Business process improvement (BPI) can significantly enhance customer satisfaction, positively impact profits, upgrade communication across business unit verticals, and reduce rework by improving operational efficiencies.
Investigate internal processes
Is your business experiencing a decline in contract renewals? Are you learning about delays and missed customer deadlines? Is your customer satisfaction survey indicating lower satisfaction rates? It may be time for your leadership team to investigate the processes within their vertical organizations.
Does your corporate culture foster teamwork and collaboration across business units, or is it highly political and resistant to collaboration and change? Because business units rely on each other to achieve deadlines on time and within budget, project plans and cross-functional processes can provide insight into areas needing revisions.
Learn from the frontline
Business process improvement (BPI) can provide a safe environment for staff to engage in candid conversations regarding operational processes that need improvements within their business units. Frontline staff typically have the most helpful insight into where to find inefficiencies. The outcome can be amazing when individuals are encouraged and empowered to describe and implement their recommendations. After all, the people who do the work know what needs to be done to make things more efficient.
Listen to your staff and act
- Identify and communicate key performance indicators and metrics to monitor the impact of new processes.
- Communicate the approved changes within each business unit.
- Re-train staff to ensure successful implementation within and across business unit verticals.
- Engage in an internal audit to confirm the new processes are implemented and followed.
- Check in with staff periodically to see if recalibration is needed to achieve desired outcomes.
- Regularly review key performance indicators and metrics.
- Provide staff with positive feedback regarding milestones achieved.
- Communicate improvements to customers and listen to their feedback.
It’s about listening and acting.
It’s about you!
