Grab a pen and paper and start generating a list of your priority proven processes. ![]() ![]() Check-in with your team, and reward or acknowledge them when the process is followed correctly. Create visuals like the one above, and provide small, pocket-sized versions for easy access. Have the team role-play it or practice the process. Training is key, and it will take more (much more) than just reading the process together at a staff meeting. This will give your team an opportunity to get comfortable with the new process, commit it to memory, and consistently execute it accurately. Though it’s tempting to write them all down and roll them out simultaneously, it’s best to only implement 1-2 at a time. Get your team involved, because their perspective will help ensure the proven process is sound and will have their buy-in from the start. Try to strike a balance between internal (staff) and external (client) processes. Write down all the areas you feel are the top priority and start there. This could be client check-in, refill requests, setting up for surgery, discharging a patient, or receiving a package. If you have never written any processes, let’s start with the biggest pain points of the practice. My first piece of advice is to take it slow. I imagine you may be thinking about how many processes you’ll need to write and are starting to mentally prepare for a complete overhaul of your SOPs. If someone is unable to perform all steps after training, then they will not be able to do the task until they have proven they can. All members of the team will be held accountable for the same written process. This is not going to be a do as I say, not as I do situation. These two rules will become even more game-changing than writing the processes themselves. There are two very important rules when it comes to proven processes: They must be followed by all and if you can’t do the process, you can’t do the job. That’s it! You can see on the right how we can easily simplify it into 5 steps. Proven processes are created by turning that long SOP into a 3-5 step process. ![]() That SOP is making the process unnecessarily complex. It’s too much, it’s too long, and your team can’t remember it. If you look through your big dusty binder of SOPs, you may have documents that resemble the image on the left in the visual below. Proven processes are essentially a simplified version of your standard operating procedures (SOPs). In Pathway Planning, the embodiment of the KISS Principle is through proven processes. If you had any doubt that simple is better, just remind yourself that this term was coined by the Navy, a military operation known for precision and efficiency. Unfortunately, what I’ve found in practice is that we have this tendency to overcomplicate things, making it incredibly challenging for our teams to succeed in a stressful environment. Use whatever words you want, but ultimately the idea is that systems or operations function best when they’re simplified. You may have also seen it as “keep it short and simple”, or “keep it short and sweet”. I’m sure we’ve all heard the saying “keep it simple, stupid” or The KISS Principle, as coined by the US Navy in 1960.
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