When we hear the word "management," our minds often jump to people, leading teams, supervising employees, and navigating interpersonal challenges. While this instinctive association is natural, hasn’t it skewed our understanding over time of management as a discipline? Could it be that the emphasis on “people-first management” has overshadowed “processes-first management” as an essential best practice and backbone of thriving organizations?
What if we redefined management? What if we shifted the lens from people first to processes and then considered the role of people? What is the likelihood of this simple yet transformative perspective unlocking new levels of efficiency, better outcomes, and alignment between individual and organizational goals?
The Traditional View of Management
More than likely, we've all encountered the stereotypical manager, a motivator, disciplinarian, delegator, and mediator of workplace conflicts. This model, while partially accurate, paints an incomplete picture. It implies that people alone are the primary drivers of success, sidelining the systems and workflows that govern how work gets done.
Very apparent from the people-first focus are the following:
Reactive Problem-Solving, where managers focus on fixing interpersonal or human-related issues while overlooking flawed processes that might be the root cause.
Inconsistent Results driven by the reality that human behaviour varies. Comparatively standardized processes provide consistency and reliability.
Manager Burnout due to the need to constantly manage interpersonal dynamics. Naturally, this leaves little time for developing systems that can ease their burden.
A New Paradigm: Processes Before People
By flipping the script and prioritizing processes, management can evolve into a structured, results-driven function. Processes become the guiding framework, ensuring tasks are performed efficiently, accurately, and consistently.
Rethinking management to prioritize process over people has the potential of creating some very tangible benefits, inclusive of the following:
Clarity – Defined processes are key in eliminating ambiguity and providing clear instructions for how work should be done. This reduces confusion and minimizes reliance on personalities.
Efficiency - Standardized workflows save time and resources while reducing redundancies and errors. This is absolutely vital for driving quality and achieving high levels of productivity and performance.
Fairness - With processes as the focus, the evaluation and improvement of work become task-centred, not person-centred. This is vitally important for conveying fairness, motivating employees and fostering equity.
Scalability - Well-designed processes serve as a foundation for growth. In fact, a process-driven organization ensures that new hires are trained to standard while positioning the organization for continuity based on structured procedural guidelines. Integrated with employee brilliance, the opportunities for continuous improvement and thriving can be exponential.
People as Process Champions
Does this mean processes are more important than people? Absolutely not. People are the lifeblood of any organization, but their potential is amplified when guided by robust systems. Think of processes as the blueprint and people as the architects who bring them to life. When employees are given the opportunity to own and improve their processes, their engagement and productivity significantly increase.
This empowerment creates a symbiotic relationship where processes support people and people enhance processes. This dynamic strengthens the organization and fosters a sense of ownership and pride among team members.
Conclusion
Organizations can unlock their full potential and deliver outcomes that benefit everyone involved by rethinking management and putting processes first while empowering people to champion them.
When management starts with processes, an organization's culture is naturally transformed. The reactive, person-dependent approach is replaced with a proactive, system-driven mindset. Managers are freed from constant interpersonal firefighting and empowered to focus on strategy, innovation, and leadership.
Employees also gain confidence knowing they operate within clear, supportive frameworks. As active participants in shaping processes, the organization benefits from transformative shifts that foster a culture of shared accountability, high performance and continuous improvement.
Exceptional management doesn’t begin with managing people, it starts with mastering the processes that empower them to excel.
Could the secret to organizational success lie in balancing structure and humanity? Isn’t it very apparent that processes provide the foundation while people provide the heart, and when correctly aligned, they can create environments where innovation, productivity, and excellence thrive?
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