Workarounds and Hacks
Have short term hacks become long term habits? Here’s how to identify, evaluate and improve your processes. Just one of the things you need to know as an arts leader, but never get taught in music school.
Are your team using workarounds and hacks to be productive and get their work done?
Have these shortcuts become a habit or the new norm?
Do you know why?
Maybe it’s because resources are stretched thin and we’re scrambling for the quickest solution.
Or maybe it’s the outcome of a training model that values replication and unquestioning compliance over critical thinking and reimagination.
We’re told what to do by the teacher, they are the master and we are the apprentice. The ability to interrogate WHY we’re doing it is often left untouched and we don’t build the mental muscle to ask that WHY question. We are comfortable in routine and habit.
Having been through the process of mapping workflows for my community youth orchestra and their voluntary committee, I’ve been fascinated to see how quick fixes become embedded in working practices. And how those habits mask our ability to identify and solve the real problems for better, sustainable practices.
I received an email from a colleague last week, asking me to forward information to my network about the key recruitment activity for the organisation. It was sent one working day before the event.
Immediately some questions arose:
Why is this major organisation using workarounds rather than having a mapped workflow, lines of communication and accountability?
Why am I, (a 0.2FTE fixed term staff) receiving an email asking me to assist with marketing and communication when there’s an entire department staffed by external relations folks?.
Why was the email sent one working day before the event (days on which I don’t work anyway)?
The specifics of this situation are less important than the global concepts. Here’s WHY this happens and HOW you can address it in your organisation.
Clarity
We have not identified what we’re trying to achieve. Metrics and measures, details and data, vision and values. Everything else feeds downstream from this information. What are the boxes we need to tick for this to be a success?
Communication
Who owns this project? Why do they own it? Who needs to know about it? When do they need to know it in order that THEY can help achieve OUR why? What do they need to know? How will they receive this information? Who is responsible for sharing it with them and checking they have everything they need? And who is responsible for ensuring that this communications plan is shared, enacted and evaluated?
Culture
If there is a culture of information being kept in silos then the personal networks and relationships that must exist for good communication cannot flourish. Mistrust brews, ownership is muddy and your people feel that they don’t know what’s going on.
Confidence
All the above erode confidence and build toxic patterns of workarounds and hacks.
That’s why I received the email. The colleague cared deeply about the event, and was reaching out in any way possible to try and make it a success. The colleague knows I have a great network for this specific event, but I do not believe they have trust in the department responsible for marketing it.
Here is a better way to undercover these practices in your organisation, and build processes that support awesome communication and continuous improvement.
- Ask your team “What workarounds and hacks do you utilise and why?”
- Ask your team “What changes would mean you didn’t have to use workarounds and hacks?”
- Ask your team “What resources would you need to fix this?”
- Ask your team “Who would need to know about the new process?”
- Work collaboratively with those stakeholders to articulate the new process. “Who will own it? How will it be evaluated? How will improvements be enacted?”
- Share this with everyone through a gorgeous piece of visual communication as a journey map NOT a bullet point list.
- REITERATE! That means Goto Step 1.
You might find that the workaround or hack is the best solution! Regardless you will have an embedded process of continuous improvement.
The mapping process I undertook with VYSO has resulted in a phenomenal improvement in the culture, communication and confidence of the committee.
Want More?
Let’s talk about your needs in a free call. I would love to listen, and to help you see what I see.
“I had the privilege of talking with Susan about my evolving strategic planning. She was able, in the course of an hour, to shift my thinking on key problematics … particularly helping me to understand challenges as opportunities. Through well-chosen metaphors, she guided me to conceptualise the core of the problem and its resolution. From practical advice on immediate actions, to long-term radical thinking, Susan guided my strategic thought process across a range of ideas with a light, sure, warm, and encouraging hand, all the while giving generously of her deep professional expertise.”
— Dr Heather Gaunt, Curator, Grainger Museum
