Essential Business Systems

There is a good reason that my partner and I decided to call our business DJI “Systems”. We provide a range of services but all of them geared towards giving our clients access to systems which benefit their businesses. In case you’re wondering, the “DJI” bit is for David & Jan Interactive”!

When you look at productivity it’s very easy to designate anything which takes more than a single action step to achieve, as a Project. David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” methodology has become pretty ubiquitous over the last 20 years especially for small businesses. But this reinforces the theory that everything should be designated as a Project. And I’ve seen so many instances where this leads to small-business owners becoming overwhelmed with the number of projects which they are trying to see through to the designated outcome.

Some larger organisations implement Jeff Sutherland’s “Scrum” which entails agile planning and implementation in short sprints which are frequently reviewed and refined, for project delivery. This methodology however is less applicable to smaller ventures which form the predominant client size for our systems-based business services.

So, in working with literally hundreds of clients over the last 20 years, it has become very clear to us of the value of distinguishing between a Project, which is usually a one-off medium to long-term venture, and a “process”, which is something repeated and refined. And, in our experience those ventures which operate efficiently, smoothly and profitably are often underpinned by a series of processes. Sequences of actions which have been carefully defined and refined to be as streamlined as they possibly can be in all respects.

There are a series of areas for any small business which should come to the attention of the owner if they want to not only be as effective and productive as possible, but also to have as easy a ride as possible. Many people with whom I have worked came to me from a position of stress, burnout, and having identified that there were significant struggles. Even when productive and profitable, the stress which accompanied that was something which they were seeking to address.

Any area of business which can be moulded into a production line, a sequence of routine and established steps to a defined outcome will bring huge benefits to that business.