10 Reasons You Have No Idea Who on Your Team Is Following Your Processes (Why It's a Problem and How to Fix It Fast)

 Cheryl Powers

Effective process management is crucial for the smooth functioning of any team or organization. Even so, many business owners and their leaders and managers find themselves facing the daunting problem of not knowing who on their team is following the established processes. 

This lack of visibility can lead to inefficiencies, delays, and, in some cases, compliance issues. Issues like increased risk of accidents and injuries, quality control and product defects, financial mismanagement and fraud, delayed project timelines, and costly inefficiencies. And all of this creates a doom loop that leads to customer issues, cash flow issues, employee confusion, frustration, and low morale. 

And this creates major consequences for business owners, including financial losses, reputation damage, legal liabilities, higher insurance costs, operating disruptions, stagnant growth, and loss of profitability.

Getting your employees to follow your processes is crucial for your business to survive and thrive even in the easy times. But today, when attracting, winning and retaining profitable business is more difficult and the cost of customer acquisition is high, having employees that don’t document and follow your processes can threaten your very existence as a company.

Here are the 10 reasons you don’t know who’s following your processes and what to do about it.

Lack of Process Documentation 

When your processes are not adequately documented, your team members are left to rely on assumptions and personal interpretations. As a result, consistency and standardization suffer, leading to confusion and errors.

What to do about it: 

Create comprehensive process documentation, including clear workflows, guidelines, and standard operating procedures (SOPs). Ensure that they are easily accessible and regularly updated.

Inadequate Training and Onboarding

Insufficient training and onboarding can leave team members unaware of the correct processes to follow. This can lead to deviations from established procedures and negatively impact the overall workflow.

Implementing Step: Invest in comprehensive training programs that familiarize new team members with the organization's processes. Conduct regular refresher courses to keep existing employees up to date.

Absence of Process Accountability

When no one is held responsible for ensuring process adherence, tracking and improving compliance becomes challenging. The lack of accountability can lead to a culture of carelessness.

What to do about it:

 Assign process owners for each workflow or area of responsibility. These owners should be accountable for monitoring adherence, identifying issues, and driving continuous improvements.

Poor Communication Channels 

Inadequate communication channels hinder the dissemination of process updates and changes, leading to misunderstandings and deviations.

What to do about it: 

Establish clear communication channels where process updates, changes, and important announcements are shared promptly with the entire team. Encourage open communication and feedback.

Inefficient Process Monitoring

Without proper monitoring, you cannot measure the effectiveness of your processes. This lack of data can prevent you from identifying areas that need improvement.

What to do about it: 

Utilize process monitoring tools and analytics to track key performance indicators (KPIs) and identify areas of concern. Regularly review and analyze the data to drive continuous improvement.

Disregard for Process Compliance

If following processes is not emphasized and rewarded, team members may prioritize shortcuts, leading to deviations and a decline in overall efficiency.

What to do about it:

Recognize and reward employees who consistently adhere to processes. Communicate the importance of compliance and its impact on team success.

Siloed Work Culture 

A siloed work culture can lead to isolated teams with different interpretations of processes, creating inconsistencies and hindering collaboration.

What to do about it:

Encourage cross-functional collaboration and establish a shared understanding of processes across teams. Foster a sense of unity and shared goals.

Lack of Process Feedback Mechanisms 

Without feedback loops, you cannot identify bottlenecks or areas needing improvement in your processes.

What to do about it:

Implement regular feedback mechanisms where team members can voice concerns and provide suggestions for process enhancement. Use this feedback to drive positive changes and to create a self-managing business.

Insufficient Use of Process Management Tools

Not leveraging the right tools can make it difficult to streamline and automate processes, leading to manual errors and inefficiencies.

How to fix it:

Invest in appropriate process management tools that align with your team's needs. These tools can automate repetitive tasks, track progress, and facilitate collaboration.

Disconnected Process Mapping 

Creating a cohesive workflow that drives success becomes challenging when process mapping is not aligned with the organization's goals.

How to fix it:

Ensure your process mapping aligns with your business objectives and strategy. Regularly review and update process maps to maintain relevance.

Not Knowing Is a Problem 

The lack of clarity regarding process adherence can lead to significant problems for organizations, including reduced productivity, increased error rates, missed deadlines, compliance issues, and loss of customers. 

It can also impact team morale and overall organizational efficiency.

How to Ensure Process Adherence 

To overcome these challenges, you as the business owner must take proactive steps to ensure process adherence and foster a culture of responsibility. 

One easy and cost-effective way is VidGuide.

We've partnered with VidGuide to help our clients build and migrate their processes and ensure that every employee understands and uses your processes your way. 

With VidGuide, you’ll have your video instructions pop-up inside the software your team uses to run your business. 

Why VidGuide

VidGuide integrates with tens of thousands of software applications. If you use it to run your business, VidGuide integrates with it.

Save time and money. It takes 300% longer to create written instructions.

It’s the preferred way to learn. Employees are 75% more likely to learn by watching a video than reading written documents.

Easy access with seamless updates. 81% of employees can't find documents when they need them.

Get Your Business Running Smoothly Without You with VidGuide. Get your free trial and process migration demo here.

Here's to your smooth running, fun to run, and wildly profitable business!