Fix The Process, Not The People

Online, February 23, 2011 (Newswire.com) - It's easy to blame your staff when things go wrong, but in 99% of cases it's the business process that's at fault.

So, the answer is to fix the process. However, you must tread very carefully, because many process improvement projects end in dismal failure!

Process improvement is good, but only when it's undertaken by someone who knows what they are doing.

Read on to learn the right way to fix processes.

Change the system, not the staff:

Suppose you are the head of a project team in a large organisation. Your team has been working on plans for a huge project - and I mean huge, think aircraft carrier-sized - and you are all totally committed, utterly convinced it is the right thing to do.

Unfortunately, in order to proceed you have to have the project signed off by the finance department. They have a reputation for being a mean lot but, once they have ticked their boxes, you know from past experience that a project like yours rarely gets scrapped once it's started.

What would you do to play the system and ensure your project gets the go ahead?

That's right, you'd underestimate the likely costs to maximise the chances of your project being approved - a totally predictable and sensible thing to do in the circumstances.

Then suppose that by the end of the first year of your project, you have money in the budget that, for various reasons, you haven't spent yet. You know that not spending the money will weaken your case for an increase in next year's budget round.

What would you do?

You'd spend the money of course. In the circumstances, budget-dumping is a totally predictable, sensible thing to do.

People in organisations - especially large ones where the money doesn't seem 'real' - learn how to play the system. I once interviewed the CEO of a large international organisation and asked him what he'd change about the behaviour of his managers if only he knew how. He thought about this for a long time and eventually said: "I wish my managers would spend the company's money as if it was their own."

Read the full article here ...

Top 10 reasons why business improvement projects end in failure:

Business Process Improvement (BPI) is widely recognised as being one of the best ways of reducing operational costs and/or increasing profits. However, the vast majority of Business Process Improvement projects end in failure - they fail to deliver the expected savings or profit increase; they cost far more to implement than originally estimated; in the worst cases, they fail on both counts.

I have worked as a freelance BPI consultant for more than ten years now, and the brief report below is based on my experience of the main reasons why BPI projects fail. I am sure you will find this report to be valuable if you can answer yes to one or more of the following questions:

- Have you been involved in a business process improvement project that failed to meet expectations?

- Are you a business owner or CEO who realises that your business needs to have more efficient business processes in order to remain competitive in your particular market?

- Are you a manager, team leader, or supervisor who is having budget reductions imposed on you from above, and you realise becoming more efficient and streamlined is the only chance you have of staying within these budgets?

- Are you just about to start your first business process improvement project, and you would welcome some advice from an 'old hand' at BPI.

Mistake Number 10: Handing over total responsibility for the project to expensive BPI consultants

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against BPI consultants - I am one myself after all! However, it is important to realise that their number one objective is different to yours - yours is to reduce your operational costs and/or increase your profits; theirs is to make as much money as possible for their company.

I have worked on lots of projects where consultants have been given a completely free rein, and the results have always been the same - escalating project costs.

Used correctly, BPI consultants are a valuable addition to any business process improvement project - the secret is to give them a tight framework to operate within, and to keep the responsibility for the project in your hands, rather than in theirs. By doing this, you will benefit from their knowledge and experience, whilst at the same time keeping a firm control on project costs.

Read the other 9 BPI mistakes here ...

Article Source: Business Process Improvement