Introducing the Process Canvas

The "Produce Coffee Products" Process Canvas Example (AI Generated)

Process canvases empower teams bringing everyone onto the same page with shared clarity and better teamwork.  They spark constructive conversations about improvement with smarter decisions and more positive, ambitious and lasting change.

Common Challenges

Scale-up leaders face many challenges progressing from a small company to a medium sized enterprise.  Here are a few examples:

• Disruption of daily business due to unclear processes or misaligned teams.

• Time spent firefighting rather than focusing on strategy or growth.

• Constantly pulled into tactical problems, which diverts attention from long-term vision.

• Risk of missed opportunities or poor execution of new initiatives.

• Too many decisions bottlenecked at the top due to unclear delegation.

• CEO becomes the default problem-solver for issues that should be handled by teams.

• Without clear systems, CEO may feel alone in driving change or enforcing accountability.

• Harder to empower teams or build a strong leadership bench.

• Process inefficiencies, errors, or compliance issues can lead to lost revenue, increased costs, or reputational damage.

• Without scalable processes, it’s harder to adapt, pivot, or seize growth opportunities.

The lack of clear, aligned and visible processes increases pressure on the CEO, reduces organisational agility and limits the firm’s ability to grow sustainably. A process canvas helps alleviate this by providing clarity, enabling delegation and building a stronger foundation for scale and change.

Barriers

While detailed procedures and process models are created with the best intentions, a range of barriers often prevent them from being understood, adopted, or used effectively in daily operations.

• Detailed procedures and policies often end up unused because they're buried in documents no one refers to or understands.

• Teams may invest significant time creating complex process models, only to find they deliver little practical value in day-to-day work.

• Without a clear connection to real challenges, detailed documentation feels bureaucratic rather than helpful.

• If people don’t follow the documented processes, the models lose credibility and become a box-ticking exercise.

• A lack of leadership ownership means policies and procedures aren’t reinforced or modelled from the top, reducing adoption.

• Overly complex or rigid process models can overwhelm users and fail to reflect the actual ways people work.

• Poorly facilitated development of procedures results in content that misses frontline realities and lacks relevance.

• When detailed documentation isn’t tied to action, continuous improvement, or measurable outcomes, it quickly becomes obsolete.

  
  

Outcomes

By overcoming these barriers, SMEs can turn static documentation into living tools that drive clarity, consistency and continuous improvement - unlocking real value across the business.

• A single shared visual that aligns everyone’s understanding.

• Create meaningful and relevant metrics for everyone in their role.

• Surface gaps, redundancies and hidden interdependencies.

• Prompt discussion of enablers and barriers for actionable insights.

• Encourage active participation with clearly defined roles and contributions.

• Embed goals and success criteria to anchor discussions around value.

• Identify and prioritise improvement opportunities - people, process and technology.

• Connect processes to strategic goals and resolve misaligned activities.

  
  

Next steps?

To see a demo and to find out how process canvases could be applied to your organisation, please visit www.bettertrack.ai to book an introductory call. We offer expert support with a money back guarantee.