Your Business runs on Routines
Your Success Depends on their Quality
As a small business owner, you don’t have time for complex, time consuming, management theory. You need results.
This is your fast-track guide to the Routines that will change your business, and your stress levels, right now. Yellow Belt
Table of Contents
Designing New Routines
Use the Minimum Effective Routine (MER) Approach
The two-step MER approach is;
- identify the smallest set of actions or Routines, consistently performed, that will stabilize your business and free up your time and
- the simplest version of each of these Routines that will get the job done. Owners often build elaborate Routines that turn out to be flawed and have to be redone. Start simple and grow the Routines in response to needs arising; not a Taj Mahal on Day One
Jumpstart New Routines
If this is a new routine, you can get suggestions on how to do the Routine from e.g.;
- your software provider
- your coach or mentor
- your experience and intuition or
- AI
The goal is to;
- identify the minimum tasks that have to be done in the routine and
- keep them as simple as possible.
Routines have a habit of getting too elaborate on Day One and then needing substantial overhauls as your business matures.
Our MER approach says just do the minimum to be effective. Then incrementally improve the Routine using the PROD Technique below on the basis of experience
Improving Routines
Every Routine will become outdated due to e.g.;
- software and technology changes
- your business grows or changes direction
- you get more staff so need new Routines to management them
We want a simple, repeatable system for updating the Routines most in need of an overhaul.
We call our system the PROD Method
- P: prioritise the most important Routines to overhaul
- R: review the Routine for necessary changes and maybe elimination
- O: optimize the Routine to run as efficiently and effectively as possible and
- D: delegate the task where possible or set up up for delegation in future to get it off your plate
Step 1: Prioritise
For the greatest impact, you want to work on the high-impact Routines first.
The 80/20 Rule teaches us that a focus on the 20% most important tasks is up to 16 times more effective than picking tasks at random. Reduce the time you work AND get a bigger impact.
List Candidate Routines
Your Candidate List is all the Routines you COULD work on
Candidate Routines will vary with your business and your existing skillset. Examples include e.g. managing inventory, shop opening and closing routines, paying the bills, do the marketing social media etc.
List those regular Routines that are;
- the most stressful or
- time wasting or
- currently missing or
- don’t really need you to do or
- least interesting to you
Pick the Priorities
At the Yellow Belt level, probably just use your gut to choose the 1-3 priority ones but there are more advanced techniques you can ease your way into when ready.
This way you identify the most impactful Routines and tune them up as soon as possible.
Step 2: Review the Routine
The aim of the Review is to see;
- what overhaul is necessary
- install a monitor to warn if a Routine starts to deteriorate
Apply the E.A.R. Filter 
The longer you leave a boat in the ocean, the more barnacles grow on the hull. These are a drag on the boat’s speed so the barnacles need to be removed occasionally.
It’s the same for your business.
Existing routines will become out of date due to e.g.;
- changes in technology like AI
- different computer systems
- new government demands
- staff tinker with existing practice and introduce unnecessary steps
- new staff with different skills needing different routines
- changes in your business size or direction
We encourage you to apply the E.A.R. Filter to the existing Routines you have chosen to prioritise for attention.
The owner must apply the filter in sequence, starting with E.
| Step | Definition | Strategic Goal |
| E – Eliminate | Can this task or step be stopped entirely without impacting the business’s core value? | Highest Leverage. If the task is non-essential, kill it immediately. |
| A – Automate | Can a tool, software, or AI complete this task (or a large part of it) with simple human oversight? | Delegating to Technology. If it can’t be eliminated, pass the repetitive ‘how-to’ to a machine. |
| R – Relegate | Can this task be formally assigned to an employee, Virtual Assistant, or contractor who is given system ownership and accountability? | Delegating to People. If it must be done by a human, the owner steps away and only checks the final checkpoint. |
You will need to monitor changes for a while to iron out any wrinkles.
In particular, if you Eliminate a Routine, others might need to be adapted to handle that change.
Where possible, it is good to set up a reporting system that can alert you to any parts of the Routine that stop working. This further reduces your stress as you will be alerted rather than having to constantly watch.
Examples include;
- a task in your time management system that reminds you every week / month / same time each year to check an activity
- software alerts for e.g. below necessary inventory, overdrawn bank accounts
The aim is to be tough here. This chosen priority Routine is a priority because it impacts you and your business more than others. Don’t fiddle around at the edges or the problem lingers.
Act decisively to permanently reduce the Routine’s problems.
Step 3: Optimise
Chances are that your new routine won’t be perfect first time round. It is almost certain that Routines will deteriorate over time.
Routines need to to be re-optimised to get rid of the “barnacles” accumulated over time.
A lot of this will be achieved by your experience and research
But, depending on the particular situation, consider drawing on (e.g.) the following;
- Waste Reduction. You might be surprised to know research shows office and service industry waste is often more common than factory waste
- Automation is becoming more and more common. Partly it might be attached to your software tools and partly it can flow from AI replacing task previously needing to be done by people. Removal of human costs with automation can save a lot in wages AND works 24/7 without complaint.
- Change in circumstance. Government regulations, competitive practices, client expectations etc change all the time. Optimize your Routines for current expectations and remove outdated processes
- Update Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that remind you and your staff how you want things done
Optimisation streamlines your Routine
Step 4: Delegate
Your ultimate goal is to have a Routine capable of execution by a staff member, contractor or automation. That way, it is largely off your back and thereby reduces time and stress pressure on you.
Even if you can’t delegate the Routine right now, getting it ready for delegation means you will be executing the way you want your staff to. If you trip over something, fix it to avoid staff later having the same problem.
People are creatures of habit. Left alone, both you and your staff are likely to drift back to the “good old way things used to be done”.
Also, when you get new staff doing the routine, you don’t want to have to take time off to train them on how to do it properly.
For both these reasons, you are well advised to introduce Standard Operating Procedures (SOPS) that explain to both new and old staff, and yourself if you only do something occasionally, how you want the task done.
To get the Routine operating on a regular cycle, consider trying to move it from a Routine to a habit.
A routine is an action you decide to do. A habit is an action your brain does automatically. The Routine must become a habit. The trick is using a trigger—an existing action you already perform—to anchor your new routine. For example, anchor your “15-Minute Cash Flow Check” to “The first cup of coffee,” or anchor your “End-of-Day Audit” to “Switching off the lights.”
Set the Routine up for someone else to do; now or in the future!
Wrap-up
You have seen how this simple Yellow Belt technique will keep you focused on regularly improving the current batch of Routines that will have the greatest impact on you and your business.
By consistently refining your Routines, you move from chaos to control.
Click the links to see our specific material on Planning and Monitoring Routines
The key takeaway is this: You have not added work; you have created time. You now have the stability and mental space to pursue bigger, more complex strategies like major projects and strategic planning.
You can only aim for optimal growth once you have mastered Effective Routines
This article was provided by Scott Williams AO FAIDC. It describes the way best practice in many management areas has been brought together in the 12Faces GamePlan System. The Goal is to provide an easy to use and repeatable “flywheel” to improve small business owners’ outcomes. Scott is the Founder of NFP small business support services 12Faces and MentorSME and has a Philanthropic Foundation supporting students in education. Scott’s business Petals Network was National Small Business of the Year and 4 times in the Top 100 Fastest Growing Australian Businesses LinkedIn