Horizons Spring/Summer 2021

C hange, especially sudden and drastic change, can be difficult to absorb and view in a positive way. Two typical reasons to change a business process are to increase profit or to decrease costs. At times, changes may have a dual effect and achieve both of these goals. This dual effect occurs when business processes are automated because the automation saves labor hours, thereby reducing cost and increasing profit. However, fully automating processes is not always achievable which is why small changes, such as eliminating manual steps and parts of processes, can be powerful tools in creating a culture that accepts and embraces change. Especially now as businesses are working through long-term changes and looking ahead past COVID-19, it is a good time to evaluate how you can improve business processes. Step one for a business improvement process is to understand the goal of the process you want to change. To clarify, you want to understand why the process is in place, and what purpose it ultimately serves. Next, you want to set a goal for the process improvement project. For example, if you are reviewing an order to cash function, and under the current process the business has a goal to process 100 invoices per day, a goal for improvement may be to double the output to 200 invoices a day without any additional staffing. Once a goal has been set, you should document the existing process from end to end. Documenting the process consists of understanding the starting point, including inputs, and ending point, including outputs, of the overall process. You will also want to capture the policies that govern the process and consider those as potential boundaries of any changes/improvements you want to make.

Spring/Summer 2021

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