The fastest way to understand how a company really works is to follow one job from the moment it arrives to the moment it ships. Not the average job. One real job, in progress today.
You will find the process nobody drew. The quote goes from sales to engineering by email. A drawing is requested verbally. Purchasing learns about a part when the shop asks where it is. Each handoff is small. Together they make up how the company actually operates.
As you follow the job, note three things at every stop. Who has it. What they still need and do not have yet. And how long it sits before somebody picks it up. That is a map of your workflow, and it is more accurate than any chart.
Do not ask people to explain the process. Ask them to show you the job. People describe the way things are supposed to go. They show you the way things go.
Pay attention to where the information lives. Some of it is in the system. A good deal of it is in a notebook, a text message or somebody's head. Every place the job depends on one of those is a risk, and it is also where a better process will pay off first.
Pick a job this week and try it. It takes a few hours and costs nothing. By the end you will know more about your workflow than most reports could tell you.
If you would like help following a job through your company, reach out to us. Email us at info@devconsultantsllc.com or call (201) 540-7762.