The Workaround Is Trying to Tell You Something

Workarounds are common in almost every workplace. Someone keeps a separate spreadsheet because the system does not show the information they need. A team creates its own checklist because the official procedure is difficult to use. People send an extra email because they do not trust that the next step will happen without it.

At first, these actions may look like bad habits, the normal response is often to remove them. Stop using the spreadsheet, follow the official process, use the system correctly, and do not create another version of the document. Sometimes that is the right response. But before removing a workaround, I would want to understand why it exists.

Most workarounds started because someone had a problem to solve. Perhaps the system was too slow. Information was missing. A process had too many steps. People could not see the status of their work. Or the official procedure did not match what actually happened during the day.

People adapted so they could continue working. This does not mean that every workaround is good. Some create serious risks. They can lead to different versions of the same information, missed controls, manual errors, or knowledge that exists only in one person’s files.

But removing the workaround without fixing the reason behind it can create another problem. Imagine a team that keeps a spreadsheet next to an official system. From a process point of view, this looks like duplication. The obvious improvement is to remove the spreadsheet and ask everyone to use the system.

But why was the spreadsheet created? Maybe the system stores the information but does not show it in a useful way. Perhaps people need five screens to find something they can see in one row of the spreadsheet. Or they may need a simple overview to plan their work, while the official system was designed mainly for recording data.

If we remove the spreadsheet without understanding this, the need does not disappear. People may create another spreadsheet. They may keep notes somewhere else. They may start asking colleagues for information. The workaround changes, but the problem stays.

This is why workarounds can be useful when we are trying to improve a process. They show us where people are adding something that the normal process does not provide. Sometimes they point to missing information. Sometimes they show that a step is too difficult or takes too long. They can also show where people do not trust a system, a handover, or a control.

In this sense, a workaround is data. It tells us that there is a difference between the process we designed and the process people need in order to do their work.

That difference is worth exploring. The best place to start is often with the people who created the workaround. Instead of asking why they are not following the process, ask what problem the workaround helps them solve. The answer can be very practical.

“We need to see all open cases in one place.”

“We do this because otherwise we don’t know whether the other team received the request.”

“We keep a copy because the information sometimes disappears.”

“We added this check after several mistakes.”

These answers tell us much more than simply seeing that the official process is not being followed. They also help us separate useful adaptation from unnecessary habits. Some workarounds remain long after the original problem has disappeared. A system may have been improved, but people still use an old spreadsheet because they have always used it. A manual check may continue even though a new control now does the same thing automatically.

In those cases, removing the workaround makes sense. Other workarounds are holding a weak process together. Removing them too quickly may make the work harder or expose problems that people were managing in the background. The difference matters.

Process improvement is not about making people follow the process at any cost. It is about making the process work well enough that people do not need to build another one beside it.

So when you find an unofficial spreadsheet, an extra email, a personal checklist, or a step that does not appear in the procedure, do not assume it should disappear immediately. First find out what job it is doing. The workaround may be inefficient. It may even need to go. But before removing it, understand the problem it was created to solve. That problem is often where the real improvement needs to begin.