Unblocking a Bottlenecked System

When a system becomes bottlenecked, it decreases the efficiency of the business and can cause frustration among staff members. It can also lower the quality of customer service if deadlines or service products become unavailable due to the interruption to the system.

There are two reasons a system becomes bottlenecked.

Either the responsibilities among staff members are unclear, or the instructions for completing the task have not been properly communicated. Here are 4 easy steps to unblocking a bottlenecked system to help your business stay on track and readjust the trajectory of the business when it gets off course.

Responsibilities

It is important to ensure that job responsibilities are made clear to everyone. Does each staff member have a work breakdown schedule that has roles and responsibilities that everyone feels comfortable with? If you start with this step, you may find that job responsibilities might not be as clear as they need to be, which can cause staff members to work over another. Is there anything here that you need to change?

Maybe some responsibilities may need to be repositioned if you find that a staff member is over booked with responsibilities and tasks are not being completed on time. You may want to consider the strengths and weaknesses of your staff members or administrative staff and delegate responsibilities accordingly.

Accountability

If there is no accountability to each job description, then the system lacks control and supervision. Without guidance, and accountability, responsibilities can become blurred. Who will check in to see if the responsibilities remain clear and fulfilled? Will staff members be accountable to each other to meet certain deadlines? You may need to experiment with a few accountability systems until you find one that works for your team.

Consulted

There may be further training or instruction necessary to resolve the issue. Are outside resources necessary to provide your team with a better streamlined process? Maybe more information is needed to complete the task. How can you consult your team with the education or problem solving resource they need to clarify their confusion.

Informed

Throughout the process, there needs to be communication on the system’s progress and estimated completion or delivery. All clients, cooperating parties and inside staff need to be informed on the status and items needed. This forces the communication to remain consist, which in turn clears murky waters and sets expectations.

Making sure that your staff members and their systems remain responsible, accountable, consulted and informed will keep your business free from bottlenecked systems and launch your business to the next level!