Having an excellent process makes a huge difference in your organization.  The first step in achieving this is understanding what "process" is. 

Every gathering of people has two dimension: what they discuss--the content--and how they discuss it--the process.  Understanding the difference between process and content gives you a powerful tool to figure out what is going on in your groups, and how to help the people in it work together successfully.  So let me give you a few examples: 

You have probably been in a meeting that didn’t work very well.  Perhaps the agenda wasn’t well organized, or somebody dominated it, or the “real” issues that were affecting the team were never address.  All of these situations fall into the realm of process—how the meeting unfolded, rather than the specifics of what people talked about.

Obviously, each these examples could be improved—by a better agenda, a facilitator who respectfully cuts the droning short, or a way to talk about upsets and conflicts that are an inevitable (and useful) part of working together.  Some people have a knack for doing this well, but most of us need to develop skills in this area.

When the leader and the members have good process skills, then the group is able to focus on their tasks, and attend to their relationships with greater ease.

You can also “zoom out” and look at the processes of the entire organization.  In the physical realm, the classic example of an organizational process is the assembly line.  The “content” is what is being made, and the “process” is how they are making it.  Time and money can be saved by examining the process and making improvements, and the best way to do this is by tapping into the wisdom of those that work the line themselves. 

But there are also non-physical processes.  In the realm of ideas, there is decision making, idea generation, capturing and disseminating what people know, making assessments of products and processes, and coming up with ways to improve them.  There are also the social and emotional realms, including issues of job satisfaction, motivation, teamwork, communication climate, creativity, and innovation. 

When the processes in your organization are brought to light, you can discover how they are affecting your organization and learn how they can be improved.  Working at a deeper level makes organizational change possible and lasting.

Let's talk about your organizational goals and how I can help you reach them.