Author: Mike Urgo
Building off of Episode 15 where I addressed Transformation as a buzzword; this week I am going to tackle Process Improvement.
At the highest level, I believe that anytime you are charged with or believe that Process Improvement is needed, you first must ask three questions.
The first question may sound silly. I have found that there are many times where leadership or a stakeholder may believe a process exists, but when you check with all teams and individuals involved, you may find that there really is no true process. This is why it’s very important if you or your team is charged with a process improvement effort to make sure to thoroughly understand from all perspectives what is reality compared to a perception in a leader’s head.
Here's a loose example of something I have seen. I have implemented multiple performance and learning SaaS applications. When doing so, one of the first questions is: What is your performance management process? In a couple instances executive leadership advised there was an annual review process. Great, if that is the case, then we should be able to measure compliance with that process. In both cases, there were no measurables and when the team started speaking to people managers and other stakeholders, we found that there was no truly enforced process for reviews.
When this type of situation happens, the point of finding this out is not to get into a debate with executives around whether there is a process of not. No. The point of this discovery is to understand, as the leader driving the change, just how much exists. Not having a true process will change the way you need to address your change management strategy. Employees will need a different approach with something changing from being unstructured to structured instead of changing from one structure to another. Both present challenges, but they are different and require a different approach.
The second question is important if you have found there is a process that exists. If, through discovery, you have found that a process exists, you need to find documentation. If documentation does not exist, you have to STOP. It’s my belief that before you can improve or fix a process, the existing process must be properly documented. I believe this to be the case for a few reasons. One, you may miss things that can be improved without documentation. Two, you may find that the process isn’t really that bad, it’s more of a governance issue. And finally, which brings us to the last question stated above, how are you going to be able to measure success without documentation.
With any process change, you need to be able to track and measure success. Sticking with the performance review example, one organization I worked with was focused on retaining top talent.
Who isn’t?
Therefore, the executive was looking to mature its performance review process for the purpose of improving their attrition metrics and improving the employee satisfaction scores in the annual survey. To me, this was great. This gave us as a team a baseline to work off and track the improvement as we implemented a new performance and learning system, tracked performance review compliance, and showed immediate improvement in the employee survey.
This week’s episode is short and sweet. I am finding more and more organizations that are looking to “improve processes”. I wish everyone luck in their endeavors and encourage you to remember the three questions to make sure you ask during discovery to set yourself up for success.
If you are looking for a proven leader who can help lead your initiative, be sure to contact me and see how I can help!
https://calendly.com/mjurgo
The ability to take the time to understand your organization, your people, your processes, and translate to technological solutions is what makes Intellectual Nebula so effective!
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