In 5 steps to Process Optimization

During process analysis you model your current activities and identify weaknesses and potential improvements in your business operations. You can get an overview of your recurring workflows with the help of a process directory. When creating your process map you should ask yourself the following questions: Which processes and steps are dependent on each other? Which activities have to be connected in series and which can run simultaneously? Where can weaknesses, bottlenecks and redundancies be identified?

Based on the results of the process analysis, you model your business operations in such a way that they produce the highest possible outcome. Indicators such as lead times, error susceptibility, process costs, bottlenecks and quality standards should be taken into account. With the help of a graphical notation such as BPMN 2.0, procedures and workflows can be visually represented. By mapping your end-2-end processes, you gain a better understanding of how your business activities work, enabling inefficiencies to be detected and eliminated faster. In order to represent key elements within a process model, process modeling uses unique worklfow modeling symbols. Special process modeling tools such as BIC Process Design simplify the documentation of optimized workflows and professionalize process management.

The inventory is followed by the creation of a solid database. Here you record the performance of the process at the beginning (current state) and after the optimization. You optimize your workflows until each process has reached its optimal state and the best possible performance (target state). To evaluate as-is and target process structures, it is useful to calculate KPIs such as average throughput times and procedure costs. The simulation function in BIC Process Design allows you to simulate processes and analyze different variants. This way you know in advance what impact certain changes will have on your existing activities without using real resources. This is also about uncovering hidden potentials in your workflows and how to integrate them into your optimized processes.

These questions can help you to critically question your business operations:

• How long does the process take? Is the timeframe appropriate? Is the process slower or faster than expected?
• Are there unclear or confusing process steps that cause users to skip or perform certain sub-tasks incorrectly?
• Are there unnecessary duplications in the respective workflow?
• Do problems arise in continuing the operations? For instance, can participants not continue working as long as another participant has not completed his or her tasks?
• Can the process be automated using a BPM tool?

The following steps are recommended for the practical implementation of the new operation:

1. Give the procedure a distinct name.
2. Name responsible persons, who have a role in the process.
3. Describe the initial situation and, if necessary, the intermediate event as well as the final event.
4. Specify the objective of the optimization.
5. Identify a process owner to implement the workflow.
6. Document which resources (for example time, budget) are available.
7. If necessary, anchor process-related documents such as guidelines and standards directly to the process model to make them accessible to all process participants.
8. For communication it is suitable to set up a process portal. Here employees can find all business activities and valid documents in one place.

Just like your company, business operations are subject to constant change. A continuous improvement process is therefore essential to master new challenges in the future.

• Operate Change Management

In the course of digitalization, customer habits change just as quickly as business models and market structures. To meet new conditions, your company needs the ability to adapt flexibly to new environmental situations. Changes thus become a success factor and business process management a continuous challenge. This is important, because if you want to keep up with the competition, you should not close yourself to new tasks.

• Improve processes iteratively

The implementation of a new procedure does not always succeed immediately. Validation usually requires several passes. To understand which processes are already working well and which are not yet running ideally, it is important to collect data again after each run. This data flows into the next loop until the business activity is optimally controlled.

• Keep an eye on your processes

Since the BPM cycle is a recurring process, it is necessary to adapt your optimized operations to new conditions on a regular basis. Thus, your target process becomes a new as-is process, which then runs through the entire cycle again. The workflows should therefore be reviewed at regular intervals as part of a continuous improvement process.