The thirty stage interview process and other mind-numbing bureaucracy

Senior candidates at one global tech company have to undergo a thirty stage process before a hiring decision is made.? This is a classic example of? productivity drag: the sludge in the system that gets in the way of getting things done.? It's what I call crazy busyness.? ?

Here are some symptoms of productivity drag:

1. Too much going on.?There always seems to be new projects, but complex systemic problems are kicked down the road because there’s no appetite?to tackle them until they turn into a crisis.? If routine requests aren't marked as urgent they often get ignored.??

2.? Too many people in the tent.??There are too many egos and opinions and no sense of common purpose.? It's hard to pin anyone down for a decision.? ?Output falls between the cracks because of a lack of role clarity and accountability. The wheels still turn but everyone is in the weeds. No one seems to be looking at the horizon for risks or opportunities.??

3.? Too many communication channels. People try to fit their work into?small slices of time between Teams messages, meetings and other interruptions.? ?Deep, flow time to work on non urgent priorities happens at?weekends because it seems indulgent to do it during the working week.

4.? Too many people problems. Managers don't have time to develop their teams or even communicate properly with them.? The 'people stuff' is a distraction from their real job. Apart from uninspiring one to ones they don't really know what's going on.? This leads to obvious problems with external and internal customers. They lose people worth keeping.??

Is it time for some good housekeeping? ?

If you are bogged down with sluggish operations like this you’ll lose the race against your more nimble competitors.?

Removing productivity drag is the vital bridge between strategy and execution.? It doesn’t matter how ?talented your team is. ?Research shows that in corporate life we waste at least 25% of our time fighting drag. That’s more than a lost day per person per week, in a time when resources are already under pressure. Here's the stages. ?

1.?Book me for early 2025 to talk to your leaders and teams about weeding out productivity drag and crazy busyness.? ?I'll provide copies of The Crazy Busy Cure.?? ?

2. Get a crack team together to identify everything that gets in the way of getting things done.??Don’t do a survey, talk to people.? Ideally do their tasks with them to understand the gaps in the process. Map out the glitches and fix one issue at a time.

3.? Put getting work done with ease at the centre of your culture.??Don't let the sludge build back up.? ?At the end of every project or completion?of work ask how you can work together more efficiently next time. Train managers to smooth the workflow.? Reward valuable work, not busy work. ?

Feel free to share this email.? If anyone says that they’ll circle back to you on it another time, that's crazy busyness right there.

Zena Everett International Speaker, Author, Leadership Team Coach

See my talks and programmes here:?www.zenaeverett.com?

Animations: YouTube

Start a conversation:?[email protected]

Let's talk:? +44 7968 424650

How badly do you need a?Crazy Busy session ? Try my quiz?and watch my animation on prioritisation. ?

Christmas is coming Email me to get a 40% discount on orders of ten copies or more of my award winning second book, The Crazy Busy Cure. It?is also available on Amazon?or?to order from your local bookshop and on your Spotify and Audible subscriptions.??