6 habits of high-performing process excellence teams

PEX Network's key takeaways:

• High-performing process excellence teams consistently demonstrate core habits that drive measurable impact.
• Data-driven decision making: Base improvements on facts, not intuition.
• Thoughtful use of technology: Leverage process mining, robotic process automation (RPA), and automation responsibly.
• Cross-functional collaboration: Break down silos for end-to-end improvement.
• Capability building: Empower distributed teams to own and sustain improvements.
• Agility: Work iteratively and respond quickly to changing conditions.
• Change management: Integrate people-focused strategies from day one.

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Process excellence teams are often the secret weapon for organizations looking to stay competitive and efficient. Their ability to drive operational improvements, reduce waste, and increase overall performance is often the difference between stagnation and success. But what sets these teams apart? 

Here are the critical habits shared by the top process excellence teams!

1. Embracing a data-driven culture

One of the most essential characteristics of high performing process excellence teams is their deep commitment to data. They don’t just guess or rely on intuition; they make decisions based on solid data. Whether it’s operational performance, customer feedback, or employee insights, these teams continuously gather and analyze information to guide improvements.

A McKinsey report on analytics in organizations found that data driven decision-making leads to faster, more accurate outcomes. Teams that embrace this approach can pinpoint inefficiencies, predict future issues, and validate the effectiveness of their improvement initiatives.

2. They use technology thoughtfully 

High performing process excellence teams understand that technology is a powerful accelerator, but only when used with intention, discipline, and a deep understanding of underlying processes. Too many organizations fall into the trap of leading with tools instead of value, adopting the latest platforms without a clear strategy.

Top performing teams take the opposite approach. They treat digital tools as enablers of insight and efficiency, not magic wands. For example, process mining has become one of the most influential technologies in the process excellence space and, when used well, it gives teams an x-ray view of operational behavior – revealing bottlenecks, rework loops, system hops, delays, and compliance gaps. 

Yhey also recognize that process mining:

• Requires clean system event logs – without them, insights can be distorted.
• Should not replace human context or frontline expertise.
• Is best used to guide targeted improvement, not as a fishing expedition.
• Needs strong data governance and security disciplines.

Also, RPA remains one of the most accessible automation technologies – but it is also one of the easiest to misuse. Poorly deployed RPA environments quickly become brittle, expensive to maintain, and difficult to scale. High-performing teams use RPA sensibly by:

• Automating stable, rules-based, high-volume tasks.
• Avoiding fragile workflows that require constant human expectation-handling.
• Prioritizing processes that have already been standardized and simplified.
• Building governance around bot maintenance, ownership and lifecycle.
• Integrating RPA with workflow tools, APIs, and artificial intelligence (AI) – rather than using it as a standalone fix.

Listen to leaders from AbbVie, Joy Shelledy and Amanda Swearengen, strategic change enablement, and Jeff Alker of BusinessOptix share how they are building the foundations for AI-ready process excellence!

3. Cross-functional collaboration

Successful process excellence teams understand that process improvement isn’t a task that can be solved in isolation. High performing teams actively collaborate across functions – IT, operations, marketing, HR, and finance – to implement holistic solutions. According to Deloitte’s research on organizational collaboration, businesses that promote cross-functional teamwork experience a significant increase in productivity and customer satisfaction.

This cross-functional collaboration fosters innovation and leads to more effective process improvements that have a far-reaching impact.

4. Embedding process excellence capability across the organization

On top of cross-functional collaboration, high performing teams actively build capability throughout the business – spreading skills, mindset, and ownership across functions. This means training ‘change agents’ across departments (not just a dedicated team), giving them time and encouragement to run improvement initiatives. That embeds sustainability – process excellence becomes part of the operational culture, not an external add-on.

This means:

• Training distributed change agents and Lean Six Sigma practitioners.
• Providing tools, templates, and frameworks that simplify improvement work.
• Coaching leaders on how to sustain improvements long-term.
• Encouraging teams to run their own improvement cycles.

By decentralizing process excellence capability, these teams create resilience, and improvement no longer depends on a small group of specialists.

5.  Agility in execution

High performing process excellence teams often adopt agile methodologies to remain adaptable and responsive to change. Research from PwC highlights that organizations using agile processes report 59 percent greater efficiency and 23 percent higher profitability. 

Rather than following rigid, long-term plans, these teams work in iterative cycles, constantly adjusting based on data feedback. This flexibility allows them to tweak improvements quickly, implement small changes, and then fine-tune them as they go.

This agility allows process excellence teams to:

• Implement small, incremental changes quickly.
• Validate solutions before scaling them.
• Adapt to shifting business conditions.
• Maintain momentum while reducing risk.

6. Successful change management 

Successful process excellence teams treat change management as a core capability that determines whether any improvement effort succeeds or dies quietly on the vine. According to PEX Network’s research, successful change leaders do three things exceptionally well. They build trust early, they involve people continuously, and they design for ongoing adaptation rather than one-off adoption.

In practical terms, this means that process excellence teams build change into the process improvement lifecycle from day one. When scoping projects, they map out not only systems and workflows, but also stakeholder fears, incentives, skill gaps, and readiness. This early diagnosis helps them understand where resistance will come from and how to address it before it calcifies.

By adopting these habits, organizations can move beyond one-off fixes and create a sustainable, scalable approach to operational excellence (OPEX) that drives long-term competitive advantage.

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