Over the past week, my team has been gracious enough to take the time and walk me through their day-to-day processes.
Yes, I am a process nerd. I took all their information and converted it into a fairly convoluted swim-lane process map.
As a leader, is that necessary? Shouldn’t the team be building this for your review?
Well, I consider this type of exercise part of my investment into the team. By outlining my understanding of how things work in a visual manner, it provides the opportunity to talk about the process with the team, allows us to identify pain points, and becomes a tool for working with partners to facilitate change in areas that need attention.
On top of all those reasons, working with a team in a deep manner builds culture and trust. By taking the time to really understand the in’s and out’s of your team members activities, it demonstrates your commitment to the team.
This may be a more ‘hands-on’ approach than some managers want to manage, but for me, it’s a must.