What is the difference between a process and a system?

The short answer is that a process is the way things happen, and a system is how things happen.

That might be the short answer, but it certainly isn’t the best answer.

A lot of times these two things seem to get confused with each other. When I think of a process the first thing that comes to mind is what are we trying to accomplish. It starts with a goal, and then from there the next step is to begin putting the different tasks together that make it all happen.

When I think about systems, the first question is how do all of the tasks need to be performed so that we meet the goal of completion of the process?
Let’s use this blog post as an example. The process is to create a blog post that people will find interesting and informative. Then there are the set of steps of tasks that need to be completed such as:

1. Research the title and content.
2. Outline the ideas that I want to cover in the post
3. Schedule a time to write the post
4. Write the content
5. Edit the content
6. Create an image
7. Add the blog post to the website
   1. Upload the content
   2. Add image
   3. SEO
8. Schedule the blog post
9. Syndicate the blog post

When it comes to the systems of writing this blog post I look at each step and see what I need to accomplish in each step.

There is generally more than one way to complete each step, but it is important to identify the way that I am most likely going to get the best results for me. Here are the things I used and their number matches the process above.

1. Google
2. Asana
3. Asana
4. Word
5. Word
6. Canva
7. WordPress
8. WordPress
9. SmarterQueue

Processes and systems are the first steps to getting your business ready for hiring external help.

You may be the one that is responsible for everything in your business right now, and that will only work for so long. As your business grows it will be important to be able to hand off some of the work to a VA or another team member.

Recording your processes and systems can feel daunting at first, but it will provide you with more value than you can possibly imagine.

Here are some of the ways that you can start to capture your processes and systems:

1. Record yourself on Zoom or Loom
   1. Share your screen and capture all of it.
   2. It may feel strange, but talk yourself through the tasks so you can record it later.
2. Use Asana to capture and organize your tasks
3. Have a word document open and record what you are doing as you do it (or right after)
4. Have a notebook beside your computer and jot down notes when you are completing tasks
5. Any of these methods could be used in conjunction with an OBM who can help you not only capture this with you, but also help you to find the right people to join your team and grow your business.