grease the wheels

By a metaphor in which facilitating human socioeconomic interaction, or any other process or system, is portrayed as lubricating machinery; in this regard, compare also lubrication payment and social lubricant.

• "Once a way of greasing the wheels of a gruesome bureaucracy, bribery has now become part of the cost of doing business."
• "[T]he banks will feel more comfortable about lending to each other, which is something we desperately need to help grease the wheels of the economy."
• "Worker mobility, which greases the wheels of hiring, dropped off sharply last year."
• "People will be more inclined to pay sooner if they can pay less – even a small discount might be enough to speed up the process and help grease the wheels."

• pave the way
• set the stage