinking about your work actions. Why have files buried several layers deep in your filing hierarchy? Figure out how to create fewer clicks to retrieve your most-used files. You could move those folders to your computer desktop. Just make sure your computer desktop doesn’t become a mess.

Who doesn’t want more relaxation time and less busy work? Only you can make the right choices so you get to relax.