Processes help organizations scale up. Processes are nothing but just a set of guidelines for managing activity and handling situations.
Processes are usually centrally planned and locally implemented. They reduce dependence on individual brilliance, and instill a discipline that results in operational efficiencies and consistency of experience. They also allow individuals to be clear on how a certain activity/situation is to be handled.
The quality of processes can make or break an organization. Not only should processes be implemented, but they should also be measured and evaluated periodically to ensure that inefficiencies and redundancies are eliminated.
In a startup, it is critical to define some processes, yet be flexible enough to adjust them,as soon as you see some processes becoming bottlenecks or inefficient.
During a pilot phase, the startup could test multiple processes and then decide which ones seem to be working better and adopt them for the organization. However, what is important is the focus on establishing processes BEFORE the company needs the processes to scale up. The pilot phase allows processes to be tested, as some of them are bound to fail. The smaller scale of a pilot allows the outcome of failed processes to be handled or damage to be contained quickly. But it does require closer monitoring and planning.
Nett: Be process-oriented during the pilot-phase too. But be nimble and flexible, and be ready to make quick adjustments.
