Posts related to business-systematization category

Business Systematization

I have always loved systems. They are marvoulsy complex. Our world runs on them, in both the natural and man made world. Weather and evolution are systems just as cities, governments and organizations are. Below is the Wikipedia extract for "System" > A **system** is a set of interacting or interdependent components forming an integrated whole or a set of elements "Element (mathematics)") (often called _'components'_ ) and relationships which are different from relationships of the set or its elements to other elements or sets.\_[citation needed_\] > Fields that study the general properties of systems include systems science, systems theory, systems engineering, cybernetics, dynamical systems, thermodynamics, and complex systems. They investigate the abstract properties of systems' matter and organization, looking for concepts and principles that are independent of domain, substance, type, or temporal scale. > Some systems share common characteristics, including: > - A system has structure, it contains parts (or components) that are directly or indirectly related to each other; > - A system has behavior, it contains processes that transform inputs into outputs (material, energy or data); > - A system has interconnectivity"): the parts and processes are connected by structural and/or behavioral relationships. > - A system's structure and behavior may be decomposed via subsystems and sub-processes to elementary parts and process steps. > The term _system_ may also refer to a set of rules that governs structure and/or behavior. Alternatively, and usually in the context of complex social systems, the term institution is used to describe the set of rules that govern structure and/or behavior. Business Systemization is the art of applying systems to your business. I wrote a post on it a the incontext multimedia blog. Go check it out :) I also made a video on Business Systemization using or product Process Street. If business is relevant to what you're working on, this is worth reading next: Saas Business Process Management | BPM | Cloud Software.

Document Workflow Tool

Every accounting services company offers unique professional services. Whether a business organization operates based on its current document management capabilities or choosing a different approach on document managements such as utilizing added services to handle such tasks is not any more the exception rather it is the norm. Inter-operability is the term used to describe different functions collectively joined together to operate as one functional unit. The extent to which these products and upgraded services inter-operates has a great impact on workflows and efficiency that generates a great deal of interest among business firms. CCH and Thomson are an example of an accounting services company using upgraded products along with its current tax computer software. In addition, these companies continue to implement different capabilities such as applications for file management, time management, billings and payroll services. The transition from operating with just one exclusive merchandise to multiple merchandise operations is a subject that could produce much interest among industry insiders. Doug Sleeter speaks about the significance of the business transition as companies are adding new business applications based on selecting the best alternative to generate improvements on functionalities and procedural matters, and about how business advisers should have commanding mastery over how these systems connect to each other on different application platforms. Mike Sabbatis, a thirty-year old doctor and accounting technology veteran heads a delegation on a 2013 white paper round-table discussion on the issue of inter-operability. Mr. Sabbatis is joined by Randy Johnston, who discusses the advantages of joining systems together, facilitating the transition of essential information to any accounting services firm under its applications network. Gail Perry (CPA, CITP, CGMA) talks about effective document management systems and his views are supported by Darren Root (CPA), who categorically affirms how essential inter-operability is when companies employ upgraded alternatives, and the operational bond that binds all other computer software systems together. This transition towards upgrading alternatives is intensified by accountants' desires to make it more effective in terms of collection of powerful alternatives for their unique work environment. Inter-operability, in effect, is about providing deep functionality and procedural integration across a wide-ranging network of products, customized solutions, and system improvements. Consider the effectiveness of upgraded alternatives on inter-operability to make sure that business organization are making the most cost-effective choices. " this link. You may also be curious about this -- You can compare this approach with Cloud Document Management for more on document.

