While it may seem obvious that simple, well-functioning operations are ideal, it is not always possible. There are times when a business needs to deal with opportunities or challenges at hand, leaving little time or resources to make improvements.

So when should simplification and process improvement be prioritised?

In our view, the answer has three parts:

Firstly, simplification should occur before things get too costly. Complexity leads to rework, low productivity, WHS incidents, staff turnover, loss of margin and damage to brand – all of which cost money. Many of these expenses can be saved by confronting operational complexity sooner rather than later.

Secondly, there appear to be three growth pain-points that businesses experience. We notice these occur when a company has around 16 staff, 80 staff and then 250 staff. A good time to start focusing on operational improvement and simplification is before staff numbers approach one of these pain points.

Finally, simplifying operational processes needs to be part of any planning for revenue growth.  This is because existing processes may not scale efficiently or function as intended when production volumes increase.

There are always numerous competing priorities in business, and it’s not always possible to keep things simple. We therefore need to monitor operational complexity as a key business issue and prioritise simplification before it becomes too costly to do so.