Building effective business systems. Chapter 1: Introduction
Preparing the next Service Note to my supervisor, I overdid it a bit. The service has reached 30 pages with tables, charts and graphs. This document titled "How to create an effective system in the company." To some, this may seem trivial and uninteresting, but many, it seems to me, will be able to find in it something useful for themselves or their business.
The proposed document affects both fundamental, well-known terms and concepts, as well as vague, fuzzy definitions, the meaning of which varies depending on the context and reader. In order to minimize discrepancies, each section is supplied with a dictionary. At the same time, there are important things that are common to the whole document, which I would like to agree on before moving on.
Tip: Before you start reading the new section, review its dictionary. It is not necessary to read it, it is important to at least read it. This will allow you in cases where you find in the text the wording causing questions, remember that the author took care to decipher it in the dictionary.
First of all, I propose to decide what we need all this for? What is the purpose of the creation and operation of our company? I believe that any business is created with only one purpose:
Profit today and in the long run.
A simple and understandable goal, any deviation from which is a fallacy. The most common variant of this delusion is the substitution of the first part “profit today” for something ephemeral, social, etc. I insist: the company can not carry beauty into the world, create jobs, give happiness and joy, if the company does not organize sufficient cash flow!
The second class of delusions concerns long-term perspectives: very often one can meet the desire of the owner to reduce the goal to short-term gain. In this case, two options are possible - either we are not in business, but in one of the most popular “schemochki” in the 90s of the last century, designed to sabotage money and run away, or there is no clear understanding of the business system, in which “migration” across markets is part of strategy.
Business is a system. A company is an interconnected part of one large mechanism, each of which solves a specific task on the way to achieving the goal (see above). And as in any complex mechanism, the incorrect operation of one, even the smallest, node leads to unstable operation of the entire system. (Those who want to make sure they can go to their car and cut off the timing belt).
The perception of business as a mechanism gives us an understanding of several basic principles that are obvious, but elude us every time we look at our company. So, we agreed that
')
A company is a complex mechanism (system) for making money today and in the future.
Based on this premise alone, several conclusions can be drawn. Some of them will seem obvious, some completely ridiculous. But, as you remember, we agree on basic concepts:
Conclusion 1: There are general laws of the existence and development of systems that are independent of the environment: technology, society, biology, etc. And the business system also obeys these laws.
As an example, let us recall the timing already broken by us. In the form of a law, this could be formulated as follows: “Disabling an element participating in the implementation of a key function of the system makes the entire system inoperable regardless of the number of other elements.”
Conclusion 2: The system is created to implement one main function, and this is achieved by performing a finite set of sequential operations (subfunctions). The quality and speed of the implementation of the main function depends on the correctly chosen sequence and the quality of the subfunctions.
Move the car = pick up a portion of the fuel -> blow up fuel -> transfer energy
Conclusion 3: The links between the elements of the system are just as important as the elements themselves.
I am sure you have good engines in your cars. Very likely you are using good tires. But if they are not tied together, then, no matter how good they are, the car will not move anywhere.
Conclusion 4: In the total mass of subfunctions there is a critical chain, providing the main function and an unlimited number of side chains, improving, interfering or not affecting the main one.
The main function of my car is to transport me. The sub-function “damping bumps in the road” improves the basic, “storing things in the trunk” - worsens, “playing music” - does not affect driving performance and speed of movement. Please note that if the main function were “to demonstrate my status,” the influence of the subfunctions would have changed significantly.
Obviously, a complex system must somehow be regulated. Understanding that a specific employee is the minimum structural unit of a company, it is reasonable to assume that a person will also be in control (to implement the management function). At the same time, it is obvious to everyone that the task of the cleaning staff is to keep the office clean. Its function is to clean the office. So any manager has his own function.
The task of an entrepreneur is to build and maintain a system that is able to perform its functions as efficiently as possible while consuming the minimum necessary amount of resources.
At the same time, any company has structural divisions headed by a manager. The task and function of management passes through the entire organizational structure of the company: the general director organizes the work of the departments, the heads of the departments organize the work of ordinary employees, the ordinary employees organize the work of their tools. The more effectively the management function at each level is implemented, the better the company as a whole works and the less resources it consumes.
Important note: effective work does not mean 100% workload!
Apart from this section and the conclusion, the document is divided into four parts, describing the company from different sides, namely:
It is important to understand that the separation in different sections does not mean that these components are isolated from each other and can be considered separately. Such a division is very conditional and dictated by the difference in approaches to the description, but no more.
The “Business Processes” section is the most significant in the document, since the process approach has the most extensive tools for building and describing effective organizations. At the same time, I am absolutely sure that the construction of the structure of processes is primary when considering any system. First you need to understand what the system does, and then with the help of ANY resources.
“Finance” immediately follows business processes, since, as we noted earlier, they are a necessary condition for the viability of a company. In addition, the description of financial flows is very close to the process approach and in many ways echoes it.
The next step seems to be reasonable to coordinate the people who make up our organization, because without them the two preceding paragraphs are nothing more than a beautiful theory.
And the final stage is “the market”, since we can produce the best product for the smallest money with the efforts of the most talented people, but if it is not needed on the market, then all of the above does not make sense.
Once again I emphasize that the arrangement of sections in this order does not mean that we first do one, then the second, etc. We are OBLIGED to consider any our decision from these four points of view SIMULTANEOUSLY. The order presented is nothing more than a narrative method.
