There are 50 of us and we’re supposed to have processes like a corporation?

Should even a small company be in control of its processes? How to get employees to actively participate to describe and manage processes?

I got a call from the gentleman at the firm I’m writing the case study for. The CEO put him on the team that sets up the company’s processes. He needed to familiarize himself with the methodology and our ATTIS program. And he didn’t forget to sigh that in a company of 50 people, processes are useless. They’re only for corporates, because 50 people always get along.

But the problem is that this “arranging” is done repeatedly, without a systemic solution and deprives all actors of valuable time.

I will leave aside the overall approach to communicating change, the lack of strategy and the slightly directive management style of the CEO. I will try to recapitulate why processes can be useful:

1. Whatever a company produces is the result of activities not structures

If you place a person in an organizational structure and define his/her responsibilities and authority, it does not mean anything. Things will start happening when that person starts taking action and producing results. The organizational structure does not tell him how he relates to other colleagues, who provides him with inputs, to whom he delivers outputs. So, instead of an organizational structure, isn’t it logical to directly manage the activities to be done?

2. The best assignment is the one you never had to do

The seemingly simplest form of activity management is tasking. I know the owner of a manufacturing company with a turnover of more than 100 million. He hands out task papers to his foremen every morning. In the afternoon he notes down the results and overnight he prepares the tasks for the next day. He is not alone, which is why programs that convert the papers into data – task management – are proliferating. But it’s still laborious and inefficient – it requires regular review and manager involvement, as well as a high level of uncertainty for subordinates. The question is: “How do we make it so that people themselves know what to do without having to be constantly tasked?”. The answer – delegate so that even people at the executive level know early on what activities they will be doing – don’t manage individual activities, but their ordered units – agencies.

3. Organised sets of activities can be managed as processes or as projects

In all companies, you can find sets of activities that can be thought out in advance and rules can be established by which they are to be carried out. Those that are done only once are known as projects, those that are done repeatedly are known as processes. Both processes and projects are ordered sets of activities that provide a benefit to a specific customer. Processes are repetitive, so they can be continuously improved. But to do this, they must be appropriately described, measured and evaluated, and led to the people who perform them.

4. Well-managed processes reduce the operational burden on managers, promote collaboration and enable people to be more involved in improving and simplifying their own work.

The process model defines exactly what activities people should do, in what situations, and how they should interact with each other. Well-defined process rules enable direct communication and collaboration at the executive level. They do not require constant control by the manager. It is just the opposite. Managers should ensure that processes are set up correctly and that any non-standard situations are dealt with, but otherwise they should interfere as little as possible in the performance of their subordinates.

5. Process model captures company know-how and guarantees process repeatability

If a small company wants to survive, it must have the same basic life functions as a large company. It must have a vibrant strategy, be dedicated to marketing, manage risk, monitor its performance and make necessary adjustments. It does a lot of things that are seemingly not directly related to its core business. Small companies also don’t have specialists or dedicated departments. Their managers have to manage multiple disciplines and they have to do it efficiently. Therefore, it is important to set up and manage processes well for the “non-business” functions of the company. For example, if the strategy is updated once a year, few people remember exactly how it was done a year ago and what the problems were. The process will still guide you step by step after a year. The funny thing was that the gentleman ended his phone call by saying “I’m retiring in a year, so I’ll be able to get by without the processes”. He is responsible for bringing new products to market – including testing and certification. Nothing simple. How his successor proceeds is apparently of no concern to him. Author.