If you have ever worked for someone else, you know how challenging it can be when there are little to no established processes. Often, there may be common knowledge that gets passed down from person to person, but without formal documentation, you can feel lost and unsure of what to do. In these situations, many employees surround their monitors with Post-it notes containing reminders and instructions. But what happens if you lose one of those notes?
Process improvement goes beyond just identifying gaps and bottlenecks in existing processes; it also involves creating a centralized document that employees can access whenever they need assistance. When processes are well-documented, you should be able to transfer an employee to any department, and they can seamlessly pick up where the last person left off, thanks to the written procedures.
Once these processes are documented and implemented, you can focus on fine-tuning them further. There may be steps that were initially overlooked or deemed unnecessary until a specific task isn't completed properly. More importantly, when improving processes, it's essential to consider how all departments interact. If one department has an excellent process flow, but the following department struggles to deliver, there is a good chance that issues in the first department are contributing to the delays in the second.
For example, if the sales team has streamlined its process to operate like a well-oiled machine, but the fulfillment team consistently misses deadlines, it could be due to incorrect or incomplete information being passed on to customers. Alternatively, the sales team’s improved process might require more effort from the fulfillment team, leading to delays.
Well-documented processes will help identify these gaps, and collaborating with all departments as a cohesive unit—rather than in isolation—will help everyone understand how their work impacts the subsequent department. Contact me if you would like to learn more.
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