Update System_a company that no longer runs entirely through you
You can be away for two weeks, and the company keeps going. You get there in twelve months, in phases: the things only you know today become written procedures, and you share decisions with your team, each person with their own piece of the company and a dashboard.
You can’t take five days off without something grinding to a halt.
Day-to-day decisions wait for you. The first step is working out which ones they are, and who can take them instead of you.
If a key person leaves, what they know leaves with them.
What they know is in their head, not on paper. The most critical flows are written down the way they’re really done, and kept up to date.
You’ve inherited a department where everything goes through one person.
The knowledge is there, but it sits in one place. Who decides what gets redrawn, with a dashboard instead of questions in the corridor.
works bestwhen there are two or three people on the team to share decisions with, and you have time to give to the first phases.
How it’s built, phase by phase_
Twelve months, five phases. Each one starts from what the previous phase left in writing.
The map
We look at how the company really runs and pick the most critical flows: the ones that go through you today.
The writing
The chosen flows are written down in the words of the people who do them, and tested on real work.
Delegation
You and your team share the decisions: each person has their own piece of the company and a dashboard.
Oversight
Together we check whether it holds, and fix it where it jams.
The handover
Procedures and dashboards pass to the team, which keeps them up to date.
The company stops running entirely through you_
Day-to-day decisions are taken by whoever should take them, and you go back to the work only you can do. By the end you can be away for two weeks, and the company keeps going.
You’re left with two things, and they’re what keeps it running when you’re not there.
The most critical flows, written down
The three flows the company depends on most, written down the way they’re really done and kept up to date when they change. New people read them and learn them, instead of asking you.
What’s inside, with an example
the steps, in the order they’re really done
who does what, and who decides what
what to do when a case is out of the ordinary
when and how they’re updated
Say that at a company, urgent orders, off-list quotes and hiring all go through the owner. Those are the first three flows to write down. A year later, the sales manager handles an urgent order, with the procedure to hand.
Decisions, shared with your team
Each person has a piece of the company and a dashboard that shows how it’s going. “Can we do this?” reaches whoever has to decide, and you get the numbers.
What’s inside, with an example
who decides what, in writing
the few numbers each manager watches
when you meet to look at them together
Say the production manager decides delivery dates on her own, up to a written threshold. The dashboard shows her the week’s workload, and you go over it with her once a month.
Along the way, phase after phase
The process map
Where the company depends on you, and where it makes sense to start. It’s yours even if you stop after the first phase.
The twelve-month plan
Written at the start and updated through the phases: you always know what comes next.
What does it cost?
Per project, in phases, with one price per phase. The quote arrives within 48 hours.
On a call we look together at which phase makes sense to start from.
How you pay
One price per phase, set out in the quote before we start.
The first phase
The process map stands on its own: if you stop there, it’s yours.
How long it lasts
Twelve months, in phases.
Quote
Within 48 hours of your request.
Questions about Update System_
How is it different from Update Next?
Update Next works on one piece at a time, in sessions. Update System takes on the whole organisation: the most critical flows, who decides what, the dashboards. Companies often get here after Update Next, when the work touches the organisation and not just one piece.
Can I stop after the first phase?
Yes. The first phase is the process map, and it stands on its own: it shows where the company depends on you and where it makes sense to start. If you stop there, the map is yours.
How much do I need to be involved?
A lot at the start, because the things only you know have to be drawn out of you. Then less and less, which is the sign it’s working.
Does it work for someone inheriting a company or a department?
Yes. Whoever inherits finds written procedures and people who make decisions, instead of one head everything depends on.