Many organizations have embarked on process improvement projects to eliminate waste and increase efficiency. But, cleaning up processes is only half the battle; keeping them clean is the bigger challenge! Over time, the new and improved processes often become as clunky and complicated as they ever were.
How does this happen? We should expect just the opposite: the more we use processes the more streamlined we should make them making our work easier, not more complicated!
Unknown causes.
The culprits for this complexity? Band-aid solutions and bad decisions – fixing problems without knowing what caused them. First, failing to investigate and correct the real cause of a problem seems to be the norm rather than the exception. Problems are attacked with temporary fixes to “work around” them. Without first finding the true cause of the problem, a “solution” is inflicted onto the situation and then, through inattention and neglect, it becomes a permanent part of the process (i.e. work complications.)
What people need are problem solving methods that quickly and accurately determine the true causes of problems. The methods must be quick so people will use them in the “real world.” When the true causes of problems are known, it is possible to take real corrective actions. In this way a series of corrective “adjustments” can fine tune a process to optimize efficiency and utility.
Poor quality decisions.
Next, many decisions are narrow and short sighted. When any unit makes a decision that fails to fully consider the needs of its “customers” and “suppliers” the organization as a whole suffers and another aspect of internal functioning gets incrementally more complicated and inefficient. What is needed are decision making methods (and procedures) that support the identification of clearly specified objectives which are derived from a clear statement of purpose. A proper decision making methodology should consider the effects of the decision on everyone downstream.
How to stop work complications?
If perfecting your company’s human and technological systems is essential to long term survival, then reliable problem solving and decision making methodologies are essential. Make “do it right the first time” apply to how everyone solves problems and makes decisions. This will stop work complication at its source.
Summary
If you have noticed that your processes are once more becoming cumbersome and have lost that fresh, streamlined flow they had immediately after your last “process improvement”, please contact us. We would be happy to discuss how our methods can help you regain and maintain smoothly running, unfettered processes. We will provide information about how our Critical Thinking workshops can improve thinking and collaboration in your organization.