Reviewing Core Processes

After completing the 3-Step Process Documenter™, and before the Core Process can be Followed By All (FBA), it's a best practice to do a review of the processes as a leadership team. One of the main reasons for doing this is that many processes integrate between departments and each department head will want to ensure they are in agreement with any departmental handoff points that have been defined.

I’ve had leadership teams hit a roadblock on their process documentation because they didn’t know when the process was complete or good enough to move forward. They simply weren’t sure what the final output was supposed to look like.

Ask These 5 Questions

Having worked with multiple teams to solve the issue of “hitting the ceiling” on their process documentation, here are some things I recommend you ask to make sure each process is simple, and your way of doing them is well defined.

1. Secret Sauce. Have you included the unique actions and steps that make you special? Are you delivering on your uniques / differentiators?
2. Issues. Have you identified any overlaps or gaps among processes? Have you made assumptions that another process is handling specific steps and is this correct? Are there any challenges in implementing these steps?
3. Outcomes. Does each process deliver the outcome(s) you want to see? Is this the best way to achieve the end result?
4. Accountability. Have you identified who is accountable for the steps and actions within each process? (Do you know who has the ball when your play is in action?)  
5. Customers. Have you remembered your customer interactions and communications within each process? Sometimes processes and procedures can have too much of an inward focus and forget about the customer. While it may work for you, it may not always for work for your customers. 

Once you complete your review and each process is documented, you are now ready to have them FBA. This will help you get the consistency, profitability, and peace of mind that the EOS Process Component™ can bring to an effective organization that is focused on achieving the Vision.

Next Steps

• Download a free chapter of Traction, the book that explains Core Processes and other key components of running a business.
• Download a copy of the EOS V/TO™ to help you clarify, simplify, and achieve your vision.

This post originally appeared on the Optimize For Growth (O4G) Blog on September 6, 2018.