How inspection creates clarity
We work with some fantastic SMEs, bearing witness to hard-working individuals who are constantly juggling trade-offs: time vs quality; speed vs control; trust vs oversight. There is no doubt that it is a challenging environment to operate in, and one of the key elements to success is CLARITY. To optimise clarity, we suggest keeping the following phrase front and centre:
“Don’t expect, inspect”
At first glance, this may seem a little negative. Does it imply a lack of trust and a high level of micro-managing? Absolutely not. It’s about creating clarity, consistency and accountability so that teams can succeed without guesswork or misunderstanding. Let us explain…
When we work in small, agile teams it is very common for a leader to think that the team knows what good looks like, or to think ‘we discussed this before, so they know what they’re doing’. But expectations that only exist in a leader’s mind are assumptions. Inspection is simply the act of making those expectations visible and verifiable. It means building systems where quality doesn’t depend on hope, so that we have set clear standards, checked activity against those standards, and implemented feedback loops to improve outcomes over time.
How do we do this without micro-managing?
- Define what good looks like
Before we can inspect anything, we need a clear standard. Ask, ‘what does success look like for this task or outcome?’ Discuss and agree with team members. Then make it visible by creating templates or examples of best practice, or some simply quality criteria.
This brings clarity which eliminates guesswork for everyone.
- Build inspection into the process
When inspection is baked into the workflow, it becomes normalised, regular and expected. It can be incorporated into KPI reviews, project milestone reviews, pre-delivery quality checks, or authorisation processes.
This approach steers clear of random spot checks and provides predictable checkpoints.
- Inspect the output, not the person
It is too easy to let emotions take over or for blame to set in, but it is important to remember that inspection should focus on the work, the process and the outcome. It should not focus on personal traits of the individual carrying out the task, or assumptions about effort.
This keeps inspection objective and constructive.
- Use inspection to teach and improve, not catch
Ultimately, we are attempting to create a feedback culture where we are all pushing for continuous improvement. No team member should feel they’ve been ‘caught out’ if something doesn’t hit the standards set. We learn lessons from mistakes and missteps, we discuss how they can be avoided next time, we share context behind the standards.
Over time, the team begins to self-inspect, which is feedback culture in action!
As consistency and quality improves, inspections becomes less frequent, meaning increased autonomy for team members and more time released for other tasks for leaders.
When done right, “Don’t expect, inspect” leads to:
- Teams that understand expectations clearly
- Fewer mistakes and surprises
- Greater ownership at every level
- Self-inspecting teams that don’t rely on leaders to maintain quality
Will you remove assumption and do more inspection? Let us know! You’re In Cool Company…
