Insights / Checklist / Process diagnostics and business process evaluation
ChecklistSeven signs a process needs redesigning
Some processes can be tuned, and others need a fresh design. Seven signs that point to the second group, and how to decide what to do next.
Most processes can be improved with small changes: a clearer form, a shorter approval chain, a better system setting. These incremental fixes are cheap and quick, and they should always be tried first.
Some processes, though, are beyond tuning. They have grown over years, absorbing new steps, new teams and new exceptions, until nobody can say why they work the way they do. Fixing one problem creates another. For these, a fresh design is cheaper in the long run than endless patching.
Some processes can be tuned, and others need a fresh design. The seven signs below point to the second group. Use them as a checklist when reviewing a process that keeps causing trouble.
Signs in how the work flows
- 1. Handoffs keep growing. When a process crosses many teams, delay and error follow. Each handoff adds a queue, a chance for information to be lost and a point where nobody is quite sure who is responsible.
- 2. Most of the elapsed time is waiting. If a task that takes an hour of actual work routinely takes two weeks from start to finish, the design, not the effort, is the problem.
- 3. Rework is routine. If a significant share of cases go back for correction or missing information, the process is not getting the right inputs at the start.
Consider a typical purchase request in a mid-sized business. It passes from the requester to their manager, to procurement, to finance, back to procurement for supplier setup, and finally to accounts payable. Six handoffs, each with its own inbox. Tuning any one step barely changes the overall time. Redesigning the flow, for example by giving requesters a catalogue of approved suppliers with pre-agreed limits, can remove most of the steps entirely.
Signs in how people behave
- 4. People keep workarounds. Hidden spreadsheets and side emails are evidence the official process fails. When staff build their own tools to track work, the system is not giving them what they need.
- 5. Experienced staff are the process. If the work only runs smoothly when a particular person is present, the knowledge lives in their head rather than in the design. Their absence or departure exposes the gap.
Workarounds are often treated as a compliance problem. They are more usefully seen as free design input. Each spreadsheet or side channel shows exactly where the official process falls short and what people need instead.
Signs in how it is managed
- 6. Nobody owns the result. If no single person is accountable end to end, nobody can improve it. Each team optimises its own step, often at the expense of the steps before and after.
- 7. Fixes do not stick. If the same problems return after each round of improvement, the underlying design is producing them. Patching symptoms will not change the outcome.
Count the signs
One or two signs usually mean the process can be tuned. Three or more, especially if they include missing ownership or persistent workarounds, suggest that a redesign will deliver more than further incremental fixes.
Ownership deserves particular attention. In many organisations, each team owns its own step but nobody owns the whole flow. Performance is measured step by step, so each team can hit its targets while the customer still waits weeks. Naming an end-to-end owner, with a measure that reflects the customer’s experience, is often the first and most important part of any redesign.
Redesign or tune?
Redesign is more disruptive than tuning, so the case should be clear. Before committing, check a few practical points.
- Is the process important enough, in volume, cost or customer impact, to justify the effort?
- Can you name an end-to-end owner with the authority to change steps across teams?
- Are the people who do the work available to help design the new process?
- Is there a system change planned anyway that the redesign could shape?
A good redesign starts from the outcome the customer needs, not from the current steps. Ask what the simplest possible process would look like if you were starting today, then work back to what is practical. Test the new design on a small scale before rolling it out.
We had tuned our claims process four times in three years. When we finally redesigned it around a single owner, the number of handoffs halved and the backlog cleared within a quarter.
Head of operations, insurance client
Using this checklist
Pick the process that causes the most complaints, internally or from customers. Walk through the seven signs with two or three people who work in it, and tick each one that applies. If you count three or more, appoint an end-to-end owner and plan a redesign. If you count fewer, list the specific fixes and tackle them in order of impact.
Source: Intelliversal analysis.
