Consequences

Too often as we look at our business processes, one comes across the situation where whole new activities spring up and become ingrained in "what we do" simply because someone isn't doing their job right in the first place.

I once worked for a large printing company that couldn't invoice jobs until they'd received all the invoices from their suppliers, because they didn't trust their purchasing processes. They waited two additional weeks while they checked and double checked their margins on each job. Millions of dollars of invoicing delayed every time.

How about the case where someone else is assigned the task to follow up on pre-qualified leads that the sales team should be calling?

Or the late (or non-existent trip report) after an outside sales person makes a call. Somehow the expense report gets submitted.

Let's face it. Would you always drive the speed limit if there were no traffic cops?

I didn't think so.

Consequences help get things done right the first time and can help kill off the temptation to create an additional process to fix a problem that shouldn't exist in the first place.