Improving Business Processes By Breaking the “I Can Just” Mindset
It’s amazing that we are comfortable doing something on a regular basis even though it eats away at our productivity and effectiveness. Sitting in a hotel room in Las Vegas spending time manually pulling data into excel? Check. Having a person take that file and spend 4 hours manually manipulating the information into a format they believe everyone needs? Check. Sending this file to the department director so that person can then spend 2 hours auditing then emailing the spreadsheet to the 7 different divisions? Check. Start the process over every 3 days (minus being in Vegas), because it takes a full day for it to occur? Check. Even I have been guilty of logging in on weekends to run processes, because it felt quicker and easier than automating the process. The three words I, and others, use to convince ourselves that our actions are reasonable…”I can just.”
This phrase is one of the most prominent barriers to growth, perpetuating the myth that however something is getting done must be the easiest and best way to do it. A throwaway phrase that permits employees to send out 80-page pdfs, coworkers to spend countless hours downloading and manipulating data, and colleagues to copy information over and over in spreadsheets and emails. While companies may have data teams, individual employees will put blinders on, repeating “I can just”, ignoring their own role and expertise to spend time on data processes that they are inexperienced with. For companies without data teams, the feeling becomes every person for themselves, chalking up wasted time as a sunk cost of doing business. Instead, imagine if these people could focus more time on areas that represent their true skills and talents. Not only could they enhance business opportunity, but also their own professional value.
The “I can just” mindset leads to three major problems within a company, manifested in many ways:
1. Inefficient Processes
Waiting for someone else to finish a step in a standard process before you can start, even on weekends
Phone Tree Knowledge -- Phone calls by leadership requesting information from others and then waiting for hours and days while those people retrieve it from people that they also need to call
Sharing large files (pdfs, spreadsheets) and forcing the receiver of these files to find the 3% of information that is relevant to them
Copying information from one file to another because it’s then easier for you to look at
2. Error-prone methods
Highlighting/counting/manipulating rows of data within large files
Finding exception records within a pdf, whether a blank field or invalid values
Using excel as an unstructured storage method, such as multiple tables within one tab or multiple tabs that get copied where rows aren’t overwritten and formulas get lost
Analyzing stale information because it’s too labor-intensive to keep it up-to-date
3. Siloed knowledge
Job Security 101 - if no one else can do it, then I’m safe
No documentation of processes and error resolutions, causing you to do the same daily/weekly process over and over
Never asking why you are tasked with doing something
An employee becomes a lynchpin for a task; if they leave or are absent, processes fail
The first step in breaking this habit is to recognize that it can appear in any and all facets of your organization. You may or may not have the answers to resolve these problems, but once you notice them, you can start the process of figuring out what to do about it. Simply put, work to transform your mindset from “I can just” to “I wish” …
“I wish I could focus on my expertise, rather than wasting time gathering and manipulating data”
“I wish I didn’t need to call 4 different people every time I need information about how our business is doing”
“I wish I could receive a file with data only relevant to me”
“I wish this information was more accurate”
That change can lead to everyone focusing on what’s important to your business, rather than focusing on how to survive the day.
To start, spend a week tracking any time an employee does an “I can just” process. After your week, take those comments and turn them on their head, change the narrative to “I wish”. Don’t worry about how to implement, just let yourself recognize the opportunities to streamline and enhance your business processes.
From there, the fun begins.
Will your organization’s talents and resources be used to drive business results, or to manually compile tons of data inefficiently?
Will you create forms to allow people to input information in a governed way, rather than a free-for-all?
Will you lean into employees’ strengths, rather than having them split time between their strength and wasted energy?
Will reports be created automatically removing the middle-person needing to manipulate and share the information manually?
Will interactive dashboards be used to give depth to the information available?
These steps may seem daunting. Whether you can do this on your own or need outside support, the value to your business and effectiveness of your employees depends on it. Circling back to the scenario at the beginning, that full day manual, sequential process was transformed into an interactive dashboard, with forms, refreshed nightly, removing all manual needs. The end users had knowledge at their fingertips and a streamlined feedback loop. And the employees who originally spent the full day creating the files and emails got time back to focus on their expertise in helping the business thrive rather than just survive.
If any of these habits ring true for you, contact Wagner Data Strategies to start transforming your business processes mindset. We are happy to help!