Businesses at times seems to be ignoring many a thing, by just treating them as one more jargon in this new age of super complicated words and synonyms.
Process Re-Engineering can be a game changer to businesses, as it can perform miracles on a failing or stagnant company and open new doors for a company on steady path of growth.
However, the process is tricky and needs some pain-killers to supress the pain of change and pain of tearing down what we are used to and feel comfortable with.
If ignoring this was a mistake, the next big mistake could be to settle for a cheap and basic process re-engineering tool in absence of an expert guidance. It could be that you tried saving a cent and lost a dollar.
As per the books the word PROCESS means – “A series of actions that are done for a particular purpose” if we take it as a noun.
However, it’s just not as simple as that. When it comes to businesses, Processes attain a different level of complexity and should be looked at from various perspectives to ensure that we achieve what is most optimum for our kind of business.
Same industry vertical, similar products and 2 companies may have different processes for themselves which are optimal for them. As it is something that though having the potential to be standardized must have the element of customization to ensure that it becomes a part of the DNA of operations.
- Different stakeholders involved (internal / external)
- Outcomes desired
- Work Culture
- Type of activity (operational / supportive / managerial) & many more…
We also ensure that we don’t look at processes standalone but as a combo of two more support pillars.
People, Process & Technology – these three are probably the most important pillar for any organisation. This is all about how these three elements interact.
- People do the job
- Processes make this work more efficient and keep them on track
- Technology helps people do their tasks and helps optimize and automate the processes
Hence organizational efficiency can only be achieved by balancing these three & optimizing relationship between them.
A good way to think of this is to think of it as a three-legged table. If one of the legs is bit longer or shorter, the whole table will lose its balance. Similarly, if the technology changes, you need to modify the people & processes to adapt to the new tools. However, technology is only as effective as the processes utilizing it & the people handling it.
If we don’t implement strong processes, the actions of people will be ineffective & they’ll waste a lot of the value delivered by technology.
If people don’t know how to use the technology properly, then company won’t create value from technology investment.
Similar will be the case if the new technology doesn’t integrate with processes.
It’s imperative people understand how they fit into a process. They should understand the process, their role is in it & what is to be achieved.
Businesses should identify & focus on the key steps first. These will most likely contribute more to the end result. Once these are in place, they can start fiddling with the finer details, exceptional cases, and supporting processes.
Most Important “if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” Thus, each process needs to have metrics that will measure its success.
Feedback and constant improvement are important for the process to have the best effect.
Once the people and processes are in place, organizations should consider the technology to support them.
We at Synergeze Consultants Private Limited, help businesses to implement the changes in an ongoing manner without effecting the current operations in any way and yet delivering the desired results. To learn more about our standardised approach which is customized for every single business please reach out to us.
