Operations-Based Project Ideas
As month one of my Praxis experience nears completion, it’s time to shift gears a little bit. After these last few weeks of reflection, I feel quite prepared to take what I’ve learned and launch into the next task at hand. In this closing week, I have made the choice to focus on learning the role and numerous functions of operations in a startup company. For Module 2 of the program, I am required to put together a portfolio project that highlights good written and verbal communication skills, exceptional organization skills, an individual propensity to solve problems and simplify processes of development, and much more. Today I will list 5 ideas I have for a potential project that could explicitly showcase my ability to analyze, understand, and optimize different aspects of business operation.
Option 1: Interview business owners/managers about their business models, put together flowcharts and graphs detailing revenue drivers, departments, and other relevant information. This idea excites me because I can already think of a good mix of people that I have direct access to who could provide the relevant information. In addition, there are a few others I have in mind who I could at least reach out to. That list includes:
- Jim Ellingson, my girlfriend’s father, the clinical administrator for Allergy and Asthma Specialty Clinic in Willmar
- Keith Kerstetter (my dad) and Mike McDevitt, Senior Pastor and Administrative Pastor (respectively) at the Willmar Assemblies of God church
- Tim Chermak, Marketing consultant/author/entrepreneur, and co-founder of Platform, a company that manages real estate marketing
- Divine House Home Company business administrator or relevant financial officer. Divine House is a direct-care company and my current employer. With my good standing, I’m confident I could get in touch with the relevant personnel to ask and get information
- Bruce Hanson, co-owner of Hanson Communications, a rural telecom company that I worked for
Option 2: Analyze the manual Divine House filing system for the residents, and then introduce a new and improved filing system that either automates the organization structure or significantly improves the manual process. The house I currently work in the most has a system in place that does function by definition, but recently different problems have surfaced. These problems have underlined a pressing need to improve the system (bills being missed, insurance forms misplaced, etc). I will document the before and after of the process for the purpose of highlighting the inefficiencies, how they were improved, obstacles I faced along the way, and clearly emphasize my method’s impact.
Option 3: Sign up for different free/demo versions of various important software and develop proficiency at the fundamental functions of each. I could then put together instructional videos to improve the learning experience for future undertakers. Some software I could become accomplished at are:
- CRM – Hubspot
- Zoho-Mail for email simplification and organization
- Zoho-Desk for customer service software
- Wrike for basic project management and task organization.
– These are just examples, but I would like to cover software that spans numerous functions and provides a solid groundwork for operations tasks.
Option 4: Read and review 3 CEO recommended operations/management books while documenting the process along the way. As someone coming into this sector of business practice very fresh, diving into some literature endorsed by those with established success would be a good way to get familiar with the discipline and mentality required to become an indispensable worker.
- Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan (recommended by CEO of Dow Chemical)
- Good to Great by Jim Collins (recommended by former CEO of Philips Electronics) – Why some companies make the leap
- The Checklist Manifesto by Jack Dorsey (REC. by CEO of Twitter) – How to get things right
Option 5: Sign up for different free/demo versions of various CRM software and go through each one, learning as much as I can from what is available in these versions. This is similar to the second idea I had above, but here I would be focused singularly on CRM software. For this project, rather than put together instructional videos for the software, I could start by providing a short summary of what CRM software is to prove my understanding. Then I could compare and contrast various competitors in this software category while ending with my personal recommendation. Potential software could include Hubspot, Zoho, Pipedrive, Salesforce, NetSuite CRM, for starters.
It’s pretty clear these ideas are still in the construction stage and have quite a bit of detail yet to be ironed out before diving in. Disregarding that for the moment, I’d instead like to look ahead at what is next. I find all of these ideas to be both motivating and challenging for their respective reasons. Every project idea listed would provide a solid framework for my personal portfolio as I continue to navigate different business ventures. I’m eager to continue on widdling my options down to just one of these projects so I can get right to work.