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We’ve all heard the word “friction” before. It means the force that resists motion between two surfaces. I often consider friction after I’m wearing a brand new pair of shoes, and the friction produces a blister.
Well, the opposite day, I used to be reading The Recent York Times Dealbook and so they were talking about friction in organizations. The concept is comparable. Organizations start adding “friction” to their processes and ultimately, it produces poor outcomes. Examples of friction include:
- Company web sites which can be slow or glitchy.
- Products which can be at all times out of stock.
- Customers that need to wait a protracted time to talk with customer support.
Friction also can exist inside organizations. Examples include:
- Employees can’t get answers to their questions, whether that’s because HR isn’t available, or a self-service technology doesn’t work well.
- Regular paycheck errors and delays to correct the problem, whether that’s since the manager isn’t reviewing transactions, or the payroll team isn’t authorized to repair issues.
- Employees who need to wait exceptionally long periods of time for advantages like waiting a yr to get an worker referral bonus. And just in case you’re wondering … yes, that does occur.
Recently, we talked about making experiences “easy to purchase, easy to make use of, and straightforward to share”. That’s an amazing example of reducing friction. Listed here are a number of more things to think about:
Make reducing friction a daily activity. Don’t wait until there’s an issue. Organizations should routinely examine their processes to ensure that friction isn’t hurting the operation. I could see how organizations don’t intend to create friction, but they add a little bit step here or make a small change and before it, the method lacks effectiveness and efficiency.
Reducing friction is an organizational initiative. This could’t just be targeted in a single department. Every department should make process reviews a component of the way in which they function. I’ll use HR and accounting for example. If HR does a process review and streamlines a number of things … but accounting doesn’t … then it’s possible the outcomes shall be small or non-existent.
Deal with greater than cost-cutting. While reducing friction may need a direct impact on expenses, it’s possible that some friction reducing activities will lead to more indirect outcomes value more highly customer support, improved productivity, etc. which does ultimately have a positive effect on funds.
Communicate changes. Organizational departments work together and will seek the advice of one another on the subject of process reviews and changes. Everyone must buy-into the brand new process. The brand new process needs to be communicated to everyone, and a transition plan needs to be in place.
The business world is consistently changing and meaning the way in which we do things will change too. It only is smart to review processes to ensure the organization isn’t being wasteful. That’s good for the corporate, employees, and customers.
Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of London, England
The post Organizations: Time to Reduce Friction Within the Workplace appeared first on hr bartender.
