7 Ways to Increase Business Speed Without Breaking Operations

The desire to be faster is almost universal. What’s far less common is the ability to make it happen. Approvals stack up, ownership gets unclear, and work stalls in between teams.

Our research shows that this kind of friction can cost 1–5% of revenue each year. Not because the work is wrong, but because it takes too long to get done. Leaders can usually spot the friction; the real challenge is figuring how to remove it.

These are the habits we see work in practice — across our teams and thousands of client engagements. They’ll sound familiar. That’s the point. The real test is whether they’re actually happening.

Why You’re Moving Slow — and How to Fix It

1. Approval overload is a leadership failure. Assign one owner and move.

More than one-third of managers rank excessive approval layers among their top speed blockers – but the real issue isn’t process, it’s ownership. When it’s unclear who can decide, everything gets escalated.

Every major outcome needs a single named owner with real authority to make decisions without escalation. Then, replace multi-step signoffs with easy choices — approve, revise, or escalate — and enforce a 24–72-hour response window for routine decisions. The results is fewer decisions by committee (slow) and more single decisions (fast).

2. Misalignment at the start guarantees delays. Align on outcomes first.

Misalignment is one of the fastest ways to lose time. When teams don’t agree on outcomes, success gets redefined midstream — and work has to be revisited, reworked, or restarted.

A simple fix: A one-page overview document covering key outcomes, success metrics, and top dependencies gives everyone a shared reference point. This can be initiative-based, or how a team is measuring ongoing success. Require explicit agreement from stakeholders so disagreements are resolved before they become delays.

4. Multiple versions of the truth create rework. Pick one source.

Nearly half of leaders lose 10–25% of their week to rework and process friction. This waste happens when teams work from different versions of the truth. When priorities, data, and progress live in multiple places, work gets duplicated, misaligned, or redone entirely.

The fix is simple but disciplined: Establish a single shared system for priorities, backlog, and work in progress — and require the use of it. If your teams start to maintain shadow systems, that's a signal something isn’t working.

⟫ TRY THIS: If you asked two teams for the current status of the same work, would you get the same answer?

6. Untracked decisions get revisited. Write them down.

Most teams have experienced it: a decision gets made, then quietly reopens weeks later because no one can point to what was agreed or why. That’s not just frustrating — it slows everything down.

Faster organizations treat decisions as something worth capturing, not just discussing. They maintain a simple log of key decisions, risks, and open issues — with clear owners, context, and dates. This creates continuity, avoids rework, and allows teams to build on past decisions instead of revisiting them. When decisions are visible and documented, progress compounds instead of resetting.

⟫ TRY THIS: Use AI as a default to capture key moments, notes, and decisions, to reduce manual work effort and work faster.

7. Smaller, faster delivery beats large, slower rollouts.

More than half of leaders say 10–50% of their projects lose momentum due to delays, and large infrequent milestones are a primary driver. Consider the difference between waiting six months for a full platform rollout vs. releasing one capability at a time and adjusting based on what you learn.

The second approach keeps energy high, surfaces problems early, and builds organizational confidence. Leadership should model a preference for smaller, faster delivery with clear criteria and immediate measurement of impact. Progress builds when teams deliver value continuously, not all at once.