How Asking "Why?" Can Improve Operational Efficiency

I am sure most of us have heard a manager say “I want solutions, not problems”. For leaders, the dream is to have a team who are capable and willing to consider potential solutions to a problem before it reaches their desk. If we know that our team understands the rationale behind what they do, we can be more confident in their ability to suggest solutions and that those solutions will make sense. In turn, your team will feel empowered and you will spend less time putting out fires. 

If you are in a leadership position and you don’t have a good answer when a team member asks you “Why?”, try and view this as an opportunity to improve your business’ processes and as such, its operational efficiency. Processes should be based on logic and should make sense to how the business operates currently. They shouldn’t exist simply for the sake of existing and they certainly shouldn’t exist just because someone wrote them 25 years ago and that’s how it has been done ever since.

We are all different. Some people are natural problem solvers and some people prefer more guidance, however, I believe that everybody is capable of some level of problem solving if they understand why they are required to do what they are required to do. It is incredibly easy to have someone follow a set of instructions to the T. It requires more effort to help them understand why that set of instructions exists in the first place but it is worth the investment.

On a micro level, ideally when we look at our processes they should make sense in terms of efficiency and the business’ overall goals. Realistically, we are unlikely to have the time to commit to a full overhaul of our processes. Instead, we can apply a “do it as you go” strategy by:

• Encouraging our team to adopt the mindset of asking “Why?” of processes as they follow them 

and

• Empowering them to suggest improvements

Onboarding new staff can also provide a great opportunity to ask ”Why?” of our processes as we explain them. We can then make the necessary tweaks as technology, staffing and operations inevitably change over time. 

On a macro level, the “Why?” can be communicated to your team with a vision and mission statement (which should be reviewed annually). At Frank Law + Advisory, we are looking forward to our first annual staff conference in July when we will close our office for the day to share our updated vision and mission with the team and enjoy lunch together. Whilst we have shared these with our team before, we are excited to introduce an official event each year which is centred around the concept of us all being on the same journey together. 

Does your team understand why they do what they do? Do they understand why their job exists and why it is important? Updating and sharing your business’ vision & mission statement is a great place to start. From there, consider being more like a toddler by asking “Why?” more often.