What owner or manager wouldn’t want a more productive business. But how to do that? A solution is offered through the so-called business process improvement, i.e. through the improvement or optimization of business processes. Such an initiative will help improve and streamline workflows and processes or clearly set employee responsibilities.
If a business suffers from deficiencies in its workflow (unclear project procedures, unsatisfactory customer experience or inconsistent performance), it is time to consider launching a process improvement initiative.
Improve company productivity by improving process management
When should you consider improving business processes within your company?
Workflow gaps can arise and worsen naturally as a business grows. As a business expands, it must deal with more customers and orders , which can lead to an increase in the complexity of interactions and the need to share information among more employees. In the same way, in larger teams with more complex work procedures, there may be ambiguities in the responsibilities of employees or unpreparedness to manage complex projects and control the status of their implementation.
Managers and team members can face various obstacles in the workflow, which can have the following consequences:
- Project management may face problems in project management , which can lead to uncertainty about the actual progress of the project status and ambiguity in staff responsibilities.
- Customer experiences can deteriorate as customers are not clear on what to expect and products or services may be delivered late or of unsatisfactory quality.
- Inconsistent performance can become the norm , leading to customer dissatisfaction and a bad company reputation.
All these symptoms are an indicator that it is necessary to improve processes and proceed to more effective management of work within the company.
Tip: Don’t be afraid of change. Convince yourself that process management is not an atomic science .
What are the benefits of implementing better business process management?
A business process improvement initiative improves the efficiency of your processes and uncovers bottlenecks and causes of slowdowns or friction. Implementing a business process improvement initiative has the following benefits:
- Increase productivity by eliminating unnecessary or unnecessarily laborious processes. So you can focus on important work with high added value.
- Fewer errors and potential risks thanks to clearly defined workflows and responsibilities of individual employees. It will no longer happen to you that you do not receive on time an incomplete quote for a client that was processed by your colleague.
- Higher employee satisfaction , who can devote more time to meaningful work.
- Increased customer satisfaction through improved business process management.
- Increased speed and flexibility thanks to clearly defined processes, enabling easier business expansion. For example, you can automate repetitive processes to save time and reduce errors.
What problems arise when improving business processes?
Process optimization can increase employee productivity, but it can also come with several barriers to implementation.
Three of the most poignant are:
- Unclear goals and expectations. Your goal when implementing optimization should be at least one of these parts: better customer experience and satisfaction, increased employee productivity, faster delivery times, and easier scalability.
- Poor approach to process management and optimization. You should use business software to help you achieve your goals more easily, but it shouldn’t dictate them. At the same time, you should use one effective company or project software for the entire company. Using several different applications/software is not efficient.
- Lack of internal skills. Another challenge in process optimization is the lack of necessary skills; many firms lack the internal expertise to effectively implement management and process improvement.
How to increase productivity through business process improvement
Here are six steps to increase your organization’s productivity with a business process improvement initiative.
- Define a plan for process improvement
Process improvement itself is a process in itself, with its own steps and tools. The first step is to design a clear plan for the change, where the objectives should be set, the tools and systems that will be used, and the business objectives that you will try to achieve. - Business Process Mapping
After you have a plan, it is important to map the business processes and examine each phase in detail. In this way, you can identify shortcomings and look for ways to streamline or automate them. During this step, it is good to involve middle and lower management, such as team leaders, to identify the places where problems arise and to be able to focus closely on inefficient activities.
In some cases, processes may not be completely automatable, but it can still be useful to automate some stages, which can save time and resources and increase efficiency. - Process analysis and error identification
The next step is to analyze formal processes in order to identify errors and find room for improvement. Formal processes are those that have established procedures, documentation and steps, such as sending invoices to clients or managing sensitive client data. These processes may already have their steps set, but it makes sense to review procedures to increase efficiency and reduce errors and redundant activities. Automation of business processes can enable automatic invoicing of clients at selected intervals or processing of internal receivables. - Involve the company’s management and the wider team
It is also important that the company’s management and the employees themselves are involved in the optimization process. Teams directly involved in the processes may be in the best position to provide useful ideas for improvement. Make sure employees are motivated to share their ideas and have room to innovate.
In addition, it is essential that the results of the optimization process are documented. Such documents should include a description of the changes made, once they were implemented, what benefits they brought, and what problems were solved. This documentation process will help maintain a record of process performance and serve as a basis for future improvements.
Last but not least, it is important to remember that the improvement process is continuous and the best results are often achieved gradually. Management should be patient and continuously support improvement initiatives. Try to create an environment that encourages innovation and experimentation without employees fearing failure. - Implement proven business process improvement techniques
There are many proven methodologies that you can use to improve processes, such as LeanThinking, TotalQuality Management or Six Sigma. It is important to consider which method best suits your business goals and structure.
So if your business is ready to implement optimization initiatives, it’s important to consider what your process will look like, explore different methodologies, and choose one (or more) that best fits your business goals and structure. - Make the most of business process automation
You will especially appreciate automation if your business processes are repetitive, based on certain conditions or laborious and take up a lot of your team’s time. Such processes are then strong candidates for automation to help you streamline manual tasks, reduce costs, increase efficiency and make better decisions.
