As a process design leader, you have to juggle multiple demands and expectations from your team, your organization, and your clients. How can you balance these needs without compromising the quality and effectiveness of your process design solutions? Here are some tips to help you navigate this challenge.
The first step to balance team and organizational needs is to align your goals with the vision and strategy of your organization. This means understanding the purpose, value, and impact of your process design projects, and how they fit into the bigger picture. You also need to communicate these goals clearly and consistently to your team, so they can see how their work contributes to the organizational objectives and outcomes.
The better your team understands organizational mission, vision, and objectives, the better they can align their skills, resources & opportunities to achieving them. This isn’t a one time drill, it must be reinforced through regular communication and confirmation of understanding. In land navigation terminology it’s called an Azimuth check. Looking forward & behind regularly to ensure that you stay on target.
Totally agree, also I would like to suggest The Balanced Scorecard which was developed to address the problem that traditional measurements of an organization focus on financials, which tend to look backward, rather than forward. The Balanced Scorecard attempts to provide both historical and future insights, by balancing financial results with efforts that create value over the long term. That's the “Balanced” of “Balanced Scorecard.” These efforts are categorized into?perspectives, or categories of strategic objectives.?
Lean organizations use hoshin planning to drive this alignment through the organization. This process creates an organized and thoughtful approach to aligning the goals of each department or division to their parent in the organization, flowing all the way up to the overarching company mission. Having a compass to guide decisions on where to deploy resources prevents wasteful projects that don’t move the needle toward the company’s goals.
Organization Goals = Sum of Individual Goals If the above is not true, most likely there will be a mismatch across various aspects, including performance management. Hence, it is very important to first articulate clearly the organization's goals before creating team & individual goals.
Alinhar objetivos é como ter um mapa para o sucesso. Imagine que cada projeto que você faz é uma pe?a de um quebra-cabe?a gigante da empresa. Conversar sobre esses objetivos é como dar a todos no time um manual prático de como suas pe?as se encaixam nesse quebra-cabe?a. Assim, cada um sabe exatamente como o trabalho deles contribui para o quadro geral da empresa, como construir um teto sólido para o sucesso.
The second step to balance team and organizational needs is to empower your team to take ownership and responsibility for their process design work. This means giving them the autonomy, resources, and support they need to perform their tasks, make decisions, and solve problems. You also need to foster a culture of collaboration, feedback, and learning within your team, so they can share their ideas, insights, and challenges, and improve their skills and knowledge.
If you know your team well, give them the opportunities to grow, learn, and make decisions. I rarely say no to ideas, when staff go through the process of that idea they walk away with things that went well, areas for improvement and experience that can never be taught.
Todo equipo y equipos de trabajo se deben empoderar con propiedad y responsabilidad , apoyándolos con los recursos y retroalimentacion en el aprendizaje para mejorar sus habilidades dentro de la organización.
Visualize-se como um guia, concedendo autonomia, recursos e respaldo para que assumam o comando no desenvolvimento. Cultive um ambiente de colabora??o e aprendizado, fomentando a troca de ideias e resolu??o conjunta de desafios. Ao liderar a Gera??o Alpha, esteja preparado para liderar uma equipe que valoriza independência, inova??o e desenvolvimento constante, alinhando experiência com a energia inovadora dessa nova gera??o.
Absolutely agree! Empowering our teams with autonomy, resources, and support is key to success. Cultivating a collaborative and learning-oriented culture ensures they can share ideas, tackle challenges, and continuously enhance their skills. It's about fostering ownership and responsibility, and creating a dynamic environment for innovation and growth.
The third step to balance team and organizational needs is to engage your stakeholders throughout the process design lifecycle. This means identifying and involving the key people who have an interest, influence, or authority over your process design projects, such as clients, users, managers, or other departments. You also need to establish and maintain regular communication, consultation, and co-creation with your stakeholders, so they can provide their input, expectations, and feedback, and feel valued and respected.
Involvement, communication and feedback creates a stronger form of ownership for the stakeholders and gets the desired buy-in.
Es importante involucrar a todo el equipo de trabajo establecido todo tipo de comunicacion que pueda facilitar su desempe?o, valorar su compromiso e interés, y que se sienta motivado y ame lo que le gusta hacer.
Inicialmente es importante mapear todos lo implicados y afectados con el proceso y sus salidas, asi como procesos predecesores y sucesores, para de esta forma tener en cuenta los puntos de dolor y fricción que se puedan generar
Este movimento implica identificar e incluir pessoas-chave, como clientes, usuários e gerentes, ao longo de todo o projeto. Estabelecer uma comunica??o regular, consultas e intera??es de cocria??o s?o essenciais para receber contribui??es, expectativas e feedback. Isso n?o apenas enriquece o processo, mas também promove um ambiente onde todos se sentem valorizados e respeitados.
Best practice is to use a Stakeholder Engagement Plan early in the planning cycle to understand who the stake holders are and what their influence and required engagement will be. After that I'd use the Communication Management Plan to facilitate the right messages being conveyed to keep the stakeholders engaged at their required level.
