Will Holland is the Principal of Strategy and Marketing (PoSM) at ThreeWill, where he champions our core values by shaping and sharing how ThreeWill helps employees thrive. Using his love for storytelling, Will leverages his unique ability to balance technical depth and strategic vision, bridging the gap between developers and business leaders through clear, creative communication. Outside of work, Will can usually be found at the nearest soccer pitch, either cheering for his kids or for Atlanta United.
If your business feels chaotic, unclear, or too dependent on a few key people — it may be because you haven’t taken the time to identify your core processes. Without clear, documented processes, teams default to guesswork, leaders stay stuck in the weeds, and growth becomes difficult to sustain.
The first step to gaining control is to clarify your core processes — the operational structure that powers your company’s day-to-day execution.
What Is a Core Business Process?
Before we get into how to define your core processes, let’s quickly recap what they are.
EOS teaches us that a core business process is one of the 6–10 essential functions that keep your business running. These are high-level, organization-wide systems like Sales, HR, Operations, and Finance — not granular tasks or team-specific checklists. Each one includes the major steps your company takes to deliver value consistently and effectively.
🔁 New to this concept? We recommend starting with What Is a Core Process — and Why Every Business Needs to Know to get a clear overview before continuing.
Why Clarity Around Your Core Processes Matters
When you take time to clarify your core operational functions, you unlock:
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Consistency in how work gets done
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Clarity for new and existing employees
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Scalability and delegation
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A foundation for automation and improvement
Without this clarity, processes stay stuck in people’s heads — creating risk, inefficiency, and burnout.
Step-by-Step: How to Identify Your Core Processes
Use these four steps to properly map your business’s core operations:
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List your major business functions
Start by writing down the core areas that keep your business running — Sales, Marketing, HR, Operations, Finance, etc. EOS recommends identifying 5–7 primary functions to focus on. -
Apply the 80/20 rule
Focus on the few workflows that create the most impact. If something failing would disrupt your business, it likely belongs in your core structure. -
Assign ownership
Each primary business function should have a clear owner — typically a member of your leadership team — who is responsible for ensuring it is documented and followed. -
Name each process clearly
Use consistent, high-level names like “HR Process” or “Sales Process.” Avoid naming specific steps like “Client Onboarding” — that’s a major step within your Operations Process, not a core process on its own.
Next: Documenting and Operationalizing Your Core Processes
Once you’ve identified your foundational workflows, the next step is to document them. This ensures that your team can follow them consistently and improve them over time.
At ThreeWill, we help you go beyond documentation. We embed your core business processes into the Microsoft 365 tools your team already uses — like Microsoft Teams and SharePoint — so your processes don’t just live in a file. They live in your daily workflow.
It’s part of what we call the ThreeWill Way — a practical framework for clarity, consistency, and productivity.
Need Help Defining Your Core Processes?
Need support identifying your core business processes?
Schedule a free Discovery Call with our team. We’ll walk through your operations, help you document your most critical functions, and show how to align them with Microsoft 365.
Conclusion
If you want to scale your business, improve training, or automate effectively, you first need to define your core processes. That’s the foundation. Once you’ve clarified those essential workflows, everything else — documentation, accountability, automation — becomes much easier.
Ready to amplify your employee’s productivity?