Business Process Redesign (or BPR) is the act of re-designing processes within an organization. This involves taking a look at the full process, to ensure that it is designed to achieve the required outcome. Processes are designed for a certain period of time, with certain factors in mind. Therefore, these processes will need to change with the factors in the environment. Rarely will this occur naturally.
Business Process Redesign Stages
Process Selection
Not every process in your organization will need to be redesigned. The first step is to determine which process is causing the most issues and/or opportunities to be missed. Whether this be due to it taking too long, creating numerous errors or is just outdated.
Trying to redesign everything at once can cause a lot of loss of focus.
Mapping The Current Process
Before any changes can be made, you need to understand the process in detail.
Mapping will show you every step of the process, who does what, when tasks are passed from one person to another and where bottlenecks or errors occur.
This stage can highlight some surprises as to how the process is actually run.
Designing The Future Process
Design the process based on the outcome you want.
Remove any non-value adding steps. Clarify roles. Simplify the process to allow smoother progression from start to finish.
The aim is to reduce unnecessary steps and create a clear process to reach the desired outcome.
Implementation
The redesigned process must be implemented in a way that makes it usable. This step ensures that the new process can be implemented into the organization in a realistic way. Ensuring everyone involved knows and understands the changes that have been made, as well as having time to allow everything to settle.
Monitoring And Improving
Most redesigns will require ongoing improvements. The organization will monitor to ensure that the new process is meeting the desired goals. Feedback will be gathered from those who are working within the process. Then improve if needed.
This part of the process will help ensure that the changes are sustainable within the organization.
Who Benefits from Business Process Redesign?
Most organizations who get the most benefits from a process redesign will have an issue where their processes don’t match their actual working practices.
This is often seen in organizations who have experienced rapid growth, restructuring, new strategic goals or expansion into new markets. As a result people will begin to work around the process. Roles will become unclear and knowledge will become concentrated in a few individuals.
organizations that have regulatory and/or external monitoring will also benefit greatly. Well designed processes will ensure that everyone is held accountable.
Benefits of A Proper Redesign
Organizations who choose to go through with a proper redesign will often report improved clarity of ownership, increased consistency, faster decision making and less reliance on personal memory.
You’ll be able to really explain and justify your process. This can prove beneficial when questioned by the board, regulation or other stakeholders.
If processes aren’t reviewed then issues will continue to occur in the same areas. Errors will occur in the same areas, decisions will be slower and ownership will be unclear. Eventually, your organization will have adapted to the negatives.
Business Process Redesign, a service offered by PISC to organizations, solves this issue.
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