The Respectful Tech Stack Audit (That Actually Respects Your People)

The Respectful Tech Stack Audit (That Actually Respects Your People)

Series: Simplify the Stack, Save the Team — Topic 2

Most stack audits stop at the tool list. But systems aren’t just software — they’re where your team lives their day.

So instead of asking “what tools do we have?”, ask:

Who’s using what — and why?

For every tool, dig deeper:

• What department touches it?
• Are they entering data… or just extracting it?
• Does it align with how they actually work?
• Do they trust what comes out the other side?

If the answer is “not really” — you don’t have a tech problem. You’ve got a workflow one.

Try this format:

Function: Project Mgmt
Tools: Asana, Trello
Notes: Overlap = lost tasks & double-entry

Function: Sales Tracking
Tools: HubSpot, Excel
Notes: Shadow system + manual rework

Function: Support Tickets
Tools: Zendesk, Email
Notes: Email used for “exceptions” = red flag

Then ask:

Can they input data easily? Or are they screenshotting and circling back later?

Do they get the outputs they need? Or are they exporting to Excel every week to make it usable?

Use the KORR Lens:

Keep | Optimize | Replace | Retire

• Zendesk – Low duplication, high fit → Keep
• Trello – High duplication, low fit → Replace
• Excel – Medium duplication, painful fit → Optimize

Final test:

“If we removed this tool tomorrow, would anything actually break?”

If the answer is “no”, you’ve got your answer.

What’s one tool your team ‘endures’ — but doesn’t really use?

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