Making Process Changes in Days or Weeks, Not Months or Years
In a Harvard Business Review article “The Next Wave of Process Strategy,” Brad Power contends that today’s companies must be able to “make process changes in days or weeks, not months or years.”
He points out that while process definition and improvement used to be the domain of simple rote processes—such as checking a flight status or scheduling an appointment—as those processes are being increasingly automated and outsourced, the real opportunity for business process improvement lies in knowledge work.
And documenting and improving knowledge work requires these workers to get involved in the redesign process while also learning new skills—or in the case of their jobs going away, finding new paths to new opportunities.
In this light, business process improvement and the resulting change management is not for the faint of heart. We not only need to support our organizations in changing more complex, decision-rich processes but also in doing so faster.
As I’ve coached new, aspiring, and senior analysts alike who are new to documenting business processes, I’ve seen many professionals tackle this challenge of working with knowledge workers first-hand. My advice is to get everyone involved in the process of figuring out the process as early as possible, while also using their input to drive the changes that need to be made.
As is often shared in Kaizen circles, “People support what they help to create." Here’s one manager’s way of making that happen.
You might consider these practices: Bring the team to the whiteboard to collaboratively brainstorm the changes. And if everyone involved is in the room, why not implement the changes as soon as everyone walks out of the room? Ask those involved in the process what problems they would like to fix and what’s standing in their way. Then help facilitate overcoming those roadblocks by scheduling discussions, mapping out IT changes, or de-duplicating efforts.
In this way, as the one in charge of the business process documentation, you act more as a facilitator and supporter of the change process and less of a change manager or authority. In fact, you might get out of managing the change altogether and wouldn’t that be fun? And it’s going to be absolutely necessary if your timeline is days or weeks.
How does your team improve its development processes? I'd enjoy reading your comments below.
