Whilst our formal business processes seldom change, our real life business processes can have a tendency to drift...
...what we understood about our processes when we documented them might not be the case today.
Do you know if there is a gap in your business between what should happen and what actually does happen?
Here are some issues that can cause a gap:
Giles Johnston
Author of Business Process Re-Engineering and creator of the 'Making It Happen' online course for improving continuous improvement skills.
...what we understood about our processes when we documented them might not be the case today.
Do you know if there is a gap in your business between what should happen and what actually does happen?
Here are some issues that can cause a gap:
- Changes in staff.
- Inadequate induction process.
- Misunderstandings within the business.
- Ambiguity in the documented processes.
- The documented processes being detached from day to day working.
- Technology changes.
- Continuous improvement not concluding with updating documentation.
Apart from designing your business to handle the above issues, being curious about your processes is a good way to periodically dip in and 'audit' what is going on.
We're all busy, but taking a few minutes to learn if what is happening is the same as what should be happening is a great investment in time.
Worst case: you find out that everything is OK.
Best case: you learn something about your business and you gain an opportunity to improve how it works.
Are you curious about your business' processes?
Giles Johnston
Author of Business Process Re-Engineering and creator of the 'Making It Happen' online course for improving continuous improvement skills.