Checklists in business
Checklists help with memory recall and clearly set out the minimum necessary steps in a process, says Dr Atul Gawande in his book The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. Not only are checklists useful in daily life, but checklists are also extremely helpful in business.
Checklists in business have been proven to organize and manage tasks. In addition, they reduce errors, maintain consistency, increase efficiency, productivity, and ensure all steps in a task are completed.
Checklists in business for repetitive tasks
Checklists in business are especially powerful for repetitive tasks that must be completed. When we have repetitive tasks to complete, it is easy to forget things. Recovery is usually more complex than getting it right the first time. A checklist is an easy tool that helps prevent these mistakes. Furthermore, a checklist is simply a standardized list of the required steps developed for a repetitive task.
Checklists bring business processes to life
Once you’ve identified and mapped the processes in your organization, you can bring them to life every day through checklists. Checklists are valuable for key parts of the 4 to 9 processes that drive the business, and help ensure that the right things happen.
Read more on Identifying and Mapping Business Processes.
Read more on Function Accountability.
Checklists in business VS To-Do Lists
One should distinguish between a checklist and a to-do list. While a checklist is a series of steps for repetitive tasks and recurring processes, a to-do list is more ad-hoc in nature, and allows you to manage your various tasks efficiently. Therefore, it’s a list that keeps all of your tasks and items to complete in one place. Moreover, a to-do list allows you to schedule activities and not let anything fall between the cracks.
Benefits of checklists in business
A checklist is a simple tool that helps to prevent mistakes. It is a standardized list of the required steps for a repetitive task. According to Andy Singer, checklists in business have many benefits:
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Organization
Being easy to use and effective, checklists in business help us stay more organized, by ensuring that we don’t skip any steps in a process.
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Productivity
A checklist enables you to complete repetitive tasks more quickly and efficiently, and with fewer mistakes. Therefore, you become more productive and accomplish more each day.
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Excellence
Customer service is an area where checklists are widely used. Checklists enable customer-facing employees to be more effective at taking care of customers. In turn, this leads to the company achieving excellence in the eyes of the customer, as no issues are left unsolved.
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Motivation
Checklists motivate us to take action and complete tasks. Therefore checklists in business make us more successful. In addition, it becomes a circle where we are motivated to accomplish more due to the positive results.
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Creativity
Checklists in business allow you to master the repetitive tasks and utilize more brain power for creative activities. Since the checklist means less stress, you not only have more time to be creative, but you also have the ability to think more clearly.
In summary
Using checklists in business ensures that you won’t forget anything. So, if you do something again and again, and want to do it right every time, use a checklist.
Partner with CoLAB
CoLAB can assist you, as a business leader, to identify and map the processes in your organization. You will get a quick X-Ray of the functional structure of your company. Once you have this, it will be easy to identify and implement checklists to improve productivity. CoLAB is known for our #bestpractical approach to solve complex problems.
Barend Cronjé is an expert facilitator and Master ScalingUp practitioner, ready to partner with you on your journey in growing and scaling your business, and ultimately improving profit.
Click HERE to find a suitable slot in Barend’s diary for a quick, free chat, if you need help with mapping and identifying processes and relevant accountability in your business.
The CoLAB group serves its’ clients through 3 specialist practices:
