es, ask yourself, ‘What could go wrong?’ Anticipate potential problems that could come up during the process. Rank those potential problems in terms of likelihood and severity of impact. Create a contingency plan for high ranking potential problems and/or design things into your process to minimize the risks of those potential problems.
Follow the Process
FOLLOW THE PROCESS: If people don’t follow the processes, then the processes have little or no value. Stop to make sure that each person has been trained on each relevant process. Make sure to explain the ‘why’ behind every process, and every step of the process. Allow people to ask questions and even push back. If people aren’t committed to the process, don’t understand the process, don’t like the process, or don’t agree with the process, they are less likely to follow the process. Take time up front to make sure that each person understands and is committed to the processes.
Involve Your Team
INVOLVE YOUR TEAM: Involve all relevant team members in the definition and creation of each process, whenever possible. This will increase their commitment to following the process, and help ensure that the process is more well-rounded and comprehensive. If your processes are already defined, then involve relevant team members in periodically evaluating processes and improving them over time.
Match People with Tasks
MATCH PEOPLE WITH TASKS: Processes are wonderful, but they don’t always work well if you have assigned people to complete a task who are not well suited for the job. Make sure that you understand each team member’s passions, purpose, and skills – and match that with the right responsibilities. This helps to ensure that your staff are capable and willing to follow the processes.
MONITOR: Determine how you will monitor your processes. How will you know how well each process is being followed? Who will evaluate the ongoing effectiveness of the process? How often? What action will you take if their are problems with the process?
BEST PRACTICES: Study others organizations, teams and individuals who have similar goals and initiative to your team. What can you learn from them?