Phase One is characterised by the oral and written collection, sharing, and manipulation of data.

A Typical Phase One Business

• Operations is paper reliant, it has many manila folders, ring binders, and filing cabinets. Most of the jobs are managed using paper or other physical means and typically arrive in the business by phone or email.
  • Most work is still done on paper, with a folder for each job. Every piece of information for a job gets written down or printed – maybe even the same sheet, multiple times. Some days people feel they spend more time walking to get information than working on the job
  • Staff members usually print the jobs out for action, and if information is needed, they will check the paperwork or ask the person handling the job.
• Desks are sometimes piled high with folders full of paper. There are usually trays or racks or some other way of sorting all the folders, making it possible to distinguish priorities and find what’s needed with a moderate amount of searching
  • People often devote time to wasted organising, checking, and searching through folders
  • Handovers to the next department are slow and manual. It usually requires someone to carry a stack of folders across the office.
  • When a customer calls about their job, it requires a trip around the office to locate the folder and information.
• Often, people working ‘together’ use different ‘systems’ (coloured dots, Post-it notes rotated to different positions, folder location on a desk, etc.) to keep track of job progress. 
• There is sometimes a software system in place to help manage and complete work. There is always an intention to do more with it, but it’s hard to know where to start or to find the time, so everyone tends to fall back on what has always worked
•  In terms of productivity, you are looking to exit Phase One as soon as it is viable.

Negatives Of Staying In This Phase Long Term

• Poor productivity.
• Poor visibility of job progress and workloads.
• Management frustration.
• Problems are easily missed and jobs are occasionally lost or forgotten about.
• Excessive printing costs.