At a high level, a process clarifies:
In a recent EOS® Quarterly Meeting, we worked through one of ten Core Processes together as a team. As expected, this was met with a general lack of enthusiasm. Documenting processes is often one of those tasks that get kicked down the road because leaders think it will be too time-consuming, boring, onerous and of little value. They dread getting sucked into minutiae.
We identified seven steps in one particular process and clarified each of the items listed above. The entire exercise took an hour. That’s it. One hour invested by six leaders that got them on the same page with what needed to happen in the right sequence to deliver the result that they wanted.
It also revealed a glaring weakness in the first two steps of the process. Although Steps 3 through 7 were solid, steps 1 and 2 were broken.
I’m a visual thinker and couldn’t help picture a ladder with the first two steps broken. How well could you do a job around the house without the first two steps of your ladder? It makes getting the job done that much harder. And think about all the people in your organization trying to use that ladder—or trying to do a job without any ladder.
So, slow down a bit. Take the time to complete your Core Processes and ensure that they are followed by all. Doing those two things will improve consistency, reduce frustrations and lead to a more predictable result.
This article originally appeared on the Traction Process blog on November 16, 2016.