Process Review

Have you inquired as to why something was done the way it was only to hear “We’ve always done it that way?” Great organizations develop a culture where key processes are reviewed periodically and improved when needed.

I had the opportunity to attend a college football game with a friend recently. On several occasions, there was a need for an official review of the play. The lead official must look at the play on a small six-inch screen to determine if the decision made on the field was correct. It just so happened that when the need arose for a review, the small screen was at the opposite end of the field. The referee announced that “The previous play is under review” and started the 80-yard jog to the screen while the entire crowd watched. He arrived at the opposite 10-yard line where someone brought the small screen on a tripod out from the sideline. He looked into the little box for a few minutes and then announced that the “Play stands as called.” He then made the 80-yard journey to the end of the field where the play had occurred. College Football created the review process several years ago and I am willing to bet that no one has thought to review it to make sure it still makes sense. Here are a few process improvements that came to mind as I was watching this during the game. 1. Have a monitor on both ends of the field. For a few hundred dollars they could have a duplicate of the review screen at each end of the field. That would eliminate the need to run 80 yards in the event the play is on the opposite end of the field. 2. Eliminate the review monitor. I find it hard to believe that a referee can accurately review a play on a six-inch screen. They should just connect on the headset to a replay official who has large high-resolution screens at his or her disposal to watch the play and make a decision. They could discuss it and then the referee could announce the result of the review. There seems to be very little value in the use of this small screen on the field.I am not an expert football official, but this sure appears to be a case where they created a process and then have failed to review it to see if it could be improved.

My advice to any organization that is interested in continuous improvement: Review your processes! Select a couple of your key processes each month and look at the steps that are used to complete the process. For each step ask: 1) Is that step necessary? 2) Can we improve that step to make it more efficient or effective? Keep a simple Excel log of your processes and record the date when they were last reviewed. Early in my career, I worked in the Information Technology department at Exxon. Each month my department would print a large report (several hundred pages) and shrink-wrap it and deliver it to the executives in the group. I noticed when I was in several of their offices that these reports were stacked on their shelves with the wrapping still in place. I inquired as to why we were wasting the time and money on this report when no one was reading it. The response was “We’ve always done it that way.” I suggested that instead of the hundreds of pages, we just print the last 10 pages that included a summary of all the data. We adjusted the process and did not receive one complaint or request for the full report.

If you ever are asked why you do things a certain way and you even consider responding with “We’ve always done it that way,” that should be a trigger to go find out the answer and maybe review the process. Successful organizations re-invent themselves to stay current with the times, technology, and desires of their customers. Companies that go out of business dig in and refuse to consider changes to how they work.