Landscape Management, December 2014

Tis the season for processes The author is president and CEO he winter months provide an outstanding opportunity to review and fx processes that need attention In my experience most organizations have some processes that are either broken or missing For those without serious process problems to address the winter months allow for review revision and improvement of processes that may be adequate but could be better Broken or missing processes cause problems Thats why they need to be fxed Look no further than your problem areas to identify processes to work on this winter If youre still at a loss ask your people Those who are in the trenches every day may have more insight into process problems than managers do Processes that are commonly missing or broken include Onboarding process for new hires Financial budgeting and review Employee feedback and review Strategic planning Professional development Business development New customer onboarding Account management Customer service and Quality control When I consider my organization I see several processes that need attention They may not be broken per se but theyre on my radar screen I recognize the potential beneft that excellent process management brings I also recognize the potential damage that poor process management has regarding employee and customer satisfaction effciency and proftability Champion vs doer Once the process has been identifed its important to clarify whos accountable for the process keeping in mind the owner of the process may or may not be the person who implements the process For example lets say that the process to be improved is your onboarding process for new hires You and your team decide that Joe is accountable for this process As the process owner Joe will take responsibility for creating a written process document that meets the approval of the team This process will most likely involve many steps that Joe will not personally execute He is the champion of the process not necessarily the doer of the process My advice to Joe is to interview select people in the company to fully understand the existing process and whats wrong with it I would encourage Joe to do his homework and research better processes for onboarding Joe should reach out to by Phil harwood his network contacts those people he met from attending industry events to learn what they have in place Once Joe has a draft Id encourage him to present it to the team to gain their input Armed with this feedback Joe will continue to refne his documented process until the team approves it The approved process will then need to be implemented which may or may not involve Joe As you and your team work on your processes this winter there are a few best practices to keep in mind First be sure to consider all potential processes before diving into one of them This will prevent you or your team from working on lower priority processes while overlooking more important processes Spring will be here before you know it so its imperative to prioritize Second save documented processes in a place where theyre easily retrievable and back them up The last thing you want to do is misplace process documentation or lose fles during a computer malfunction Third follow a systematic process for process documentation Thats right a process for processes Tis the season LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET December 2014 44 of Pro Motion Consulting Reach him at phil@ mypmcteam com business basics Planning PhOTO isTOCk COM 2haPPy Those who are in the trenches may have more insight into process problems than managers do LETS rEviEw Winter months allow time for process review revision and improvement