How to Integrate @Intercom Support Messages with Close.io #CRM

I have been wanting to sync my support system Intercom with the CRM we use at Process Street - Close.io (which I have written about before). The reason for this is when we are looking at a customer in the CRM we want to be able to see not only the sales emails but all the support conversations they were having too. This can be done quite easily with other Help Desk Tools or via the API but I wanted to build something quickly that didn't require developer time. I first setup a Zap using Intercom's "New Message" Zap that triggered an email to my inbox which then Synced using Close's 2 way email sync, which worked fine but only worked for the first message that was sent, it didn't track the whole conversation which can last for days and contain lots of valuable information for sales. This basically meant sales still had to open both Intercom and Close.io to get a full picture of the customer. ## Integrating All Intercom Support Tickets with Close ### Step 1: Create a Webhook Zap in Zapier and get Custom Webhook URL Create a new Zap in Zapier and add the Webhook integration, click next until you see the custom URL ### Step 2: Create a Webhook in Intercom Go to Settings -> Integrations and click "Add Webhook Integration" Here are the topics I am passing in the Webhook: New Message from a User Reply from a User Reply from a Teammate Note added to Conversation Conversation assigned to Teammate User Unsubscribed From Email User tagged User untagged New events ### Step 3: Configure rest of Zap in Zapier Here is a screenshot of my Zap click for full image. Here is the text export _(I assume you need to swap out my ID numbers)_: Subject: \[Intercom {{6451100\_\_data\_\_item\_\_type}}\] {{6451100\_\_data\_\_item\_\_assignee\_\_name}} <> {{6451100\_\_data\_\_item\_\_conversation\_message\_\_author\_\_name}} Body: Email Subject: {{6451100\_\_data\_\_item\_\_conversation\_message\_\_subject}} Conversation Message {{6451100\_\_data\_\_item\_\_conversation\_parts\_\_conversation\_parts}} Conversation Link: {{6451100\_\_data\_\_item\_\_links\_\_conversation\_web}} Other Action Data: Data Item Assignee Name: {{6451100\_\_data\_\_item\_\_assignee\_\_name}} Data Item User Name: {{6451100\_\_data\_\_item\_\_user\_\_name}} Conversation Message Author Manaul Tag IDs: {{6451100\_\_data\_\_item\_\_conversation\_message\_\_author\_\_manual\_tag\_ids}} Conversation Message Attachments: {{6451100\_\_data\_\_item\_\_conversation\_message\_\_attachments}} Conversation Message Author Created At: {{6451100\_\_data\_\_item\_\_conversation\_message\_\_author\_\_created\_at}} Conversation Message Author IP: {{6451100\_\_data\_\_item\_\_conversation\_message\_\_author\_\_ip}} Data Item conversation Message Author Ua: {{6451100\_\_data\_\_item\_\_conversation\_message\_\_author\_\_ua}} Author Email Domain: {{6451100\_\_data\_\_item\_\_conversation\_message\_\_author\_\_email\_domain}} Data Item conversation Message Author IP: {{6451100\_\_data\_\_item\_\_conversation\_message\_\_author\_\_ip}} Original Message Body: {{6451100\_\_data\_\_item\_\_conversation\_message\_\_body}} And that's it! This was just my first attempt, it will probably get cleaned up a little but at least the core data is being passed. If you have any tweaks' I'd love to hear them. For another perspective on support, read Abstract Income: How to Support an Abstract Lifestyle.

