Imagine your business is a car.

Whether it’s a new, sporty little number or an old, cumbersome hatchback, aside from an engine and four wheels, what does it need to run smoothly?

A dashboard.

A dashboard will advise you to slow down when you’re moving too fast. It will tell you when more fuel is needed. It will alert you when there’s a problem.

A good dashboard will save you heaps of time, effort, and money, while you’re under the hood, trying to work out why you’re not reaching your goal quickly enough.

Lucky for you, Process Street has just the ticket.

Our checklist dashboard has been designed and built to give you an instant snapshot of your team, or company’s, performance so you can stay on track and reach your business goals.

Want to find out more?

Join me on a journey, where we will accelerate through the following topics to get you up to speed with the checklist dashboard and how you can use it in your business:

• Why use a checklist dashboard?
• How to use the checklist dashboard
• How to use the checklist dashboard in Process Street
• Checklist dashboard use case #1: The project manager
• Checklist dashboard use case #2: The remote workforce manager
• Checklist dashboard use case #3: The property manager
• Checklist dashboard use case #4: The HR manager
• Checklist dashboard round-up

Buckle up and put your foot down! Let’s go!

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This is a guest post by Adam Hempenstall, who is the CEO and Founder of Better Proposals – simple proposal software for creating beautiful, high-impact proposals in minutes. Having helped his customers win $500,000,000 in the last 12 months alone, he’s launched the first Proposal University where he shares best practices on writing and designing proposals.

A great business proposal means the difference between an unsigned contract and a successful deal. A poorly written business proposal will get turned down, even if the offer is good.

Business proposals are considered to be an art form that only the extremely skilled can write.

However, after analyzing over 189,000 successful business proposals, I can tell you that there’s no secret to writing a great proposal.

Allow me to elaborate as I take you through our analysis findings, and run through the following topics, in this Process Street post:

• What is a business proposal & how do you create one?
• Business proposal finding #1: Visuals matter
• Business proposal finding #2: Video makes no difference
• Business proposal finding #3: Live chat increases conversions
• Business proposal finding #4: A single offer is better than a package
• Business proposal finding #5: Kiss PDFs goodbye
• Business proposal finding #6: People open proposals on their phones first
• Business proposal finding #7: It doesn’t matter when you send your proposal
• Business proposal finding #8: Clients love paying directly from the proposal
• Business proposal finding #9: Length matters
• Business proposal finding #10: The title of the pricing section makes a difference
• Business proposal finding #11: Act quickly
• Business proposal finding #12: Use a template
• Key takeaways: The magic business proposal solution

Let’s get started.

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Would you eat a McDonalds Big Mac that was out-of-date, had been dropped on the floor, and made with a stranger’s bare hands?

No! Me neither.

Unfortunately, that’s what thousands of people in China, unknowingly, did.

Back in 2015, the Chinese meat suppliers for McDonald’s were secretly filmed and caught:

“Handling meat and chicken with their bare hands, taking meat that had fallen on the floor and adding it back on to the production line…and forging production dates on beef patties.” – ET2C, Lessons on the Importance of Quality Control Checks

Around 4,300 McDonalds beef patties were tested and found to be out-of-date and contaminated with bacteria.

As a result, over 2,000 McDonald’s outlets across Asia were dramatically affected. The reputation of McDonald’s and their meat supplier was irreversibly damaged, and McDonald’s saw a 7.3% drop in sales.

McDonald’s was definitely not ‘lovin it’.

If only they’d used Enterprise Quality Management Software (EQMS) to regulate their supplier’s meat handling processes and control the quality of the produce they were delivering.

Companies who use EQMS to manage quality, experience fewer product quality issues (less than 1%), and improve their productivity by 20%.

Keen to find out more? Join me in this Process Street post as we run through the following:

• EQMS: What is it & how does it work?
• EQMS: Who uses it?
• EQMS: Is it just for regulated organizations?
• EQMS: What are its downfalls?
• EQMS: Is there another option that’s quick to implement & easy to use?

Let’s make our way through the golden arches and get started! 🍟🍟🍟🍟
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Imagine for a second that you own a global, fast-food chicken restaurant chain.

You know, one that sells Portuguese, peri-peri style chicken. The kind of place that sells lunchtime meals at dinnertime prices. You know the type I mean?

