How to Set Up a Workflow Review Process

Critique this (real) team's experiment. Good? Bad? Caveats? Gotchas? Contexts where it will not work? Read on: Overview The team has observed that devs often encounter friction during their work—tooling, debt, environment, etc. These issues (while manageable) tend to slow down progress and are often recurring. Historically, recording, prioritizing, and getting approval to address these areas of friction involves too much overhead, which 1) makes the team less productive, and 2) results in the issues remaining unresolved. For various reasons, team members don't currently feel empowered to address these issues as part of their normal work. Purpose Empower devs to address friction points as they encounter them, w/o needing to get permission, provided the issue can be resolved in 3d or less. Hypothesis: by immediately tackling these problems, the team will improve overall productivity and make work more enjoyable. Reinforce the practice of addressing friction as part of the developers' workflow, helping to build muscle memory and normalize "fix as you go." Key Guidelines 1. When a dev encounters friction, assess whether the issue is likely to recur and affect others. If they believe it can be resolved in 3d or less, they create a "friction workdown" ticket in Jira (use the right tags). No permission needed. 2. Put current work in "paused" status, mark new ticket as "in progress," and notify the team via #friction Slack channel with a link to the ticket. 3. If the dev finds that the issue will take longer than 3d to resolve, they stop, document what they’ve learned, and pause the ticket. This allows the team to revisit the issue later and consider more comprehensive solutions. This is OK! 4. After every 10 friction workdown tickets are completed, the team holds a review session to discuss the decisions made and the impact of the work. Promote transparency and alignment on the value of the issues addressed. 5. Expires after 3mos. If the team sees evidence of improved efficiency and productivity, they may choose to continue; otherwise, it will be discontinued (default to discontinue, to avoid Zombie Process). 6. IMPORTANT: The team will not be asked to cut corners elsewhere (or work harder) to make arbitrary deadlines due to this work. This is considered real work. Expected Outcomes Reduce overhead associated with addressing recurring friction points, empowering developers to act when issues are most salient (and they are motivated). Impact will be measured through existing DX survey, lead time, and cycle time metrics, etc. Signs of Concern (Monitor for these and dampen) 1. Consistently underestimating the time required to address friction issues, leading to frequent pauses and unfinished work. 2. Feedback indicating that the friction points being addressed are not significantly benefiting the team as a whole. Limitations Not intended to impact more complex, systemic issues or challenges that extend beyond the team's scope of influence.

Ever launch a “better system” at your nonprofit organization that somehow made everything harder? Let’s say your strategic plan includes this goal: “Improve our grant management process to increase efficiency and reporting accuracy.” Sounds clear enough. But if you jump straight into choosing platforms or rewriting workflows, you risk missing the real-world barriers that trip up your team. I’m building a service for first-time Executive Directors, and this strategy-to-action process was one of the places I stumbled hardest. Here's an approach I now follow, using three mental models to move from strategic intent to operational clarity, without wasting time, energy, or staff goodwill. 1. 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝘆 (Start with what already works)    “Where in our organization do we already track, document, or follow up well, and what’s making that successful?”     You might find that your program team already uses a clear structure for reporting outcomes, or that finance has a reliable monthly review rhythm. Borrow those strengths. Avoid unnecessary reinvention. Build on what your team already trusts. 2. 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 (Then flip the problem)    “If we wanted our new grant system to create more confusion, what would we do?”     Answers might include: • Use yet another platform • Assume everyone understands how to use it • Skip training and just send a login    Now you’ve surfaced hidden assumptions. You’re thinking like a realist, not just an optimist. And you’ve flagged areas where staff may get stuck. 3. 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗠𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗺 (End with specifics)    “It’s six months from now. The new grant process still isn’t being used as intended. What went wrong?”     Teams might say: • No one owned the data entry • The system didn’t integrate with our program calendar • There was no clear deadline structure    Now you’ve got actionable risks to address. You can clarify roles, timelines, and communication before rollout. You’re moving from concept to reality. 𝗣𝗿𝗼 𝘁𝗶𝗽: This works best as a team exercise. Give each model 15 minutes. Ask the question. Listen to the patterns. You’ll gain sharper insight and stronger buy-in. Strategic plans don’t fail for lack of intention. They fail when implementation skips the thinking. 𝗣𝗦: If you’re a first-time Executive Director (or supporting one) and would like to be added to my interest list (service launches July 15), reply or send me a message.