How we Rebranded our Company in 3 Months

This post was written by Benjamin Brandall and originally appeared on the Process Street blog and is the story of how Cameron and I rebranded our startup Process Street. In the lifecycle of every startup, there comes a tipping point. For companies focused on aesthetics and creating something beautiful, there's a time where the founders need to shift towards their product — look inward and think deeply about the problems it solves, who's it for and how to refine user experience. For product-focused startups like Process Street, a necessary early shift is _towards design_. Just look at Apple — that's a company which thrives on making quality design and usability available on the mass market. ### Apple 2016: Would their product be as influential if their website still looked like this? ### Apple 1999: The simple answer is no because **the brand evolves with the product**. This is article tells the story of how Process Street rebranded itself. We've included lots of useful resources and tools to help you along the way if you're thinking of doing the same doing the same. Let's go! ## It started with a product, not a logo or a brand Our CEO, Vinay Patankar, had the idea to build Process Street from his own frustrations with workflow management software. While running a global team he found that there wasn't software out there which would let managers write process documents, create checklists, assign their team and track activity easily. While touring the world after leaving Australia in search of the entrepreneurial dream-come-true, he met Cameron McKay. Cameron is our CTO, a computer science graduate who built Process Street from the ground up and, alongside Vinay, took the company from idea to AngelPad in less than a year. Here they are in Argentina, where they met and started building Process Street. In this picture from 2014, you'll notice the logo isn't the same as it is now. And what's with those blues? The thing is, at the dawn of Process Street, branding and design were the last things on their minds. Based on past failures, Vinay knew the most important thing is to get a usable product together as soon as possible. Focusing on other areas before you've got something that can be sold or funded is a way to burn money, not make it. Here's what Process Street used to look like when it was a Bootstrap WordPress theme: While it's good enough for a first pass, there were some inherent problems with it. The most serious being that the light blue chosen for the main brand color didn't work inside the app. As user experience improved and the app became more visual, the light blue contrasted badly with the rest of the design. For the favicon, the P and S were condensed into a square — a pretty clunky and unmemorable way to do it, but the founders simply weren't designers. ## December 2014: Major app overhaul, minor site adjustments After graduating from AngelPad, Process Street had the time and money it needed to start redesigning the product to increase user retention. As for the marketing site, the changes were minor. We added a full-width product image above the fold, a more 'contrasty' blue (I'm also not a designer...) and a cleaner design. The logo stayed the same. While a great product can make up for bad presentation, great design doesn't fix a crap product. To stay hyper-focused on UX and building features, Cameron rebuilt the site in a day or two before returning to codeland. While Slack has its IRC hashtag, Trello has a board with lists, and Intercom has its... smiling microphone, Process Street had just a block with letters. Our latest redesign came when we decided to get rid of our logo and make something more recognizable. Here's how that happened... ## A logo idea came in the middle of the night I was talking to Vinay about where he got the idea to change the logo, and he said it just sort of... came to him while he was on his laptop in the middle of the night. This is the image which sparked it all off: It's the logo for Designmodo's Flat UI Pro, so we weren't going to use that, but Vinay wanted to go with a flat diamond for a few reasons: 1. Diamonds are the symbols for a decision in a flow chart. This is something integral to the app. 2. Diamonds are a sign of quality. Process Street is a quality product _and_ helps with quality control because it ensures teams execute tasks by following a procedure. 3. The app and landing page is designed flat. The logo had to fit in with it. So, we cashed in our $100 discount from Tim Ferriss' promo code ("Tim") and headed over to 99Designs to post a competition! Here's the brief: **Create a new logo \[Modern/Flat/Fun\] for business software startup @ProcessStreet** We got some fantastic entries! We narrowed the pool of over 200 designs down to just 6, shown below: While none of them were spot on, they provided the ideal basis for a concept we could present to a designer. ## Working with Koombea design agency One of our investors, Jonathan Tarud, invested a combination of cash and service credit for his design agency, Koombea. They assigned us a brilliant lead designer, Mario Rocchi who took our logo, started creating iterations and uploading them to Basecamp. And, as you can probably see from looking anywhere on our website, we chose this one! Tada! 🎉 The logo formed the entire basis for the next step — a complete overhaul of our marketing site. ## From logo to landing page Deciding on a logo was important because it gave us two solid elements we knew would be included in the rest of the site — the blue, and the font (Cabin). We presented Mario with an overwhelming selection of sites we loved and wrote down what we loved about them. Keeping all of this in Basecamp gave us a place to have a group discussion while pinning everything in place. We added Mario to our Slack team as a single-channel guest and integrated the channel with Basecamp, so every time activity happened there, it would post a message in the channel. Here's a selection of sites we loved which inspired Process Street's design: ### x.ai We loved x.ai's super-minimalist landing page and the amount of whitespace. ### Freckle We loved the immediacy of the product and the fun color scheme Freckle use. ### Trello We loved Trello's use of icons, the large, easily readable font, and their bold, cartoonish colors. ## Prototyping the landing page in InVision Mario came back to us with _loads_ of possibilities based on these recommendations. Here's a few we had a tough time deciding between. Eventually, as you'll see if you check our landing page, we settled for the top right option and then worked with Mario as he perfected in InVision. InVision lets designers work with clients and present them with interactive prototypes. Clients can comment on elements, then designers can make iterations and resolve the comments. It worked so well for us, we'd highly recommend InVision for anyone working with a designer. Finally, we decided that blue can get a bit too blue sometimes. Enter Process Street Teal and Process Street Red — incidentally two of my most favorite colors in the world. Check it out on our pricing page! ## We had 100 glyph icons designed See that little paintbrush icon in the header image? Mario designed that. Thanks to Koombea, we have more than 100 new glyph icons to use in header images, demo videos, landing pages and product demonstrations. Since he gave us the Sketch files, they're easy to manipulate even by us non-design folk. ## We blew our whole budget on design Process Street employs 5 full-time technical employees but 0 designers. We didn't need Koombea to implement the site, just design it. From there, Cameron got it up and running quickly. It would have been silly to ask Koombea to spend time on that -- instead, we spent everything on their design services. This meant we got graphics for social media, header image templates and graphics for features that hadn't even been released yet. Forward thinking, eh? We updated our AngelPad profile, Google Apps Marketplace, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Here's our shiny new Facebook profile: And some future feature graphics (as a sneaky way of telling you to hold on for all this good stuff): Woo. Looking smooth. And as for the blog header image graphics — Koombea cut about an hour a day from my workload with those little beauties, and I must say, they look fantastic. :) Check out the final designs in action: Homepage - Product page - Featured templates - Colors applied in the app - I hope this has given you some insight into our redesign, and shown you the steps we went through so you can take the ideas and apply them to your own company rebranding. What do you think of the design? Let us know in the comments! One more post that complements this topic is Startup Idea: Evernote for Spreadsheets, especially around business.

