Stop Being the Bottleneck: Build SOPs Your Team Will Use | Owen McGab Enaohwo

Send us Fan MailIf your team repeatedly interrupts you with the same questions, you probably don’t have a people problem.You have an undocumented-process problem.In this episode, Peter Boolkah speaks with Owen McGab Enaohwo, co-founder and CEO of SweetProcess, about creating standard operating procedures that allow people to work effectively without constantly returning to the founder or manager.Although the conversation begins with remote working, the real subject is founder dependency.When critical knowledge lives inside one person’s head, that person becomes the business’s help desk. Employees must interrupt them to obtain answers, work slows down and the owner loses the uninterrupted time required to lead and grow the company.Owen introduces the idea of a minimum viable procedure: a simple first version that can be improved by the people who actually perform the work.You’ll discover:Why repeated interruptions are evidence of missing systemsHow context switching damages productivityWhy you should eliminate unnecessary work before documenting anythingWhich recurring tasks deserve a procedureWhy production and customer-delivery bottlenecks should usually come before sales processesHow to identify the process consuming the most management timeHow to create a minimum viable procedureWhy procedures should be documented while the task is being performedHow employees can collaboratively add instructions, screenshots and short videosWhy an SOP should remain beside the person performing the taskHow frontline feedback creates continuous improvementWhy documented procedures can increase autonomy and creativityHow to create one reliable source of operational truthWhy employees should check the system before interrupting a managerHow documented systems support scaling, onboarding and consistent customer serviceAn SOP should not become a rigid document that nobody revisits. It should be a working system that captures current knowledge, gives the team clarity and improves whenever somebody discovers a better way.That is also how a founder begins escaping the Hamster Wheel Trap®.The objective is not merely to document what the founder knows. It is to build a company that can make progress without needing the founder to explain everything personally.This conversation was recorded in 2022. Its discussion of lockdowns, remote working and the rapid development of Zoom reflects that period, but the systemisation framework remains highly relevant.CONNECT WITH OWEN MCGAB ENAOHWOSweetProcess: https://www.sweetprocess.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/owenmcgabenaohwoCONNECT WITH PETER BOOLKAHWebsite: https://www.boolkah.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boolkahInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/pboolkah/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BoolkahX: https://twitter.com/boolkahABOUT PETER BOOLKAHPeter Boolkah is a business coach, author and speaker who has spent more than 20 years helping business owners build stronger, more valuable businesses that do not depend on them for everything.He is the creator of The Hamster Wheel Trap® and author of Your Business Sucks: Build a Business That Works Without Destroying Your Life.Peter works with founders and leadership teams on the issues that ultimately determine whether a business creates freedom or becomes another job: leadership, founder dependency, people, profit, execution, scaling, exit readiness and enterprise value.His approach is direct, practical and built around one simple question:Do you own the business, or does the business own you?Learn more at https://www.boolkah.com