Embracing the Process Component™

The Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS®) teaches Six Key Components™ to operate a business successfully: Vision, Data, People, Issues, Process, and Traction®. To get to 100% strong in your business, your business must be 100% strong in each key component. That’s not as easy as it sounds. Often something that presents itself as a people problem may actually have a root cause in processes (or lack thereof). Did you know that by embracing the Process Component™, business leaders can avoid some of their most common business problems? Take the example below.

What Process?

“One of them has to go,” the Integrator™ of a client company said.

The other members of the leadership team nodded their heads in grim agreement.

“Maybe both,” the operations leader said. “We may have two ‘wrong people’ on the team.”

Their production manager and human resources specialist seemed to hate each other. Every time they worked together, they fought. As their EOS Implementer®, I asked the leadership team what they fought about.

“It happens every time we hire someone,” said the operations leader. “They argue about everything… who gets the résumé first, who makes the screening call, who makes the offer. Every time it turns into an ugly battle.”

“What does the process say?” I asked.

After a long silence, the finance leader sheepishly answered, “What process?”

A People Issue or a Process Issue?

As part of the Issues Component™, we teach a tool called the Issues Solving Track™. This tool helps identify the root cause of an issue.

Spoiler alert: At least 70% of the time, the root issue lies in either the People Component™ or the Process Component.

Generally, I can easily convince business leaders of the critical importance of getting the right people in the right seats. Yet many don’t realize the Process Component is just as important.

Initially, the example above looked like they had a people issue. And yet, after a few questions, we quickly determined it was actually a process issue.

Getting Clarity on Processes

You can trace many issues across any business back to a lack of clarity about how work gets done. This lack of clarity becomes the main source of day-to-day frustration and wastes everyone’s time. It leads to inconsistent results, demotivated employees, and confused customers.

By contrast, organizations that strengthen their Process Component become more consistent, predictable, manageable, and scalable. People become more productive, so the business becomes more profitable. A company that strengthens its Process Component becomes a much more fun place to work.

Yet many business leaders tend to underestimate the importance of their Process Component. They shy away from taking a systematic approach to improving their processes. Some fear they’ll have to complete a complicated, expensive, time-consuming project that won’t change anything.

But strengthening the Process Component – establishing and implementing clearly defined efficient processes – doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive. And creating them consumes less time than you might think.

I show my clients how to use the 3-Step Process Documenter™ to focus on the few critical processes that really matter to your customers and employees. They document each process in only a few pages. Instead of overly complex outlines, they focus on the 20% of activities that yield 80% of the result.

With your completed processes, you need to train every employee who has a step in the process to follow it. Because a process is meaningless until it’s followed by all (FBA). Here you can use another EOS Tool, the Followed by All Checklist.

Great Processes Create Happy Outcomes

After that discussion in the example above, the operations leader sat down with the production manager and human resources specialist. They had expected the worst. Instead, they got a new hiring process.

“Well, that clears up a lot,” the human resources specialist said in relief.

The production manager nodded in agreement. Since then, the two have gotten along just fine.

If all your processes were clearly defined, efficient, and consistently followed, what impact would that have on your business? If you are like most, it would be a game-changer.

Your company can experience that too if you embrace and put into action the Process Component.

How strong is your business in the Six Key Components? Take the Organizational Checkup™ to find out!