Why Your Remote Team Will Fall Apart Without Processes

There's a psychological theory developed back in 1895 that still holds true today that can help explain why remote teams fall apart if they're mismanaged. It's called deindividuation, and states that when groups of people can't be identified in a group, they're more likely to misbehave, e.g. cause violence, riot. To put it in the words of Gustave Le Bon, the psychologist who first theorized this, “a loss of personal responsibility in crowds leads to an inclination to behave primitively and hedonistically”. Bear with me… This might sound like a long shot, but it holds true for remote teams, too. In an office, everyone is held physically accountable for the work they do. They're a tangible employee in a building, being actually overseen by other people. In a remote team, everyone's just an icon on Slack, an email address, or a source of app notifications. If team members feel like they can get away with not communicating, not keeping their team updated, and not getting work done, they're much more likely to. And that's why remote teams are fragile. This is a shame for businesses who can't manage them because 77% of remote workers are more productive than their office counterparts, and get more done in less time. In this article, I'll look at the problems that come along with having a remote team, and go through some methods for solving them. ## Problem #1: No accountability without remote team processes In an office you keep your team updated naturally by chatting how work's going on the way to lunch, or just mentioning your progress while you have a coffee break. However, many remote workers report feeling isolated, which is part of what creates a lack of accountability, causing teams to go silent and work to start slipping. How do you solve a lack of accountability? At Process Street, our remote marketing team has several channels of communication and policies that mean we always keep in the loop: - A group Slack channel - Trello card comments - Two short meetings every Tuesday and Thursday It's enforced that all work-related conversations amongst the marketing team must go into the group chat, creating an activity log of work and information. Any task being discussed must be presented alongside a link to its Trello card, and it's expected that all Trello cards will be commented on whenever progress has been made. During the meetings, we present our Trello cards to each other for review as proof of work (plus an activity log recorded in Trello/Slack), and go through the tasks together. Using a Standard Operating Procedure software is a great way to ensure that everyone adheres to the same way of doing things. This approach leaves absolutely no room for a lack of accountability. If team members aren't working on their tasks, it's totally obvious because there will be no record of it. ## Problem #2: No centralization of information without remote team workflows With your whole team collaborating over the internet (without opportunities just to look over their co-worker's shoulder) it can be a pain to share information if it isn't centralized. It's an obvious problem for businesses since some of the biggest software companies — Dropbox, Box and other document management systems — were created purely to solve it. ### How do you centralize information? One of the main ways to do it is to make sure you're working entirely on the cloud. We've written about all of the SaaS (software-as-a-service) products we use together before, and it made me realize how stuck we'd be without live collaboration and the ability to store information in the best, most easily accessible places. As I said in the solution to problem #1, everything can dumped into a Trello card. Trello cards can hold links, attachments, images, and even spreadsheets, so there's no excuse for not centralizing information when it's that easy. For documents, we use Quip and Google Sheets, ensuring we can always access what we need, no matter where we are. Get information centralized by enforcing all work-in-progress task material to be uploaded to Google Drive or Dropbox, or dropped into a project management app like Trello or Asana. ## Problem #3: No teambuilding without remote planning Building camaraderie through direct messages is easier than before thanks to the prevalence of emojis, gifs, and other just-for-fun things, but it's nowhere near as easy as when you're face-to-face. You might get invited to a get-together after work if you're in an office, but that's not the kind of thing that'll happen in a remote team, and neither will natural team-building. This could mean that team members are shy, uncommunicative, or less productive because