The Essence of Creating Business Systems and How to Create them with John Tonkin
When people talk about business systems, all that comes to mind is McDonald’s. Chances are, you wonder just how good their systems are to the point that teenagers flawlessly operate them. Today, John Tonkin explains how the McDonald’s system works and what makes it successful. According to John, systems consist of four Ps, policy, process, procedure, and prompts.
John’s background is in corporate training background. He works closely with technology and systems in some of Australia’s leading corporates. John launched his first systems-oriented business in 2000. His passion for systems and a methodology finessed through working with hundreds of companies across Australia and internationally has contributed to John and the Brain in a Box team being recognized as experts in the field of business systems.
John and I have an in-depth conversation on business systems in this episode. We look at John’s experience with systems, where to start when you need to put systems in place, how to make systems visual and kinesthetic, incorporating videos in systems, how to introduce change in systems, and why MC Donald’s systems work, among other things.
Listen and learn from this episode.
Key Talking Points of the Episode:
[01:36] John’s experience with business systems
[02:16] What is a system?
[03:29] How does one know they need systems in their business?
[04:20] Where to start with systems
[05:37] How to pick what to work on first
[09:02] How to make visual systems
[10:18] How to make instructions kinesenthic
[11:39] The role of videos when making systems
[12:43] The most important thing about business systems
[15:36] How systems help improve the quality delivered
[18:13] Relationship between systems and expertise
[27:07] How to systemize personal connections
[29:30] The role of software in systems
[32:17] How to implement change
[37:47] McDonald’s system
[42:50] Understanding system creation
[46:43] The essence of monitoring systems
[57:16] How to provide support when implementing systems
[01:00:43] How long does it take to capture the backbone of a business?
[01:07:11] How long does it take to get your business up and running?
Magical Quotes from the Episode:
“Anything is better than nothing. And something better is, you know, the target, but don’t get caught up with it.”
“By putting in systems, we build the best way of doing it, rather than each person having the best way of doing it.”
“By putting in systems and ensuring they work, we end up with everybody doing the right thing right at the right time.”
“A good system polices itself.”
“If I want somebody to own something to be accountable, they have to be involved in it somehow because that will help them develop that second-word ownership.”
“My three most important words anywhere in systems are ‘confront every breach’.”
Connect with John Tonkin:
Website: https://www.braininabox.com.au/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonkinjohn/
Call: 0414 256 499