Now think. What’s the worst thing that could happen to your fast-food chicken restaurant chain?

A bout of food poisoning would be pretty bad, or a new KFC opening up right next door would be pretty demoralizing.

But what about running out of chicken? As an internationally recognized chicken restaurant, that would be pretty devastating. Right?

Well, that’s exactly what happened to Nando’s over the New Year holiday period.

We’ll come back to the Nando’s story later, but for now, let’s tuck into this Process Street post on procurement…

In one ‘fowl’ swoop, we will cover the following procurement topics:

• Procurement: What it is (and isn’t)
• Why you need to get procurement right
• How to go about procurement effectively
• Procurement in the modern world
• Digitizing the procurement process with Process Street

Egg-cited to start? Let’s go!

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I lost $45,000 because I didn’t have a statement of work in place.

What makes it worse (or perhaps better?!) is that it wasn’t even my money.

It was my previous employer’s.

I was managing a website build for a big client and was under huge pressure to meet a tight deadline. So, as many do, I decided to start the project before the client signed the Statement of Work (SoW).

This was a big, expensive, mistake to make.

It cost an additional $45,000 to re-work parts of the build that the client had verbally approved, but hadn’t legally signed off.

Ouch.

(Despite what you might think, this isn’t the reason I don’t work there anymore!)

According to research, 37% of projects fail due to a lack of defined and approved project goals and objectives, which come with a Statement of Work (SoW). This causes around 80% of organizations to spend at least half their time on expensive rework.

“Not using a Statement of Work – SOW during the project initiation is a major cause of project failure” – 4PM, Statement of Work – SOW

But what is a Statement of Work (SoW) and how do you create one?

All will be revealed in this Process Street post, as we go through:

• What a Statement of Work (SoW) is
• Why bother with a Statement of Work (SoW)
• How to create a Statement of Work (SoW)

If you’re in a hurry, grab this free Statement of Work Process Template now, and catch up with the rest of the post when you can:

Click here to access the Statement of Work (SoW) Process Template!

Otherwise, keep reading and we’ll go through this template, in a little more detail, later.

Let’s get into it!

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“The term planning is imbecilic; everything can change tomorrow.“

That was a quote made by a French manager, straight after the 1973 oil crisis.

He’s right, of course. Everything can change tomorrow. We’re living in a world where we see changes every day. Ground-breaking technology, product innovations, and medical breakthroughs.

But does that mean “planning is imbecilic” though?

The truth is that planning can be ineffective and damaging if it’s done badly.

Good planning, on the other hand, can minimize the uncertainty brought on by change.

Don’t believe me?

Take the 1911 race to the South Pole, for example. The race was between two explorers: Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott. They each had a similar amount of experience and were the same age. Both faced 1,400 miles of gale-force winds, blizzards, and minus temperatures on their expeditions.

Amundsen meticulously planned his trip for several years. Scott didn’t.

Guess which expedition tragically failed?

Amundsen was already sailing back to Norway when Scott’s team finally gave up hope.

So, now we’ve established that planning is sensible, and not ‘imbecilic’, let’s find out why human resource planning is one of the most valuable processes a company can follow.

To do this, I’ll cover:

• What is human resource planning?
• Why is human resource planning important?
• The 7 steps of human resource planning
• How human resource planning is done
• Human resource planning in HRM

Let’s get on with helping you to plan for success!
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Does anyone have the number for Jeff Bezos?

He owes me over $10,000.

Thanks to his 1-Click checkout, I must’ve purchased at least $10,000 worth of stuff that I didn’t need or want. He’s made it way too easy to purchase from Amazon and it’s got to stop.

So, yeah if you have his number I will…Wait… What’s that?

Bezos didn’t come up with the 1-Click checkout idea? It wasn’t his idea to make it possible to buy a Tibetan Buddhist necklace worth $169,000 in one single click?

Well, if it wasn’t entrepreneurial Bezos, the innovator and founder of Amazon and the Blue Origin spaceship, then who on earth was it?

Regular Amazon employee, programmer, and intrapreneur: Peri Hartman.

Thanks to Peri’s pioneering checkout idea and Amazon’s unwavering belief in intrapreneurship (harnessing the power of innovation from within the workplace), the 1-Click checkout gave Amazon a huge competitive advantage, re-wrote the entire book on eCommerce, and ruined my life. They also made a cool $177bn by slapping a patent on it and licensing the idea out to others.

