Perp Walk...Documented Doesn't Mean Done
Documented Doesn’t Mean Done: Why Process Compliance Is Your Best Defense
With clients, we often emphasize the importance of documenting our processes (usually into a playbook) —and rightly so. Clear SOPs, checklists, and workflows are essential tools for training, scaling, and creating consistency. But here's the hard truth:
A documented process that no one follows is just a suggestion.
Recent headlines have made this painfully clear.
At Chelsea Piers, a former employee allegedly created fake invoices using a phony company and skimmed nearly $80,000. How? He manipulated the internal reimbursement system—a system that, while likely documented, wasn’t actively monitored.
In Hong Kong, a finance employee wired $25 million after joining a video call with what appeared to be the company CFO and other executives. It was later discovered the entire call was an AI deepfake. A shocking example of what can happen when approval processes exist on paper but aren’t enforced in practice.
In San Francisco, a tech CEO raised $60 million from investors by allegedly falsifying financial data. That didn’t happen overnight—it happened because internal controls weren’t applied or audited regularly.
Each of these cases is a reminder: the gap between having a process and following it can be very expensive.
So how do you close that gap?
Here are 5 practical steps to make sure your processes aren’t just written—they’re working:
1. Assign Ownership
Every process must have a clear owner. This person isn’t just a document keeper—they’re a compliance champion. When someone owns it, someone guards it.
2. Train and Retrain
Don’t assume the team understands the process just because it’s written. Training should be interactive, repeated, and reinforced regularly. People forget—systems can’t afford to. Start when a new employee is first hired.
3. Weigh-in = Buy-in
When first building processes, or when reviewing them for updates, give the team who will be expected to follow a chance to weigh-in on the steps.
4. Audit What You Expect
Random spot checks and scheduled reviews aren’t just for accounting. They’re for every critical system in your business. What gets inspected gets respected.
5. Use Technology Wisely
Automation can help, but blind trust in software leads to blind spots. Make sure human oversight is baked into the workflow.
Want 12 more tips to make sure your processes are followed? Reach out for a free copy of "The Jimmy Effect" ebook.
Ryan Giles
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