Getting started
Which process to start with?
The highest-yield one is not the biggest: it is the one that makes you chase someone outside.
The choice of first process decides whether the project moves by itself or has to be pushed every week. And almost everyone chooses badly for the same reason: they start with something internal, which is easy to change, when the return lies in what goes outward.
The three usual candidates
| Candidate | Return | Difficulty | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supplier or contractor documentation | High | Medium | The best first, nearly always |
| Staff signatures | High | Low | A good first if there is turnover |
| The historical archive | Low at first | High | Never first |
Important
The first wins because it combines three things: someone outside is involved, documents expire, and it repeats. Those three together are exactly where a tool like this returns time from week one.
How to scope it to fit a month
- 1
One supplier type, not all of them
The hauliers, or one site's subcontractors. Ten or fifteen, not two hundred.
- 2
The document list you already request
Do not take the chance to redesign what is asked for: that is another project.
- 3
With the people who already do it
The whole company does not need to join to test one process.
- 4
And a date to decide
Thirty days. Without a date the trial stretches until nobody remembers what was being tested.
Watch out
The second sinks the most projects. Setting up the process brings the temptation to review which documents are requested, who approves and against what criteria — and suddenly the project depends on three decisions that are not yours.
Signs you chose well
If none of the three has happened after a month, you probably chose a process that was too internal or too infrequent. That is not failure: it is information for choosing the next one.
Worth knowing
What does not help is starting two processes at once "to go faster". If something fails you will not know which caused it, and the conversation with the team becomes vague.
›What if our most painful case is internal?
Do it anyway, knowing the return will be smaller and slower.
›How many people should take part?
Those already doing that work. Adding spectators does not help.
›Can we switch process midway?
Yes, and sometimes it is right. Note why — that is the instructive part.
A real case
The situation
A company wants to start by uploading its whole historical archive.
What you do
- Starts with documentation from fifteen hauliers
- Sets a decision date at thirty days
What you get
Within two weeks the hauliers supply unprompted and the archive is postponed to month two.
The situation
The chosen process depends only on people inside.
What you do
- Picks one that means waiting on somebody outside
What you get
The saving shows from week one, because that is where the lost time is.
The situation
You start with something that happens twice a year.
What you do
- Picks what repeats every week
What you get
The template pays for itself in the first month.
The situation
The chosen process is run by one person and nobody else sees it.
What you do
- Picks one two or three people touch
What you get
Somebody beyond whoever set it up notices the result.
The situation
You pick the most important process, which is also the most delicate.
What you do
- Starts with one where a mediocre result breaks nothing
What you get
You learn without risking the critical process.
The situation
Nobody knows which process consumes most time today.
What you do
- Asks where the week goes before choosing
What you get
The choice rests on real time rather than an impression.
This article answers
- where do i start rolling this out
- which process to digitise first
- choosing the first use case
- start with the easiest or the most useful