The processes in your company are a practical guide to achieve the established objectives. Therefore, it is important that you see them as a continuous cycle of improvements to reach success, because this way you verify that everything is going well and you do not waste money, time, resources, etc. Do you want to learn how to achieve process optimization in your company?07 Stay with us in this article, because we will tell you how and why, join us!
But before you start, it is essential that you know that good monitoring of your company’s processes can help you to concentrate and invest time in things that are really important and necessary. Clearly defined process management must be a priority if you want your company to achieve the goals you expect: greater competitiveness, higher sales, reaching new markets, etc.
What is process optimization?
A company must be composed of processes that help it to get closer and closer to the objectives it is pursuing. Therefore, it is reasonable that these processes should be optimized, making them simpler to the extent that they require less investment of time, less monetary expenses, fewer resources, etc.
But how do you determine if your processes are optimal? Well, you have to constantly monitor them and measure their performance. To do this, of course, you must have processes that measure your processes.
Yes, it may seem confusing, but it is necessary precisely because, as a company, you need to verify that you are not wasting money, resources or time on unnecessary things, and instead, you can focus on the things that are important to the business.
In this sense, measuring processes for optimization can be an activity that, by itself, does not add value, unless it is accompanied by well-defined objectives and a plan, to which the actions implemented by the organization must be adjusted.
Of course, all this, without losing sight of the evolution of the business and how it does the sector to which it belongs. So, we can say that, through the monitoring and review of your company’s processes, it is possible:
- Define exactly what you are doing and where the company is currently headed.
- Determine well-defined future actions and solutions.
- Identify the weaknesses and strengths of the business.
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How and why to create a good business process
To build a good business process from scratch, it is essential that you first define one or a set of objectives that you want to achieve. In that case, it is time to ask yourself these questions:
- What is my company’s objective?
- How do I visualize it in the future?
- What were the reasons that made me enter this particular industry?
Having these clear objectives will help you create a strategic roadmap that will eliminate the risk of planning and adding activities that do not really add value to the business.
Obviously, you will then have to make an exhaustive review of the work processes to eliminate bottlenecks and redundancies. Subsequently, you will have to make the necessary adjustments to correct them and make them work optimally.
Finally, in the development process, it will all be a matter of implementing and monitoring these processes and seeing how they affect the company. That is the goal of this management: to break down these procedures into measurable and achievable tasks and monitor how the company is growing based on them.
Now, why is it important to create good business processes? Well, every company that does so obtains a series of benefits that we are sure you do not want to miss, if you do not know them yet, here we detail them:
- Promotes consistency of other internal business processes and workflow.
- Facilitates training and monitoring of progress and problems.
- They help the company achieve its objectives, because this system you have created must correspond to what you expect to achieve.
- Increases the efficiency of monitoring and analysis.
5 keys to achieve process optimization
What is really important after establishing a process is to improve it, so we are going to show you the 5 keys to optimize a process:
1. Identifies the process and the resources involved in it
This first phase will help you, on the one hand, to define the process you are about to create or revise. This can be for sales, customer service, HR, etc. HR, etc. On the other hand, you will establish and evaluate the resources required for it to be executed: the time spent, the number of people who must participate, the materials you spend, the money you invest, etc.
A constant review of these aspects in each of your processes will help you see where there may be possible failures and how to mitigate them so that your process is increasingly agile and brings you closer to your objectives.
2. Divides the process into its different actions
This stage involves dividing the process into the small actions and steps that make it up, by which we mean its inputs and outputs. It is important to know the process in depth in order to be able to capture each and every one of the tasks involved and the interaction that exists between them.
This will help us to have a better control when detecting any failure and to improve decision making in this regard.
3. Establishes KPIs for the actions that make up the process.
KPIs are measurement indicators focused on providing information for the improvement and efficiency of the process, ensuring an objective perspective of the situation. In short, if you want to optimize, you must measure.
4. Analyze the data you collect and take appropriate action
Analyze the results provided by the measurement indicators that you have established in the previous phase, such as time, costs and quality of the final product of the process.
