Hello Reader, ✨Welcome to the ops-talk party!✨

Before we get into the nerd-fest let's get started with these highlights:

1. ​Stromae. Just Stromae aaaaallllll daaaaaay! I'm more than a little obsessed.
2. ​Elon Musk getting booed for sooooooooooooooo long at the hack formerly known as Dave Chappell's show! Schadenfreude is not usually my jam, but BOTH these dudes are the worst. SO. Enjoy!
3. ​WISH Drop-in Centre - Winter Campaign. Please consider donating to the winter campaign of WISH Drop-in Centre. From Nov. 29 to Jan. 6, your donation can help twice as many! All eligible donations of $250 or more will be doubled thanks to their amazing matching donors!

And now on with the nerd-party. Let's talk about change management!

There are 2 kinds of change management you will face in your work. The change management you plan for and the change management that you absolutely do not get a chance to plan for.

Both are hard are hard as hell and can make or break your organisation when the stakes get high. Thankfully you can make both much easier by following these simple rules:

1. To best support changes you plan to make, you should never make changes that will affect other people without consulting those people first!
2. To best support the changes that arrive unannounced, you should always work to remove and/or limit all person-dependent knowledge, skills, history, or expertise. Also known as your organizational "brain-trusts"

Let's get into #1. This sounds pretty basic right? You'd be surprised.

This one can sneak up on you in the name of efficiency. I have fallen prey to this myself! I have thought it would be easier for me to do the "leg-work" of finding a solution and designing it's use on my own and THEN I could just train folks in my awesome-sauce new set up or process!

This has never worked for me. Like, not once.

Folks are going to feel like you are shoving your change down their throats this way (and let's be real you pretty much are!) And subsequently they will require MUCH more convincing to adopt your change than if you had included them along the way.

You will also have a very limited understanding of what is needed and what will be affected if you don't include other people. Elegant operations are developed with many perspectives in mind. It is always in your best interest to make time to ask folks for their input on any changes you are thinking of making.

This will save you more time and headache overall. Trust me.

Now for #2. You never want someone to hold key information about how things are done only in their brain! This is so so so so RISKY! Anything can happen and that person may not be able to continue working for a time, or ever! And you don't want your operations to come screeching to a halt because someone got an inheritance from a long lost aunt and left to build the off-grid cabin they'd always dreamed of!

So how do you remove the brain-trusts in your organisation?

Simple. With documentation!

Keeping track of how things are done, who does them, and when they should be reviewed and updated, will help you with the change you plan for, AND for the change you don't get a chance to plan for!

I know it seems like a lot, and truthfully it is. But it is essential work and you should start building it into your routine. Clearly defined processes are fundamental to being sustainable, let alone scalable (if that is your jam).

You need not let it overwhelm you though!

If you take it in small consistent pieces it will add up to a lot rather than being a lot all at once.

Start with what you know best and go from there.

Keep it simple. Delegate responsibility across all of your teams. Use a project management tool like Click Up, Notion, or Monday to stay organized. And set regular and consistent times to meet to discuss and review how everything is working and what needs attention.

Which brings me to this month's Thing Done Well!

​ProcessDriven!​

When you know business systems and SOPs are essential but you’re not sure how to take action ProcessDriven bridges the gap. They provide a tactical industry-agnostic approach to guide small teams from wingin’ it to well-oiled machine.

I absolutely love everything Layla and her team at ProcessDriven put out.

The mini-course How to ClickUp is DOUBLING in price tomorrow! So if you are new to ClickUp or want to up your skills, I recommend you get in on this course now!

The ProcessDriven Membership is where my mind has been completely blown! I am implementing this approach with a client right now and I am in LOVE with how they lay out the structure and process! It will absolutely be the backbone of my documentation approach for all of my clients going forward. Without question. Get on it. You won't regret it!

That's it for this month!

Until next time, mask-up, stay safe and take care.

R*