Article Contributed by Emily Hunter
Every company has a business process. That is, every company has a system in place for getting business and executing the work, and for evaluating how to keep doing those two things well.
When your company is a bank, you may need to advertise your services, treat potential customers like royalty, hire and retain employees, pay out dividends and paychecks, and run the bank efficiently. Once that’s done successfully on day 10, you have to keep doing the same thing on day 20 and day 365. And you have to do it well, or the bank will suffer.
Or when your company is a call center, you have to hire the right number of employees to answer the call volume, you have to train the employees, and you have to make sure the customers feel good about each call.
While these are just a couple of examples of business processes, the point is clear. In order for a company to conduct any type of business, there has to be a system in place. It can be informal and fly-by-the-seat-of -your-pants, or it can be a workflow that’s written out in a detailed manner. It depends on the size of the company, the number of employees and customers, the style of the owner, and any other number of factors.
Whatever type of business process your company uses, there may come a time when you need to make that process better than it’s ever been before. Maybe the bottom line is falling. Maybe there’s talk of a merger. Maybe there’s an expansion on the horizon. Maybe it’s just time to get things streamlined to avoid confusion in the future.
So how can your company optimize its business processes? It’s simple! Or is it?
- Identify the process.
Before anything can be changed effectively, you need to know what exactly is going on. The first step can be lengthy, because it means monitoring how things are being done currently, and it needs to be objective, yet informed. Chances are some of the steps are already done. There is probably a hiring process in place, which might include a multi-step interview, complete with a personality assessment. When new business is possible, the people who need to handle that call or that walk-in prospect know what services to offer, and they are available immediately.
There’s probably even an employee handbook and a book of procedures for various tasks.
In other words, this step involves answering the question, “What do we do and how do we do it?”
- Analyze the process
Next, it’s time to take a close-up look at the current process(es). Sure, we know that when a customer calls, the phone will be answered by a customer service representative. But how is that working out? Are the calls being answered quickly? Are the customers happy at the end of the call? Are the problems being solved in an efficient manner?
When it comes time to rearrange schedules, are the employees satisfied about the changes, or is everyone grumbling under their breath? When it’s time for paychecks, is payroll being distributed on time? Are the customers getting their products shipped out in time for the holiday?
It’s a good first step to understand what is happening in your company, but it’s equally vital to figure out if what is happening is actually working.
This step answers the question, “How’s that working out for you?”
- Make changes
Now you’re armed with how things work, and how those things are working out for your business. Finally, it’s time to do something with all of this reconnaissance. This step may seem obvious, but it isn’t always done. Sometimes it seems like changes are happening because a detailed analysis has happened. That analysis process can take months of work, and it sure seems like something big is going on. But now is the time to come up with solutions for some of the problems identified in step 2. And with those solutions in mind, they must actually be implemented.
This step is a bit more complicated than the first two. There may be multiple solutions to any given problem. The trick is to implement a solution, and then go back to steps one and two to figure out if the solution actually works. And if it doesn’t, or even if it does, you may need to try out an alternative idea.
Optimizing your business processes can be done in-house, but it’s often a good plan to bring in a set of fresh, objective eyes. You can hire an outside consultant, put cutting-edge software into place, or hire a team, depending on your company’s needs.
Simple, right?
About the Author
Emily Hunter has many years experience writing about business topics and currently writes on behalf of the business process management specialists at TGO Consulting. In her spare time, she cheers for Spirit of Atlanta, Carolina Crown and Phantom Regiment, creates her own sodas, and crushes tower defense games. Follow her on Twitter at @Emily2Zen