Case Study

Company "X" decided to implement an integrated sales system and delegate responsibility for specific types of clients to sales directors.

It was intended that the client would be served by a single director from the moment he or she made contact with the client until all of his or her obligations were met.

Unfortunately, this initiative was not successful at the beginning.

After analysing the reasons for the failure, it became clear that the following had not been provided:

• The directors in charge did not have the necessary training and knowledge appropriate for completing the task (people cannot perform a task if they do not know how).
• The financial systems lacked analytical information, and compensation plans did not align with the integrated sales strategy.
• Research programs concentrated on new technologies but did not include integrated customer service solutions.

Despite the great idea, it remained just empty words.

·        The company's management did not bother to prepare for the implementation of changes.

·        The company needed to integrate its sales processes, but there were no significant changes to support this decision.

·        The main flaw in the approach was that NO ONE was specifically ACCOUNTABLE for this strategic project.

Much of the issues and difficulties in implementing strategic changes is due to corporate characteristics that impede effective strategic dialogue and directly contribute to practices that have a negative impact on change strategy implementation.

Another major issue in companies is that their processes are complex, confusing, and unclear, causing user frustration and numerous errors.

Signs of a Problematic Business Process:

·       Individual sections of the business process are built and automated, but some operations must be performed manually.

Problems:

•  Employees from various departments must clarify information and obtain approvals in order to carry out the processes.
• Manual data reconciliation is required which is time-consuming and carries the risk of errors.
•  Gaps in automation and the use of disparate IT systems make it difficult to control the entire business process from start to finish.
• Redundant pre-initiation approvals (it is determined whether the company should perform a specific instance of the process.
• Involvement of a controller who monitors operational progress. He/She requires work reports and analysis; his/her activity adds no value and actually slows down the process.
•  Making decisions within a process when the manager cancels its execution or redirects the process to another branch. In this case, some operations have already been completed, requiring time and resources.
• Lots of rework, and repetition.
• In a business process, tasks are repeatedly returned to performers for revision, correction, and verification.

·        On average, such rework can consume up to 30% of employees' working hours.

All  the above problems cause a significant loss of process efficiency.

The process is excessively complex.

If business processes or task procedures are overly complex, they must be changed.

A clearly structured business process aims for SIMPLICITY.

Any work is amended over time to reflect the interests of various performers and departments, including the addition of new conditions, checks, transactions, and approvals.

If your processes have become overburdened with redundant operations, you should take notice.

To identify the biggest issues in an existing business process, use a whiteboard, gather all users from juniors to higher levels, and write down all possible steps directly on the whiteboard.

It is preferable to do this offline, but you can also use online forums.

The main goal is to involve all participants in the business process.

Any description of a business process should be:

•   Complete.

The process should describe in detail all of the actions required to achieve the result, as well as any potential developments, and conclude with the achievement of the initial goal.

•  Concise.

Despite the large amount of information used, it must be presented concisely, highlighting only the most important points.

• Implemented in standard notations.

Existing notations are intended to represent schemes that are understandable even to non-specialists.

• It should be approved by each user. Otherwise, the process will not function.
• It must be as clear as possible.

Finally, remember the following while implementing any kind of change:

·        Revolutionary change appears to be devastating, painful, and costly.

·        Evolutionary change is smaller, more gradual, and less painful.