2 Problems & Solutions

When… the Board of a national company with multiple sites wanted to know why two were under performing.

What… as part of a discovery phase, Adroit & Associates engaged in comprehensive 1 to 1 interviews, ‘at desk’ observations and group workshops to map and determine whether currently company processes were ‘fit for purpose’ and being appropriately applied.

Comparing the formally documented processes against what actually took place, it was obvious that some activities had been adapted by end users to ‘better suit’ their needs…and significantly, formal feedback, approval and release methods had not been followed.

It also became apparent that ‘inappropriately adapted processes’ occurred in both under performing and adequately performing sites. The real difference across the business was by the degrees to which ‘formalised processes’ were followed and to what extent they had been totally disregarded and an ethos of ‘just do it’ was a prevalent behaviour.

Why… to understand the problems and address the under performance of sites and to reduce the possibility of further sites under performing in the future, a series of measures were put in place:

Clear performance metrics were identified referencing the company’s goals and mission statement – these metrics were then associated specific ‘key activities’ throughout the company’s hierarchical map.

• Audit log reports were created so that it could be observed who, how and when process diagrams were being accessed.

• Advice and training was given on the mapping tool’s capabilities and linked to feedback mechanisms and requests for change.

How… can we add further value?

We can by:

• Adding further metrics to the activities and streamlining (efficiency gains) them where possible

• Scheduling annual diagram reviews to ensure current processes are fit-for-purpose and ‘change request’ procedures are appropriate and effective

• Reviewing activity metrics to identify any efficiency gains.