Are your business processes fit for purpose?
Are you worried that some of your processes and procedures within your business are inefficient, complicated or being completely ignored?
Are you concerned that others procedures are nearing breaking point and are constraining the growth of the business?
If you have these or similar thoughts, then you are almost certainly losing money and should really take time out to review your current processes.
The first port of call when dealing with any concern or problems is to look at what (specifically not who) caused them, known commonly as the “AS IS” phase. Processes underpin everything we do and any work on improving existing processes starts with understanding what is going on right now. It is more than likely that if your current processes are not documented then they have never been properly reviewed.
Whenever mapping a process, it is always best to map the end to end process with all the different user representatives in the room together. Make sure all participants are fully briefed on why they are involved, and all are empowered to speak out and make suggestions. This enables everyone to get a shared understanding of what is going on and it will identify waste in the current system and potential areas of improvement.
Reviewing and mapping individual parts (in silos) can easily identify savings in one area at a cost to other areas up or down stream in the process.
It is important to capture not only the physical process but also the detail (including times/costs and other metrics relevant to the business) of the process. With this information you can set baselines for the current process and therefore measure the benefits from any changes when you create the “TO BE” phase of the new procedure.
For many businesses the review becomes time consuming, complex and tedious, many processes are either never fully mapped, new processes never implemented or never reviewed as part of a continual improvement process.
As such money is wasted in the futile efforts to resolve the issue as well as the ongoing cost associated with the existing process or the partly implemented new process.
Fresh Eyes associates (FE) appreciate the difficulties associated with the traditional process improvement scenario’s and as such we have associated ourselves with a market leading Business Process Mapping company We Are Lean and Agile who utilise a state-of-the-art software solution called “Engage”.
The Engage software makes drawing organisation processes a simple matter of clicking and dragging, making even complex processes transparent for everyone.
The most important decisions and breakthroughs happen when the entire team is present and the Engage software is designed to be used in workshops and simultaneously with remote workers. With Engage you can map your processes during the workshops, avoiding lengthy emails, time delays in responding to colleagues and the loss of valuable data collected during the workshop.
If you believe that your business could benefit from reviewing some of your current processes, then why not give us a call. We offer a free initial meeting where we can asses your concerns and you can evaluate if we might be able to help you move your business forward.
Contact – John Donoghue
Tel – 07971 052857
