Business Process Improvement

Why Should You Look At Your Business from a 'Systems & Processes' Point-of-View?

“If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you don't know what you are doing.”
W.E. Demming

Processes are how the work gets done in your business; how products get manufactured; how customer service is carried out. It's all about processes. If you don't have a process for everything you do, and things are done this way one time and another way the next, you're looking at one of the biggest causes of low productivity and inefficiency in a business. Inefficiency translates into higher costs and ultimately lower profit. It's that simple.

Your business is made up of systems and systems are made up of processes. It is nearly impossible to achieve optimum system performance with flawed or inefficient processes. That is why it's essential to constantly work on improving your processes, eliminate waste, reduce costs and increase efficiency.

Be a Better Boss: Stop Blaming Employees

We often blame employees for process issues that they actually have no control over. We, the business owners or executives, created our systems and processes and taught our employees to work with them. If something takes too long, or results in several mistakes along the way, it's not necessarily the employee's fault. We told them to do it that way - we are to blame.... Rather, we are responsible and accountable to make things as easy and efficient for our employees as possible. They will then be better able to do their work more efficiently, which means more profit.

Looking at processes provides a focal point for improving production rates, quality of product and overall quality of service perceived and experienced by our customers.

When you look at things from a systems & processes point-of-view, you won't be so quick to judge and blame employees, no one will take it personally, and you'll find the root of the problem and replace it with something more effective and efficient. You'll be a better boss and your employees will thank you for it. So will your customers.

Cost Savings = Profit Improvement

By improving systems and processes, or how things get done in your business, you will find many opportunities along the way to reduce costs. You can reduce production time, reduce supplier costs, correct faulty time-laden processes, eliminate redundant tasks and so on. The leaner you make your system and rely only on efficient processes, the more costs you are eliminating and that means Profit Improvement.

Ensure Problems Never Resurface

When you think systematically, you're able to correct business problems by creating a system that provides a solution. You can then deal with problems in a way that prevents them from resurfacing. You eliminate a faulty or flawed process and replace it with an efficient one or eliminate it altogether if it's found not to be necessary. I'm not saying that you won't experience any problems but you will be able to eliminate recurring problems from ever resurfacing.

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