Whether you like it or not or know it or not, your business is a system that consists of a series of business processes. And the choice is absolutely yours whether they are highly effective or not. I always say never leave the business to chance, and getting the business process working for you is the foundation!
When I go into companies and do an assessment of their business, I ask a lot of questions. Very quickly I can get a sense if their business processes are doing what they should be doing. Inefficiencies in the business processes are inevitable, and that’s exactly where I come in.
When it’s time to start fixing things, one of the first things I like to do is conduct a process mapping exercise. There are a number of reasons why I do this. One of the most important ones is that It creates engagement. This is the part where I will put a lot of hard work into it. Because usually, it’s the first time they’ve seen themselves as part of a process. This mostly results in the realization that what they do has a consequence for good or bad downstream. You’ll see that they go straight into helping mode, to change what they do so it becomes better!
This is a transformational process, suddenly you will see people that want to do a good job and want to help their colleagues. Initially, they just needed a little guidance on how best to do that. Creating this environment is the catalyst for getting people to help each other. And when you have a business of people helping each other, that’s where the magic happens!
See, understanding the business process is not just about the process. It’s about the people and making it easy for people to help and support each other. Business processes are there to ensure collaboration is as effective as it can be. And when you understand this, you will start building these processes in a whole new light.
As I mentioned earlier, you can’t leave business or business processes to chance. And you sure can’t leave your teams to chance either, leverage this to its full potential and never stop improving.
If you have any questions, please get in touch. I am happy to consult you on your business process strategies.
