Workflow Part 2
How to Spot a Work Clog Before It Hits the Fan
Every COO knows this moment: a project is delayed, a team’s frustrated, someone’s asking “Who was supposed to do this?” — and suddenly everyone’s pretending this was inevitable. But it wasn’t.
The truth? Most work clogs send out smoke signals way before they burn down the timeline. You just have to know where (and how) to look.
Let’s break it down.
🚨 1. The “Just Checking In” Epidemic
If your Slack/Inbox is full of people asking for status updates, you don’t have a communication problem — you have a visibility problem.
Red flag: Teams are “managing by ping.”
Root issue: There’s no single source of truth. Work isn’t trackable or transparent.
Fix it: Build or reinforce a real-time workflow hub (Notion, Linear, ClickUp, Lucid, etc.) and teach people to use it. Religiously.
🌀 2. Rework, Rework, Rework
When teams are redoing work — because requirements changed, feedback came too late, or someone built the wrong thing — that’s not just wasted time. It’s a sign the process is broken before the work starts.
Red flag: “This isn’t what we needed.”
Root issue: Ambiguity in briefs, approvals, or who owns what.
Fix it: Standardize kickoffs. Write things down. Get real signoff early.
⏳ 3. Decision Bottlenecks (aka The Waiting Game)
When progress halts because someone hasn’t reviewed/approved/given feedback, you don’t have a time issue — you have a permission structure issue. Maybe even a trust issue???
Red flag: "We're waiting on [insert name]" becomes a familiar phrase.
Root issue: Decision rights aren’t clearly distributed.
Fix it: Define approval paths. Empower more autonomous decision-making. Track open loops publicly.
🧩 4. Ghost Dependencies
You know the feeling: one team can’t move forward, but they only discover after the delay that they were waiting on another team they didn’t even know was involved.
Red flag: Surprise blockers from left field.
Root issue: Poor cross-functional planning.
Fix it: Map dependencies before kickoff. Weekly stand-ups between leads help surface these early.
🧠 5. Process Workarounds
When teams build shadow processes (“We just use this secret Airtable”) to avoid official systems, that’s not innovation — that’s a symptom.
Red flag: People “just doing what works for now.”
Root issue: The official process is too rigid, slow, or not built for them.
Fix it: Listen, adapt, co-design better workflows with those actually doing the work.
If things are only moving because certain people go above and beyond constantly… the system is broken. Burnout is lurking. It's not sustainable — or scalable. I work with a lot of owners who can do everything on the list. I call them “Swiss army knives” because they know every system and can do all the work. With a Fractional COO by their side they can offload, recharge, and know that a proper workflow (and SOPs!) get the job done better.
