Three Stages
1) business process review
what it is
A systematic look at, and documentation of your current ‘as is’ status of any single or group of processes.
‘As is’ captures what can be demonstrated and proven to be happening, not what is assumed or believed to be happening. Our review may involve collecting and collating existing data from various sources such as databases, or documents. It may also need new and original data to be generated from IT systems, questionnaires and interviews.
We’ll consolidate the final data sets and present them in a format that enables a picture of the existing process or processes to be clearly understood.
why it matters
A review will identify the prime areas that should be tackled, and also prioritises the areas that can bring the greatest overall improvements.
The ‘as is’ situation of any process shows what is happening and what the various outputs and issues of the process are.
When this is compared to what a process is expected or needed to deliver, any gaps become clear. Closing the gaps (optimising the process) results in business efficiency. Better productivity, means getting more output for the same input, or getting the same output for less input.
2) business process mapping
what it is
Mapping is a process of:
• identifying all the key processes involved in a business
• categorising them
• demonstrating their relationships and significance to business efficiency and effectiveness.
Mapping generates a clear visual picture of the relative importance of each process to the business, and to its customers.
why it matters
A business process map can help to clarify where investment needs to be made to ensure you make the most beneficial changes.
Process mapping signifies the importance of any process within a business.
Importance is a result of the efficiency and effectiveness of a process. Understanding the different categories of processes, folklore, mandatory, background, identity, and covert, helps to guide process change initiatives.
Understanding the interrelationship of processes, and the possible impact on the business of changing a process, is crucial in improving productivity and customer experience.
3) business process optimisation
what it is
Optimisation is the process of changing the ‘as is’ of a process operation and output, into the ‘to be’ of a better and more efficient flow and output.
As with any change, optimisation involves developing a clear picture of the different future state of the process.
It involves:
• developing the what, why, how, when messages to be communicated to those affected by the change
• establishing a change project that is clearly different from ‘business as usual’
• driving changes that result in measurable, demonstrable productivity improvements
why it matters
Optimisation is about efficiency: are you doing things right? Is what you’re doing effective? Is it important to you to be ‘doing the right things’?
Sub-optimisation i.e. doing the wrong things right, is a real drain on resources. And the harder you work on getting it better, the bigger the drain becomes.
Getting the right things right most of the time, and not becoming complacent in doing it, is a simple key to high productivity – the bottom line.
