As an intrapreneur, it’s easy to get stuck between the dual roles of corporate visionary and day to day manager. You’re told to “work smarter not harder” and to “work on the business, not in the business”. But how?

The business needs you down there at the coal face right now. There’s not enough staff, you haven’t got time to train anyone else right now and, hell, you can do the job quicker anyway.

The problem with this mindset for the intrapreneur is that it’s not scaleable. You are not creating a framework for your business to grow.

Work smarter not harder. You are simply rushing from one crisis to another like an entertainer spinning plates hazardously on the end of bamboo poles.

With each stage of growth the crises are getting harder for you to manage. You are losing site of the horizon. The plates are about to come crashing down. You need help.

How can an intrapreneur keep a clear view of long term objectives whilst maintaining control over the inner workings of the company?

Well, it is possible to develop the work smarter not harder theory. The secret lies in breaking day to day activities into a series of self-contained tasks in such a way that they take care of themselves – almost.

These ‘mini-systems’ link together like the mechanism of a clock. On their own, fairly inert. But when working in harmony they can achieve great things.

Doesn’t it therefore make sense to try and mimic the workings of a timepiece to simplify, automate and co-ordinate the multitude of processes within the business?

Define  “mini-system”

A mini-system refers to any activity or process within a business which has a specific entry and exit point. For instance, a mini-system could refer to:

- How staff answer the telephone

- How employee inductions are managed

- Procedures for grievances and dismissals

- How visitors are treated

- How management accounts are prepared for the weekly management meeting

- How stationery is ordered

- How the petty cash system works

- How information from the production department is received and processed

- Credit control procedures

There are in fact hundreds of potential mini-systems within any business. They are yours to create. They can range from minor detail stuff to heavyweight decision making processes. Whatever category they fall into, they will have some common traits:

They will…

- have a specific entry and exit point

- achieve something useful

- be a self contained unit

- link to other mini-systems at both ends

- have a defined objective

- be measurable

We now understand what a mini-system is and how it can help the intrapreneur in the business. So let’s establish our blueprint for building mini-systems and start the journey to work smarter not harder.

Step 1. Identify a mini-system opportunity. In a small business start up, you will use your experience to create the first handful of mini-systems proactively. As time moves on, you will also have to be reactive and set up mini-systems in response to a specific need or crisis.

Step 2. Create the mini-system. One may look quite different from another. As long as they exhibit the common traits mentioned above, you will have an effective mini-system ready to take its place in the business clockwork.

Step 3. Manage the mini-system. In the early days you, the intrapreneur, may need to manage it yourself but your aim is to put someone else in place, properly trained, to take responsibility.

Step 4. Manage the people who manage the mini-system. You are now on the road to scaleability. You can now repeat steps 1 to 4 without taking your eye off that horizon.

In fact as the business grows, the intrapreneur may end up managing the people who manage the people who manage the mini-systems. Like astronauts being catapulted into space looking back on earth, the perspective changes as every mile passes. The earth gets smaller. Other planets come into vision. The view evolves continuously. You can then ensure that they work smarter not harder.

Step 5. Interrogate the people and the mini-systems. Because you have introduced the notion of scaleability, you can now step back to get the astronauts’ view of what is going on. It looks different doesn’t it? Look for continuous improvements.

Step 6. Keep going. Return to step 1 and do it all over again.

Incidentally, have you noticed that this process is actually our first mini-system itself?

We’ve left a lot of questions unanswered of course. How to we measure and evaluate these mini-systems? How do we introduce each one into the workplace? How do we communicate what is going on so that people feel at ease and empowered? How do we train employees to manage the mini-systems effectively?

And perhaps most importantly of all, how do we link together our mini-systems to create our well oiled clockwork business administration?

We have, however, laid the foundations for effective intrapreneurship by allowing scaleability to move the business forward and limit the growing pains. As an intrapreneur, we have started to work smarter not harder.

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