they feel isolated, especially when first joining a new team. Managers should nip this in the bud by facilitating effective employee onboarding. The onboarding stage is integral and it sets the tone for your new employee. Using an onboarding software can be a great way to centralize information, get insightful feedback all while welcoming your new hire aboard. ### How do you improve remote team building? The ways that have worked in our remote team have been have: - gaming tournaments (playing the card game Hearthstone against each other to win a prize) - sharing videos, movies, and music (we will share weekly recommendations, such as guilty pleasure movies, music to help focus) - having a general chat channel (a work-unrelated channel for water-cooler style conversation) If those options don't suit, you can also try this list of team building activities for remote teams. ## The long-term solution: Agile process management All three problems explained in this article are caused by a lack of communication, policy, and process. As Atul Gawande explains in The Checklist Manifesto, key aspects of how we get work done can be overlooked without a process, and policy to enforce it. “_When we look closely, we recognize the same balls being dropped over and over, even by those of great ability and determination. We know the patterns. We see the costs. It’s time to try something else_.” — Atul Gawande Remote teams are susceptible to disconnection, deviance from process, and an attitude of unaccountability. As Gawande says, and as we’ve found in our time building process software, the solution is strict regulations and processes that enforce the centralization of information, encourage communication in open channels, and actively build culture. It doesn’t sound as appealing as letting a strong team grow organically, but it’s a lot more likely to work. ## Resources to help you get started: Your remote team processes! Below are some public Process Street templates and then a whole load of really useful blog posts they've published too, to help you get started and systemize your remote business! ### Process Street remote team processes - Daily Schedule Template - Daily Standup Meeting Checklist - Employee Onboarding Checklist - Employee Background Check - Job Application Form - Job Description Template - Performance Review Checklist - Project Proposal Template - Sprint Planning - Sprint Retrospective Process - Recruitment Process - Standup Meeting Checklist ### Remote team blog posts about remote work processes - Virtual Team: How to Excel at Remote Working (Free Templates) - The 19 Best Tips from My 3 Years Working Remotely - The Complete Guide to Asynchronous Communication in Remote Teams - Best Video Conferencing App: Skype vs Hangouts vs GoToMeeting vs Zoom vs Join.me vs Appear.in - How to Use Slack Like a Pro and Become a Power User (22 Tips & Tricks) - How to Run Business Meetings That Aren’t a Useless Waste of Time - 7 Key Tools for the Ultimate Paperless Office (Your Go-Paperless-Stack) - 14 Ways Your Team Can Boost Productivity While Working From Home - 8 Top Workplace Team Chat Apps for Effective Team Communication in 2019 - The 11 Agile Processes We Use to Run an Efficient Software Team - Content Creation Workflows: Why You Need One and How to Build It - How to Write a Proposal and Get What You Want (Free Template) - Approvals: How to Streamline Decision-Making in Process Street - 6 Checklists to Perfect your New Employee Onboarding Process - What is an SOP? 16 Essential Steps to Writing Standard Operating Procedures - ISO 9001: The Ultimate QMS Guide (Basics, Implementation, ISO Templates) - What is BPM Software? The Best Business Process Management Software (BPMS) - Best Way to Learn Spanish: A 6 Month Process That Works for You - The 14 Best Language Learning Apps for Fluency in 2019 - The 7 Best Language Learning Software of 2018: The Awards! - Breakdown of the Best Workflow Management Software - 5 Free ISO 14001 Checklist Templates for Environmental Management - ISO 19011:2018 Basics (8 Free Management System Audit Checklists) - 6 Powerful PPC Management Checklists to Run Paid Ads - 20 Free SOP Templates to Make Recording Processes Quick and Painless - ISO 50001: The Ultimate Guide to Energy Management Systems (EnMS) - What is HRIS? The Best Software for a Human Resources Information System - Agile ISO: A Holistic Business Process Management Framework - Product Market Space: An Evolving Conception of Product-Market Fit I think this is a pretty complete round up! If you have any other recommendations or resources, leave them in the comments below! For another perspective on processes, read How to Build Efficient Processes for Your Remote Team.

