A Cheat Sheet on Process Improvement

Process Improvement

​As your business evolves and becomes more complex, you will need to change how you work so resources are more efficiently used, automation is applied effectively, and processes are scalable.  Follow these key steps and you will make effective improvements to your business processes:

Assess the current process 

• Understand how your process currently works.  Interview key employees, observe their work and review the documents they produce
• Document what you learn in pictures and words.  We prefer using a SIPOC (Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers) diagram for this activity
• Review the SIPOC with your key stakeholders and collectively identify bottlenecks, duplicative steps, and gaps
• With stakeholders and process owners, brainstorm areas for improvement, ways to increase efficiencies, and opportunities for automation

 
Build the new process 

• With the knowledge gained, modify your SIPOC with the changes identified
• Perform a Pilot Test of your new process by selecting an area of the business where the test can be run reasonably quickly, with minimal impact to ongoing operations
• Based on your pilot effort, update your process and define/fine-tune Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure success
• Develop an implementation plan to deploy the process across the entire organization
• Communicate the change, train employees and begin deployment of the new business process. (Click here to see our Organizational Change Management service)

 
Operate the new process 

• Develop tools to increase the efficiency of the process. Tools can be in the form of formal automation, paper templates, spreadsheets or checklists etc.
• Observe employees as they use the new process and continue to educate the team on best practices
• Collect data against the KPIs you defined and based on those results, make continuous changes to the process so it gets better and better
• Remember to reward your team and those employees who adopt and champion the new process

 
Making process improvements part of your work cadence will pay dividends in training new employees, communicating with executives and in preparing for future transformations. 

What other steps have improved your process improvement efforts? 

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Sai Balakrishna

About the Author
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Sai Balakrishna is the Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer for ProcureVision, LLC. An expert in strategy development, business process optimization, program and portfolio management, Sai has over 25 years of management and leadership experience from Fortune 100 companies including American Airlines and Verizon.