But despite this example, many companies fail to harness the power of their existing internal innovators. Preferring instead to hire external resources to execute ground-breaking ideas, boost competitor advantage, and improve ways of working.

So, taking more intrapreneurial examples from the likes of Apple, Facebook, and Google, this Process Street post will help you understand the importance of intrapreneurship and shine a light on the hidden entrepreneurial resources that lie within your company:

• Are intrapreneurs just shy entrepreneurs waiting for their big break?
• Proof that encouraging intrapreneurship is good for business
• How to recognize intrapreneurs and nurture intrapreneurship within your organization

Ready to see what’s right in front of your nose? 💡

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How many different tabs do you have open on your computer or laptop, right now?

I bet it’s a lot.

Let me guess. You’ve probably got one open for your emails, one for your social media, one for Slack, and another for Process Street?

And, maybe you’ve also got tabs open for your HR management system, your recruitment software, your reporting platform, your payroll service, your employee engagement tool, and…well, the list could go on and on and on.

Am I right?

But, this makes finding the tab you need when you need it virtually impossible, it slows your computer…right…down, and even the simplest HR tasks can end-up taking twice as long.

“Too many tabs, in almost any web browser, will lead to overtaxed computer memory, a reduction in battery life, and, for sure, a cluttered browser workspace.” – Forbes, Too Many Tabs Open: Save Your PC Or Mac From Overheating

What if there was a way to speed up your HR tasks? What if you could get all your task notifications and updates in one, central place instead of several? What if you could improve communication with your team and spend less time waiting or chasing for updates and more time on the things that matter?

Interested?

Allow me to introduce you to our newest feature, built for Slack lovers: The Process Street Slack App. Just click the button below to add it to your Slack!

Read on to discover how the Process Street Slack App can speed up your HR tasks as we whizz through the following:

• How our new Slack App helps you get HR tasks done faster
• How Sue manages her HR tasks with Process Street’s Slack App
• How to get Process Street’s Slack App & start streamlining your HR tasks

Let’s get cracking.🌪️
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Having everything you need in one single place just makes life easier, doesn’t it?

That’s why Process Street is launching the Slack App.

According to research, the average employee switches between 35 job-critical applications more than 1,100 times every day.

Turn your Slack Workspace into a super-tool for recurring work with our new Slack App. You can receive Process Street notifications, work on tasks, approve or reject decisions or documents, and complete checklists, without ever having to leave Slack 🤯!

Open fewer tabs, work from one place, and add more time back into your day with Process Street’s Slack App.

Sounds good, right?

That’s because it is. But, don’t take our word for it, read this post to get a quick overview of:

• What the new Slack App is, how it works, and what it does
• How you will benefit from the Slack App
• How to get the new Slack App

Ready to make your life easier?
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Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth…
– Mike Tyson

Which, let’s face it, happens to most start-ups and entrepreneurs. Around 75% in fact.

You have the best idea. You spend days, weeks, and months perfecting a 40-page business plan filled with five-year forecasts, 18-month roadmaps, and in-depth marketing strategies. You confidently pitch it to stakeholders and investors.

And then?

Then you get punched in the mouth.

Potential investors go quiet or “haven’t had time to read it” and you’re left with an expensive, wasted deliverable and a chunk of time that you’ll never get back. Worse still, your product isn’t any nearer launching and you haven’t secured any buy-in or investment.

What. A. Waste. Of. Time.

Traditional business plans are of little use to start-ups, and of no real interest to investors.

But what’s the alternative?

A one-page business plan inspired by Eric Ries’s Lean Start-Up methodology and specifically designed for emerging entrepreneurs: The Lean Canvas.

The Lean Canvas is a living framework that allows you to quickly capture your idea or concept, thoroughly validate it, and then continuously share, improve, and most importantly move on it.

Ok, I know what you’re thinking:

• How can a one-page Lean Canvas possibly replace a 40-page business plan?
• How can I tell the entire story of my business on one-page?
• Is a Lean Canvas really enough to help me secure investment or buy-in?

I have the answers to all these questions and more in this Process Street post.

Ready to dodge some punches?
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