The comparison between the current data and the data you started with should provide you with enough information to help you make the right decision on what improvement actions you need to take.
5. Continuous monitoring
Set dates in the calendar to continuously evaluate your company’s processes. Have the feedback of the situation, collect and analyze the incidents that may have occurred, as well as the contributions that suggest an improvement.
The monitoring phase is one of the most important and its objective is to make the necessary adjustments so that, in the face of any event, you always achieve your main objective: process optimization.
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Why it is so important to keep track of your company’s processes
When we talk about process monitoring, we mean that the parties in charge of the process must have a complete overview of the status of the project and its objectives in order to identify and react to any deviation from the originally planned course. The objective of this is to make the necessary decisions in an assertive way to correct potential problems without going through major complications in the future.
Having the control and monitoring of a company’s procedures means the involvement of many actors and a long way to go, because it starts with an idea that aims to find the solution to a problem or specific situation that will support the operation of the business.
But it does not end there, from that idea, multiple stages of testing, new ideas, new ways to complete the tasks, etc., begin until a process or protocol that can be maintained in the long term is achieved.
In this sense, monitoring basically consists of the analysis of all the information generated within the project from the processes that comprise it.
In this way, it is possible to identify risks and deviations from the plan at an early stage and not suffer the serious consequences of discovering them too late.
On the other hand, control corresponds to the development of updates to ensure that what was planned and expected finally happens. When you control a process, it not only means that you will have to identify deviations and take a calm attitude towards them, but the very essence of it consists of investigating what caused the deviation, defining actions to eliminate or minimize its effects and, finally, implementing them.
In the meantime, in the follow-up, all the information collected must be taken to polish it and correct the errors and, thus, prevent the inconveniences detected at the time of the process.
Benefits of optimizing your company’s processes
The processes you establish in your company, as we said, must correspond to the objectives you have in mind, this is their raison d’être and, when they are successful, this is the benefit you will obtain first: the fulfillment of your objectives. But there are other advantages that we want you to know about, we will detail them below:
Risk mitigation
When you map the activities that make up your processes, it is easier to standardize and formalize them. As a consequence, errors decrease, as well as repetitive work and doubts. In addition, risks are reduced.
Cost reduction
Optimizing processes makes it possible to easily identify waste. In this way, it is possible to find the bottlenecks that compromise productivity, increase failures, cause waste of resources, etc.
Therefore, the improvement of these allows for quick problem solving and cost reduction.
Better results
The improvement of results with respect to internal and external processes is one of the greatest benefits, since it increases the capacity to deliver to customers the quality they are looking for in a brand of products and/or services. Thus, you will achieve an outstanding positioning in the market, since you will offer a greater value to your public.
Increased efficiency
Process optimization makes it possible for your company to deliver products and services with agility and high quality. When you correct faults and standardize processes, it is possible to generate more, in less time and with higher quality.
Better time management
You must eliminate activities that do not generate value; do not worry, it will not bring any negative consequences. This will allow you to create more agile workflows and optimize the time spent on each task, making it less and less.
Better overview
Try, as far as possible, to have an overview of all the processes that make up your company. This will facilitate the integration of future procedures and optimize the organization of all elements as one.
You gain greater problem-solving skills
A broad vision that reaches all ends will allow you to identify the origin of any problem. Thanks to this, you will be able to correct them from the root, avoiding investing resources that mitigate the consequences instead of finding solutions.
Compliance under control
By standardizing and monitoring your processes, it is much easier to maintain compliance with objectives. In addition, as far as audits are concerned, maintaining transparency in the processes favors process optimization and supports the achievement of the expected results.
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In short, process optimization allows you to considerably improve the efficiency of an organization, bringing it closer and closer to its objectives. But to do so, you must not stop monitoring the performance of your processes. Do you want to continue learning about good business practices? Subscribe to our blog in Gestion Direct and, if you wish, consult our catalog of digital solutions. To consult prices and request advice, write us at gestiondirect@gd.eu and we will be happy to assist you.
