When you’re on the smaller side, many of the processes you create work when you only have five or 10 employees. Yet as your team grows, cracks can begin to appear as bottlenecks and inconsistencies cause issues.
“Strong processes allow us to grow while maintaining quality, performance, and accountability across all branches,” says Loren McIrvin, CEO of Allied Landscape, based in Livermore, California.
Build Around Actions, Not People
Greg Malmberg, owner of Process Pro, LLC, says the first step to creating scalable processes is to build them around steps and actions, not individuals.
“We get these people who are like, ‘Oh, this is how we do it because that’s how Gus does it,” Malmberg says. “But that’s never going to work if I add a new branch. It’s got to be more action-oriented, plug and play, which is very specific. These are the steps, and not, ‘We got to check with Steve.’”
Brett Gordon, COO for Focal Pointe, based in Caseyville, Illinois, recommends considering where in a process things are most likely to break down and how trainable the steps are with new hires.
McIrvin agrees that if a process can’t be easily taught or repeated, it won’t scale.
Document Everything
Shayne Newman, president of YardScapes Landscape Professionals, based in New Milford, Connecticut, adds that the sign of a good process is one that can easily be delegated to another employee because of the level of documentation.
“What if an employee’s out sick for an extended period of time, and if you don’t have a process, or things documented in the software, how can anybody fill in for them while they’re away?” Newman says. “Or if an employee quits or you’re terminating them, how difficult would it be to onboard that person if you don’t have processes documented?”
Michael Prokopchak, president of Walnut Hill Landscape Company, based in Annapolis, Maryland, says documentation is critical if you want to scale the business, and he’s recently tapped into AI to help create SOPs.
“When we started the company 20 years ago, everything was in my head; it’s still there,” Prokopchak says. “But we’re not going to grow if it stays up there. So that’s where we’re using AI every day for everything we do.”
Prokopchak also sets 30-60-90-day onboarding expectations with new hires so they understand exactly how they should perform from the start.
Create a Shared Vocabulary
Another key to strong processes is having everyone on the same page with a shared vocabulary, particularly when using company software.
“This is one where people often miss, even if you think about simple things like selections for lead sources or cancellation reasons,” Malmberg says. “Simple data points that companies want to get information on, they assume their options make sense to everybody. Most often, there’s always a gray area where people interpret them or apply them differently. They should be defined. Here’s what they mean, and here’s a real-world example of how you would apply it, so everyone’s pulling in the same direction.”
Doug McDuff, president and co-owner of Landscape America, based in Wrentham, Massachusetts, says they often have to adapt their vocabulary to what’s available in the software.
“This takes time to adapt with internal communication and requires focus and having the managers lead the change,” McDuff says.
Prokopchak says they have a glossary to ensure their team members are all speaking the same language.
Review and Refine
Even if a process currently has your business humming like a well-oiled machine at $5 million doesn’t necessarily mean it will still serve you at $10 million. Rather than waiting for things to break down, make a point to discuss with your team where a process can be fine-tuned.
McDuff says continuous improvement is part of their culture, so they are always looking for ways to improve their systems annually.
“You need structured review cycles to act on what it’s telling you,” McIrvin says. “We build in periodic reviews — both ongoing and annual — to evaluate performance and refine processes.”
Prokopchak notes that AI has been a game-changer for his company as he’s been able to save time in creating training materials and improving his processes.
“Maybe once a quarter go through the processes and definitely involve all the parties that are involved because there’s always a better way to do something,” Prokopchak says.
