“When two people in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary.”
– William Wrigley Jr., The American Magazine, March 1931
Invoicing Process: 18 Opinions
In early 2023, Senior Process Analyst Ali embarked on a task that seemed simple: mapping out the invoicing process for the Capital Investment team on level 21 of the Stockland office at 133 Castlereagh St, Sydney CBD. The finance department was situated one floor above on level 22. It was meant to be a one-week exercise involving only a few stakeholders.
But soon, Ali discovered this task was anything but straightforward.
Meet “Invoice”—The Wanderer in Your Organisation
Imagine “Invoice” as a character—a document with a purpose—wandering the often sterile halls of your organisation, where bright lights flicker and the air is thick with unspoken confusion.
Her Journey:
- Passed from desk to desk: Invoice travels between departments, thirsting for clarity and consistency.
- Lost in a labyrinth of uncertainty: Instead of a well-defined path, she finds herself navigating a confusing maze.
- In some rooms, people understand only fragments of her story, while in others, they struggle to describe how she moves from one step to the next.
18 Opinions, 18 Versions of Reality
As Ali tried to map out her journey, he interviewed 18 people, each offering a different version of:
- What Invoice should be.
- How she should flow.
- Where she belongs.
This poor character, just trying to complete her journey, found herself ensnared in a web of miscommunication, with each thread tightening around her, stifling her potential.
Why Your Processes Might Be Just as Tangled
Have you ever taken on a project that seemed manageable, only to find that every step uncovered more complexity?
A Structural Mess:
- Disjointed Rooms: Like a building with disconnected rooms, Invoice’s journey resembled a structural mess.
- Misleading Pathways: Ali’s mapping process revealed:
- Walls where there should’ve been doors.
- Staircases leading to nowhere—a surreal reflection of his own frustration.
Each person had their own blueprint, coloured by their perspectives and biases:
- Some viewed her as part of a broader financial structure.
- Others focused solely on her relationship with Capital Partners.
The Hidden Cost of Misunderstanding
Weeks passed, and Invoice continued her wanderings—unprocessed and misunderstood.
The Weight of Expectations:
Ali felt the weight of unmet expectations pressing down like an oppressive cloud.
Reflection Question:
How many times have you found yourself trapped in a project that promised results but only delivered frustration?
A Missed Opportunity
This wasn’t just a failure to map a process; it was:
- A missed opportunity to redesign it altogether.
- A chance slipping away like sand through fingers.
Without stepping back to truly understand her journey, Ali and his team risked merely sketching the current maze:
- Preserving old, inefficient practices.
- Failing to create a new, streamlined structure.
Consider This:
Imagine the potential lost in failing to build something new simply because no one took the time to grasp the true layout of the chaos surrounding them.
What If We Did It Right?
Now picture this: what if everyone had taken the time to understand Invoice’s journey?
Asking the Right Questions:
Before putting pen to paper, they could have asked:
- What does she need?
- Where does she go?
- Why is her path blocked?
The Ideal Outcome
The outcome could have been entirely different:
- A process designed with intention.
- Every team member contributing to building the right structure from the ground up, fostering collaboration and clarity.
Learn More
I go over this in much more detail in our training course on AI-Driven Business Process Management (Click Here), where we dive into how a deeper understanding can lead to revolutionary results.
And here’s the thing: there’s just no way to teach all of this in a blog post, which is why I’m offering one-on-one consultancy (Click Here) to guide teams through this transformation.
Final Note
Don’t miss the opportunity to rebuild your processes from the ground up. Let’s make sure you’re not left behind.
Further Reading
Book Recommendation: Juran on Leadership for Quality: An Executive Handbook (Amazon Australia)
