#850 bureaucracy

I recently did some consulting for an organization.  It was a great experience that stretched my mind, afforded me an opportunity to reconnect with a colleague and I believe provided them with some valuable insights.  Overall, my interactions with those I was directly involved with were quite pleasant and positive.

But if you asked me about the experience overall, I would rant and rave about the bureaucracy that accompanied the process.  After a verbal understanding, I had to fill out a four-page service agreement and a three-page worksheet.  I needed to submit three different invoices, separating out all the categories of expenses.  After another interval, they requested a W-9 and my date of birth.  Later I had to sign an expense report and return that.  Still later there was a discrepancy about meal reimbursement vs. meal allowances so more paperwork followed.  And still no check.

The operational procedures and bureaucrats have soured the whole experience for me.

Do you have practices in your organization that are overshadowing the good work that you are doing?  Are your clients turned off by your billing or payment processes?  Do you make the application or hiring process so arduous that people are exasperated before they come to interview?  Is it complicated to buy something from you or access your services?  

There is no such thing as the back of the house.  Everything impacts the way your clients (and employees) experience your organization.  Try to find ways to interact with your organization as a client and see if the way you do things still makes sense.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com