The COO Series - Part 7 - Overprocessing

Performing extra steps in a process are costly.?

This is especially true today during a time where manpower is limited and we don't have the luxury of bandwidth. Extra steps for the most part are performed at the cost of overtime or burnout.

Over-processing occurs when we do not have clearly defined or standardized processes. The lack of visibility to an optimized standard creates excessive labor costs and missed opportunities to innovate.?

Even when processes are clearly defined if they are not adopted, not implemented and not followed the benefits of a lean process is lost.

Humans tend to be creatures of habit and changing a process means disrupting the automatic nature through which they perform tasks everyday. As I consultant I get an opportunity to interview lots of employees and one of my standard questions is "what did you accomplish at work yesterday" most can't answer, they stumble around giving me generalities and telling me what they do everyday but rarely can recall an success from the previous day. But if I ask them what they had for lunch yesterday they can usually recall quite easily, they remember what they ate, where and how it was prepared as well as who they were with - they literally have no recollection of the work they did the previous day because it is done without a fully engaged brain, but an engaged stomach on the other hand has a amazing recall.

Having done it one way for months, years or decades means that the pattern/process is engrained and to make change requires dedication, a focus on changing the values and beliefs of the person performing the task and on occasion some good old fashion bribery.

From experience I can tell you that nearly everyone is resist to change and incapable of accepting the benefits of a new process when the metric is qualitative (improves the quality of their work or the quality of the outcome). Qualitative measurement is subjective, even if a change to the process improves the outcome someone will find a way to argue it does not, or they can just choose to ignore the benefits. So instead we must focus on quantitative measurement and getting agreement to that measurement, before, during and after process improvement.

If Joe takes 9 minutes 8 seconds to input data into a system and a new process and some new tools reduce that by 10% Joe will accept that change as good for him (important part here) as long as Joe was involved in the measurement.

If Joe was not the author or co-author of the measurement he just won't believe it (no matter what he says) as soon as you walk away he will shrug his shoulders and go back to the old way.

If I was to ask Joe "how much did the new process improve the amount of time it took to do the work?" I don't want Joe's feelings on the matter (it feels faster or I feel the old way was better or I don't feel its an improvement) I want a definitive measurement in the above instance that is 10%.

There is a time and place for subjective measurement but process analysis where you are trying to improve outputs is not one of them. Instead we have to focus on the quantifiable. By doing so the excuses of subjectivity is gone and the numbers stand alone as the measurement of success.

So here are a few tips on improving process and eliminating over processing from your organization.

1. Include those who do the work in the measurement process. That can mean they track the time or it might mean that the time is tracked for them and then presented to them for their agreement.
2. Focus on quantitative not qualitative metrics.
3. Connect the dots between small improvement and their overall impact on the organization. For instance an improvement that saves 10 minutes a day x 50 employees x 261 working days = 130,500 minutes a year or one full time employee.
4. Use the numbers as the basis for KPI's for that role. Too many organizations set KPI's based upon what they feel or what the company needs, not on the time studies that show what is possible.

Finally, listen to your people. Once you included them in the process and help then understand that measurements matter, you will find that they will not stray from the process as much as they have in the past, they won't add extra steps as they now understand what those steps cost them and the company.

The best part about analyzing process with a focus on over processing is that once people understand how to make measurements they are likely to find even more ways to improve your business.

Here is a video link with some more commentary on Over processing and how to combat it.