By Mark Brown, Director, L4 Financial
In nearly every business there is a process that nobody particularly likes, nobody would design from scratch, yet everyone continues to follow.
Ask why it exists and you will often hear the same answer…
“We’ve always done it that way.”
It sounds harmless enough. In reality, it can be one of the most expensive sentences in business.
Over the years I have worked with businesses across a range of sectors and one thing has become increasingly clear. Very few organisations suffer from a lack of effort. Most people are working hard and want the business to succeed.
The challenge is that effort and effectiveness are not always the same thing.
I recently worked with a business where members of staff spent several hours each month producing reports. The information was accurate, the process was understood and everyone involved approached it professionally.
There was just one problem. Almost nobody used the reports to make decisions.
The process had evolved gradually. A report requested years earlier had become part of the monthly routine. Additional checks were added. More information was included. New spreadsheet tabs appeared. What began as a useful exercise slowly became an accepted way of working.
Nobody questioned it because it had always been done that way.
I have seen similar examples elsewhere. Customer orders entered three separate times into three separate systems before an invoice is eventually raised.
Managers attending meetings because they have always attended them, despite no longer having a meaningful contribution to make.
Teams maintaining separate spreadsheets because they no longer trust the information held elsewhere.
Processes created to solve problems that disappeared years ago.
Individually these things seem insignificant. Collectively they can consume hundreds of hours every year.
The cost rarely appears as a visible line on a set of accounts. Instead, it shows itself in slower decision-making, duplicated effort, frustrated employees and opportunities that never quite get pursued because people are too busy dealing with unnecessary work.
Many businesses unknowingly build processes around individuals rather than systems. Knowledge becomes concentrated in a handful of people. Workarounds become embedded in day-to-day operations. Everything functions perfectly well until somebody leaves, retires or is unexpectedly absent.
Only then does the weakness become visible.
The irony is that businesses often look externally for opportunities to improve performance whilst overlooking inefficiencies hiding in plain sight.
Whenever I spend time with a leadership team, I tend to ask a simple question…”What frustrates people the most?”
The answer usually arrives quickly. It might be a report. A system. A meeting. A process that everyone complains about but nobody has challenged.
That frustration is often a clue.
The businesses that address these issues successfully are rarely the ones with the biggest budgets. More often, they are the organisations willing to step back, challenge accepted practices and make time to work on the business rather than simply in it.
Not every process should be removed. Not every system needs replacing. However, continuous improvement begins with curiosity and a willingness to challenge assumptions.
The best leadership teams regularly ask simple questions.
Why do we do this? Who benefits from it? If we were starting again today, would we create it this way? The answers can be surprisingly revealing.
Most businesses do not need wholesale transformation. They simply need the courage to challenge assumptions that nobody has questioned for years.
Because the greatest cost in business is often not a bad decision. It is continuing with an old one.
L4 Financial Management
L4 Financial provides part-time Finance Director and board advisory support to SMEs, helping leadership teams improve financial visibility and strengthen decision-making as their businesses grow.
Mark works with SME owners and leadership teams who want clearer insight into profitability, cash flow and the key drivers of financial performance.
Mark@L4Financial.co.uk
L4Financial.co.uk | 07960 031554