Yesterday, I was running up the stairs when I felt a ‘ping; in my left ankle and instant pain.
We’ve swapped Dr. Google for Dr. GPT in our house. Which said I should seek urgent medical attention.
So off I went, to hospital:
Triage, X-ray, doctor consultation, ultrasound and another chat with the doctor.
The verdict? Severe tendinitis, but no tear – thankfully. (Just ice, painkillers, rest and elevation and I should be all good in a week)
I expected to be there hours, but the time flew by.
Why?
They told me what was happening next
From the chap who greeted me as I walked in the waiting room – “just take a seat in the red chairs, you will won’t be long, there’s just one person in front of you.”
To the “someone will be along in a few minutes to take you for an x-ray”….”Someone one will take you back to th waiting area” – As I finished my ultrasound someone seemed to ‘magically’ appear, explain what was happing next and disappear.
The Process Transparency Principle
Most organisations however, do the exact opposite.
Your finance team disappears with your budget questions for three weeks then reappears with a multipage report.
Your project team goes silent for a month then announces they’re behind schedule.
And then everyone wonders why the stakeholders are frustrated, disengaged or making up their own stories about why things are taking so long.
The hospital’s process was much faster than I was expecting, but felt even faster because I knew where I stood.
Most leaders think stakeholders need answers.
When in reality what they actually need is certainty about the process.
When will I hear it back?
What’s happening next?
What should I expect?
When you ask your Finance team for something and you hear nothing back for two weeks, you assume:
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They’re ignoring you
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It’s more complicated than your thought
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It’s bad news
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They don’t think it’s important
But when finance says: “We’ll need a week to pull that data together, but I’ll send you a preliminary report on Wednesday and a full analysis by Monday,” you can plan accordingly.
Same time frame but a completely different stakeholder experience.
Three Actions You Can Take This Week:
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Map Your “Wait Times”: Identify the three most common requests your team receives. Work out what the typical turnaround time is, now ask yourself: “do my stakeholders know what to expect ?”
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Add Process Updates – For any request that takes more than 48 hours, send a midpoint update. Even if it’s a; “We’re still working on this. Expect the answer by Friday.” – That alone eliminates 90% of your follow-up anxiety and reduces requests for updates.
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Create Standard Respnse Times/SLAs – publish standard response times. Four common requests e.g. “Budget Variance Analysis, 3-5 business days” – Gives people certainty even if the answer isn’t immediate.
Your stakeholders don’t always need instant answers. But they do need to know they haven’t been forgotten.
What process could you make more transparent this week?
Until next Sunday,
Matthew
Words I Like: “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw
Matthew Needham is an accountant and former CFO who consults and speaks on improving organisational performance. He helps leaders without a finance background confidently engage in financial discussions, enabling better decisions that drive improved performance. For more information, visit matthewneedham.co.
