The 3 Pillars of Good (Enough) Process
How the Right Framework, Leadership, & Technology Work Together to Solve Your Company’s Process Problem
The best process is the one that gets done.
Not the one most eloquently stated.
Not the one that’s newest.
Or—GASP—the one more efficient than any other process that ever lived.
The best process is the one that gets done.
Too often, as entrepreneurial leaders, we think there’s a problem with the process itself when there’s not.
Customer is unhappy…we have a process problem!
Cash is flowing the wrong way…we have a process problem!
Team members are doing things different ways…we have a process problem!
You may indeed have a process problem. But the danger in making everything a process problem is that sometimes you’ll solve for the wrong problem.
Which means you’ll never solve the problem at all.
I’ve been a business owner since 2012, and consulted with 100+ entrepreneurial companies on process and training since 2018. These 3 pillars that support the execution and continuous improvement of your processes will make half of your process problems go away:
Framework for using and improving your processes
Leadership to get the right people on the bus (and the wrong ones off)
Technology that makes it easy to document and share knowledge
Now, let’s move forward assuming you’re not trying to use a process that simply doesn’t work. You’ve decided on a process that’s good enough to get results until you find a better way. If that’s true, then let’s jump in.
Framework for using and improving your processes
By framework I mean a structured system or set of guidelines that organizes the work.
If process is the what, and training is the how, then the framework provides clarity on the who, the when, and the where.
As a young business, you start with 0 processes. As you experiment, test, and refine, you add one and then another. Then you strip some away and add another. Your business is built on a foundation of tried and true processes unique to your business.
Your process framework gives clarity to questions like:
Who codifies process and other knowledge?
Who documents it?
When?
Where does it live?
How does it get updated as things change?
You could call it an operating system, or you could call it the process for your processes. I call it a framework.
Before long, your framework has turned into the flywheel that at first takes effort, but after gaining momentum, spins almost effortlessly.
Using your framework you grow and change, then standardize, grow and change, then standardize, grow and change, then standardize…forever and ever amen.
Leadership to get the right people on the bus (and the wrong ones off)
Here is the conundrum of growing a business: How do we organize other people to get work done?
That in itself is the question, and where most entrepreneurs and company leaders get stuck. If you can’t do it all alone, how do you…
Choose the right person for the job?
Restructure as priorities shift?
Make sure everyone is aligned and getting consistent results?
Manage change as you grow?
With regard to process, this is the question leadership must answer: “What happens when the processes aren’t followed?”
Is there an uncomfortable conversation about performance?
Do you let someone go or change their responsibilities?
Or is the problem actually about the process?
It's the leadership's responsibility to identify the problem’s root, and fix it—whether that means having a tough performance conversation, making a hard decision about personnel, or figuring out what the barrier to executing the process is. Which brings us to…
Technology that makes it easy to document and share knowledge
Storing your documented processes in one place is non-negotiable. When they’re scattered, the framework falls apart because no one can find the information they need when they need it. And there’s no leadership quick fix for that.
Not too long ago, that one magical place was something like a binder at the front desk, maybe even a copy at everyone’s desk. That worked because it was the option available at the time.
But now, that beautiful binder is neither the only option nor the best one. Now, of course, we have digital places that make it easy to store and share information whether we’re working from a single location or across the globe.
Using technology to document and share knowledge isn’t even a competitive advantage anymore; it’s table stakes. In the expertise economy we live and work in today, having access to the right information at the right time defines whether a company has adapted or is falling behind.
But technology is the last pillar in this list, not the first or second, because technology alone is never the answer. It’s not a silver bullet. Technology alone doesn’t solve a process problem anymore than a defibrillator alone solves a heart problem.
Both are used by a person who knows when, where, and how to use it. Technology amplifies the framework and leadership.
Here are 3 technologies that can amplify your process framework:
AI chatbot (like ChatGPT) to save time documenting
Screen recorder tool (like Loom) to save time documenting
Digital knowledge base (like Trainual) to store, share, update, quiz, and more all in one place
(If you’re looking for more on technology, I wrote this: Where Should My Processes & Training Live?)
