What Is a Business Process and Does Your Business Need One?
Most privately held businesses, especially small ones, will typically “figure things out as they go.” What business owners often fail to realize is how they can benefit from the structure that a business process brings to their company. The use of a business process can make the difference between a good company and a great company. The definition of a “business process” is the focus on how work is done within an organization that enables a business to run smoothly. With time and success, organizations grow larger and have no time to step back and recreate the formality of a structured process. Organizations start to suffer from the lack of definition that these structured steps and guidelines can provide, which can hold back the growth of a business.
What is a Business Process?
It is a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a
defined business outcome. A good business process defines
proper handoffs between teams so each person is aware of
what is expected of them and when they are expected to
complete their tasks. When defining the business process for
your industry, consider listing all the tasks that need to be
completed, what is required going into starting a task
(input) and what is expected as a result of that task
(output). You also need to consider the chain and sequence
of the required
steps, such as who must
complete a task with
what desired outcome,
prior to passing it on to
another person or group.
Consider the
Following
Questions
Who are
you doing the task for? Is
it for an internal or external
customer? What
is the expected result? Is
it benefiting anyone internally
or externally?
Does the completion of this task provide valuable information or required data for another required task? Can it be combined with other tasks? What happens to your business or your customers if you stop doing this task? Does something break? Who is needed to perform the task? What types of skills are necessary to execute this task? Do you really need yourself or your experienced, high-skilled resources to perform this task?
Consider the Organization or the Sequencing of the Tasks
Could you be doing a task later in the sequence of events
when more information or data is available that is required
to complete the task or may benefit the performance of
the task? Document all your answers on a tablet, board or
paper to organize your thoughts. Taking the time to document
your business process gives you the opportunity to
identify redundancies. Are you duplicating efforts? Are you
performing a less efficient process? This type of documentation
can also help identify areas where you can save time by
changing the sequence in which tasks are done, and help
you identify the need for additional information (input)
beneficial to performing a task.
The Benefits of a Business Process
A documented business process brings consistency to any
task done multiple times or by multiple people. This makes it
easier to train new staff, monitor and manage all staff and
processes, and provide timely feedback for improvements. As
the business grows, new tasks can be effectively integrated. A
simple word processing document or spreadsheet is certainly
adequate, but consider supplementation with computer software
to support or “enable” parts of the process.
The Risks of Not Having Processes
If your organization is running without a documented
business process, then it works as long as it works, but who
can fix it when it doesn’t work? How much time and money
will you waste in analyzing what went wrong and how to fix
it? Who can optimize the workings of an organization when it
grows too quickly?
In short, business process definition increases effectiveness, which brings value to the customer, and it increases efficiency, which means lower cost for the company. Having defined business processes in place allows for ease of repair, simplification, and streamlining of your business’s daily— and most integral—work.
Neera Mathur is a Certified Executive Architect with IBM,
where she is currently working as the B2B and Web Commerce
Architect in their CIO Headquarters.
Business Insights is hosted by the Law Firm of Kumar, Prabhu,
Patel & Banerjee, LLC.
Disclaimer: This article is for general information purposes only,
and does not constitute legal, tax, or other professional advice.
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