Episode 94
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[00:00:00] Welcome back to the [00:01:00] show. There is a phrase that I have been hearing over the last few weeks. It actually came up in a workshop I was leading for a corporate client around kind of optimizing time. And this phrase is process for process sake. Team saying, I don't want there to be process for process sake, or, you know, it feels like this is just thought of a new process for process sake.
And I was like, what the actual beep do people mean by this? And as someone that has spent their entire career in simplifying processes and helping people optimize their time, make it easier to get things done. I wanted to talk about this today because this is a huge. Huge sort of perspective that we've got to shift on our teams because if people are feeling like we are asking them to do something just for the hell of it, we've got a real problem and we have a real opportunity because what we can do in the situation is it's just like a light bulb.
Like, Oh, [00:02:00] I see someone doesn't get the why they don't get what's in it for them. Okay. You haven't communicated the goal of this and we haven't brought them along. So if you are hearing any kind of resistance to process or systems or anything that you feel like is needed to kind of be happening on your team, but people are kind of dragging their feet.
Maybe it's, you're asking them to. You know, report on status for a project every week or kind of summarize key accomplishments or something like that. If you're getting pushback for anything and it's being implied that it's just process for process sake or that it's kind of just some overhead that you're asking them to do that really isn't needed.
This is our opportunity to reframe it. Now I think what, well, why did we get there here in the first place is we haven't explained why. So we're asking someone to do something. In the corporate world, a lot of times I've seen. You know, we need to have some kind of status report weekly and people start feeling frustrated at that.
Or maybe in a big company, you're having to track planning and goal setting a certain way. In a small business, maybe you want people to track their time, right? In a certain [00:03:00] tool or, Kind of figure out meeting notes or agendas in a certain kind of standardized format. And when we just ask people to do that, we say, Hey, everyone emailing you new process for this.
Please update all your, you know, things in the system by Friday. Let me know if any questions. And we just kind of make these broad announcements and don't really give any context. Yeah. A lot of times there's some dragging of feet in that situation. And it's not because people don't want to do it, but just saying, Hey everyone, new way to track work, update all your tasks in the system by Friday.
we're, we're not really clear. Is it because you said so? Is it because you liked this new system? Like, why would I do that? And I'm sorry, but we're not in a day in most companies, most industries where like, just because we asked them to do something, even if we're the boss, people just do it right away.
You know, wish it was different or not. That's just not where we're at. And so we have to bring people along. We have to explain what's in it for them. We have to help them see that and actually communicating that is a really easy shift that we can make on teams. So for [00:04:00] example, when I talk about a new process or system or we're asking a team to do anything, I always like to frame it in, Hey, I was thinking about how we could make work easier on the team.
Or I was thinking about, we have a ton of stuff coming up, right? We're at the end of the quarter or we're looking at the beginning of the year and You know, I was really thinking, well, how can I make sure all of you are set up for success? That's literally always how I frame it is I care about you and that's why I'm going to tell you the next thing.
Okay. This has worked in so many situations because otherwise you know, I just thought of something and I'm, you know, the perception I'm going to make your life harder, which is never what you're trying to do, which is so silly. People would get there, but that's where they go. So like, whatever, we're gonna deal with it. [00:05:00] So we communicate that I thought about you and this is in your own best interest. Then we share what that is. So then we say, well, you know, we, maybe you're introducing a time tracking system and you say, Hey, you know, at a certain size of the team, we could really track work on our own. And that was working pretty well.
And you know, with the growth we want to have next year, or, the, the, the Work we want to do to really reassess our pricing model and really reaching different kinds of clients and making sure that, you know, all of you are getting paid the thing that you should be, right? Or that we're not undercharging clients.
That is why we're tracking time. So I first explain the why before I even drop the like information about the new process. Okay. So I say, I thought about you. I care about you. And then I say, here is what I'm trying to solve and make sure [00:06:00] of, and that's why we're going to try this solution.
And I always like to frame it as a pilot. So we're going to pilot this new system for a few months, ask for feedback as we go, and we'll make sure that it's working for everyone. So that is another way that that folks get on board. If it's too cumbersome and it's not working, Hey, there'll be an opportunity to give feedback.
And then you got to actually ask for that feedback, but I'm going to trust that you are doing that. Okay. And then we ask, Hey, does this make sense? What are some concerns? What are ways we can make this easier? So then even in that conversation, you leave it open for questions. Now, when we get to the end of that sort of framework, I just walked you through, it's pretty unlikely.
Someone will leave. They're thinking, This is just more process for process sake, like that's usually not where people land with it. The belief that it's just here for the hell of it is often because someone has a job of walking, like there's this like, you know, I imagine someone thinking someone's walking around with a clipboard and checking that you're doing the right thing and it's because that makes that person feel important.
It's like, no, nobody's trying to do that. Like, let's [00:07:00] just, we can't shake that office space or whatever kind of belief if we haven't communicated what's in it for them. So I know you're not making process for process sake, Lord knows I've never made process for process sake, but get out of that belief of this is just some tax, some overhead, my manager's making me do by always landing it in.
You know that you're invested in them. You care about the success. You want it to be easier for work to get done. Here is this problem you're trying to solve. That's also in their best interest. Here's this thing we're going to pilot. Let's see, collect feedback. And I will tell you, I have used this method to literally get design teams from writing their tasks on Post its.
To using like a complicated engineering task tracking system. Like literally proactively going, look, my tasks are in, Leah, come check it out. Like it, it works. Okay. Because when we show people what's in it for them, you create that personal accountability. People are excited to follow the system. So do not think that you have a team, whatever it is, [00:08:00] where you're like, okay, this works for some groups, but it won't work for me.
Give it a try. And if it's, there's a lot of resistance, think about, okay, well maybe this thing's still a little bit too complicated. What's the, what's a way to even simplify this even, even more? What's a way to take out some steps? And this is one of the things that I support folks with. So if you have an idea and you're not really sure how to communicate it, or you want some information regularly from your team, maybe it's reporting on things, maybe it's tasks, maybe it's, you know, whatever it looks like, then schedule an SOS call, leahgarvin.
com slash SOS. We'll talk about what really is that, you know, challenge that you're having. It's an hour conversation. We dive into wherever you're getting stuck and we can figure out, okay, what are the little shifts you want to make in that communication to make sure that it really lands what folks can do.
Okay. So again, if you want that support, schedule an SOS call at leahgarvin. com slash SOS. And again, I think that if you try this stuff, it will work. Okay. But again, if you're stuck, you know where to go. All right. See you next time.
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