Most organizational operations are made up of a series of processes. Important processes include marketing, sales, order fulfillment, new product design and introduction, financial, information technology, customer support, human services, operations planning and production. The overall organizational business processes provide an excellent opportunity for creating greater efficiencies. In fact, the integration of agile work-flow systems throughout the organization is important so that the organization's business processes are clearly documented understood and optimize.
A good process requires more than simply documenting how something is accomplished. A good process takes into account how it impacts the overall operation of an end-to-end system and the organization at large and its customers (both internal and external). When improving or implementing new processes, consider the following questions.
1. How will this new approach add value and benefit the customer (internal/external) and the people using the process?
2. Does this new approach work "backward from the customer" so it does the best job of meeting the customer's need?
3. Does this new approach simply automate or document a process that is ineffective in the first place or "does this approach truly do the right things better?"
4. What implementation issues will we want to avoid as we make the change?
5. Does the new approach "clearly align" with the business strategy and goals of the organization?
6. Does this new approach have the work or decision performed where and by whom it makes the most sense?
7. How will we measure the success of the new approach?
8. Is the new approach a "seamless" and "foolproof" solution?
9. Does the new approach fill a gap in the overall business/organizational strategy?
10. Does the new approach fit well with other areas or departments?
11. Does this new approach have accountability built into it?
An overriding thought, which can be useful when analyzing your business processes, is to keep in mind the statement "are we easy to do business with?" These words go a long way in supporting an organizational value of "customer-value focus" or "customer satisfaction." Often, procedures and processes are installed for good reasons and with good intentions; however, sometimes although convenient for your business, department or area of responsibility, they cause problems for others. Always ensure the fix is well integrated, agile, and in concert with your organizations value statements and overall business strategy.
As you remove inefficiencies and improve and add new processes, you must also make a concerted effort to place the right people with the right skills in a position where they can exert the greatest impact. If a skill gap exists, training, retraining or hiring the skill to achieve continuous improvement must be accomplished. This approach will provide the organization the best opportunity to attain excellence everywhere. An organization is only as good as its talent.
Note: - Innovation through continual process improvement is not simply a science or an art. It is the passionate and continual entrepreneurial practice of seeking new answers to both old and new problems. It is also the creating of an organizational culture that seeks opportunities to maximize the use of human imagination, knowledge and potential. It is truly using the organizations collective knowledge to shape its future.