Business process re-engineering
Business process re-engineering (Often called BPR) is one of the most understated tasks within an organization. Still, there are questions like – ‘we have been doing this for years, Why the process has to be documented?‘. I don’t blame them; the very reason why organizations lose interest in process documentation, process engineering, and process improvement is that They don’t get the intended benefits out of these projects and in most cases, the prepared SOPs and documentation stay on shelves for years without any use. The root of the issue is nothing but driving BPR projects at a very surface level and without keeping the process owners in the loop.
The reality is, without standardized processes an active BPR process, organizations or leaving their customer experience, Operational efficiency, brand reputation, and growth at a very greater risk.
“Standardized processes and process controls are the backbone of every business which would aid the organization to deliver world class performance leading to a great brand reputation.”
– Alvis Lazarus
Steps involved in BPR methodology:
The first and most crucial phase in BPR is the current state mapping. Part of this face the current process and their performance or documented. Some of the tools which can be used here or SOP, FDM, Swim Lane, and VSM.
One of the best ways to priorities areas of evaluation and identify quick wins, is to conduct a dipstick study. The outcome of dipstick study would be the key focus areas and the potential value proposition.
Once the current state is mapped, Gap analysis and bottleneck analysis are conducted. Some key methodologies which can be used to arrive at the bottleneck areas or – value stream mapping, voice of customer, voice of business, waste analysis, critical to quality, and critical to process.
Future state mapping is the targeted state where the organization has to be taken to. So this would be the state how an organization would be once all the bottlenecks are de-bottlenecked.
Based on the current state and the future state, clear action plan and and implementation plan are devised.
One of the most understated phase within the project is the control phase. The organization may be celebrating the success but without a process control there is a high chance that the organization could get back to the square one. Thereby it is very important to set the key performance indicators, key responsibility areas and the process controls in the form of a stringent management information system is very important.