You may have heard the term “workflow” thrown around in business talks, but not necessarily known what that means- Today we put an end to that! In this blog post, we are talking all about why workflows are important for your teacher biz– what are they, why do you need them, and how to begin crafting one for yourself and your business!
Now, if you’re anything like me, I would use words like “system”, “process” and “workflow” all interchangeably, but they do not actually mean the same thing- they each have a specific role, and it’s important to understand the difference, so here are the definitions I go by as of right now:
A system is the overarching elements or parts of your business (The different facets of your business, the apps you use, etc.)
A process is a recurring sequence of tasks that occur to produce a designated result (How you get from point A to point B)
A workflow maps out all of the steps required to complete a specific task- they’re usually well thought out, crafted, and automated to produce max efficiency.
Now that we’ve got all of the terminology squared away, let’s talk about the importance of a good workflow, why workflows are important for your teacher biz, and how to get started with workflows today!
1. Workflows keep your business organized
Workflows allow you to know how everything in your business runs. When you do not know how anything operates within your business, that’s where inconsistency and disorganization occurs. Workflows allow you to have a process for everything- Every task has a place, every part has an important role to play. It is worth your while to take an afternoon to map out your processes for different sections of your business. You can easily create a workflow using The Timely Teacher Seller’s Handbook, which you can get here.
2. Workflows save you time & energy.
When you have a simple and repeatable process in your business, you can enter into what I like to call “The Flow State”, where your brain can essentially shut off and not have to actively think about what comes next in the sequence. Your state of productivity increases, and you will find yourself producing a lot more work in a shorter amount of time.
Having a workflow all written or typed out helps eliminate distractions or brain fog when you sit down for a work session, and have no idea what to do next. Instead of wasting time trying to remember how you create your youtube thumbnails, you can simply pull up your workflow, set the timer for your Pomodoro session, and get to work. Having a solid workflow is going to free up so many hours in your business and in your life in general!
3. Workflows help create consistency in your business.
In many of my chats with other fellow teacherpreneurs, their main issue across the board is not being able to find enough time to get everything done in their business that they want to, like creating content or products. My response is always “You need a workflow for that”
The key to consistency in all aspects of your business (and even your personal life) is workflows. This blog post did not just publish itself randomly. I sat down and followed an exact series of steps in an order that works well for me, so that I was able to maintain consistency
I started with keyword research, outlined my posts, created my lead magnets, wrote a rough draft of the posts, created graphics, edited my posts, uploaded everything and scheduled it, and here we are today. The entire blog writing process takes about 30-45 minutes instead of hours simply because I took time to write down all of the tasks that needed to happen, mapped them out into a specific sequence of events (my workflow). And streamlined them by creating an easily repeatable process. That’s the beauty of workflows! You can snag my exact blogging workflow template that I use for my business for purchase here.
4. Workflows make the hiring process that much easier.
You may not be at that stage yet where you’re hiring team members, but this still pertains to you. Imagine if you were trying to hire someone to write blog posts for you, and they asked what your process was, and you went “I’m not really sure.” You would then be wasting your money having to try to figure out what your process is and then teaching it to your new team member.
What if you already had a workflow created and written down, (if you want to be really prepared, you could even have a video walking someone through your workflow) and all you had to do was share this workflow with your team member, and within the same day they were caught up to speed on your process and could write a blog post for you that day??
You could start creating workflows over time so that by the time you end up hiring someone, your onboarding process can go off without a hitch!
5. Workflows can be tailored to fit your needs and your schedule
Your Instagram workflow may look different than your friend’s. Your podcast workflow might look completely different than others. The great thing about workflows is that you get to create it to meet your needs and your schedule. If you only have an hour a day to work your business, great. Break up your workflows into small chunks that can be completed over the span of a few days. The flexibility and possibilities are endless!
There are so many reasons why workflows are important for your teacher biz- hopefully by now you are ready to get started creating systems and workflows that work for you! If you are wondering what business workflows you need, and would like some pre-made workflow templates, you can purchase my Trello For Teacherpreneurs Business Bundle here.
And if you’re wanting further support when it comes to workflows, you might be interested in my DFY (Done For You) Workflow Service Package- You fill out a form requesting specific workflows to be created for tasks like Blogging, YouTube, Pinterest, Client Experience, etc. and then I get to work creating the workflow for you, with templates, checklists, outlines, and more! We then hop on a zoom call together where I walk you through your workflows so that you are able to hit the ground running right away! You can find further information and apply here. Get those workflows started today!