If your internal processes aren’t clearly defined, custom software won’t fix the chaos - it will just automate the confusion. Companies know things aren’t running efficiently, but when dig deeper, here's what is happening: – Same processes vary from team to team – The same task is performed five different ways depending on who’s doing it – There’s no clear agreement on what “efficient” actually looks like In this environment, building custom software doesn’t solve the problem - it just locks in broken processes and makes future changes even harder. So what’s the solution? Standardize first. Automate second. Here’s a simple 3-step framework to help you prepare for custom software the right way: Step 1: Map Your Current Workflows Don’t aim for perfection, aim for visibility. Start by documenting/drawing how work is actually done today, even if it’s messy. This will reveal inconsistencies, redundancies, and gaps you might not even realize exist. Step 2: Identify the Inefficiencies Where are things slowing down? Look for repetitive manual tasks, excessive handoffs, duplicated data entry, and areas where spreadsheets are being used to “patch” broken systems. These are the bottlenecks that custom software should eventually solve. Step 3: Define the Ideal Future State Clarify what the standard process should look like moving forward. This doesn’t mean over-engineering every workflow. It means aligning teams around a clear, repeatable way of doing things. Once that’s in place, software can scale and support it. _____ Even though we build custom solutions, the truth is, custom software isn’t a magic fix. It’s a powerful tool to scale what’s already working but it can’t design your processes for you. If your team is struggling to stay aligned and operational headaches keep popping up, focus on process clarity first. Then invest in technology that will take your efficiency to the next level. #enterprisedevelopment #construction #processautomation

Got a feeling something's just not working well but you've got no idea where to begin fixing it? 🤨 Than think like a tree 🌲 - start from the bottom and work your way to the top. Grow strong roots and expand. ▶️ Structure - you should begin with that. Organize your environment, both physical and virtual, set simple and clear processes and procedures, problems (which are what you're looking to solve - right?) are easier to spot this way. You can use 5S, Kanban etc'. . . ▶️ Overview & insight - empower everyone to embrace change and contribute to continuous improvement, ask/interview to understand the different stakeholder's exact needs and use visual representation of processes and data (like dashboards) that are providing value, easy to understand and monitor thus helping to reduce 'resistance to change' and aid to create a culture of ongoing development - you can use Kaizen, VSM etc'. . . ▶️ Stability - aim for standardization and streamline the different processes doing similar things thus removing waste and ensuring smoother and more efficient workflows. Fishbone analysis and the 5 Whys can help here. . . ▶️ Capability - employ data-driven decision making to reduce variations and improve quality - use the dashboards, statistical analysis (like SPC) to control the process ▶️ Robustness - use all the above to make sure your processes are streamlined, standard (as much as possible), simple, providing value to relevant stakeholders (according to their needs) and doing so at minimal waste #ContinuousImprovement must start somewhere. . .and it never ends 😉 #LeanSixSigma #Kaizen #VSM

