Author : Susan Page
Bill Gates wrote in his book Business
@ the Speed of Thought: Succeeding in the Digital Economy that ‘‘A
rule of thumb is that a lousy process will consume ten times as many hours as
the work itself requires.’’ Improving business processes enables you to stay
competitive and to increase your responsiveness to your customers, the
productivity of your employees doing the work, and your company’s return on
investment.
The objectives of BPI are:
·
Effectiveness:
Does the process
produce the desired results and meet the customer’s/client’s needs?
·
Efficiency:
Does the process
minimize the use of resources and eliminate bureaucracy?
·
Adaptability:
Is the process flexible
in the face of changing needs?
The
Ten Simple Steps to Business Process Improvement
Step
-1 : Develop the Process Inventory
- Identify and prioritizing the process
inventory
- The process inventory is a list
of the business processes that a department or area owns, and you have to build
one if you find that such a list does not exist. You can identify business processes
by reviewing the work done by a department, by scanning job descriptions, or by
talking to colleagues to identify their roles and responsibilities
The following
four general categories help you determine the relative importance of one
business process over another
1. Impact:
How much does the business process affect the business? | Numbers affected &
Client
2. Implementation:
How feasible is it to make the change? – Time to Market | Funding | Timing
of N
3. Current
State: How well is the process working today? – Client Satisfaction | Pain
Level | Process Exists ?
4. Value: What
is the benefit, or return, of improving the process? – Benefit score Total Score
Step
– 2: Establish the Foundation
The scope definition document guides
you through the exercise of establishing the foundation for a business process.
It becomes your blueprint. Scope creep is the veering away from the
original purpose of the work without an increase in time, resources, or money.
The Eight
Sections of the Scope Definition Document – Process Name | Process Owner |
Description or Purpose of the Process | Scope is the breadth or area
covered by a process. | Process Responsibilities | Client and Client Needs | Key
Stakeholders and Interests | Measurements of Success
Step
– 3 : Draw the Process Map
A process map is a visual
representation of a series of connected activities that, when strung together,
deliver a meaningful outcome to the client/customer.
Process Maps – High Level and Detailed and
either the standard or cross-functional process map. Creating the process map
and detail document provides the business with a tool that can be used as a
standard operating procedure to train new employees
Step
– 4: Estimate Time and Cost
Process time is the time required to complete a
single activity in a process.
Cycle time is the time required to complete an
entire process, from its first to its last step.
Process Cost includes;
1. The cost of the people who do the
work
2. The cost of technology tools used in
the process
3. The cost of overhead such as space,
air conditioning, and the like
4. Determine the FTE (full-time
equivalent) number to use.
5. Determine the salary and employee
benefit rate to use for the employees or process workers.
validate the accuracy of the process map
with three groups of employees: - Process Owners | Stakeholders | Sponsor. The
validation should focus on : Accuracy of
the process map | Points requiring clarification | Accuracy of the time
estimates
Step
– 5 : Verify the Process Map
Step
– 6: Apply Improvement Techniques
Bill Gates is credited with saying,
‘‘The first principle for any technology you contemplate introducing into a
business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the
efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation
will just entrench the inefficiency.
The improvement technique wheel guides
you through eliminating bureaucracy, evaluating value added activities,
eliminating duplication and redundancy, simplifying the process/reports/forms, reducing cycle time,
and applying automation tools.
Bureaucracy is ‘‘productivity’s enemy.’’
Use SALT as a filter to eliminate bureaucracy (Statutory, Audit, Legal, Tax)
Keep it simple, silly.
Step
– 7: Create Internal Controls, Tools, and Metrics
Identifying points in the business
process where a mistake can occur provides the opportunity to introduce
internal controls. Developing an internal control document, which contains the
details about how to avoid common errors, provides an effective training tool
for new employees. Creating metrics to support the measurements of success defined
in the scope definition document allows you to evaluate whether the process
works as planned.
Step
– 8: Test and Rework
1. Create the test plan.
2. Develop the scenarios (or testing
sheets).
3. Implement the test plan.
4. Summarize the feedback received and
the challenges encountered,
then rework the process and tools.
5. Retest (if appropriate).
Step
– 9: Implement the change
1. Change management: Impact
analysis
2. Testing: Testing
plan
3. Communication: Communication
plan
4. Training: Training
plan
5. Gain Sponsor Buy-in
Step
– 10: Drive continuous improvement
The continuous improvement cycle
confirms that the business process continually delivers effectiveness,
efficiency, and flexibility to the organization.
The four phases - evaluate, test,
assess, and execute (PDCA) provide the necessary structure.
The
Six Sections of the Executive Summary
Executive summary with an intriguing or
compelling statement that grabs the reader’s attention, and shall have the following
sections:
- Project focus | Goals | Summary | Key
findings | Deliverables | Appendix (if applicable)
Recommendation
:
It is an good book to understand the
process and process documentation for beginners.
