Break It Down: 4 Benefits to Having A Business Checklist

I have not failed.  I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work - Thomas Edison

 ​Today in your business, the day to day responsibilities may be moving like a bright beam of light in the sky. Fast. It may be so fast that some weeks your to-do list for the business can appear duplicated because you have not been able to manage the workload and thus prior week’s task gets moved into a new week.

The question then becomes, why? In many cases, it’s not because the task is hard to complete but more so because you did not have the visual reminder that a needed task was to be accomplished. When a checklist is 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.

​The key to developing checklist is not to include every single item you can think of for your staff or employee to complete - remember, they are professionals in their fields. The goal is to provide a resource of reminders to the most critical and important steps, many times all of what a professional and/or expert needs, even the most highly skilled.

If you think about the industries who presently use them heavily, you may think of healthcare, childcare and crime scene investigators just to name a few. These industries are filled with highly skilled professionals but having a checklist to accompany their day to day responsibilities can literally save lives. They can also do the same for your business. When launching a business, your brain switches gears into overdrive mode because you become so keened finding your ideal clients and building the business.

​As you think about what’s next for your business, don’t forget that the products and services you are developing, marketing and branding are saving lives for individuals and business owners everyday. Thus, your focus should be to implement the proper tools within your business that will allow you to avoid the most common glitches by incorporating checks and balances. ​

Think back to the day you decided to kick-start your own business. The adrenaline was high and the “list of must do” items on your business list was overwhelming to say the least. How great would it have been to have resource tools , such as a checklist, to accompany you through those moments and days of confusion and frustration on what should be your key focus for a few hours, a day or even a week?

Using checklist and your business “to-do list” allows you to schedule activities and not let anything fall through the cracks. So, if you do something time and time again on a daily basis, and you want to do it right every time, create a checklist. In his white paper “Use This Checklist or People Die!”, Jacobson provides this checklist for creating your ideal checklist:
A.  Target areas that are under-performing.
B.  Establish a benchmark for improvement.
C.  Document the sequence of tasks for each involved.
D. Prioritize each task and identify those that are essential.
E.  Identify every area where a decision is made or judgment is required.
F.  Implement a checklist and measure results.
G.  Create a checklist for future edits – don’t assume you will get it right the first time.

Checklist, whether simple or complex have been identified as great tools to improve effectiveness and efficiency. If you feel like you or your employees could do more to optimize their time each day - create a checklist.

Can your business use a checklist? Sure it can.

Take action today and schedule your consultation with Fontenot & Associates Solutions, LLC today.