Business Coach Diaries Checklist:
- Step One: Carry around a notebook
- Step Two: Take notes on all that I learn
- Step Three: Review notes and decide what to write about in my weekly business coach diary
- Step Four: Create an outline of the main points I want to discuss in the weekly business coach Diary
- Step Five: Open Google Docs and create a new page
- Step Five: Stream of consciousness, write the weekly diary based on the outline
- Step Six: Proofread and make edits to the diary
- Step Seven: Send the completed diary to Jonathan Kelly
The seven steps above are an edited version of the checklist that I have in place to ensure I am following a proven path for successfully and consistently writing my weekly business coaches’ diaries. I say edited because it is actually a lot more extensive and includes personal details that I don’t want to share in this post. The reason that I have this checklist is that it frees my mind so that I don’t have to remember what I need to do. I have time blocked out in my calendar to write this business coach post, and I know that when the time comes, I have my checklist in place to ensure that the quality of the process stays at the acceptable level. The same applies to your business. You absolutely need a checklist for everything that you want to get done in your business. This will help you to maintain a minimum level of acceptable service as well as be a starting point for having the option in the future of selling your business.
The problem that I consistently observe with my business coach clients, as a business coach, is that they still believe that their employees care about their business. Unfortunately this is not true. While you will have A, B and C players on your team, some of which care more than others, no one will care about your business like you do. No one will work as hard for the success of your business as you will. Because of this FACT, you must have systems of accountability in place that allow you to scale, quickly train new and existing employees, and make clear exactly what is expected from each position. What you need is a checklist. Investing the time to create checklists will take your business to the next level.
No one will care about your business like you do.
What is a checklist?
It is a proven path that, if followed exactly, accomplishes the desired outcome of the assignment that any given employee is paid to accomplish. It is the roadmap that clearly communicates the step by step instructions for how to move forward a necessary action for the success of your business. By way of example, if you were a manager at Elephant In The Room, the men’s grooming lounge owned by Clay Clark, then you would have checklists for every aspect of your job. One of the checklists that a manager must do every day is the “opening” checklist. Included in this checklist are things as seemingly simple as “unlock the door” and “Turn on the lights” and as complicated as pulling different reports in the system. When you have a checklist for all of the responsibilities that your employees take care of, it allows you to thoroughly verify that they are actually doing their job. Because Forbes now reports that 75% of employees steal from the workplace (including stealing time/money) it is essential that you have the checklist systems in place that keep them on track and accountable for their time and responsibilities.
These checklists should not only include the specific actions that must be done, but how to do them and the timeframe expected for completion. For example, the morning checklist for a manager at Elephant In The Room starts at 8am and must be completed by 9am. If this does not happen in the allotted time frame, then it allows us to identify the issue and either bring about a change in behavior of the employee or a replacement of that employee. No matter where you are in this process, the biggest limiting factor in creating your needed checklists is simply you blocking out the time to sit down and do it. The first step in the process is to walk through exactly what you do and document everything, even the seemingly obvious. From that point you can refine the lists. After you get it to a functional level then you will want to have your employees follow them and keep them accountable. Don’t wait another day to change your life. Start making the checklists your business needs today and take a step closer to your time and financial freedom goals.
