This past year I went on a fly-fishing adventure in Montana.
It was mid-October and thought it probably wouldn’t be too cold until I noticed the snow-covered ground from the plane. Most of the time I pack for every situation, but I realized I forgot to pack a pair of gloves.
En route to my destination, I decided to make a quick stop at a big box store and grab a cheap pair of gloves. I knew exactly where I needed to go and what type I needed to purchase. Then I approached the massive checkout area. The checkout lines were numbered, so it was easy to see there were at least 15 lines of them, but only one open at the time. The single line was full of customers and weaved through the store. It continued to grow as did my impatience.
At one point I searched my pockets to see if I had any cash because I thought about just giving the person cash and telling them to keep the change. There were a few self-checkout lines off to the side, but they were worse as I saw people with packed carts fumble through the act of scanning their items.
I was tempted to just walk out with the gloves, telling myself, you have shopped at this store plenty of times and could just walk out right now. No one would know… except me. I decided to wait it out in line. I even complimented the cashier because I could tell they were dealing with a lot of frustrated customers. It really wasn’t their fault that the store didn’t have enough registers open that day. It was a leadership oversight to have more employees at the back of the store than in the front. And it created a frustrating bottleneck that the front, where it mattered the most.
Many organizations have the same issues and bottlenecks. A bottleneck can be defined as a narrow section in a road or junction that impedes the flow.1
Leadership bottlenecks come in all shapes and sizes. It could be a leader, a system, a tool, time, or communication barriers. And when I’m coaching another leader, I hear them asking questions about how to avoid bottlenecks.
A few questions I find helpful to ask when experiencing a bottleneck to identify the problem.
- Identify the issue: Is this a personnel issue or a system issue? If it is a personnel issue, consider if it’s a problem with competency, lack of help, or making decisions in isolation. If it is a system issue, follow the flow from start to stuck. Notice where the flow slows down, gets confusing, or starts bouncing back.
- Own up to your part: How have you created a bottleneck? Perhaps there are other people who need to understand the functions of your role and how to do those functions, too. That way, everything isn’t dependent just on you. I’ve seen staff teams have similar experiences to the checkout person in the store. One person who was trying to take care of everything and a system that was not helping. Collaboration is key to removing a bottleneck.
A few tips to avoid creating bottlenecks in the future:
- Follow the flow
Look at the process you are creating from start to finish and see where there might get stuck. In the case of the big box store I was in, the building had a great flow and was well equipped to handle a lot of people coming, selecting items, and checking out. Where they got stuck was not utilizing the systems and tools they created.
- Put more people in the process
It was obvious no one except the lone cashier was aware of the bottleneck. Who else working at the store could see the bottleneck, and were they put in a position to see it?
People on our teams might feel the same way with the things they are leading. They feel all the pressure that is created by the bottleneck and don’t think anyone sees them. Having multiple people working on a system or process provides collaboration, safety, and helps with making better decisions. Organizations that I have seen get stuck have only one person with eyes on the problem, person handling the finances, evaluating the data, caring for people, or are the lone decision maker.
(If you happen to be working for a bottleneck, then check out a previous post: What’s the best approach to leading up? )
- Change requires change
As culture changes and our organizations change, some times our processes and systems and the people that manage them need to change. Continually evaluate where things are and where things are going otherwise you might end up with 15 checkouts and one frustrated worker.
MattGraybill.com 