"It's Friday afternoon, and I find myself trapped in yet another one of these seemingly meaningless meetings. All I can think about is the weekend ahead. This topic feels so familiar. Where is it going with this? Didn't we discuss this exact thing last week?"

Have you ever experienced this? I know I did. Quite often to be honest. Discussing the same topics in meetings over and over again is demotivating and draining. Most of the time it is a process problem, but then again, discussing processes and SOPs sounds dreadful – a dry and tedious conversation. Isn't it? But should it really be that way? Is there a purpose in discussing our processes? 🤔

The Value of a Process

Processes and Tools over Individuals and Interactions. Oh wait, is it the other way around?

While I believe in the tremendous value of people interactions, sometimes we tend to underestimate the value of a process.

A world without processes cannot exist. Everything that comes to life entails creation, and creation happens only through a process. Where there is creation, there is also uncertainty, and with that comes anxiety. The purpose of a process is to remove anxiety and create space, so we can stay focused.

Processes are created by people for people, and this is worth something.

Understanding the Aversion Towards Processes

Whenever I find myself in a conversation about processes, I observe how people become tense and dismissive. I get it, truly. We like control, don't we? Everything unfamiliar makes us uncomfortable. We like predictability too, which requires routine and repetition. A process offers exactly that - routine, predictability, and a sense of control. However, a process is so much more than that. It is meant to make space for creativity to flourish, and that's where the problem lies. Creation requires freedom, involvement, guidance, and purpose.

The Art of Designing Processes

Designing a process is like a balancing act, attempting to eradicate anxieties while enabling people. A process is a tool, and building a flawed tool won't be used, will it? Designing rigid scheduled activities will only lead to them being disregarded. So what's really the challenge?

The Pitfalls

Tool over Process - Fixating on the tool before even understanding the process will limit your perspective. It will shape how the process will ultimately look like, as the process is designed based on the capabilities of the tool.
Process as a Checklist - An observation I've made while working with teams was that they were equating a process with a checklist. Making a process too verbose will force the people not to think. This will often lead to situations where things falling outside of the checklist are ignored.
No Freedom - The quality of deliverables is as good as the tools used in their creation. To create an effective and efficient process, it requires bringing the decisions as close as possible to the people doing the work.

Trust the process, but do not rely solely on it.

We Can Make Processes Awesome

Break It Down: Instead of bringing all the complexity of the process to the people, break it down into smaller, manageable steps. Focus on one step at a time to reduce anxiety and make things more manageable. Distribute the documentation into small chunks along the process. The attention span is generally small, and short-term memory is really short. Apply a Just-In-Time approach and assign clear responsibilities. Use the "4-eye principle"; this way, you can further reduce anxiety. Good documentation is often underrated, but it is essential because balanced documentation preserves knowledge and enhances progress.
Seek First to Understand: If you've never spent an hour in the shoes of others, you'll never truly understand their situation. Spend time with the people doing the actual work, or even better, do the work yourself if possible. Understand their pains and gains to design a natural-feeling process. Identify key opinion leaders and work with them on details, incorporating their feedback to address blind spots early on. (Walk The Gemba)
Change as a Constant: We ask the teams to inspect and adapt. That's how you build a product, so why not have the same approach for processes? We've established that a process is a tool, a product. So involve people in the design phase, run interviews, and get their input. Test the draft with the affected people to observe how the process works.

Remember, balance is key, and finding the right approach will lead to more enjoyable work places. Doing too little of the above will end up with a lot of frustration in the process. Doing too much will end up with not releasing anything any time soon.

How to Be at Ease

When using a process, be kind. Balancing the needs for compliance with the independence people seek is not easy. You can help too.

Break It Down: Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of the process, break it down into smaller, manageable steps. Focus on one step at a time, and celebrate each small achievement. This approach helps in reducing anxiety and making progress more tangible.
Seek First to Understand: If you find yourself confused or lost in the process, speak up. Provide feedback. Asking questions and seeking guidance can provide valuable insights to you and the others in better understanding the process. This will make things a little bit less daunting.
Change as a Constant: Convolution in processes often arises due to accumulated anxieties over time. The history tends to fade away if not captured. Understanding that nothing is permanent might bring you some peace of mind. Be at ease with the fact that things will eventually change. Encourage open discussions within the team to identify bottlenecks and explore new ways of working.

As my psychotherapist told me, "There is never a behavior present in our lives that didn't serve us well in the past." Even the worst of behaviors comes from a place where it all made sense—a place of kindness and purpose.

#justfortoday Narrate Yourself a Positive Story.