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Business Process Analysis:

A well-drawn process map helps us to see what the things which are causing problems & how to correct them
Which makes it faster to do it right than to cut corners? Bring together a team of people who are involved in the business process. Prepare a map of the process as is it now, an “As-is” map. Review the map with the team. If the project helps to resolve an urgent problem, state the problem in terms of objectives and post the objectives in large print in front of the team as a constant reminder while they work (i.e. to eliminate errors, to reduce cycle time, to fix specific flaws noted in an audit, to comply with new legislation, etc.) Then have the team challenge the process step by step.

Sometimes people who are trying to improve get so excited about the first few ideas that surface, they commit to them and close their minds to further opportunities. The following questions provide a pattern that can help a team think through a process thoroughly, spotting far more opportunities and arriving at top quality solutions.

The Questioning Method
“I have six honest serving men (they taught me all I knew); their names are what and Why and When and How and Where and who.” Rudyard Kipling
Business Process Change
In defining a process, our objective is to capture reality; to paint a realistic picture of what the process does. We ask what is happening at every step along the way. We also capture where the work is done, who does the work and when the work is done. We don’t ask why, because it doesn’t matter…yet.
With a good process story in front of a team of people who represent the process (and really understand their piece of it), it is time to ask why. Now we ask the same questions that we asked to define the process…but, this time we ask why to every answer.

Posted by alexmiller on 2008-06-16 11:45:58 | Rating: