Today I think it’s a good time to write some words about processes. Every new project I participate strengthen my belief that good processes is one (if not the main) factor of a project success. And this is right not just for projects and even not only for business. Having good reliable processes is the cornerstone of a good time management and almost a guarantee to get things done.
And having a list of processes doesn’t mean that your project is protected. Some processes are so bad that it’s better to have none of them. So here are some features of the processes that need to be improved and changed.
1. Difficult-to understand, bulky process
Some companies are so happy to have their processes that create too many of them, each consisting of many steps, sub-steps and alternative paths. As a result people can’t follow them. Such processes don’t help to make a right decision but may even confuse people. They have to spend a lot of time to study all that procedures and road-maps but this doesn’t influence their productivity and efficiency.
The only way to leave this trap is to simplify the processes. Sometimes it’s even easier to develop them from scratch. Doing this be sure that every process helps to achieve goal, that all the roles and responsibilities are described. It’s a good practice to involve your people in it – their feedback will be very valuable.
2. Purposeless processes
Almost every company existing for more than 2 years has such processes. Some time ago they had clear purposes and were very useful. But goals have changed, market has changed, tools and instruments have changed, company structure has changed… And today these processes are nothing but a waste of people’s efforts and time.
To avoid having such processes in your portfolio you need to review them at least 2 times a year. You need to be sure that every process impacts the project or company goals in the best possible way. Also make sure it isn’t possible to reach a goal a better way.
3. Untraceable processes
Traceable or trackable means capable of being tracked or suitable for tracking. As a manager you need to have an instrument to measure the effectiveness of every process to understand when and what should be improved. So your processes need have identification procedure, so as the way to monitor their progress on every step. It’s good to use a process tracking solution that is flexible and customizable enough to fit your needs and goals.
My conclusion: working without processes is a bad fashion but following bad processes is even worse because this way ruin any perfect idea or project.