How do you handle someone going around your established process and doing things their way?

Our reader poll today asks: How do you handle someone going around your established process and doing things their way?

• I let them do their thing and don’t worry about it – 14%
• I mention the process and ask them to use it in the future – 71%
• I tell them they need to start again and follow my process – 10%
• I take over the effort and drive it through my process – 5%

Follow the process. The vast majority of you who are process owners will gently push people to follow the process when you see them deviate from it. Processes have purpose – consistency, traceability, quality, etc. That said, if you’re seeing people circumvent your process, there might be a few reasons they’re doing so. Either the process is not well-communicated, the process is overly cumbersome, or the process is no longer adding value. Look for trends related to which processes people are avoiding and why. Ask them their view of the process when you find them going around it. Your real issue might be a need for a process redesign, elimination, or communication. Consider yourself as the owner of the result and the process is simply one way to drive that result.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 240,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.