The fourth step to balance team and organizational needs is to adapt to change in the dynamic and complex process design environment. This means being flexible, agile, and responsive to the changing needs, demands, and opportunities of your team, your organization, and your clients. You also need to embrace uncertainty, ambiguity, and experimentation in your process design work, and be willing to learn from failures, successes, and feedback.
A positive attitude toward change is contagious. Repeating the mantra “All change is good change” and believing it yourself will go a long way toward shaping the same attitude amongst your team and amongst the users of the new process. It takes a while for some people to get on board but in the end, most will agree that they’ve learned more through the process design than they have in years. Just being heard about the problems they face every day and seeing that you want to design a process that addresses them will make even the most staunch employee become a supporter.
El ser humano por naturaleza siempre tiene miedo al cambio, pero muchas veces no nos damos cuenta que son nuevas oportunidades de aprendizaje, tanto para nuestros clientes como proveedores, esto es un proceso de cambio y de éxito empresarial.
Imagine como surfar em uma onda – ser flexível, ágil e esperto para lidar com as constantes mudan?as ao seu redor. Isso significa que, no design de processos, você precisa estar pronto para se ajustar rapidamente às necessidades da equipe, da organiza??o e dos clientes. N?o tenha medo do desconhecido; abrace a incerteza e esteja aberto para aprender tanto com os desafios quanto com os sucessos. é como uma dan?a emocionante com a mudan?a constante!
Fully embrace change! Agility is key in navigating the complexities of process design. Adapting to evolving needs and uncertainties ensures success. Learning from both failures and successes is integral to growth. Stay flexible, responsive, and innovative in meeting team, organizational, and client requirements.
The fifth step to balance team and organizational needs is to manage your resources effectively and efficiently. This means planning, organizing, and allocating your time, budget, and human resources wisely and realistically, based on the scope, complexity, and priority of your process design projects. You also need to monitor, evaluate, and report on your resource utilization and performance, and identify and address any issues or risks that may affect your process design work.
Isso requer um planejamento cuidadoso e a aloca??o sábia de tempo, or?amento e recursos humanos, considerando a complexidade e prioridade dos projetos. Monitorar, avaliar e relatar a utiliza??o e desempenho dos recursos é fundamental, assim como identificar e resolver qualquer problema ou risco que possa impactar o trabalho no design de processos. Essa abordagem garante uma execu??o eficiente e bem-sucedida dos projetos.
Part of managing resources begins with conveying understanding of the realistic resource requirements during the planning phase of an initiative. Being candid with stakeholders and sponsors creates a more precise understanding of resources. These should be reviewed periodically and no less then crossing through decision and phase gates to ensure transparent consciences.
With 10 people and 1 month at hand, you cannot get 10 babies! Imperative that we understand what is possible, by when it is possible and how to get there. This requires a good understanding of scope, complexity, priority and ensuring right set of people in the right places. Just as important to know when to say "No", when to pause & course correct. Tracking & Measuring right metrics will help understand how far we are and where we stand. An open transparent environment ensures right feedback and a great way to openly address issues and risks for better outcomes faster!
The sixth and final step to balance team and organizational needs is to develop yourself as a process design leader. This means seeking and seizing opportunities to enhance your skills, knowledge, and competencies in process design methodologies, tools, and best practices. You also need to reflect on your strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement as a process design leader, and seek feedback, mentoring, and coaching from others.
Learning is continuous and one that stops learning cannot improve. Just as progress is a continuous flow of many tasks coming together; a leader is just a coming together of many skills. No one has ever been successful without making mistakes, learning from them and improving on them. Coaching is a great way to learn from the masters of the trade to reduce your learning cycle. A 360 degree feedback helps getting to know your "blind side", and feedbacks from Mentors strengthens your ability. And never discount investing in learning something new & honing your skills, methodologies, tools.
Elevating as a process design leader, the final step in balancing team and organizational needs, involves continual self-development. Actively pursuing opportunities to enhance skills and knowledge in methodologies and tools is key. Reflecting on strengths and seeking feedback for improvement aligns with my commitment to personal and professional growth.
There is life outside of work, and it needs to be preserved and fostered. Happy and well-adjusted teams perform better. And most of us have participated in initiatives that were unrelenting in terms of demands. Stay plugged in to the needs of the implementation teams and other stakeholders. I was on a project once where the survival of the client was on the line. People were working 18-hour days to hit the mandated timeline. But as people became exhausted, errors and rework were setting us back. So I had to mandate that everyone took their weekend off with their families. And, that a workday could not exceed 14 hours. I did this too. We hit our budget, timeline, and operational specifications...barely.
I have always found keeping counsel outside of work very useful to give you unbiased views and reflections. My first mentor always said, Listen, but make your own judgement - as it is you who is driving uphill through a forest fire and perhaps the instructions are just for the uphill on a regular day! I also believe, that the difference between a Good Team and a Great Team is; how much each trusts each other and their belief in the vision & outcome.