It’s easy to take business processes for granted. Like breathing, these seemingly involuntary day-to-day tasks can feel so ordinary that we forget just how critical they are. Companies of all sizes, from two-person startups to Fortune 500 juggernauts, need business processes to survive.
The particulars of these processes vary from organization to organization (and sometimes department to department), but they all share a common thread: They act as the oil that keeps the gears of business effectiveness and efficiency running smoothly.
Which begs the question: If these processes are working as they should, does it matter if no one really notices them? In actuality, as work evolves, so, too, should the underpinnings of a company. For these vital elements to keep pace, business process optimization should be a priority.
Why You May Need a Business Process Overhaul
Too many companies just accept that everything is running optimally without any supporting evidence. If they were to sit down and examine their current operating models, they might find that they don’t quite live up to the visions in their heads.
Let’s look at a few main reasons an organization would want to overhaul its business processes.
Identifying Inefficiencies: Many processes seem simple in theory but are complex in execution — and that leaves the door open for inefficiency. For example, something like Purchase to Pay (P2P) has several moving parts, and poor performance in even one area can cost a company millions.
Keeping Pace With Technology: Even before the pandemic forced many businesses to completely rethink their operational models, technology was causing disruption on a regular basis. Organizations should consider how innovative new solutions can streamline their business process management to stay competitive.
Ensuring Compliance: Although a company might have initially set up its operational model to comply with industry guidelines, that doesn’t mean that every process is still up to code. Even if laws remain the same, organizations grow and business models evolve, which will naturally lead to new compliance concerns that must be addressed.
Any of those issues sparks the need for business process redesign. That said, to successfully implement a business process overhaul, you’ll need to implement an effective business process management strategy.
4 Ways to Ensure Your Business Process Overhaul Succeeds
Here are four steps to help you easily integrate your business process redesign into your current operations.
1. Find out what your processes look like. Perform a complete examination of your current operating procedures. Modern business process management tools can help you do this through process mining. Process mining applies algorithms to your data, showing you exactly how current processes exist and flow throughout your entire organization, or your as-is model.
2. Visualize your workflow. Once you have information detailing how processes move through your company, you need to make those findings more understandable to your business users. Freeform design helps depict workflow in a more digestible way.
3. Monitor the process. Watch your processes in action to better understand how each part impacts the whole. Monitor your workflow to see the impact of non-conformance on throughput time and to identify which steps cause bottlenecks along the way.
4. Simplify your redesign. The more complex a process is, the more chances there are for some aspect of your business process management and overhaul to go wrong. Use the data from your transactional systems to automatically visualize your processes, like how you visualized your workflow.
Business processes have the power to drag your organization down or help it reach new heights. By reexamining your current processes and using a modern management approach to your business process overhaul, you can ensure that your business operates at optimal levels and is ready to overtake the competition.
Are you ready to take your digital transformation project to the next level? Contact us!