Hi everyone,

Blame the process not the person

If one of your team doesn’t do what you expect of them then what is the real reason?

Very rarely is it because someone goes against the system. More often than not there wasn’t a set expectation – either it wasn’t communicated properly or there simply wasn’t a process in place.

“But its common sense!” I hear you say.

It might seem that way to you, but give me a team of 50 different people and there will be 50 different versions of what is common sense!

Blaming the process can be incredibly powerful as it makes it less emotional. You’re not assigning blame against an individual, you’re saying there is something wrong with the system and this needs to be improved upon.

“How can I help you ensure that the process is followed?” or “Is there anything we can do to improve the process?” are far nicer questions than “Why did you do that?”

Blaming the process ties in with a few of the other sayings too:

• Set the standard – make sure your expectations are known throughout the team. The more visual the better as it is then easy to see what the standard is (and for the team to adhere to it)
• Make it idiot proof – this isn’t saying that your team are idiots, but it’s ensuring that the standard can be maintained / adhered to. Think about McDonalds – they’ve got systems in place to ensure that 16 / 17 year olds can run the kitchens.
• Mistake of the week – or learning opportunity of the week. What went wrong with the system? How can you improve upon it to ensure that this doesn’t happen again?

There is no reason why you can’t employ this within your own business. I’d wager there are a number of processes that are in your head as the owner so it means that certain tasks / jobs stay with you as you can’t pass them on. If you can’t pass them on then what happens when you are on holiday (or if you are ill?).

Take a look at your processes and look at the level of detail that Seating Matters go into. What could you do this for in your business?

Start with something small, maybe even something that bugs you… and set the standard.

Take care until the next time

Russell + Russell