BPI: Not One-Time Activity, But A Continuous Effort

Company A and Company B, both are in the business of automobile manufacturing. Both understand the market well and have equally good products to offer. Company A is able to achieve business targets, boost growth and increase its global footprint. But, Company B is barely managing to scrape through, let alone grow.

Why is this so? What is giving Company A that business edge?

Efficient business processes is the answer to Company B’s dilemma. The difference between both companies is the business processes that one has mastered and the other lacks. Robust business processes that are built at the grassroot level have the potential to help organisations be dynamically different, increase productivity, manage projects better, and adapt faster to change and market dynamics.

As organisations fast reach the realisation that Business Process Improvement (BPI) is imperative to enable that much needed growth acceleration, the CIO is finding himself in the challenging position of being the new corporate change agent. Considering their reach and touch points across almost all business units and processes within the enterprise, CIOs are uniquely positioned to spearhead their enterprise’s BPI drive.

Needless to say, it is becoming imperative for CIOs to constantly re-imagine and re-orchestrate the business processes - revamp existing ones and build in new ones - to make it to the next level of growth. But the challenge of arriving at the right mix among the deluge of process improvement methodologies abounding the market, makes it easier said than done. However, there are a few golden rules that CIOs swear by to get themselves started in the right direction.

And, as CIOs share their BPI mantra, it turns out that technology is just one of the many elements in the kitty.

Tips And Tricks For CIOs

First and foremost, for BPI, it is important to understand the problem and not just to fix the symptoms.

For Shailesh Joshi, Head-IT, Godrej Industries, communication holds the key. “Communication plays an important role in BPI which can be achieved by way of interdepartmental communications for existing business processes. User group meeting plays are critical wherein the processes are discussed and the problem areas are targeted,” shares Joshi.

He further adds that brainstorming sessions with employees are best way of communication where CIOs can come across the changes required in the existing processes and the best process to be followed. Enterprise-wide free flow of communication not only helps in improvement but also result in employee loyalty and less employee turnover.

Technology plays an important role in orchestrating and enabling smoother business processes within the organisation. Technology is a catalyst in business process improvement when appropriately selected and maintained. Automation of processes which are of menial or administrative tasks decrease human error and improve efficiency.

IT And Business Sync-Up

Radhakrishna Pillai, CIO, Super Religare Laboratories, shares that IT teams have to work with business users at close quarters to understand pain areas. Only when technology members are involved in business operations, will they be able to provide an apt solution.

“All the existing processes should be mapped by the IT team in a document which will be easier to understand. Process maps provide visual step-by-step depictions of business processes to help streamline process management. Visual representations make it easier to conceptualise processes and find room for improvement,” says Joshi.

Buy-In Across Levels

Pillai is of the opinion that building in efficient processes is only half the battle won. Employees have to be encouraged to embrace the change and newer ways of working.

“End-users have to be involved right from the beginning. They have to be educated on the benefits the new processes will bring in. The idea of how work will be simpler for them because of a particular initiative has to be sold. The purpose of deploying technologies and improving processes is lost if employees are not excited about them,” says Pillai.

All stakeholders need to be part of the process improvement initiative. In addition to the end-users, there has to be a buy-in from the senior management. It is the CIO’s job to explain why such an initiative is important to the business heads. A CIO should use the business lingo and explain in terms of how the improvement will affect the bottom-line.

To sum it up, BPI is not a one-time activity, but rather a continuous effort that needs to be undertaken on a regular basis, as enterprises need to sync processes with the dynamic and constantly evolving business environment. To stay ahead of competition, organisations need to be agile and constantly reinvent themselves with improved business processes.