092: Train the System, Then the Person

Stress, frustration, overwhelm: These are systems flags from your business asking for renewed attention on a bottleneck or inefficiency. In my case, it was repeating myself for the fourth time in as many months to different team members in answering the same small email-related process question. This is no one person’s fault (other than mine!). 

My aha moment: a strategy for training the system to get smarter first, then teaching the team how to better leverage that system, which makes their life and work easier and more frictionless too!

🌟 3 Key Takeaways:

• Create a Manager Manual and separate Email Guide

• Save links to email guide entries in TextExpander

• Using filters in Gmail (or workflows in HelpScout): Automatically label incoming email messages with the short-link to the Email Guide process entry. Here’s what my v1 looks like:

📝 Permission: Stop repeating yourself! That’s a sure sign that the business area is ripe for systems reinvention.

✅ Do (or Delegate) This Next: Start an Email Guide with your most common decisions and process questions.

📘 Books Mentioned: Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business, Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One  

🔗 Resources Mentioned: 

• Shared Inbox CRM: HelpScout

• Voice Messaging App: SpeakPipe

• Transcription Software: Descript

• Knowledge Base App: TextExpander

• Project Management Software: Notion

Related Podcast Episodes: 086: The Cyrano Strategy for Delegating Important Comms

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