ISO Mistake #11
Developing your systems in a way your people won’t use or don’t understand
Statius was actually founded BC (Before Computers).
So, in the early days of IT, the days of 286, 386 & 486 1MB of RAM computers, hosting WordPerfect and Lotus 123 programmes (which we suspect many a current reader may not have ever heard of), there was nothing as fancy as any kind of flow chart. The majority of procedures were essentially a massive, word heavy, rulebooks.
The point being, the system documentation developed was all “words” and for the very sophisticated, spreadsheets.
These days it’s much easier to develop a system around simple, or indeed complex, flow charts perhaps with “swim lanes” delineating the activities that different people and departments undertake and are responsible for. As a preference, we tend to like swim lanes simply because it’s easy to see who’s responsible for which activities but some people and organisations think these swim lanes make procedures look overly complex and therefore puts people off. The choice is yours and entirely down to your organisational culture and preference.
But these days, in some instances, especially when you’re going through the detail of a process and with the advent of AI, videos can also be used to convey how stuff is done.
Solution & resources
Create a team approach involving a variety of staff across the organisation and get them to help you develop the systems and processes in a manner that’s meaningful to them.
