When a business makes a change, it should be to solve a specific problem. But when tools like Microsoft Teams or Slack are introduced, it often feels like the problem hasn’t been clearly defined.
If I had to guess, the assumed problem is something like: employees aren’t getting enough done because communication is too slow. But I’m not convinced that’s the real issue. In most cases, I haven’t seen slow communication as the primary bottleneck.
In fact, I’ve seen the opposite. Once tools like Slack are introduced, communication doesn’t just get faster—it becomes constant. Conversations fragment. More things feel urgent. People spend more time responding and less time actually working. You can see this reflected in how often teams complain about message overload and nonstop notifications.
The bigger constraint is usually the process itself. Poorly designed processes slow everything down, regardless of how fast people can message each other. The problem is that process issues are harder to see and take more effort to fix.
Leaders tend to look for quicker wins. It’s easier to introduce a new tool than to step back and rethink how work actually flows.
But improving tools before fixing the process is backwards.
A better approach is to start with the process. This isn’t a new idea—it’s a core principle behind systems like the Toyota Production System, which focuses on improving the system before optimizing the people inside it.
Once the process is working well, you can focus on improving how people interact within it. After that, you can optimize individual performance. Then you return to the process and repeat the cycle.
That’s how continuous improvement actually works.