Automating Your Business Workflows: A Guide to Streamlining Operations for Efficiency

You've meticulously planned your business processes, calculated the costs, and articulated each step. What's next? It's time to 'Trick It Out'—a term we've coined to delve into the nitty-gritty of automation.

Automation is not just a buzzword; it's an essential element for scaling your business. It's like setting a series of dominoes in motion with a single push. For instance, if someone applies to be on your podcast, a form on your website could automatically generate a task for your team to review the application. Say goodbye to manual tracking and hello to efficient workflows!

However, tricking out your operations is not something you do hastily. It should be a well-thought-out extension of the processes you've already laid down. This is because the power of automation lies in its ability to replicate a 'good' process exceptionally well, but it can also magnify the flaws in a 'bad' one.

There are myriad tools available to help you in this venture. Project management software like Asana and ClickUp can be great allies. Automation tools like Zapier or Make can help connect disparate parts of your operation into a seamless whole.

One essential reminder—automation doesn't mean you put on blinders and let the software do its thing without oversight. It’s crucial to have human checks at various points to ensure everything is on track.

Ready to trick out your processes and boost your operational efficiency? Take the first step today by reviewing your existing workflows and identifying areas ripe for automation.

Ready to strategize your business goals? Schedule a strategy intensive with us today!

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Collab with Kiva.
See you next time!

Are you ready to take massive action in your business and harness the power of data in your decision-making? Let’s chat 👇🏽

Podcast Transcript:

Kiva Slade 0:01

Welcome to Collab with Kiva, where we let our inner nerd geek out on all the non sexy parts of your business. I'm talking data and operations. Neither as flashy or glamorous, but both are foundational to your business growth. I'm your host, Kiva Slade, your strategy and analytics guide here to break down what feels complicated. So it is understandable and executional. Let's dive in. We are on part five of our heatwave to headway series in this amazing five part series here on the Collab with Kiva podcast. I am so excited.

Kiva Slade 0:49

Today is part five, and it is entitled, trick it out. That's right. Trick it out. Part one was get it out. Part two, plan it out. Part three, costed out part four, spell it out. Part five today is tricky out. What do I mean by that? I'm talking automation, baby. That's right, now that you've spelled out those processes, I want you to look for ways to trick out that work. Okay, I'm not talking suspension in low riders, and you know, maybe making your cars bounce, or hey, maybe some underlining whatever it might be, that suits you or tricking out fantasies. But I do want you to think about now that you've spelled out the processes, where can we trick it out and add in some automation, whether that is through your project management tool, clickup, or Asana, whether that is through the Zapier or make and actually put together automation that frees up even more of your time and your team's time, in terms of our tow meeting some of those things, and you cannot do this part. Before the last part. Lots of people try to and it it works sometimes.

Kiva Slade 2:17

But the reality is, you really need to know what your process is, before we get to the part of tricking it out. Okay. So you want to understand what are the steps that are involved? And where then can we add in automation? Where can we trick out what we're actually doing. And there's tons of ways that you can do this in Asana, maybe it's a form that is created in Asana, and then once that form, even Click Up, once the form is completed, it automatically is assigned to a certain person or it automatically creates a task, it automatically does something that it's the same all the daggone time. For example, someone applies to be on the podcast, they fill out the form on the website, they creates a task for the team to review this person based on the information that they've submitted. Are they a person what's good for this podcast? Okay? We're not having to sit there and like, did a forum come in? I don't know. No, like, honestly, clickup creates the task for us just like that. I'm looking to offboard a client, I add a tag or team as a tag offboarding in clickup, which then connects to our funnel gorgeous in starts our onboarding procedure. And it sets up the emails already in there, they're already scheduled and everything is taking place.

Kiva Slade 3:44

One caveat, automation does not mean put your blinders on, and no one sees what's happening. Okay, you still want to have human beings checking, making sure nothing funky happened, nothing goes awry. But the reality is, there are some things that can be should be automated in your business, they should be tricked out. And I want you to go through those processes that you've just spelled out and look for ways to add in automation. Look for ways to free up more of your time and your team's time that can actually be used now on some higher level thinking activities, from higher order activities that really do move the needle in your business and really get you towards those goals that you've planned out. So tricking it out is all about automation. I was joking with a colleague recently because he loves using make because they have this visual editor and it makes it so easy drag and drop. And so Zapier has released their own visual editor now and I teased him as like they must have heard of your love for make. But one of the things that he does in his business is he has Google Sheets, connect it to ChatGPT. And it's really all about SEO and some other things, but really like, the way it's set up. It's phenomenal. And it's like ChatGPT is taking this information. It's actually analyzing it, returning it back with better meta descriptions and SEO keywords and things. And then they can just go in and pull that part. And then it's another automation that kicks in.

Kiva Slade 5:32

The reality is, so those are tasks that people were doing and it was taking a bit of time. It's what the AI gives you always perfect. Absolutely not. Am I saying that you have to integrate yours and trick it out with AI? Absolutely not. Am I saying though, there might be possibilities in which you can use AI to help trick out something? Absolutely. The reality is, though, tech is there, it's available to us. Are there ways to enhance what we're doing to increase our own efficiencies in our business, to make sure that we are actually spending time brings out things that really, really truly move the needle and not just kind of pushing paper along, proverbially, you know, through the process. So, step five, Part Five is all about tricking it out. After you've listed out those processes. I want you to think about where can you implement automation to check out that process and make it happen even faster, with less need for human intervention. So you have had all five parts now. I hope that this was helpful, please definitely feel free to reach out to me. Let me know your thoughts. And thank you for listening. Bye. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Collab with Kiva. I'm wildly cheering you on as you go forth and execute data and operational efficiencies in your business. If you need additional support, connect with me via my website, the516collaborative.com your reviews on Apple are appreciated. See you next week.

Meet Kiva Slade - the Founder and CEO of The 516 Collaborative. With a unique background in high-power politics on Capitol Hill and sixteen years as a homeschooling mama, Kiva found her calling in the online business world as a trusted guide for entrepreneurs looking to build the business of their dreams.

Kiva's work began behind the scenes, orchestrating the back end of businesses and managing teams. But her inner data diva couldn't help but notice that small businesses needed help harnessing the power of data for growth. So she and her team set out to uncover and tidy up the data required to enable clients to grow their businesses confidently and easily.