Building effective business systems. Chapter 2.1 Business Processes: Vocabulary. Stream approach. Business and pipelines
The proposed document affects both fundamental, well-known terms and concepts, as well as vague, fuzzy definitions, the meaning of which varies depending on the context and reader. In order to minimize discrepancies, each section is supplied with a dictionary. At the same time, there are important things that are common to the whole document, which I would like to agree on before moving on.
Tip: Before you start reading the new section, review its dictionary. It is not necessary to read it, it is important to at least read it. This will allow you in cases where you find in the text the wording causing questions, remember that the author took care to decipher it in the dictionary.
Business purpose
First of all, I propose to decide what we need all this for? What is the purpose of the creation and operation of our company? I believe that any business is created with only one purpose:
Profit today and in the long run.
A simple and understandable goal, any deviation from which is a fallacy. The most common variant of this delusion is the substitution of the first part “profit today” for something ephemeral, social, etc. I insist: the company can not carry beauty into the world, create jobs, give happiness and joy, if the company does not organize sufficient cash flow!
The second class of delusions concerns long-term perspectives: very often one can meet the desire of the owner to reduce the goal to short-term gain. In this case, two options are possible - either we are not in business, but in one of the most popular “schemochki” in the 90s of the last century, designed to sabotage money and run away, or there is no clear understanding of the business system, in which “migration” across markets is part of strategy.
Business structure
Business is a system. A company is an interconnected part of one large mechanism, each of which solves a specific task on the way to achieving the goal (see above). And as in any complex mechanism, the incorrect operation of one, even the smallest, node leads to unstable operation of the entire system. (Those who want to make sure they can go to their car and cut off the timing belt).
The perception of business as a mechanism gives us an understanding of several basic principles that are obvious, but elude us every time we look at our company. So, we agreed that
')
A company is a complex mechanism (system) for making money today and in the future.
Based on this premise alone, several conclusions can be drawn. Some of them will seem obvious, some completely ridiculous. But, as you remember, we agree on basic concepts:
Conclusion 1: There are general laws of the existence and development of systems that are independent of the environment: technology, society, biology, etc. And the business system also obeys these laws.
As an example, let us recall the timing already broken by us. In the form of a law, this could be formulated as follows: “Disabling an element participating in the implementation of a key function of the system makes the entire system inoperable regardless of the number of other elements.”
Conclusion 2: The system is created to implement one main function, and this is achieved by performing a finite set of sequential operations (subfunctions). The quality and speed of the implementation of the main function depends on the correctly chosen sequence and the quality of the subfunctions.
Move the car = pick up a portion of the fuel -> blow up fuel -> transfer energy
Conclusion 3: The links between the elements of the system are just as important as the elements themselves.
I am sure you have good engines in your cars. Very likely you are using good tires. But if they are not tied together, then, no matter how good they are, the car will not move anywhere.
Conclusion 4: In the total mass of subfunctions there is a critical chain, providing the main function and an unlimited number of side chains, improving, interfering or not affecting the main one.
The main function of my car is to transport me. The sub-function “damping bumps in the road” improves the basic, “storing things in the trunk” - worsens, “playing music” - does not affect driving performance and speed of movement. Please note that if the main function were “to demonstrate my status,” the influence of the subfunctions would have changed significantly.
Business management
Obviously, a complex system must somehow be regulated. Understanding that a specific employee is the minimum structural unit of a company, it is reasonable to assume that a person will also be in control (to implement the management function). At the same time, it is obvious to everyone that the task of the cleaning staff is to keep the office clean. Its function is to clean the office. So any manager has his own function.
The task of an entrepreneur is to build and maintain a system that is able to perform its functions as efficiently as possible while consuming the minimum necessary amount of resources.
At the same time, any company has structural divisions headed by a manager. The task and function of management passes through the entire organizational structure of the company: the general director organizes the work of the departments, the heads of the departments organize the work of ordinary employees, the ordinary employees organize the work of their tools. The more effectively the management function at each level is implemented, the better the company as a whole works and the less resources it consumes.
Important note: effective work does not mean 100% workload!
Structure of this document
Apart from this section and the conclusion, the document is divided into four parts, describing the company from different sides, namely:
- Business processes;
- Finance;
- People;
- Market;
It is important to understand that the separation in different sections does not mean that these components are isolated from each other and can be considered separately. Such a division is very conditional and dictated by the difference in approaches to the description, but no more.
The “Business Processes” section is the most significant in the document, since the process approach has the most extensive tools for building and describing effective organizations. At the same time, I am absolutely sure that the construction of the structure of processes is primary when considering any system. First you need to understand what the system does, and then with the help of ANY resources.
“Finance” immediately follows business processes, since, as we noted earlier, they are a necessary condition for the viability of a company. In addition, the description of financial flows is very close to the process approach and in many ways echoes it.
The next step seems to be reasonable to coordinate the people who make up our organization, because without them the two preceding paragraphs are nothing more than a beautiful theory.
And the final stage is “the market”, since we can produce the best product for the smallest money with the efforts of the most talented people, but if it is not needed on the market, then all of the above does not make sense.
Once again I emphasize that the arrangement of sections in this order does not mean that we first do one, then the second, etc. We are OBLIGED to consider any our decision from these four points of view SIMULTANEOUSLY. The order presented is nothing more than a narrative method.
Building effective business systems. Chapter 2.1 Business Processes: Vocabulary. Stream approach. Business and pipelines
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/141999/
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