process snake

The "process snake" is a term which describes the insidious impact functionalisation has in large organisations. Functionalisation is often introduced to improve internal efficiency and is based on the idea of grouping certain skills and expertise in certain areas.

The downside is that organisations find they are unable to resolve queries quickly as they have multiple teams that are co-dependent on each other, yet each team has different priorities and does not have sight of the big picture.

The process snake is not normally deliberately created. It starts small, in one team or area, before eventually wrapping itself across every department in a company. It essentially deceives the organisation in to believing they will benefit, but ultimately ends up creating a complex set of inter-dependant steps that no single person in the organisation has the authority to change.

"I cannot find an owner of this process snake"
"This process snake is so slippery, I don't see how we will every bring more collaboration to the team"

"I wouldn't touch that process snake. It's so large now you'll just get bitten trying to make an improvement"