Workflow challenges rarely stem from a single obvious failure. Teams often build processes over time, adding steps, workarounds, and approvals without revisiting how everything fits together. As a result, work moves inconsistently, responsibilities blur, and delays become routine.
Leaders may recognize the symptoms, but without a structured approach, they struggle to pinpoint where problems begin. A clear framework helps teams see how work flows and where alignment breaks down. That visibility creates the foundation for meaningful improvement through the Perigon method, a set of steps to improve team workflow.
Start With Clear Process Boundaries
Every workflow improvement effort needs a defined starting point. Without clear boundaries, teams risk expanding the scope too far or missing critical steps that affect outcomes.
Teams should identify what triggers the process and what defines completion. This clarity prevents confusion and keeps everyone aligned on the same objective. When stakeholders agree on scope early, they avoid rework and maintain focus throughout the effort.
Clear boundaries also help isolate issues. Instead of addressing broad operational challenges, teams can concentrate on a specific workflow and improve it with precision.
Map the Workflow as It Actually Operates
Accurate mapping shows how work moves across the organization, not how teams believe it should work. Most processes include delays, rework, and informal steps that never appear in documentation, especially at handoffs between teams.
To capture the current state, teams should walk through the process step by step with the people who perform the work. Document each action, decision point, and handoff in sequence, including where work waits, gets returned, or requires clarification. This approach reveals where approvals stall, where inputs arrive incomplete, and where teams rely on workarounds to keep things moving.
Identify Breakdowns and Sources of Friction
Once teams map the workflow, they can pinpoint where performance slows or stops. Most issues surface during handoffs, at decision points, or in areas where expectations remain unclear, but teams often overlook them without a structured review.
The most common breakdowns show up in a few consistent areas:
- Approval steps that sit idle without clear ownership or timing
- Inputs that arrive incomplete, forcing teams to pause or redo work
- Responsibility gaps between teams during handoffs
- Extra steps that no longer contribute to the outcome
Each issue creates delays that extend beyond a single step. For instance, a missed input or a stalled approval often impacts multiple downstream teams. When the same breakdown recurs, it signals a structural issue in the workflow that requires correction rather than a one-time fix.
Define Roles and Decision Ownership
Unclear roles create delays at the exact points where workflows depend on decisions and handoffs. When teams do not know who owns a step or who has authority to move work forward, tasks sit idle while employees wait for direction or loop in multiple people to get an answer. This confusion often leads to duplicated effort, missed approvals, or inconsistent decisions across similar situations.
Defining ownership at each stage removes that friction and keeps work moving. Teams should assign one accountable owner for execution, clearly identify who approves outcomes, and establish who steps in when issues require escalation. When these expectations remain consistent across the workflow, decisions happen faster, handoffs become more reliable, and teams spend less time clarifying responsibilities and more time completing work.
Align Inputs and Outputs Between Steps
Each step in a workflow depends on receiving complete and usable inputs from the previous one. When key details are missing, formats vary, or requirements remain unclear, teams stop to ask questions, return work, or make assumptions that lead to errors. These breakdowns often occur during handoffs, when one team believes it has finished its part but the next team cannot proceed.
Defining clear input and output requirements for each step removes that friction. Teams must define exactly what each step requires before work begins and what it must deliver before handing it off. For example, a request should not move forward without complete data, and a completed step should not pass on work that requires follow-up clarification.
Simplify the Workflow Structure
The next step to improve team workflows through the Perigon method is to keep processes simple. Over time, workflows accumulate unnecessary complexity. Teams add steps to address short-term issues, but those additions often persist long after the original problem has disappeared.
Simplifying the workflow removes that excess. Teams should evaluate each step and determine whether it contributes to the outcome. If it does not, they should eliminate or combine it with another step.
Streamlined workflows remove unnecessary approvals, reduce handoff delays, and limit the number of times work changes direction. When teams focus only on steps that directly move work forward, they complete tasks faster, reduce rework, and maintain clearer accountability at each stage.
Standardize for Consistency Across Teams
Each step in a workflow relies on receiving complete and accurate inputs from the previous one. When information arrives missing key details, formatted inconsistently, or delayed, teams stop to clarify requirements or redo work. These interruptions often occur at handoffs between departments, where expectations differ, and no standard exists.
Defining clear input and output requirements for each step removes that friction. Teams should specify exactly what information, documents, or approvals must be in place before work begins, as well as what must be delivered before moving to the next stage.
Why It Matters
When these expectations stay consistent, handoffs become more reliable, rework decreases, and the workflow moves forward without repeated delays.
Reinforce and Measure Performance Over Time
Implementation does not end with a redesigned workflow; without reinforcement, teams return to familiar habits, and improvements fade. Leaders must stay involved by tracking performance against defined metrics and addressing gaps as they appear. Consistent oversight keeps the process active and prevents teams from slipping back into inconsistent execution.
Regular communication reinforces expectations and keeps teams aligned with the updated workflow. When leadership remains visible and engaged, employees understand that the changes carry weight. Measurement also provides clarity, allowing teams to see progress, identify new issues, and refine the workflow as conditions evolve.
Creating Long-Term Workflow Improvement
Workflow improvement does not hold unless teams change how they manage work day to day. A redesigned process only delivers value when teams follow it consistently, understand their roles, and trust the structure in place.
Leaders must stay involved after implementation. They should review performance regularly, address breakdowns quickly, and reinforce expectations across teams. When ownership remains clear and accountability stays visible, workflows continue to improve instead of slipping back into old patterns.
Sustained improvement also depends on consistency across functions. When departments follow the same structure for inputs, outputs, and decision-making, work flows smoothly. Over time, this alignment reduces delays, limits rework, and creates a more predictable operating environment.
Contact Us
Organizations that struggle with inconsistent workflows often need more than internal adjustments. Structured guidance helps teams uncover hidden inefficiencies and align processes across departments.
Working with experienced business mapping experts provides clarity on the Perigon method for strategic process management. Business Enterprise Mapping uses the Perigon Method to help organizations uncover workflow breakdowns, align teams, and implement structured processes that support consistent execution. Teams that take a structured approach to workflow improvement reduce delays, improve coordination, and create a more reliable way of working.