What is process, and why should you care about it?

If you’ve ever been frustrated with an outcome—whether it’s a production delay, inconsistent service, or a team that’s always scrambling—you’re looking at the end result of a process. Every result, good or bad, comes from a process, whether we’ve designed it with intention or let it evolve on its own.

Seeing the Invisible Work

Processes are not the documented SOPs, but the ACTUAL steps we are taking. Even if your high-level production process is documented in a food safety or quality plan, I bet you’d be surprised to observe the micro-moves that are actually transpiring. And production gets a lot of attention, but how about all of the support processes like ordering, hiring, or reporting? There is even a process behind how your leadership team makes decisions. The problem is, we often don’t see them clearly. We are so used to them, we just see a buzz of activity that seems more or less “normal”. Yet we still suffer from problems like late orders, persistent quality issues, and high costs. Those symptoms were produced by a process.

The good news? If there’s a process, you can change it. The first step is starting to see your business through the lens of process, then understanding how it is driving your results - including the ones you’d like to improve.

Why Process Awareness Matters

If you want better results, you need to look at the process behind them. This means asking:

• What steps are actually being taken? (Not just what’s supposed to happen, but what’s really happening?)

• Where do things slow down or get stuck?

• Where is product being redone, scrapped, or left unfinished?

• How do handoffs happen? What is our communication process?

Every time you find yourself firefighting—rushing to fix something that’s already gone wrong—take a step back. Instead of just fixing the problem in front of you, trace it back. What process led to it? What patterns can you see?

Own Your Process

You don’t need to be a giant manufacturer to benefit from process thinking. Whether you run a restaurant, a small food company, or a growing manufacturing operation, your success depends on how well your processes support your goals.

So, what’s your process? And more importantly—are you letting it run you, or are you running it?

Check out our food process improvement event series to join your peers in better seeing, understanding, and ultimately improving your processes.

Next up: Now that we’ve looked at process awareness, we’ll dig into waste—where it hides, and how addressing it can unlock hidden value.