Understanding Workflow Gaps That Slow Down Progress

If I were starting a new role as a Process Engineer, here's exactly what I’d do to understand the flow: 🔍 1. Walk the process — and don’t rush. I’d spend hours just watching. No stopwatch. No clipboard. Just observe. Patterns reveal themselves when you’re patient. 👂 2. Talk to the operators — and really listen. I'd ask: “What’s the most annoying part of your day?” “What slows you down?” “What do you wish was different?” And then I’d shut up and listen. ❓ 3. Ask tons of questions. Even the obvious ones. Especially the obvious ones. “Why do we do it this way?” “What happens if we skip this step?” Curiosity uncovers the real process—not the one on the SOP. 📷 4. Sketch the flow. No fancy software. Just a pen and paper. I'd map what I see, not what’s supposed to happen. Because often, those two aren’t the same. 🧩 5. Connect the dots — from raw material to finished product. I’d try to understand: Where are the delays? Where’s the rework? Where are people waiting on machines — or worse, machines waiting on people? Why bother doing all this? 📌 Because if I jump to solutions too fast, I’ll miss the root cause. 📌 If I rely on reports, I’ll miss the reality. And if I don’t listen to the people in it every day, I’ll never earn their trust. Understanding the flow takes time. But that’s how you find the friction. And friction is where real improvement begins. ✨ DM me if you’re stuck in a messy flow and want a second pair of eyes. Let’s find the friction — and fix it. #ProcessEngineering #ContinuousImprovement #processflowoptimization

80% of workflow bottlenecks are hiding in plain sight. But most teams don’t look closely enough to see them. When I design workflows, I don’t add new tools right away or build complex systems. I start by mapping the current process. Without knowing every step, we’re just guessing at what’s slowing us down. Here’s my go-to checklist for spotting the hidden issues: 1 - Map every step Document each click, handoff, and decision. Most teams skip this, but it’s where the real insights are. 2 - Spot repetitive tasks Repeated steps often go unnoticed. They feel like “just part of the job” but usually add no real value. 3 - Measure task times Check how long each step actually takes. When times drag, it’s a sign of inefficiency that needs fixing. 4 - Look for approval delays Every extra approval is a potential bottleneck. Too many checks can slow things down more than they help. 5 - Align skills with tasks Ensure tasks fit the person’s skill level. If experts are doing routine work, it’s time to rethink the setup. 6 - Automate simple tasks Automation isn’t about flashy tools. It’s about freeing up your team’s time for critical work, not admin tasks. It’s surprising how often these basics are ignored. Do this if you want to do more with less. Or skip it if you’re okay with unnecessary delays and wasted resources.

I watched a $50M hospital expansion get delayed by 8 months because of one email sitting in someone's inbox. The approval was ready. The budget was approved. The contractors were waiting. But the project manager had no visibility into where things stood. After working with 200+ organizations, I've seen the same manual workflow mistakes destroy project timelines and team morale. Here are the 5 most damaging ones: → Spreadsheet dependency for project tracking Teams lose hours updating multiple versions, and critical details slip through the cracks. One outdated cell can derail an entire milestone. → Chasing approvals through email chains Decision-makers get buried in their inboxes while projects sit idle. What should take 2 days stretches into 2 weeks. → Disconnected systems creating data silos Finance uses one tool, operations uses another, leadership gets reports from a third. Nobody has the complete picture. → Manual status reporting that's outdated before it's sent By the time you compile that weekly report, three new issues have emerged and two "green" items turned red. → Lack of structured accountability When everything is tracked informally, nothing gets tracked consistently. Problems surface too late to fix them effectively. Behind every delayed project are dedicated professionals trying to deliver value to their communities. They deserve better than being trapped in operational chaos. The solution isn't just better software. It's structured workflows that create transparency and accountability from day one. What workflow challenge is slowing down your current projects?

Have you ever heard about "Flow efficiency"? Businesses typically chase "Resource efficiency". It's all about keeping everyone busy, maxing out utilization. But in that obsession, they tank something called "Flow efficiency", the real key to speed and value. Flow efficiency tracks how much of a process’s total time is spent actually working on a task versus waiting around. Think of a support ticket. It's opened on Monday morning and closed on Friday evening, a total of five days. But the team only spent 4 hours actively talking, troubleshooting, resolving, testing etc.. That’s 4 hours of work in 40 hours of elapsed time, a flow efficiency of just 10%. The rest? Waiting on escalations, approvals, or someone to free up. Here’s the catch: Measuring that split (active work vs idle time) is super tricky. It requires being able to track active work time, pinning down delays. Most companies don’t even try. Yet when they do, the numbers shock. Flow efficiency often limps along at 5-15%. That means 85-95% of the time, work is just sitting there, stalled by: - Stakeholder approvals - Handoffs and dependencies - Resource bottlenecks Why do some businesses struggle with this? - Too Many Handoffs → Each pass between teams or departments piles on wait time, especially in sprawling organizations. - WIP Overload → Juggling too many tasks at once drags everything to a crawl. Nothing finishes fast. - Approval Chokepoints → Decision makers, swamped themselves, become the jam in the pipeline. - Misaligned Goals → Success is tied to “busyness” metrics, not how fast value hits the table. - Priority Fog → When everything’s urgent, focus scatters, and momentum dies. How to break through? First → Measure! You can't improve something you don't measure. Next → Cut work in progress. Slash unnecessary handoffs. Speed up approvals. Automate where you can, empower teams to decide where you can’t. Above all, ditch the “busy is best” mindset. Focus on delivering value, not filling hours. Measuring flow efficiency isn’t easy. But mastering it? That’s less friction, faster wins.

Everything looked fine on the surface… But under the hood, this small business was quietly bleeding time, money, and team morale. When I first met the founder, they were exhausted. Deadlines were slipping. Projects were being redone. And team members were blaming each other for dropped balls. They assumed the solution was more meetings. Maybe a new tool. But the real problem? A silent workflow conflict that no one saw. Two departments were unknowingly doing the SAME TASK, every week. This duplication created: ✘ Wasted hours ✘ Constant rework ✘ Frustration across the team No one knew who actually owned the task. And that lack of clarity? It was quietly draining the entire business. Here’s how we turned things around: ↳ We mapped out every step of the process ↳ We assigned clear ownership ↳ We built simple checklists to keep everyone aligned Within two weeks, things shifted: ✅ 30% reduction in redundant work ✅ 25% faster project turnaround ✅ Boosted team morale ✅ Zero client complaints The business didn’t need to “work harder.” It just needed better VISIBILITY and ACCOUNTABILITY. If your business is constantly spinning its wheels, ask this: → Do my people actually know WHO owns WHAT? Because often, the most expensive problems are the ones hiding in plain sight. What’s one area of your workflow you suspect might be slowing things down? Share it below! I help small business owners spot these hidden bottlenecks, so they can get back to delivering value to their customers. #systems #leadership #business #strategy #ProcessImprovement