![\"Too](\"https:\/\/svapm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Too-Many-Processes.png\")
<\/a>\u201cSo,\u201d the engineering manager said as we sat down to our first planning meeting, \u201cwhat do you think about process?\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cAs compared to what?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs compared to getting things done,\u201d he said, fixing me with a steely look.<\/p>\n
\u201cAh,\u201d I said.\u00a0 \u201cWell, actually, I like the process of getting things done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fortunately, he laughed and I laughed and we managed to get our working partnership off on the right foot, but the exchange stayed in my mind as an excellent example of the ongoing tension between the forces of structure, methodology and consistency and the armies of just do it, take a risk and play it as it lays. \u00a0My new colleague clearly viewed process as a barrier to the success of his team and he is not alone in that belief.\u00a0 In professional articles and hallway conversations and team dynamics you see it positioned as a process\/no process conflict: \u00a0Do we use process for this or not?\u00a0 At what stage is process important?\u00a0 How much process is too much process? Does process stifle innovation?\u00a0 They are legitimate questions, but unfortunately, they aren\u2019t the right questions. Process can be a hindrance, true, but the alternative isn\u2019t no <\/i>process, it\u2019s the right<\/i> process. Process isn\u2019t something we have or don\u2019t have, use or don\u2019t use; process is the series of actions, changes or functions that bring about a result.\u00a0 That means everything we do is a process.\u00a0 We floss our teeth, eat spaghetti, mow the lawn, start a company, run a meeting, book a flight, negotiate a deal.\u00a0 We are processing all day, every day, and we will continue to do so until we die, which is\u2026wait for it\u2026also a process.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean that every process we use is a good<\/i> process.\u00a0 There are many reasons why the processes we are following don\u2019t get us what we want. \u00a0Some processes have too many steps.\u00a0 Some processes call for the wrong tools.\u00a0 Some are outdated and no longer apply to today\u2019s requirements.\u00a0 Some may give us the result we were looking for, but they have unintended consequences that create more problems than they solve.<\/p>\n In addition, one process does not fit all situations.\u00a0 Having a template that has worked in the past is a good thing, but only if that template fits the challenges you find yourself in today.\u00a0 Six Sigma might be an excellent way to enable incremental improvement in a manufacturing organization, but its hierarchical approach relies heavily on the expert model, designating only certain \u201cblack belts\u201d as the guides to process improvement, and is therefore not as effective in an organization that depends on the innovative contribution of each team member, relies heavily on creative collaboration and encourages risk taking.<\/p>\n I recently led an organization-wide process refresh at a large technology company.\u00a0 It had a standard phase review process with a series of checklists for each phase that had been adequate to meet the needs of the company\u2019s original hardware and software products. \u00a0In recent years, however, the company had expanded its product offering and had also created a division that focused exclusively on customer solutions.\u00a0 In an attempt to make the phase review process fit these changing requirements, additional steps had been added to the checklists until they had ballooned to 7 spreadsheet tabs and a total of 920 individual action items. Process bound?\u00a0 Yes, and no.\u00a0 There was way too much complexity on the one hand, but, for some groups, way too little guidance and support for their specialized needs. \u00a0In response, the refresh team undertook an evaluation of each product group, and developed a customized approach that streamlined the checklists, and facilitated the optimal delivery cadence. <\/p>\n We live in a time where the pace of change and the relentless demands of the market are taking us way past our comfort zone.\u00a0 As we are asked to do more, to do it faster, and often to do it with fewer resources, it\u2019s more important than ever that we do what we do as efficiently, as effortlessly and as swiftly as possible.\u00a0 To accomplish this we will need to create repeatable processes that meet the requirements of our projects and provide us with the most direct path to successful results.\u00a0 Like everything else we do, success is a process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 \u201cSo,\u201d the engineering manager said as we sat down to our first planning meeting, \u201cwhat do you think about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1510,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[852,1],"tags":[167,1342,110,1341,67,38],"class_list":["post-12646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pmbok-process","category-miscellaneous","tag-continuous-improvement","tag-effective-process","tag-getting-things-done","tag-process-change","tag-program-management","tag-project-management"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1510"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12646"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12676,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12646\/revisions\/12676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>So what would be a better way to frame the conversation?\u00a0 How do we extricate ourselves from process-bound or process-deficient organizations?\u00a0\u00a0 We need to put our attention on the effectiveness of each process and how well it meets the needs of the situation in which it is being employed.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n