If you could add up all of the hours you spend researching “how to ___”
What do you think that number would be? Pretty exponential right?
How many times do you find yourself researching a process or workflow, for something you need to do in your business, more than once? All of the time?
How To Create Workflows In Your Business
Just one Google search brings up tens of thousands of answers and solutions for you to choose from. And if you turn to YouTube for answers, you’re going to get thousands of different approaches that could lead you to feeling overwhelmed and wishing you had a one, legit, step-by-step list you could refer to time and time again.
With the plethora of resources available, we sometimes forget to even ask ourselves for the answer. We’re constantly reaching outwards when we might just have all of the answers inside.
Write Them Down
This is really going to get your wheels turning! If you’re having trouble getting started, pretend you are about to go on a 6-month vacation and your new assistant is taking over for you and needs to know everything.
Think about social media, your website, publishing new content, etc. Write it all down and do not eliminate anything just because it may seem too simple. Processes as small as posting an Instagram Story (things that come second nature to you) matter and should be listed.
Please note, you’re not writing down any processes YET. You’re simply acknowledging all of the amazing things you do. For extra bonus points, give yourself a round of applause when you’re done because you do so much and deserve the recognition. Especially if you’re a one-woman-show!
Example:
- Share a freebie every Friday on Instagram Stories
- Write a blog post every Monday
- Launch my program every quarter
Break Them Down
Now that you have written down all of the things, it’s time to break them open. I suggest moving into a type of word document now so you can speed up the process. You have two ways to do this:
- You can actively carry out the task and document the steps as you go.
- If you know the steps by heart, you can write them down into small and digestible pieces, and just work your way through.
I prefer to actively create my workflows because then I know I won’t leave any important steps out. It also allows me to be really mindful of the work I’m doing to achieve the end goal. I also recommend you take screenshots and paste them into your document if you feel like a visual would be helpful.
If you’re starting a workflow literally from ground zero (brand new task alert), don’t shy away from this process. It’s never been more important to document what you’re doing because the next time you go through the workflow you’ll be able to adjust things as needed.
Example:
Share a freebie every Friday on Instagram Stories:
- Create story image in Canva (see Canva workflow for the process)
- Download image
- Save image in Google Drive
- Go on Instagram and post story image with a call to action to visit profile for link
As simple as this may seem, imagine what a lifesaver this will be when you hire someone to help you in your business. It will be so easy for them to catch on and go with the flow and it will also be a great reference for you!
Build Your Own Master Workflow
Now that you have your document complete and full of your workflows, it is now time to transfer them into your project management system. Of course, this step is optional, but believe me, you’ll thank me for doing this in the end.
The reason why I suggest you put your workflows into a project management system is that it makes it so easy to duplicate your workflows and assign them as tasks to you and your team. Think about it, if you have all of your workflows documented and on Friday’s you post that Instagram story, you can literally duplicate your master workflow/project and assign it to a specific person and give a due date. I don’t know about you, but I know I love a good checklist that I can complete.
Creating your own workflows not only allows you to access the answers easily, but it also allows you to save time and energy. So instead of Googling for hours on end, you are simply going to access your workflows library and carry on like a boss!
Tools You Can Use:
- A notebook: to list out your tasks and projects
- Google Docs (or the like): to transfer your notes and to document your workflows step by step
- Asana (or your preferred project management system: to store your master workflows, to create sub-tasks, assign out work, and duplicate when needed.