Setting up any 
business system can be a challenge. Tasks can range anywhere from organizing employee’s job assignments effectively to creating cash flow projections. Handbooks and guides on how to do all this are plentiful, but if you’ve heard about Mike Michalowicz’s entrepreneurial journey, you’d know that his organizational techniques are more than just a little effective. Take a look at Mike’s tips on balancing four ways you can better streamline workflow and the overall health of your company.
‘The 4D Mix’ – These four different stages of a business’s activities make up the 4D Mix: Doing, Deciding, Delegating, and Designing. Whether there are a number of employees or it’s just a single owner of a company, the four D’s are constantly happening to keep things moving forward. The problem is, there isn’t a good balance between these actions and many people get stuck between the “Doing” and “Deciding” of things. Learn the true differences in the 4D Mix so you can experience a higher success rate when running your business.
Doing – This is the act of actually getting a product to a client or servicing customers. Whether it’s planting and shaping a few wisteria saplings, or building unique birdhouses, this “doing” time should be used and acknowledged as the operation of the company. Many business owners are often unaware they are working on the decision making, like, which types of materials to use (which is the next part of the 4D Mix) instead of the actual procedure itself.
Deciding – Here, you will be using resources other than yourself to make specific judgment calls in certain areas. This could include new employees or contractors, virtual assistants, bookkeepers, sales reps, or marketing personnel etc… You will be responsible for helping to guide others in making decisions from time to time. But, the idea is to make sure your team has a clear understanding of what it means to be the decision maker for that field of the business and reduce the amount of help you give in that area.
Delegating – Similar to the deciding schematic, but not to be confused with it either. This is a larger, more broad way of handing work over. When you delegate a task to someone, you will be delegating the final outcome. There should be little to no time spent explaining how to do the task or troubleshoot problems along the way. When you delegate a task, you hand it over with total confidence that it will get accomplished. When “passing the torch” so to speak, be sure you actually are handing it over completely.
Designing – Time spent strategically planning and thinking on the business. You’re mapping out your resources and positioning all the right people in the right departments. Unfortunately, the designing of the business tends to take a back seat once everything gets launched. Getting a moment to yourself to explore fresh new ideas become rarer. If regular time isn’t spent evaluating and arranging things to run even smoother, critical advancements of the company don’t usually happen. Block out regular time to design as you go, even if it means running things at a bit slower pace. Eventually, your company will catch up, won’t experience financial lag and you’ll have even more time for the creative part.
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~AccountSolve
