How to Prevent Human Error in a Startup

Even in the most established businesses, human error is a common occurrence. In a startup company, these mistakes are even more frequent. Managing all the complex ins and outs of a rapidly changing environment is difficult, especially without clear guidelines and standards for important tasks.

Startups have a difficult enough time succeeding without throwing human error into the mix. But, if you take the right steps, you can prevent these mistakes from impacting your growth. Below, we explore the most common causes of human error in a startup and what to do about it.

Human Error: 2 Causes and Solutions

Human error might be inevitable, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take steps to help prevent it. Exploring what causes human error in a startup is critical to preventing it.

Rapid Change

The nature of a startup means that rapid and unexpected changes will happen frequently. A startup doesn’t have the same luxury of sitting comfortably on a straightforward path that a more established business does. This means that as you grow more and see success or failure, things will need to adapt. Some practices will work and be implemented more, and others will fail and need to be changed.

This rapid change is both necessary and helpful to discover the best practices for your business. However, it also creates an environment where human error flourishes. Rapid change means that people will fall behind, or be confused by new processes, creating human error.

This disorientation can be mitigated by taking a few preventative steps. First, communicate well with your team. Keeping them informed of any changes or updates in your practices or business environment will help them adapt their work to what’s newly necessary. This also makes them feel more included in the process, which can reduce stress and further reduce human error.

Secondly, it’s important to not make too many changes at once. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, try to allow your team to settle into one change before you implement another. This allows them to focus on adapting to the first change for a time before more is put on their plate, which will help prevent them from being overwhelmed.

Overwhelm

Being overwhelmed is a leading cause of human error in all businesses, but especially startups. Fast scaling and a lack of standard operating procedures for certain tasks, in addition to the rapid change mentioned above all contributes to an environment that can become overwhelming quickly.

To prevent this, it’s important to use tools that lessen the weight of menial tasks. By implementing certain software technologies, a lot of work can be done without human intervention, saving a lot of time that could be better spent on other work. Whatever sort of paperwork automation that can be employed will go a long way to preventing human error in the future, and keeping your startup on the track to success.

Humans make mistakes, but with the right steps, they don’t have to hurt your company. Follow these simple steps and you’ll be well on your way to a thriving business.