Untie "Process Knots" in the new year!

You've decided that you're going to use the start of the New Year as a way to step out on the right foot with your team; that's great! But it's not just about changing who you are and how you act. The start of a new year can be an excellent opportunity to review how you're working with your team and, more importantly, how they are working with your customers!

Your team's customers can be internal and external; in both circumstances, evaluating your processes and procedures is essential to ensure you're as effective as possible. If you look at a process and question whether you're doing it in the best possible way, it's time to ask! If the best answer to "Why do we do it this way?" is, "Because that's how we've always done it." Then perhaps you've found what I learned some time ago to be a "Process Knot." This is when processes simply don't keep up with customers' needs, available technology, new knowledge, or heightened team member ability.

For an example of how things can get away from us and become a habit, I am reminded of a story I once heard of Catherine the Great, who, in the spring of 1780, was walking through the palace garden and saw a yellow daffodil. She immediately declared, "Captain of the Guard, see to it that a sentry is posted to prevent anyone from picking that flower."

For nearly 80 years, the post rotated until in the early 1860s when a Prussian Prince looked out of the palace window and saw a sentry stationed in the middle of the lawn. He inquired why the Sentry was posted and could not find an answer. Finally, after 3 days, he was told the story of Catherine the Great and the posting of the Sentry to protect the flower.?

What worked well when we were a startup or joined the company may no longer be the easiest or best way to do business or may not even be necessary. However, because "that's how we've always done it," we don't get ahead of change and improve the process. This could be costing us time, money, and, even worse... customers. As leaders, we must become advocates of change, constantly looking for opportunities to eliminate unnecessary processes, automate the repetitive ones that don't require variations, and then with the remaining necessary tasks, we must look to execute them perfectly and with purpose.

Don't know where to start? Simply asking your team members where they are getting stuck is a great start to finding these. If you have a good rapport with your team and they trust you, they will not be bashful about telling you when a process is not working or they don't have enough of a particular tool to complete their jobs efficiently. Once we know this information we must be invested in actually taking action to improve the 'process knot' once we find it.

Now that you know the process is broken, what steps must be taken to fix it?

That all depends on your organizational structure and how empowered you are to fix it. If you're not yet high enough to enact the change yourself, then the appropriate steps would be to clearly identify why the process is tied up, how it can improve (be untied), and what return on investment will be realized by its improvement. After you have all that ready, it's time to advocate for the change! If you're in a position to listen to someone advocating a change, be open and listen. Even if the change, in your mind, is not essential, is incorrect, or trivial, it was important enough to the person to bring it to you, and how you respond will tell them a lot about you as a leader. Respond wrong, and they'll never bring you another change that could be a bigger and more critical advancement to your company. Respond right, and you build a better relationship with your team members and hopefully improve and build a better relationship with your customer!

Happy New Year to everyone. Good luck untying your process knots!

Until next time, be great today and better tomorrow!

"Change now before you must."

- John C. Maxwell