Yet another reason estimates are ridiculous. One of the silliest things about time estimates is that the vast majority of time it takes for a team to finish something is spent waiting. For the average development team to create something of value, only 10-20% of the total start-to-finish completion time is spent actively working on the item. The majority of the time is spent waiting. 🔵 Waiting for Reviews 🔵 Waiting for team member hand-offs 🔵 Waiting on other teams or departments So much time is spent waiting… instead of asking, “How much time will it take WORKING to complete this?” You’d be better off asking, “How much time will it take WAITING to complete this?” This, of course, is impossible to answer since most teams have zero control (or even awareness) of waiting time. You’re far, far better off ditching time estimates entirely and focusing on reducing wait states instead. But how? 1] Use Flow Efficiency ↳ Few teams are even aware of the most critical flow metric: Flow Efficiency. ↳ Flow Efficiency tells you how much time is spent actively working on increments of value (features, assets, stories, etc.). ↳ Flow Efficiency (%) = Active Time / Total Time X 100 ↳ Any good workflow tool will calculate your Total Time (Cycle Time). 2] Determine Active Time ↳ To figure out Active Time, you need to track your wait states by adding a “Done” state to every existing stage in your workflow. ↳ For Example: Development -> Development Done -> Testing -> Testing Done -> Review -> Review Done -> Released ↳ The “Done” columns are your wait states.  ↳ Now, you can effectively determine Active Time for each item in your flow vs. Wait Time. 3] Improve Flow Efficiency ↳ Once you can visualize and track wait times, you can focus on fixing the worst offenders. ↳ Add team members, reduce work in progress, remove dependencies… there are many ways to minimize wait states. ↳ Any reduction made to any of your wait states will improve Flow Efficiency An average team will have a Flow Efficiency of 20%. Your team should achieve a Flow Efficiency of 40% or greater to be considered high-performing. Will this take some effort? Of course! But far less effort and total team time (and annoyance) than asking for estimates. Plus, the increase in productivity will far outweigh any loss in imagined predictability.

When I first joined the sales team at #Google, my manager “forced” us to review our sales pipeline every morning. “But I want to pitch these smaller clients today, they were so nice last time!” (#salespeople - please don’t judge me, I was young and naive 😅) It wasn’t long before I realized the pipeline reviews were saving me hours every week: By spending just 30 minutes each morning reviewing client spending patterns, I could instantly spot which accounts needed attention. One morning, this simple review helped me notice a client's sudden budget increase. I called them immediately and it turns out their Q4 budget had just been approved… …and what’s that? They needed help with allocating their budget? Well do I have the proposal for you! 😉 🌟 Result: Helped them implement a new feature that boosted their performance (and yes, their spending with us). The lesson? 💡 Regular reviews aren't just for sales – they're essential to making any system work. Here's how I apply this to our daily #workflows: 1️⃣ Daily Reviews (30 mins): - Process new ideas from Google Keep - Sort files from Drive Inbox - Categorize emails (Follow Up/Pending/Pinned) - Review today's calendar 2️⃣ Weekly Reviews (60 mins): - Block off time for high priority tasks - Group similar meetings together - Review meeting agendas Pro tip: Start small. Block just 5 minutes every morning for a "micro-review." I've taught this system to thousands of professionals through the Workspace Academy, check it out here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gKbkemW8

As your team grows, review queues go from manageable… to overwhelming. Fast. Here’s how I design a review process that scales without imploding: 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭: 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝘆 Not “high vs. low fraud” But: “What’s the cost of getting this wrong?” 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮: 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲𝘀 Identity mismatch ≠ refund abuse ≠ payout risk Give each a playbook, not just a queue 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟯: 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝟳 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 Look for repeat false positives Track what isn’t getting caught Update rules, not just thresholds 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟰: 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Reviewers should own edge cases, not volume Automation handles the obvious Humans get the weird stuff This is how you scale without burning your team out.

You're automating your business all wrong...let's fix that. Here's the 5 step approach I would take: 1. Live within the workflow itself, performing the manual tasks for 1 week to 1 month...too many will skip this step. But you need to fully understand if the process you have is efficient or not. Otherwise you'll end up building an automation for something that isn't very useful, or contains too much waste. 2. Figure out where the slowest & most inefficient parts are. This usually involves button-clicks, copying & pasting, duplication, and boring / mindless tasks. 3. Map out the flow: - What happens first? - Where does the data come from? - Where does it need to go to? - Where does it end up at? - When does a human perform any quality checks or approvals? - What tools are part of this process? - Are there any areas that can be eliminated altogether? - Who needs to know about it? 4. Open up n8n, Make, or Zapier...and start diagramming the modules. Sometimes it might take 1-2 automations that are chained together, with a human sitting in the middle of the process for approvals or quality checks. This step is where you'll begin to find out the limitations of AI & Automation tools, and visualize how the workflow will be built. 5. Test the flows with dummy data before turning anything on live...especially if this is a workflow that communicates with clients! (I've screwed this one up many times before LOL) If you're interested in some of the tools I use to run my newsletter business, check out this post here: https://lnkd.in/e9sHn6MQ