My work has commonly involved establishing new solutions to meet specific business needs. With new solutions come new processes.
I am a process nerd. I find it critical to have documented flow charts of all steps that are expected of various teams so everyone can be working from the same set of agreements and instructions.
With that being said, teams need to work in an agile framework where they can change processes as efficiencies are identified.
If you ever think that a process is set, you are thinking about it wrong.
Managing documented processes has to be a part of a teams functional DNA. The idea of empowering team members to find better ways to do things is exciting and highly encouraged.
However, if a processes adjustment is not recorded, those process changes may only be recognized by the small group of ‘in-the-know’ individuals that have hand-shake agreements on adjustments
You have to recognize processes as the playbook for enabling common understanding and scale.
There are 3 key benefits to maintaining process maps.
- Team members can use process maps to visually illustrate where changes can be made.
- New team members can study the process flows to understand how a entire system is managed.
- Leaders can quickly review and understand the flow of work.
It takes work to maintain documentation of processes, but it pays off in the long-run.