Discover Costly Broken Processes
It’s Time to Rip Off the Band-Aid
Today, I called one of my service providers and when I finally talked to a representative they asked all the standard questions, name, account number, address, secret passcode and then I explained my situation. The customer service representative then told me, “Oh, okay — that is a different department. I’ll transfer you.” So, I was put on hold.
After 10 minutes or so, a new representative answered and again asked all the same questions, name, account number, address, secret passcode, my pet’s name, mother’s maiden name, and the date of my last visit to Dairy Queen. Ugh.
I then again explained my situation and believe it or not, I was told, “This is for another department.” I was immediately put on hold and transferred to another department…again. At that point, I was beyond annoyed.
I’m confident this has happened to you too and it’s so frustrating. Why do companies not have it together? Are they so big that no one knows who does what?
Do they even care that my experience with them is broken?
Well, this and many other horror stories just like it are the symptomatic results of broken processes. Unfortunately, most companies are full of broken processes that affect their customers. Fortunately though, about half of these fractured processes are underneath the surface so customers aren’t engaging with them — else, they probably wouldn’t have any customers. As for the issues that reside under the surface, employees have to deal with them. This is just as bad.
You might be thinking, our company is aware we have issues, but we’ve put workarounds and quick fixes into our processes. They seemed to have rectified the problem at hand. What’s one small workaround going to hurt?
What do you think the impact is when these workarounds are repeated countless times — by many employees — over many years across your organization? The result is your organization’s productivity takes a major hit. Every time new hires can’t start working because they don’t have the right equipment or every time an employee has to check and recheck a product, productivity falters.
Unfortunately, many organizations just tolerate these problems. We have become so accepting of organizational workflow dysfunction that these failures in productivity are often viewed as simply part of the process.
It is what it is and that’s the way it is.
Simple processes end up taking additional hours – lost in bureaucracy, email chains, confusion, and ambiguity. This leads to frustration, anxiety, stress, and disengagement for both your customers and your employees. It’s a hit to your bottom line.
So what’s the solution?
Find what’s working and what’s not. You must identify internal and external misaligned, broken, and redundant processes that affect productivity and profitability. Using Lean Six Sigma tools and metrics you can discover these broken processes however you must also include employee involvement measures. Why employee involvement? Employees know the processes best because they work with them every day. Without employee involvement, you will fail to draw an accurate and full understanding of the problem(s).
The discovery phase outcomes identify problem processes so you know what inhibits continuous flow of operations and prevents employees from bringing their best selves to the job. It shows you what’s hitting your bottom line. It reveals your customers’ pain points.
Do not stop there.
The next step is to untangle the problems because just being in the know, with no action, still affects your bottom line.
Need help?
At Engagement Academy Partners, we partner with your organization to discover broken, band-aid processes that affect your company, customers, employees, and profit margin.
LET’S DISCOVER A SOLUTION FOR YOU
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