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OPINION
This is one of the most powerful tools we have to reduce risk, train effectively, grow sustainably, and do better work. Make it repeatable or risk repeating it
M ost professional services firms start the same way – a few talented people get together and decide, “We can do this better.” Early success rides on experience, a little bit of gut instinct, and a lot of elbow grease. Everyone knows what’s going on, and nobody needs formal procedures. A checklist? Who needs it when you’re close enough to finish each other’s sentences?
Michael Sanderson, PE, PTOE
But, as firms grow past 20, 30, 40 people and start to divide into separate teams, that intuitive model starts to crack. Introduce a branch office or a bunch of remote employees, and all bets are off. Suddenly, teams are doing the same thing in different ways. Consistency of quality and customer service are hit and miss – it depends on which PM you get! Your great start-up culture and the employee experience start to drift. And best practices? They live in people’s heads, basically urban legends passed down by senior staff. Hopefully, one of those wise people remembers and has the time to tell the new employees all the secrets, or you can expect even more new ways of doing things to get invented. And at this point, the “I’m an expert and I know what I’m doing” mentality, which used to be a strength, becomes a liability.
It’s not scalable, so organizations stop growing. There’s no way to consistently train new staff. And the firm is at constant risk every time one of the people who know how things get done leaves or retires. The whole organization is at risk. To thrive, firms needs consistency, not chaos disguised as flexibility. And let’s be honest, who wouldn’t like to spend time doing meaningful work rather than duplicating efforts or forever reinventing the wheel. I’ve seen what happens when great talent operates without consistent processes and shared expectations: duplicated efforts, missed details, and frustration on all sides. These breakdowns usually aren’t about capability. They’re the result of unclear structures. And while “process” can sound rigid, the
See MICHAEL SANDERSON, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER OCTOBER 27, 2025, ISSUE 1607
ELEVATE THE INDUSTRY®
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