Structured Business Process Improvement – The Business Effort that Pays Instantly

Business processes are the exclusive mechanism by which an organization gets its work done. Further, organizational business processes are the property of the organization; they belong to the organization, and they are critical to effective service delivery.

Inefficient, outdated, undocumented or cumbersome business processes significantly contribute to organizational inefficiency, lost or wasted resources, poor employee morale, and ineffective service delivery. It is estimated that 20%-30% of an organization’s revenue is lost due to inefficient business processes and 26% of every employee’s day is wasted on unnecessary tasks.[1]

To function efficiently and effectively, all organizations need to regularly examine, improve, and document their business processes from a standard perspective using a standard approach.  Yet many organizations struggle with understanding the opportunities of business process improvement (BPI) and lose out on its benefits.

Effective business process improvement and standardized process documentation require a structured, systematic approach, centered on a sound methodology, effective planning, and efficient execution.  Such an approach will improve organizational functions, enhance organizational efficiency, deliver on customer/stakeholder expectations, and advance an organization’s culture toward one that is forward-thinking, nimble, dynamic, and efficient.

Next to its people, nothing is more important to an organization than its business processes.  All high-performing organizations make business process improvement, along with the development and maintenance of process documentation, an organizational priority.  Organizations that don’t significantly risk becoming cumbersome and inefficient. 

Interestingly, the resources needed for engaging in structured BPI effort are not significant in real dollars. More importantly, the payback is almost instant with a return on investment that multiplies throughout the enterprise from increased operational efficiency, increased service delivery quality, and improved employee morale.

[1] https://www.the-cfo.io/2019/06/19/how-inefficient-processes-waste-nearly-a-third-of-employees-time