Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you look at a process and think, Surely to goodness, there has got to be a better and more efficient way to do that?! But then you quickly talk yourself out of it, telling yourself that someone must have thought it through—that there must be a reason the process works that way!
Let me let you in on a secret: Nobody has thought it through—at least not for many years.
It’s a little like the story of the small boy who asks his mother why she cuts the head and tail off the fish when she cooks it. She replies that she doesn’t know; it was the way Granny always did it. So she goes and asks Granny why she always cut the head and tail off the fish when she cooked it. Granny also has no clue—it was the way Great-Granny always did it. So she goes to ask Great-Granny (they were a long-living family).
Great-Granny replies that the reason for cutting the head and tail off is because the pot was too small!
Many of our processes are just like this. There was once a reason we created them that way, but none of us can remember why, and it doesn’t work in today’s work environment.
So who are the kings and queens of process and implementation? Well, you are!
The psychometric testing I have done on thousands of administrative professionals over the last 15 years clearly shows that this is your area of expertise.
A high score in this test is 12-15. Most administrative professionals score between 15-30 in this area.
And nobody else in the business thinks quite this way.
Can I do process, implementation, and procedure? Of course I can, but quite frankly, I would rather stick pins in my eyes. It’s not my forte. My mind doesn’t work like that, so it takes an age and is cumbersome. It’s why I employ my EA, Germaine Knight ACEA®, because she is excellent at it.
So here’s the bottom line: You are the hidden architects of efficiency in your organisation. Your unique ability to evaluate and improve processes is invaluable. Remember – you are the SME (subject matter expert) in administration, just like finance and marketing are in their areas. Trust your abilities, particularly when it comes to redefining processes, because in a world full of outdated routines and unnecessary complications, your expertise can be the key to meaningful, lasting change.
