Things don’t work.
We often observe the way in which our businesses operate in terms of many factors like value, efficiency and ability to change. When things don’t always go as well as planned, we sometimes blame our technologies and the more enlightened souls among us will say this is wrong, it’s the process.
But does good process always guarantee great outcomes? We have observed through the first and second industrial ages that process is key to driving productivity and efficiency, where gains in accuracy and speed are thought to be delivered.
Its been ages.
In the newest and third industrial age – that of the Information or Digital age, it may be argued that process is now, no longer enough. Still essential but not a surefire way to always gain and maintain results.
Interconnectedness.
Other variables also come into play and these are many and will vary from organization to organization. The inter-connectedness of how humans in a workforce interact and communicate is dramatically changing and we are seeing this change occur with the newest of generations like Millennials and Gen Z. Personal motivational influences and needs are also changing and these are all very human aspects that surround and interact with the desired process.
The decreasing shelf life of knowledge.
Knowledge gaining and sustaining is another factor that plays a big part in success. With innovation and regulations always leap frogging each other in many industries, the knowledge required to support processes often has an every decreasing shelf life and these challenges need to be met.
With ever increasing demands on the ability to adjust products and services that are well supported by knowledge and skills across the workforce, it becomes more important to focus on the inter-connectedness of your teams.
The process side-step.
The key is to establish a set of protocols and mechanisms that make it possible for multiple teams who support the digital transformation to freely make their intentions and executions more transparent in as near to real time as possible.
Mechanisms are not just emails or meetings. They need to be a shift in the mindset where collaboration exchanges may occur through wikis, blogs and chat rooms. Communities of practice and informational lunch and learns type formats may also help to direct information to where it is needed more as a form of “shared consciousness” than as a utility process or ceremony.
Once the teams across your transformation develop and improve the inter-connectedness that supports their work from strategy to execution, you may find that the need for process rigidity is less critical, while there still room and need for a more optimized level of discipline and process rigor.
Who can help?
For more information about how you can get help on achieving your best business outcomes, contact me at russell@archispective.com for an exploratory consultation.