Saas Business Process Management | BPM | Cloud Software

A company with multiple operating departments should optimize and automate a number of business processes in order to maintain its competitive edge as well as improve productivity/efficiency in its business operations. Business Process Defined A business process is a series of detailed measurable activities performed by individuals under an established operational system designed to attain a predetermined outcome. The procedures have these important characteristics: The procedures have internal and external users. They occur across or between the organization's departments vis-a-vis different organizations. They may be based on how work is performed in the business. The business processes have three key components -Entity, Things, and Tasks. Entity refers to how the procedure is followed. Things refer to the fact that procedures are designed in response to how actual or informational items are managed. Tasks refer to completed work or outcomes to deal with the things or the procedural workflow. The following are types of business processes: a) Mortgage Process b) Credit Verification c) Product Development d) Business Trip Preparations e) New Accounts Process f) Quotations g) Product Shipments Companies are working to improve their business processes using the latest computer technological applications and workflow software. In light of this development, across-the-board execution of business-process management should be established. Automating business process management comprises of a series of steps: The first step is enterprise resource planning. It involves the review of areas where automation has already been installed. Operating areas such as logistics, accounting, procurement and manufacturing should be looked into under the automation project. If these areas are already automated, then we go to the next step. The second step in the automation process is in the area of marketing or customer relationship management and revenue-generation process. The third step is in the area of supplier relationship administration or the procurement process. Business organizations are adopting BPM in these areas where it might make a difference. Majority of these procedures involve internal departments of the organization while a few of them are the results of real-time interactions between the business organization and its external partners such as its service providers, customer base and other investors. Interest in business process management software (BPM) is expanding rapidly, as shown by a study from Forrester Study in which one third of organizations surveyed by the business are using or piloting BPM, a dramatic increase compared with mid-2002, when just 11% were attempting BPM. Business Process Management (BPM) automates and streamlines the business processes which are vital for the organization in order to improve business efficiency. From the business process of hiring an individual to processing a purchase order, BPM aids the restructuring,controlling and handling of workflows involving employees and functional systems in order to produce a much better operating procedure for each business area. In order for business process management (BPM) to become an effective tool, attention should be given on the outcomes of the actual business process and the designed workflows . It is capable of mapping out the interactions among the procedural workflows under which entities, things, tasks operate. Company rules utilized in the business process also should be defined. As a result of automating a business process, one could easily streamline procedures and thus control its impact on the various business processes. Cloud BPM You may also want to consider this -- To go deeper on business, check out Business Process Outsourcing Software.