Where Processes and Procedures Work

Dateline: Utopia, Somewhere in the Near Future

In Utopia, we define our business processes as we develop them.  We plan for the inevitable by formalizing many of our processes.  Granted, there are some processes that are so simple, it doesn’t make sense to document them.  Where it makes sense, we document our processes – we write procedures – so that, among other things, we (a) have a baseline for improving them and (b) can train people, should the need arise.

However, we don’t adhere to our procedures so rigidly that we’re unprepared for change.  We review our processes routinely – as we’re in the midst of them, and on a periodic basis – so we know if we’re getting the results we want. This way, we also know if we’re making our customers happy, if we’re staying abreast or ahead of the competition, and if we’re taking advantage of every opportunity.

Some time ago, we were fortunate enough to learn from some of our mistakes.  One of those mistakes which almost cost us dearly was writing our procedures without knowing where we were coming from or where we were headed.  Basically, we were told to document key processes in order to be compliant, so we jumped in to document those processes without a plan.

We didn’t take a look at the big picture, at first.  We didn’t understand that we were starting a continuous journey somewhere in the middle of it.  It was like being set down in uncharted territory without a plan, let alone the proper provisions and tools.

After several unsuccessful attempts to make deadlines and meet other ill-defined or undefined requirements, we came to the realization that we were starting our journey in the middle without a clear view of where we came from, where we were headed, or how we would get there.  Without a clearly defined project plan, our process journey was always arriving at the same destination: Failure.

How many times have you had to document a process and wished you had a map showing “You Are Here”?  Or, wished you’d started with a better plan?