It’s Friday, and you’re chasing the missing information before a job can go ahead. Again.
You know who to call. You know what to ask. You’ve become quite good at sorting it out. But getting better at the rescue hasn’t stopped the same thing happening.
Most small businesses have a version of this. An enquiry that slips through. An invoice that needs correcting. A booking that sends everyone searching for details.
Each incident might take only a few minutes to resolve. It’s easy to sort it out and move on, especially when there’s plenty else to do.
Until next time.
The fix gets familiar. The cause stays put.
When you’re busy, dealing with the immediate problem is sensible. The customer needs an answer. The job needs to happen. The invoice needs to go out.
But when the same problem returns, it’s worth asking:
What happens just before this goes wrong?
Take an enquiry that keeps being missed. Perhaps it lands in a shared inbox, where two people each assume the other will reply.
A Friday check could help catch it. Giving one person clear responsibility for new enquiries could help prevent it being missed in the first place.
Or consider a job that repeatedly stalls because a detail is missing. If that information is needed every time, could it be requested when the job is booked?
The change might be small. A clearer responsibility. A question asked earlier. An unnecessary handover removed.
It doesn’t automatically need another meeting, a longer checklist or new software.
Sometimes a small routine helps
A brief check of jobs waiting on approval can still be useful. So can a regular look at enquiries awaiting a response.
The test is whether that routine helps work move forward and reduces avoidable chasing. If it becomes another list you maintain while the same problems keep happening, it may be time to look one step earlier.
Try this: find your repeat offender
Give yourself ten minutes this week.
Name one recurring frustration. What have you had to chase, correct or rescue more than once in the past month?
Look one step earlier. What was missing, unclear or left undone just before it happened? If you’re unsure, ask the person involved.
Change one thing. Could you remove a step, clarify who does what or ask for information earlier? A reminder or short check might help too.
Watch what happens next. Does the problem recur? Does it take less chasing? Try the change over the next few occasions and see.
You don’t need to overhaul the business. Start with one frustration you would happily stop dealing with.
Notice the rescue you keep repeating. Look one step earlier.
A free workshop in Hornsby
If you’d like to work through something from your own business, I’m running Make Time For What Matters as part of NSW Small Business Month.
Bring one recurring task or frustration you’d like to make easier. We’ll explore practical ways to reduce unnecessary work, simplify what remains and use technology where it helps.
Thursday 22 October · 12:30–1:30 pm
Balts Hall, Storey Park Community Centre, Hornsby
Free · No technical or AI expertise needed
A little news from eliminAIt
Yesterday, I shared that eliminAIt Process Partners has been named an OpenAI Select Partner. I’m pleased to share the news here too. My approach remains the same: better processes first, technology where it helps.
Rob