Make Chaos Optional — Turning Whack a Mole into a Workflow

The Situation

When I took over a large global client service team, chaos was the norm.
There were dozens of manual processes, zero documented procedures, and constant fires. Every day felt like playing whack a mole.

Put one problem out, and another one popped up. The team was stuck in reactive mode, overwhelmed and inefficient.

The Challenges

• No standard operating procedures
• High volume of manual tasks
• Constant unexpected issues
• No visibility into what was breaking or why
• Employees felt like they were spinning in circles

What We Did

We stopped reacting and started diagnosing.
I partnered with my global colleagues and we built a plan:

✅ Created an Automated Issue List and Dashboard
This helped us spot patterns, track recurring problems, and give senior management a clear view of what was happening.

✅ Analyzed Process Volumes
We reviewed every process to identify where automation would have the biggest impact.

✅ Built Workflows to Replace Manual Work
We developed digital workflows to streamline common tasks, reduce errors, and free up time for real client service, not cleanup.

What Happened

🧭 We moved from reactive to proactive
💡 Technology became a tool for transparency, not a burden
📊 The team had better visibility into their work
🔥 Fewer fires, more focus
💬 Senior leadership finally had clarity on what was actually going wrong and what we were doing about it

It took a few years to get the chaos under control, but the work doesn’t stop there. You have to keep reviewing and refining. If you're not careful, technology can make things more complicated, not better.