Three Steps to Improve Your Stance for Exceptions
Troubleshooting process exceptions and system bugs have a compounding effect when there are many places to look. Three steps get you in a better position to deal with uncertainty.
You’ve probably encountered a scenario where you’re an exception or edge case in a business process, or have seen a bug in a system in your personal or work life.
You might even be the person that designed that business process or system, and in some cases, you might know which exceptions are possible or bugs that were deferred.
However, when you don’t know about those exceptions and bugs, figuring out the root cause and why it’s happening is compounded when there are many places to look and people to ask.
Here’s are steps you should follow to reduce that compounding effect:
Identify an owner: Pick a person to be your “product owner” or “directly responsible individual (DRI)” that is aware of design and implementation details for a given business process or system
Centralize your documentation: Capture examples of exceptions and bugs with details about what happened and how to reproduce it; take the time to diagram your business processes; system architecture diagrams for how data is stored, flows, and is secured; and, training or enablement materials for end users to understand how a process or system works
Establish a governance process: Even with an owner and great documentation, slipping in changes because “we can”, “it’s quick”, or “extremely senior executive is pushing for it” can create havoc, so take the time to intentionally review the impact that changes will have
Whether you’re working in a small business or enterprise environment, you can apply these concepts to improve the design and evolution of your business processes and systems.
And, if you’re embarking on or midway through a digital transformation project and don’t have these concepts implemented, set aside the time and just do it!
The three tips above give you the best chance to avoid being like the folks that deferred this work and encountered timeline delays, unanticipated spend with vendors, and reduced trust from stakeholders.
TLDR: Follow the three steps to improve your stance for exceptions: pick an owner, centralize your docs, and establish governance.
