Overcoming Challenges

Process!

Chapter 7 – Overcoming Challenges, page 125.

Some of the most common challenges leaders face are listed below, along with ways you can overcome them:

Lack of Passion

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill

  • Your commitment to this project may fade over time.
  • You may also encounter members of your team who just can’t get excited about strengthening your Process Component.
  • Both of these are common and dangerous.
  • Knowing this may happen before you get started will help you take steps to either prevent it or respond more quickly when you or your team lose energy for this project.
  • Keep coming back to why this work is important and keep enthusiasm high by planning for early Core Process wins early.
  • When prioritizing which core process(es) to tackle first, remember that less is more.
  • Consider picking core processes that will have an immediate, positive impact.
  • If passion does begin to fade, discuss it as a team.

Lack of Expertise

  • This is a simple, practical approach that does not require deep process experience.
  • It does require passion, knowledge of your business, and a strong desire to consistently execute and regularly improve.
  • Having at least one member of your leadership team who’s done prior work driving consistent execution with processes is beneficial.
  • If you are feeling stuck or want to move faster, the lack-of-expertise challenge can be solved in one of three ways:
  1. Develop the knowledge and skills of your existing team.
  2. Find or hire someone with relevant experience.
  3. Partner with a process firm or expert.

Love of Complexity or Perfection

  • Some believe that only a detailed, five-hundred-page SOP manual will do.
  • Instead, start with this simple approach and use it as an outline for your detailed process manual in the future.

Overreliance on Technology

  • It is true that that systems, software, and tech platforms can help during this journey.
  • However, starting with and relying on technology is letting the tail wag the dog.

Lack of Leadership

  • This advice may hit a little close to home, but managing change of this magnitude requires strong and consistent leadership and management.
  • Do you and your leadership truly own this initiative?
  • Have you helped everyone understand why you’re doing it?
  • Have you made it clear that allowing everyone do things their own way is no longer an option?
  • Are you involving everyone in the organization and truly listening to their questions, concerns, and feedback?
  • Are you truly prepared to begin leading, managing, and holding others accountable to the core processes?
  • Convert all these answers to “yes” and you are ready to begin.

No/Poor Training

  • Far too many process improvement initiatives fail because only documenting and simplifying the processes will not change the way people do their jobs.
  • It’s the training – and then reinforcement with measurables and management – that will create new habits and consistently better results.
  • Unfortunately, many busy leaders and managers struggle to find the time to develop, deliver, and reinforce the training needed for real success.
  • Luckily, once created, your core processes create the foundation for a world-class onboarding, training, and development program.
  • Set aside time to develop an initial training program that walks all employees, new and seasoned, through the new process(es).
  • It is said that people need to hear things seven times to hear them for the first time, so be prepared to repeat training until the new way has become “the way we do things around here.”

No/Poor Management

  • Measuring compliance, frequency, and outcomes provides evidence that the process you created and the training you conducted has begun to move the needle.
  • If you are not measuring those things (we recommend weekly), your employees and managers may quickly revert to old habits.
  • We see two types of obstacles to effective measurement:

  • Tactical
    • Figuring out what to measure.
    • Figuring out how to measure it.
    • If stuck, “take a shot!” and if it’s not right, IDS it later down the road.

  • Cultural
    • Convincing your team to accept and even embrace the value of having a number that they are accountable for hitting.
    • Many employees believe that their boss is tracking measurables to catch them making mistakes or not working hard enough.
    • It is your job to help them understand that these numbers are their tool to help them understand how they are performing and to let them know if they need to make improvements.

Avoidance of Accountability

  • The success of any organization is directly proportional to the accountability of its people.
  • When leaders, managers, and individual contributors are accountable for getting results, an organization thrives.
  • When hitting numbers, completing priorities, serving customers and employees well, and resolving issues is somebody else’s job, an organization is doomed to fail.
  • We get what we tolerate. If there are no consequences for not following the process or not getting the desired results, you’ll never achieve your business’ potential consistently.
  • You can do this with compassion and understanding, but you must be clear and firm.
  • Create an environment where accountable people are recognized, rewarded, and celebrated.

“Kind of” Syndrome

  • Without question, this is the number one obstacle for well-intentioned leadership teams struggling to strengthen their process Component.
  • If you know what to do and how to do it but are not getting the results you want, it may be that “kind of” is killing you.

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