The world is paved with good intentions: the majority of professionals are seeking to enhance the value of their professions and to bring real added value to the company and their clients.
But this same world tends to become extremely complex, not only on the technical level, but much more often on the administrative and legal level. Everyone is to blame: from consumers to competitors, from government agencies to… lawyers.
All this would be of no consequence if productivity, efficiency and the core business were not under direct attack.
When a doctor spends more time writing reports and filling in forms than treating patients, it becomes shocking. When a banker spends more time documenting a meeting than offering solutions to the client, it becomes worrying. Finally, when you need to have studied at the “Polytechnique” in order to operate a “standard” technical installation, you wonder whether logic and pragmatism are not slipping away.
So, what can we do? Keep it simple. Here are some ideas:
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Decomplex processes by reducing the number of steps, if possible.
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Standardise and automate everything that can be done to avoid interruptions in the process.
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If possible, reduce options to reduce the risk of errors and/or parts in stock.
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Entrust activities and processes to a small number of people who can act “independently”.
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Do not dilute responsibilities among too many people or bodies but opt for increased accountability.
- Trust your employees and accept some risk.
To do this, it is essential to know your company, its business model, its processes, its customers and its staff. It is also necessary to accept that you should not go into areas that are too risky or markets that you do not fully master.
The more complex and opaquer the products and processes are, the greater the risk of being confronted with legal cases. Sometimes you have to go back to basics and simplicity, even if this is less ‘buoyant’ and, it must be admitted, not at all in the air of the times…
It is not necessarily a question of choosing “degrowth” but of optimising interfaces and reducing the multiple layers that are costly to the company, and therefore to the client.
It is not uncommon for an “80%/20%” solution to be the best in the end… Indeed, the effort to reach 100% is often totally disproportionate to the risks and benefits. So, are you ready to opt for simplicity?
Good choice, good thoughts and good reading.