The Haunted Workflow: “That’s How We’ve Always Done It”

bberrodin

7 hours ago

4 min read

Some processes have a strange ability to survive long after they’ve stopped making sense.

The spreadsheet that gets updated three different ways. The approval process that requires five emails and a follow-up call. The report someone spends hours creating because “that’s how we’ve always done it.” The task that belongs to everyone, which somehow means it belongs to no one.

These are the haunted workflows of property management.

They may not rattle chains or appear in the hallway after dark, but they can create plenty of operational headaches. If your property team is still relying on processes that were designed for a completely different set of circumstances, it may be time to stop treating them as untouchable and start asking whether they still serve the team.

How Workflows Become Haunted

Most inefficient processes don't start out inefficient. They usually evolve over time.

Say a property team finds a workaround for a problem, then someone creates a spreadsheet to fill a gap in a system. Soon after, a manager adds an approval step after an issue occurs. Finally, a new employee inherits an existing process and continues it without questioning why it exists. Before long, the workaround becomes the standard.

The problem is that the original reason for the process can disappear while the process remains. Through changes in staff, technology, and the standard evolutions that naturally happen over time, a workflow can keep moving along as if nothing happened.

Eventually, no one remembers why a particular step exists. They just know that skipping it is "not how we do things."

That's when a workflow becomes haunted.

The Warning Signs of a Haunted Workflow

One of the biggest signs of a broken workflow is repetition without a clear purpose. If team members are entering the same information into multiple systems, creating reports that already exist somewhere else, or manually transferring information that could be automated, there's probably an opportunity to rethink the process.

Another warning sign is excessive dependence on individual employees. If only one person knows how to complete a critical task, where a file lives, how a report is built, or which steps need to happen in what order, the workflow has become a knowledge risk.

Long approval chains can also be a clue. Some approvals are necessary, but if a routine decision requires multiple emails, meetings, reminders, and sign-offs, it is worth asking whether every step is still necessary.

And then there are the phrases that should make every property leader pause: "We've always done it this way." "That's just how the system works." "Someone has to do it." "I don't know why, but we've always included that step."

Those aren't explanations. They're invitations to investigate.

Don't Just Automate a Bad Process

When a workflow is inefficient, the first instinct is often to add technology. Sometimes that's the right answer, but technology can't fix a process that hasn't been examined.

Automating a bad workflow simply allows the bad workflow to happen faster.

Before introducing another platform, integration, dashboard, or automation, take a step back and map out what actually happens today:

Who starts the process?
What information is needed?
Who touches it?
Where does it go?
Where do delays occur?
Which steps require human judgment, and which ones are simply repetitive?

Then ask the most important question: If we were designing this process from scratch today, would we build it this way? The answer may be uncomfortable, and that's okay. The goal isn't to defend the existing process; it's to make the work better.

Give Your Team Permission to Question the Process

People closest to the work often know exactly where the friction is. But employees aren't always encouraged to challenge established processes, particularly when those processes have been around for years.

Create opportunities for them to do that. Ask your team where they lose the most time. What tasks feel unnecessarily complicated? Which processes require the most follow-up? What information do they have to enter more than once? What would they eliminate if they could?

You may discover that the person who has been quietly working around a broken process every day also has the best idea for fixing it.

Exorcise the Workflow, Not the People

When a process isn't working, it's tempting to assume the problem is execution. Maybe the employee needs more training. Maybe the team needs to be reminded about the procedure. Maybe someone needs to "do a better job" following the process.

But sometimes the process itself is the problem. If good employees consistently struggle with the same workflow, that's worth investigating before putting more pressure on the people responsible for executing it.

What Should You Bury?

As you review your team's workflows, look for processes that are:

Duplicative. The same information is being entered, tracked, or reported in multiple places.
Manual by default. A task continues to be completed manually simply because that's how it has always been done.
Dependent on tribal knowledge. Employees have to ask a specific person because the process isn't documented or standardized.
Full of unnecessary handoffs. Work moves through multiple people even when every handoff doesn't add value.
Difficult to measure. Nobody knows how long a process takes, where it gets stuck, or whether it actually produces the desired outcome.
Built for the past. The process was designed around old technology, staffing structures, reporting requirements, or business priorities.

Not every old process needs to be eliminated; in fact, some have survived because they work. The important distinction is whether you're keeping a process because it is effective or simply because nobody has challenged it.

It's Time to Let Some Things Go

It all starts with a simple question: "Why are we still doing this?" That question can uncover unnecessary steps, outdated technology, communication gaps, duplicated work, and opportunities to better use your team's time. The next step is to decide what stays, what changes, and what deserves to be permanently buried. So this season, take a look around your operation. Investigate the spreadsheet no one understands or challenge the seven-step approval process. You may find it's time to put that workflow to rest.

The right people can help keep your operations moving—even when staffing gaps, changing priorities, or outdated processes get in the way. BG Staffing can help you find the talent you need to keep your property operations running efficiently. Let's talk.