Most operational complexity does not happen all at once.
It builds gradually.
A customer needs something handled differently.
“We’ll make an exception.”
The system does not provide information someone needs.
“I’ll keep a spreadsheet for now.”
A process takes too long.
“Here’s a shortcut that works.”
Someone needs information that is difficult to find.
“Just email me and I’ll send it to you.”
None of these decisions seems particularly significant at the time.
In fact, they are often reasonable solutions created by people trying to keep the work moving.
The problem is that “for now” has a way of becoming “how we do it.”
Eventually, the temporary spreadsheet is still being updated years later.
The customer exception becomes the way similar customers are handled.
The shortcut gets taught to the next employee.
And the extra email becomes an unofficial step in a process no one realizes has changed.
At some point, the workaround stops being temporary.
It becomes part of the way the business operates.
Workarounds Are Not Necessarily Bad
When I find a workaround in a business, my first reaction is not:
“We need to get rid of that.”
I want to know why it exists.
Most workarounds were created for a reason.
Maybe the system did not do what someone needed.
Maybe the normal process was too slow.
Maybe a customer had a unique requirement.
Maybe employees did not have access to the information they needed.
Someone encountered a problem and found a practical way around it.
That resourcefulness can be valuable.
But the workaround also tells us something.
There was friction somewhere in the original way of working.
So instead of immediately asking how to eliminate the workaround, I think a better question is:
What problem was this workaround originally trying to solve?
Temporary Solutions Can Quietly Create Complexity
One workaround is rarely the problem.
It is what happens as they accumulate.
One employee keeps a spreadsheet outside the primary system.
Another manually enters information into two different places.
A department sends an extra email because the next person in the process does not receive everything they need.
Someone maintains a list of customer exceptions.
Another employee knows the shortcut everyone uses when the normal process takes too long.
Individually, each one may seem manageable.
Together, they start creating a very different operation.
More steps.
More exceptions.
More places to find information.
More things people have to remember.
More opportunities for something to get missed.
And more knowledge that exists only because certain employees know how things really work.
Eventually, there can be a significant difference between the process the business thinks it has and the process employees actually use.
The Real Process May Not Be the One on Paper
Ask a leader how a process works and you may get a straightforward answer.
First we do this.
Then it goes here.
Then this person handles it.
Done.
Ask the person who performs that process every day and you may hear something different.
“Yes, but before I do that, I have to check this spreadsheet.”
“If it's this type of customer, we handle it differently.”
“The system doesn't send that information, so I email it.”
“I skip that step because we don't use it anymore.”
“If this happens, I ask Sarah because she's the only one who knows how to handle it.”
That is useful information.
It does not necessarily mean employees are ignoring the process.
The business may simply have changed while the process did not.
The workaround can reveal the gap between how work was designed to happen and how people actually need to get it done today.
A Workaround Is a Clue
This is where workarounds become valuable from an operational perspective.
They can point directly toward friction.
If someone maintains a spreadsheet outside the primary system, ask:
What does that spreadsheet provide that the system doesn't?
If employees regularly skip a step, ask:
Why doesn't that step work anymore?
If a particular employee has to handle every exception, ask:
What do they know that everyone else doesn't?
If information is entered multiple times, ask:
Why does the process require that?
If people have developed shortcuts, ask:
What are they trying to avoid?
The goal is not to catch people doing something incorrectly.
It is to understand what the workaround is telling you about the operation.
Because sometimes the workaround is not the problem.
It is evidence of the problem.
Don't Automate the Workaround
This becomes especially important as businesses look to technology, automation, and AI to improve efficiency.
Technology can eliminate repetitive work, move information between systems, automate communication, and make processes much faster.
But faster is not always better if we are speeding up something that should not be happening in the first place.
Suppose someone manually enters the same information into three systems.
We could automate that.
But before we do, I want to know:
Why are we entering it three times?
Or maybe a report takes several manual steps to produce.
We could automate the report.
But:
Does anyone still need it?
Or perhaps an approval process takes too long.
Technology could make the approvals move faster.
But:
Do all of those approvals still need to happen?
Technology can make a good process more efficient.
It can also make an unnecessary process more efficient.
Before automating the workaround, understand the work.
Find the Friction Before You Fix It
This is why Find the Friction is the first step in the CrestPoint Climb™.
A workaround gives us somewhere to look.
What problem was it originally created to solve?
Does that problem still exist?
Has the business changed since then?
What happens if the workaround goes away?
Is the process creating unnecessary steps?
Is the technology missing something employees actually need?
Is ownership unclear?
Is important information unavailable at the right time?
At this stage, I am not trying to redesign the entire process.
I am trying to understand why people had to work around it in the first place.
Once we understand that, we can make much better decisions about what should change.
The Goal Is Not to Eliminate Every Exception
Growing businesses need flexibility.
Customers will have unique needs.
Unexpected situations will happen.
Employees need judgment.
Not every process should be so rigid that people cannot respond to what is happening in front of them.
The goal is not to eliminate every workaround or exception.
It is to recognize when exceptions, spreadsheets, manual steps, side systems, and shortcuts have accumulated to the point that they are creating unnecessary complexity.
A workaround that helped the business yesterday may be creating friction today.
Sometimes it is worth asking:
Is this still the best way to get the work done, or is it simply the way we learned to work around something that no longer works?
One Question to Ask This Week
Ask your team:
“What do you have to do outside our normal process or system just to get your work done?”
Then listen.
You may hear:
“I keep my own spreadsheet.”
“I have to enter it twice.”
“I email someone because the system doesn't notify them.”
“I have my own way of tracking it.”
“I skip that step.”
“I ask someone who knows how to handle it.”
Don't immediately try to fix every answer.
Look for patterns.
Those workarounds may show you exactly where your people are encountering friction.
And sometimes, the things people have created just to keep the work moving are the best clues to where your operational problems actually begin.
Where are workarounds hiding friction in your business?
The CrestPoint Friction Audit can help identify where processes, systems, unclear ownership, and everyday workarounds may be creating unnecessary complexity.