Business process optimization is a real challenge for most organizations.
Processes are simply the heart of a company and the work that is carried out here, they exist in every department and team and are fundamental to the outcome of operations.
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Business processes can be considered as a map that defines the paths and the flow of business activities that take place within and between different business functions.
However, moving from point “A” to point “B” along these paths, and doing so as efficiently as possible, is often a great challenge.
It takes time, resources and good planning. It is also important to ensure that the processes are robust and the work runs smoothly.
This is where the management and optimization of business processes comes into play.
What is business process optimization and what are its benefits?
The optimization of business processes is the procedure that allows to increase organizational efficiency by improving processes.
Optimized processes lead to optimized business objectives.
Some examples of optimization are:
- Lifting of dismissals
- Workflow simplification
- Improved communication
Every organization, in any industry, is in constant competition, regularly facing threats coming from other companies, disruptive technologies and changes in standards.
The optimization of business processes offers many benefits that can help organizations to stay afloat while facing big waves of change, through:
- Market compliance
- Optimized operations
- Reduced risks
- Good use of resources
- Consistency
- Guaranteed quality
- End-to-end visibility
What are the steps for implementing the optimization of business processes?
Planning is key to getting the most out of your business process management efforts.
Below is a brief, detailed guide to implementing a process optimization plan.
- Identify
In order to start an effective optimisation process, it is essential to examine the current state of the process by identifying any critical issues and inefficiencies that compromise its functioning. It is necessary to select the problematic process on which to intervene, clearly defining its purpose and objectives.
An essential aspect is the collection of reliable data, together with feedback from employees directly involved in day-to-day operations, in order to fully understand the operational difficulties and identify possible workable solutions.
- Analyze
its performance against the business objectives in order to understand the gap between the current state and the desired state.
It is essential to identify the main causes of any delays and errors, analysing the workflow in detail to identify redundancies or wasted resources. An in-depth analysis makes it possible to estimate the potential benefits of optimisation, thus enabling the effectiveness of the changes to be made and their long-term sustainability to be determined.
- Implement
After analysing the critical aspects of the process and identifying the most effective solutions, it is necessary to develop a clear and detailed action plan for its restructuring.
This may include the removal of redundant activities, the simplification of complex steps and the adoption of new working methodologies. In addition, the implementation of technological tools can facilitate the automation of repetitive tasks, reducing the margin of error and improving overall productivity.
A crucial aspect in this phase is the involvement of staff, so that the transition goes smoothly and the new practices are adopted effectively and sustainably over time.
- Monitor
Once the changes have been implemented, it is essential to continuously monitor the process to assess its effectiveness.
Key performance indicators must be kept under review to measure the impact of the changes introduced and to verify that they have actually brought the expected benefits.
In addition, it is useful to conduct periodic reviews to identify any new critical issues or inefficiencies that may emerge over time. On the basis of the data collected, further improvements can be made to refine the process and keep it in line with corporate objectives.
Only through constant monitoring and an iterative approach can effective and lasting optimisation be guaranteed.
How to optimize your business processes
As already mentioned, there can be many different ways to perform business process optimization.
This, of course, depends on the process at hand: there is not a solution that is suitable for all individual scenarios.
In most cases, however, optimization is performed using one of the following methods:
Process improvement or rebuilding
This is rather straightforward: all you need is a good analysis of business processes.
The general concept is to identify areas for improvement in business processes:
- A waste: every step within a process should, in some way, add some value to the final goal. The process itself should add value to the context of the organizational objectives. Sometimes, however, you may find that certain steps or processes are actually useless and lacking any kind of value.
- An inefficiency or a factor that can be improved: This means that a step or process is not as efficient as it could be. Approval processes within an organization, for example, often tend to fall into this category because they are slow and complex.
Once the processes or steps that fall into these categories have been identified, it is necessary only to intervene on them to improve operational efficiency.
This can be done by restructuring the process, for example by changing the steps or their order, or by eliminating unnecessary processes, or by mixing both strategies.
Automation
Nobody likes manual work and, sometimes, there are instances where what you are doing could very well be replaced by a robot working automatically.
In this case all you have to do is find the right tool or software.
Just as a construction project manager relies on project management software to coordinate tasks, track progress, and ensure timely completion, a jewelry store owner can greatly benefit from jewelry store management software to automate inventory, streamline sales, and manage customer relationships. Both scenarios highlight the importance of having the right tool to reduce manual work and increase efficiency.
Automating business processes can thus help to reduce waste and get rid of any unnecessary manual work from employees’ workload, which leads to increased productivity and employee satisfaction.
Here is a common example:
If you consider the customer service industry, there is probably a customer support form available on the web page in almost every company.
Let’s assume that because of a product update, 10% of customers start to experience a defect.
It is therefore likely that the customer service inbox will begin be busy.
In such cases, a software that can automatically send a response based on the user’s complaint could lighten the workload of the customer service staff and they can gain valuable time to handle the most complicated requests.
>Twproject includes an optimised load calculation algorithm that enables the company to optimize resource utilization, and to have a clear view of available skills and work assignments.
Adoption of new technology and complete process modification
Adopting the right technology can indeed change the way you work.
For instance, implementing custom AI solutions into your workflows can automate repetitive tasks, enhance decision-making, and free up your team to focus on high-impact work.
Unlike the first two options, this solution does not exactly optimize a process, but rather changes it completely.
For example, to manage daily tasks that need to be performed within an organization, the management, instead of using an Excel spreadsheet, may decide to use a new task management software such as Twproject.
This helps you remember due dates through automatic messages and notifications, create new tasks and assign them to employees automatically (rather than sending an email), automatically track workflows, monitor and analyze tasks more quickly and accurately, etc.
Bottom line, optimizing a business process requires more effort than simply purchasing new software.
The optimization of business processes requires the planning and the identification of the process that requires optimization and definition of objectives and goals.
Tools such as Twproject can play a crucial role in this journey by providing a comprehensive platform for task management, project tracking and workflow optimisation.
This will then make it possible to estimate the current state of the process to determine its performance and unnecessary or inefficient factors.
