We spent months documenting our core processes, but our employees are still running things their own way. How do we actually get everyone to follow them?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Most documentation projects fail because they are too long and complex. If your processes are captured in a massive, dusty binder, your employees will never read them, let alone follow them. To make your Process Component stick, you must adopt the EOS® approach: document the twenty percent of your processes that yield eighty percent of the results.

Keep your documentation high-level. A core process should be a simple, step-by-step checklist that is easy to read and execute. If a process takes more than a few pages to explain, it is too complicated and will be ignored.

Once documented, you must ensure your processes are FBA: Followed by All. This requires a three-step commitment from your leadership team. First, train everyone on the documented process. Second, measure compliance using your weekly Scorecard. If the metrics are off, investigate whether the team is actually following the process. Third, manage compliance by holding people accountable through your Level 10 Meetings™.

Make the processes part of your ongoing training and performance reviews. If someone refuses to follow the system, it becomes a GWC™ issue. If they lack the capacity or desire to follow the company way, they do not belong in the seat. Consistency is what drives enterprise value and scalability.