Policies and procedures without enforcement

We have talked all about setting a structure for your business and putting policies and standard operating procedures as necessary for building a system that works with or without you. One thing that is as important as all of these is enforcing the policies and procedures that you have put in place.

So, what if you have a hundred and one policies that are only active in writing, and you have failed to enforce them. What do you think you are communicating to your staff? That anything goes, right? Without enforcement, your policies and procedures might as well be non-existent because they will not make any significant difference in your operations.

If you have a defined hierarchy of reporting, let it work. Stop butting in every step of the way. If not, you will end up having a structure on paper and not in reality. You will end up having so many staff and team leaders, and still doing everything on your own. This is a quick recipe for burnout. If people are paid to do a job, let them do it. It is the reason they were recruited anyway.

One reason why some business owners are reluctant to enforce policies and processes is that they always want to directly control everything. This could be a serious problem if not addressed. It not only affects the speed of delivery but also creates bottlenecks in your processes.

If you are the only one who controls orders and supplies, what do you think would happen when you are not around? Can the business still run in your absence?

I read a post some time ago that the boss kept keeping the staff away from core business processes, in the fear that they would steal his business idea and become his competitors. I thought it was quite laughable especially since there is hardly any business idea that does not already have a competitor. That is a wrong mindset because it keeps you at one spot, with a business that cannot run without you.